Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Me and curtain panel sewing are breaking up.

Our dining room has always been a design nightmare with half wood floors and half ugly carpeting and a mishmash of furniture. It's such a fucking nightmare that of the 40,000 pictures I have taken of the house, there are about four of the dining room.

Shortly after I moved in.
Dirty, broken, plastic blinds

Now it's a fucking nightmare WITH DRAPES! And Ikea Enje shades.


The Enje blinds let in a ton more light during the day, while allowing us to keep our privacy. Ask me about the time I wandered out to the kitchen in my underwear and spotted Greg's step-dad outside my kitchen window, hefting a rocking chair over his head. It's not as weird as it sounds but it was super embarrassing.


I've been searching craigslist for three years, trying to find a large scale table (preferably something in the farmhouse family) to fill this room. This one woman has been listing her Restoration Hardware table, which currently sells for $2395, for $1900.


She's had the listing up for two months. That makes me crazy. Why would I buy your used table that I can't return to RH if it ever develops a defect or doesn't look right in the space? Why not save an extra $500 toward a brand new one that comes with delivery to my house? I don't believe that you should ever ask more than half the cost of a brand new item that is available online, especially from a mass producer like Restoration Hardware. The table isn't special or unique or an antique. I tried to negotiate her down but she wouldn't go for it. So I guess she'll just keep listing her table that no one will buy and we'll keep watching for sales.

This kills me because I hate consumer culture and I always prefer to buy used, preferably older stuff that wasn't produced in a factory in China where the employees are treated terribly. Someone recently remarked that we are horrified when we hear about slavery in the south. How could people do that? We would never do that! But we buy cheap consumer goods knowing full-well that the factory workers are operating under inhumane conditions. Future generations will frown on us.

But that lady on craigslist really makes me dig in my heels. I don't want to buy from her and I don't want to buy new because it will get assembled by underpaid workers, shipped from somewhere very far away, and jammed full of chemicals that will off-gas in my house. And whoa Heather, why don't you talk about feline AIDS as long you're bumming everyone out?

But yeah, curtains! I finished the curtains. They took days to make and I never want to make another panel again.


I think they make the room look closer to finished and I'm pleased that I can finally cross them off the list. Now we just have to find a table and chairs that don't fall apart when you sit on them. Chairs are so pricey, you guys! When did it get so expensive to sit?

Sorry about that shame spiral detour in the middle there. Sometimes I feel embarrassed by the abundance of riches in my life. Then I have a glass of wine and I make fun of The Bachelor and everything is okay again.

12 comments:

  1. Delurking to say: build your own table! We used these plans to build ours: http://ana-white.com/2009/12/plans-farmhouse-table-knock-off-of.html with some updates to make it look more like the Restoration Hardware table...but it only cost us around $100. Best decision ever.

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    1. I want to do that, very badly! I'm just worried it will look like I made it myself. I don't have the greatest attention to detail. Did yours end up looking professional?

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  2. I totally support wanting to buy older items, things that are made in the US, and things that we know are built more humanely. I was so excited to find a carseat made in the US, but so much baby stuff is made in China, grrr. Chris and I will probably end up making a bunch of our baby toys because we're weird hipsters like that (hehehe). I support your dug in heels! :)

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  3. Ugh, finding baby stuff has to be the worst. I wouldn't want anything from China, since they seem to have such a lead problem. Did you get that fancy French giraffe that everyone has?

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  4. Our friends with a 5 year old and baby were over this past weekend and they have that giraffe (someone got it for them), she was like, "DO NOT GET THIS GIRAFFE!" hahahahaha. Amazon keeps telling me I want it though, it's quite annoying. I don't want the stupid giraffe Amazon! Di-zamn.

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  5. You make fun of The Bachelor?

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  6. Sorry to interrupt, but you want that Giraffe.

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  7. Sigh...my dream is to have a farmhouse table (and a house big enough to fit one)! I've given up trying to find furniture that I love...it's just too expensive...and I'm too lazy...I'll just live with my Ikea furniture forever, it seems. We're looking for a floor lamp for our living room right now...talk about a nightmare...either we don't agree on the style...or it's crazy spendy. I hate people who sell stuff that's used on CL for almost as much as it's worth...wankers!

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  8. Good taste AND ethics are a curse. I went without a dining room table for years rather than settle for ugly. Now Richard makes the damn things. They're gorgeous, but spendy...so nobody buys them and we have our choice. Be careful what you wish for, girl.

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  9. You should follow me on Twitter.

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  10. Oh my god, lighting decisions are the worst. We have the wires poking out of our living room to prove it. Everything looks cheap but is so expensive!

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  11. Lucky girl! Two of my brothers are wood workers and I wish they lived locally.

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