The final piece (for now). Finally!

Alright, I've been posting a lot of home improvement projects in the past few months. It's been fun to finally really turn my place from an apartment into a home. I've redone my living room, my home office, my kitchen, and my dining room.

There was only one piece missing from making this wave of improvements complete: I wanted a bar/sideboard/wine storage thing for the dining room. I spent a lot of time looking for the perfect piece. I initially thought I wanted something like a china hutch but couldn't find anything that I really liked. Then I thought about getting some kind of old desk to convert but again, I couldn't really make it work the way I wanted to (I thought about using the old secretary but didn't like how it looked). Ultimately I decided I wanted something simple, not too big, and functional. But how does one find the perfect thing?

Then, a few months ago I visited friends in Southern California and I really liked the bar they had. And thus began another journey...

I knew they got their bar at a really expensive place and I didn't want to spend that kind of money on it. So I began a very long and broad internet search. You can NOT believe how many different bars, hutches, sideboards, and wine storage things are out there!

Eventually I found exactly what I was looking for at Crate & Barrel. But it still cost a lot more than I wanted to spend. And then I found a coupon! Woohoo!!! Armed with my 20% off coupon, I called all three Crate & Barrel stores in the Greater Bay Area only to find out that they were all completely out of stock. The last person I spoke to said that every store in the country is out of stock and they're waiting for the manufacturer to make more and that they weren't expecting to get more of them until at least June or July. Sadness.

So I grudgingly continued my search. I found the same bar at a few other places for less but they were all out of stock as well. I guess they get theirs from the same manufacturer. And then I found it! A small, family-owned discount furniture place in Ohio of all places. Not only did they have the exact thing I was looking for, they had it for half the price Crate & Barrel did! Plus free shipping! Their website said they had one in stock so I ordered it immediately. I was so excited!

And then came the email: "We're sorry. The item you ordered is out of stock. We will notify you when it becomes available." WHAT??????? AAAARRRRGGGGHHHH!!!!!

sigh...

I called them to find out how long it would be before they expected to get it in again and they said probably May. Well, that's better than June or July and it was half the price so I left my order in their system.

They lied, by the way. They said they were going to notify me when they got it in. They didn't. Instead, yesterday I came home from a meeting to find a big, heavy box from FedEx outside my door. My bar arrived!!! And it's only April!

WOOHOOO!!!!

So, last night I got to spend the evening putting together my new bar/wine storage piece and I love it. Here's the fun and the final product for your viewing pleasure.

Box unpacked, parts, pieces, and hardware separated. Ready for assembly.

Somehow this was part of my process. I can't help it if my legs are good helpers!

The final piece in its various iterations.

The finished dining room. (Yes, pictures still need to hung).

So, finally it is complete! Well, there are still some things that have to be hung and put on the walls but now that the furniture is all there, I can do that. So happy to have it finished!!

still can't get used to it

I saw my roommate from college freshman year on a TV show the other day. It's still so weird to me when I see someone I know on TV or in a film. It happens frequently enough that it shouldn't surprise me so much anymore but I'm not sure I'll ever get used to it.