Oops! Just Kidding!
I feel like the theme of today is “Just Kidding!” The week hasn’t really ended the way I thought it was going to, and I’m okay with that!
First, I thought that I would have a chair and ottoman ordered for our bedroom by now. I shared the options I was considering in my post on Monday, and by midday on Monday, I was pretty sure I wanted the Caitlyn Petite Chair from Interior Define (affiliate link).
Along with the Windslow Rectangular Ottoman (affiliate link).
I had those in my shopping cart all day long, and I started the checkout process about 15 times throughout the day, but I just couldn’t bring myself to finalize the order. I thought the sale was going to end that night, so I sat in bed right up until I decided to go to sleep with my laptop in my lap trying to decide if I was going to buy those or not. I just couldn’t do it.
As much as I love the look of that chair, it just looks very small. The seat on the chair is only 17 inches high, which is perfect for a short person like me, but they don’t have an ottoman that’s 17 inches high. The Winslow is 18 inches high. I don’t like an ottoman being higher than the chair, even by one inch. And with the chair looking so small, I’m afraid it’ll kind of get lost in that corner of our room. Plus, I just couldn’t shake the idea that I really want a recliner instead of a chair and ottoman. But I really don’t like how boxy their small recliner looks.
Wednesday, I went to lunch with my mom and brother, as I do every Wednesday, and our weather was really cold that day. So right after we ate, my brother went back to work and my mom and I went back to her house to enjoy her amazing new gas logs she had installed in her former woodburning fireplace. And I sat there all afternoon in her cozy recliner right by the fire. That confirmed to me that I want a recliner instead of a chair and ottoman.
So I’ve been looking for other recliners. Yesterday on my Facebook page, I asked people to tell me which online stores allow you to choose the upholstery. I got a list of online stores and started searching for the perfect recliner with great fabric options, but the recliner I like the most is the big one (which didn’t make my original list on Monday) from Interior Define, which is this Jude Recliner (affiliate link).
I really like the gentle curves on that chair. It’s not too curvy, but it also doesn’t have that boxy look that the smaller recliner has. This one didn’t make my original list because I thought it was too big for the room. But if I have space for a chair plus an ottoman, I have room for this. I measured and marked it out on the floor of the bedroom last night to confirm that I have room for it, keeping in mind that it does have to have room to lean back.
So I’m about 90% sure that this is the recliner I’ll be buying for our bedroom. I still haven’t made the purchase because in the meantime, something else came up.
Yesterday, I got a phone call from the flooring man who came to my house on Tuesday to do the measurements and give me an estimate for installing the hardwood flooring for me. When his name popped up on my phone, I thought, “Well, it’s too late. You should have contacted me on Tuesday!” I answered the phone, and he said, “I was just checking to see what you thought of the estimate I sent on Tuesday.”
Ummm…what? What estimate? I told him I didn’t get it, and even as I sat there talking to him, I scrolled through my text messages twice and still didn’t couldn’t find it. So he sent it again, and the new message popped up immediately. When I opened it, I saw the new message along with the original message before it. And sure enough, they had sent the original estimate when they said they would on Tuesday afternoon. I have no idea why I didn’t see it, or why I couldn’t even find it when I went searching for it.
Long story short, I’m going to let them install the flooring for me. I had set a price in my mind and told myself that if the estimate comes in at that price or lower, I’d have them do it. If it’s higher, I’ll do it myself. That price I set in my mind was $2500 for installing just under 500 square feet of flooring. Their estimate was $2574. I’m not going to quibble about $74. 😀
And even better, they’ll be here this morning at 9:00am to start! They had an outdoor project scheduled, and that had to be rescheduled because of the weather (we’ve had a few really cold days), so they had an immediate opening. I’m so excited that I don’t have to spend the next week installing all of this flooring!!!
I can focus on other things (maybe knock a few more items off of my 2025 home projects list) while they’re doing that. Our weather is supposed to be gorgeous this weekend, so maybe I can get a few things done outside. I’ll have to look at my list and see which projects I want to tackle.
