Shopping for furniture

This is probably more of a “Wednesday” post, but since I don't have much of a “Sunday” post to write (I didn't visit the site this week), it'll have to do.

Shopping, on its own, isn't one of my favourite things to do. I am a text-book “guy shopper”. I know what I want, where I'm going to get it, how much it'll cost... I go to the store, head straight for the item, get it, buy it, and leave. Shopping for clothes isn't fun because I hate trying things on, never seem to find what I'm looking for, and am always amazed at the cost. Now multiply that stress and frustration by about a million: that's me thinking about furniture and appliances. When I think about buying a couch or table, I see it as a giant, expensive, defining piece of furniture that will forever shape the room. Am I being overly dramatic? Perhaps.

My original plan was this: move in, then worry about furniture. That still stands. However, it's been pointed out to me that I don't have to wait until November to start looking at what is out there. But a couch is just a couch, right? Wrong.

Couches: some are soft, some are firm; some have high arms, some don't have arms; some have removable cushions, some cushions are attached; some are long, some are longer, and some turn corners. Stuffing, slip covers, leg heights, patterns, throw pillows... a couch is not just a couch. And don't get me started on shelving and/or tables.

At this point I have to ask myself (and my readers): how important is furniture? Or more specifically, how important is it to choose the right furniture. When I'm looking a couch, am I really looking at a “giant, expensive, defining piece of furniture” (as I said above), or is it just a couch?

I have another month until I actually move in and am forced to start doing, not thinking, about all this. In the meantime, I am going to work out some potential furniture arrangements on my floor plan. If I can figure out what will work in there, I'll hopefully be able to think about just what I'll need. (All this stress over a little end table does make one wonder how I ever managed to sign for the house...).

A first look inside

As expected, I was away enjoying a wonderful weekend out-of-town these last two days. And now, as promised, a look inside my soon-to-be home:



When you can only shoot through first-floor windows, you don't have a lot of choices or angles to shoot. That said, when you're buying a house of this size... well, you can pretty much do the “first floor tour” with this shot.

The big thing for me was seeing the stairs: I've waited to see these stairs for awhile now. I don't know why, but I just think it's pretty cool to have stairs that don't go straight up or down (we'll see if I still agree with this idea after I've moved my bed upstairs!). However, I was disappointed to see that the landing was in fact two separate steps, not just one; I'd have thought it easier to make it one flat landing, but then it'd probably require the stairs to stick out more. Nothing I can do now and really it's not that big a problem, just another thing that you (apparently) can't tell about a house when buying from plans.

And speaking about buying, I forgot to mention that it was almost exactly one year, two weeks ago that I actually signed all the paperwork for this place. Considering that they started building my house on, or about, June 20th, 2004 (a mere three months ago), you have to wonder why I needed to sign over a year ago!

But, back to the house: from my exchange with the builder last week regarding my tile choices, I know that they've been hard at work on the interior since my last visit and should have the tile in this week (or at least the bathroom tile I guess). If I have some free time next weekend maybe I'll pop back out for another look at the interior... then again, I might play it safe and go the following weekend. I don't know if they'll have done the kitchen quite yet and that's really the next big thing.

Maybe I spoke too soon...

Not that long ago I remember thinking to myself, “It'll be ready on-time... er, this time” because really, what else could go wrong?

Lesson #1039 - Never Assume: Yes, I thought that it'd be smooth sailing from here on out. With only 6-7 weeks left to the close, everything must be ordered, shipped, and ready to be installed. After all, the exterior is done, so it's down to the painting, flooring, and such. Well, apparently in today's world of “just-in-time” delivery, there is room for error.

Yesterday, at lunch, I get a call from the builder. In short, they told me that the bathroom tile I'd selected, nine months ago, was back-ordered and wouldn't be available until late October; they need to install the tile next Tuesday. So, I need to come out and select a new tile that day... at the latest, the following day.

What choice do I really have, right? I left work, drove 45 minutes through traffic to the design centre, spent five minutes selecting a new tile, five minutes signing some papers, five minutes confirming that this new tile would be available, and then drove another 45 minutes back through traffic to get home. It didn't help that yesterday was a truly crap-tacular day at work to begin with.

Now, in fairness to the friendly staff at the design centre, they were apologetic and very helpful. The reason that I was able to select a new tile in five minutes was because they'd pulled out all my samples again, made some selections from the available tiles, and had everything ready for my arrival. While I didn't like having to run out there last night, they made the experience as smooth as I imagine it could have gone.

But, all-in-all, let this be a reminder to everyone who is “counting the weeks”, there is always room for one more glitch. I'm just hoping that this was the last one for me!

Locked out!

Yes, it's true. Development is so far along at this point that I'm now locked out of my own house. But, I shouldn't complain; have a look at how far along things are!



Everything except for the siding/brick at the front of the house, second floor, has been completed. Looking at the last photo I took, it's come a long way over the past three weeks. Most of what is left at this point is interior... but even there, the plumbing and electrical looks to be completed, so I can only assume that they'll be moving along to painting the walls and ceiling, then putting in the carpet and tile throughout the house.

With the limited accessibility to the interior, I think that I'll be skipping my usual visit next weekend. Despite the large number of exterior windows I have to look in, until the flooring or cabinetry goes in, there probably isn't too much to see/photograph.

So, look forward to another mid-week posting about the last minute stresses of my move and, even if I don't go out there next week, I'll try to post a cool interior shot that I took today and talk more about what I saw inside.

Counting the weeks... again

When I started this blog almost four months ago, my intention was to look at the “ups, downs, and bills that come with the experience” of buying a new house; or, in my case, a first house. While I've done an excellent job of following the construction of my place, I haven't said too much about how I'm dealing with it all! So, these mid-week posts will try to accomplish just that. And what better place to start than the beginning.

It was way back on May 19th when I first posted about the beginning that wasn't: the three month delay. Although I still don't understand what caused the delay -- it might not have been a great summer, but it wasn't a rainy one! -- it was the timing of it all that really got to me. When you're really waiting for something to happen, a long weekend to arrive, or anything exciting like that, you start by counting the months... then the days... and finally the hours until the moment arrives. Problem with the delay was the timing: I'd started counting weeks.

Like so many things in life, you get to a “point of no return” where to stop after that point, or to learn that something isn't going to happen, becomes just that much harder to deal with. In late May, about eight weeks before my original closing date, I'd started seriously thinking about packing and moving and moving-in and what I'd need and what I had and about all the things I hadn't started to think about. When you've signed all the papers and such almost a year earlier, eight weeks seems like nothing.

And then boom -- I'm counting months again.

So, why bring this up now... start these more introspective entries with something that happened over three months ago? Simple: I've started counting weeks again. In just seven weeks I'll be moving. I've started thinking about this and that again; hell, I even bought a toaster-oven last week. Considering the progress that I've seen on-site, I'm fairly confident that there will be no more delays <knock on wood>, but you can never tell. In the meantime, I'm counting the days until this weekend arrives so I can get back out there to see my lot again.