Shades of Doubt

I suddenly have the urge to decorate the house. This usually causes some drama. First, I'm a miser, and that generally inspires some sort of ill-advised do-it-yourself behavior. When will I learn that nothing good can ever come of DIY? There's a reason I work all of the time. It's so I can pay someone else to do that stuff.

It's confession time. I should probably find a cutesy way to send it to PostSecret intsead, but alas--

The trim and molding in my bedroom have been taped off with painter's tape for a year and a half. I haven't finished painting. That door stays shut.

I bought fabric and a pattern (picture C - yellow) for kitchen shades about a year ago. Of the five windows in my kitchen, one window now has a valance, and the rest are still mini-blinded. I gave up on myself to sew the shades long ago, so in May 2006, I hired a friend to sew them for me. In August, one shade was sewn, but still minus cord or a way to mount it. In December, in the midst of finals and all manner of holiday craziness, I got the other three shades. They were really pretty. I have good taste. One problem: they were about a foot too short for my windows. I said a choice word and threw the shades in my storage room (3rd bedroom) and am still too mad to think about how I'm going to fix that. The lady that sewed the shades for me had a baby a day after I picked up the shades from her. I haven't talked to her about my problem.

My third bedroom being a storage room is a whole other confession. I have been in my house for a year and a half, and I still have a room devoted to boxes. I have a great plan for that room. It just hasn't happened yet.

Last week I went to buy two more kitchen chairs like the four I already have. I was immediately accosted by a salesman. I wanted to look for my chairs in the store, but he didn't think they had any on display like what I described. So, we hopped on a computer (still in store) and did some online shopping. Although that is my most comfortable medium for shopping, I prefer not to do it next to a hawkish salesman. Excuses aside, I ordered two chairs that are NOT part of the line I have. Look at the pictures below. I saw the first picture and mistook the chairs in that picture for those I have, seen on the left in the second picture.



Okay, maybe they don't look alike at all. I didn't realize my mistake until I got a little "Thanks for shopping at our store" coupon in the mail with a picture of a cherry wood kitchen chair on it. My thought process went something like this: "Whoa. That looks a lot like what I ordered, but that's not it. How strange that they would send this picture that looks close to what I ordered but isn't..." First chance I got, which was this morning, I hopped online to see what I bought according to the store receipt. Oh dear.

I called the store. They said I needed to talk to a salesman. I went to the store. I found the same salesman. He was less flirty today because I had crazy frizzy hair, no makeup, and grubby clothes. He said we could fix the problem by refusing the shipment of the other chairs. Problem solved, I hope. I did see a bed I like before I left the store. I've been waiting for the Martha Stewart Penobscot bed to go on sale long enough. Also, guess what was on display right next to the bed. There were my chairs, of course!

Today, Daddy and Mom helped me hang my ceiling fan that I got for Christmas. That was funny. My Dad will be the first to admit that he is as much of a grouch about do-it-yourself as I am. The manual was less than helpful in its installation instructions, and Dad got a literal shock. Mom and I almost fell off the ladder. I was worried about the light in my living room being too dim, so I bought some of those GE compact fluorescent lights. I bought the 90 watt bulbs. Wow! My retinas are still burning. We're back to soft light now.

There's a picture of the new fan. I put my Smith+Noble shade in the picture, too. I'm happy with it. No more mini-blinds!

So what should I do about the kitchen shades? Chalk the experience up as an expensive lesson learned and forget about the short shades? Demand a refund or repair work? Shop for something totally new? I'm still too mad to think about it. Be my lifeline, and tell me what to do.