In addition, he gave me the name of the one and only person he recommends for sanding and finishing hardwood floors in this area. So I called him for an estimate, and he said he’d do all of the sanding for just under 500 square feet for $2000. SOLD!
I’m so excited I can barely sit still this morning. I’m like a giddy little child on Christmas morning waiting for the slow adults to wake up so that we can start opening presents. 😀 I mean, when he called yesterday, I was just finishing up with getting the area all cleared out and gathering and organizing my tools to start installing the flooring. I had just kicked Cooper and Felicity out of the area, closed the French doors so they couldn’t get in and get in the way, and was literally about to start rolling out felt paper on the floor when the phone rang.
I can’t help but feel a little twinge of guilt that I’m not doing all of it myself. I mean, I’m a DIYer, so I kind of feel like I’m betraying some sort of DIYer’s code by hiring it out. But I have installed, sanded, and refinished many floors over the last decade, so I keep telling myself I don’t have anything to prove to myself or anyone else. I know I could do it myself, and I was about to do just that. But having the option to hire it out feels really exciting right now. I’m just anxious to get to the building projects. I want to build my closet ASAP, and now I’ll be able to get to that project much sooner.
Addicted 2 Decorating is where I share my DIY and decorating journey as I remodel and decorate the 1948 fixer upper that my husband, Matt, and I bought in 2013. Matt has M.S. and is unable to do physical work, so I do the majority of the work on the house by myself. You can learn more about me here.
Let the contractors do the boring hum drum-ish things that you know you “can do” and “have done” and get busy with the Kristi end of things! LOL! The things that only YOU can do! Design and build the prettiest master suite for Matt and yourself, that only you two will completely love and appreciate to the absolute fullest! Even though I cannot wait to see each and every step of this journey that you choose to share…yeeee!
This post says what I would have had I been able ♡♡♡
PERFECTLY 🥰 SAID
I second that, lol!
I think hiring it out to free up time for a project you’re excited about is a huge win!! Your last post said you were feeling overwhelmed, so this really is a good mental stress relief as well. You’ll have lost of other DIY projects to share in the future 🙂
As someone who has made this mistake…make sure you have enough room behind the recliner so you don’t bang the wall otherwise you have to drag it out every time you want to recline. I bought a recliner for my den and it looked like it was sitting in the middle of the room just so I had enough room to recline it! I ended up pushing it against the wall and bought an ottoman. 🤦🏼♀️.
Another lesson here is, he may have been having the same ” I hate it when people dont get back to me” thoughts. I have to remind my Fella of this when he drives and gets behind a slower car. we drove very slow the other day because we were hauling something unweildly in his small Miata.
So there’s always a reason, good or bad, for peoples behavior.
Glad to hear you’re getting your floors done.
Praise the Lord he called to see what you thought of the estimate! I’m soooo happy for you that you don’t have to do this.
Plus, it says a lot about him that he followed up. How many contractors do that? He sounds like a good one, Kristi! Can’t wait to see the floors!
Oh, and my Lazyboy recliner is a wall hugger and I love that!
That green velvet one is gorgeous too.
I love this new chair so much better! How exciting about the flooring!
Don’t feel guilty…we’ve seen and know you can do it! I mean what else is there unless there is some new way to do things, which you will learn by seeing someone else else do it 🤗. I say get it done and get moving. So glad the guy followed up, good sign of professionalism and guarantee he’s going to do good work.
Love the recliner! The price (plus shipping!) seems high to me for a manual recliner, but I’m not familiar with the brand, so I can’t judge it. I have to say I really love the power feature on our recliner, even though I wasn’t shopping for that when we bought it. I always had trouble with manual ones because of my height. The only thing I dislike about the power feature is the weight it adds to the chair! That motor is NOT light or small! This recliner operates like a glider – so the seat actually slides forward as the back reclines. Anyway, I am sure you will be happy having a recliner vs. chair and ottoman. And so great to get the flooring installed!!! Hope you can work on the outside stuff!
Kristi, I was so glad to read this post just now.
First , I am so glad your finger did not press “buy” for that little chair. It is not the right one and neither is that recliner you were considering before. The one in this post is absolutely great. It ticks all the boxes, plus it doesn’t look like a recliner. Surely there is a color choice that will work. Maybe not coral, rather another one represented in other patterns in the room. Personally, I like the green as it doesn’t look matchy-matchy.
Second: as for the floor, a win-win choice to hire out the whole job. Save yourself for the creative stuff. That is the best use of your energy and design skills. It is going to look gorgeous.
It’s a win all the way around.
I hope you find the recliner that fits your needs the best. No hurry!
I’m happy for your back!
This WORKS♡♡♡
Sometimes the appropriate DIY response is to save your time/energy for the items you truly enjoy or have a high standard for and pay for the boring/not enjoyable stuff if it’s in your budget to do so. That’s just wise use of time. Everyone forgets that your time does cost something, and if they can spend 2 days doing what would take you 80 hours of your time, it may be a better bargain to hire out.
Good for you!!
What an awesome turn of events. I know that they will knock it out so much faster, not better, just faster, as it so happens with folks who do this for a living. I have hated hiring out things that I could do, and do so much better, but then again, DONE is a beautiful thing. Enjoy the break, embrace all the noise, or put in some earbuds, I have hearing aids I can turn way down, or listen to music through so I can keep a smile on my face while contractors tear up my world for a little bit. I am so happy for you to be on the fast track with this project.
Cheers to you and Matt, and the critters!
Make sure that the back of the recliner is tall enough to support your neck and head. And, not for nothing, but I always thought that part of being a diy’er is to decide when to hire specialists for jobs that you may be able to do, but don’t want to for whatever reason. All good.
I’m so glad he got back with you! I hope both contractors do a good job and you can focus your energies on the uniquely Kristi stuff. ☺️
Messages that get “stuck” somehow and don’t come through until a later message from the same sender is something that happens to me periodically as well. If you haven’t gotten in the habit of doing so, restart your phone every so often. I’ve found this helps to suddenly free up messages I wasn’t aware were lurking in the ether.
Good for you for hiring out that work. Honestly you have bigger and better things to do. Order that recliner! You could start on building the night tables. I have been looking for orange lamps also. If I find any I’ll let you know.
Stay warm.
I didn’t even open this post because I thought it was just about a chair, so when I saw the post after( about the flooring Contractors) I decided to open it to see what I missed. Congrats on the good news on the flooring. Just because your a DIY’er doesn’t mean you should be doing the flooring. (let the younger stronger ones do it). I am glad things are finally going your way.
Glad you are having the flooring installed. You do so much on your own. I tell my husband this as well because he has done so many DIYs that he has earned it being done by someone else once in awhile.
The ads that are popping up on your posts are getting
frustrating. It covers up your content, even now while I’m writing this note. Never had ads not allow opt out notes either.
I’m having the same issues with all the ads. Sometimes, have to go the different devices to see your comments or view your photos.
I love your site, but it can be frustrating to view every day as I’d like to
You are so correct…you can do it, but sometimes it is just better to get it done while you move on to the other things on the list of projects you have. You have done all that work before, and if you get a decent price, it is better to just move forward! I’m happy for you. An amazing gift that it all showed up before you started! PERFECT/divine interference? 💖
Good for you! Get the floor finished and go on to other projects.
Love the recliner, especially in the “Scuba” color.But maybe wouldn’t work if it’d be right up against the wall of the same color.
Matt will be more comfortable when it gets hot if he has your bedroom space completed.
Yippeeee for you! Glad the flooring guy called you back. Can’t wait to see the results!
Oh, I’m glad you’re going with a recliner! I’m anxious to see how you address the awkward empty corner behind it. I’m not ditching our recliner either…but I keep feeling like I need to put something in the weirdly deep corner required to allow it to fully recline.
oh no Kristy – don’t feel guilty –
you’re actually doing it for US!! your faithful readers want to see you slay the fun stuff …
and the newbies can just as easily click on an older link and learn from your floor geius there…
you are totally hiring this out so we can get to watch your creative genius sooner.
so thanks from all of us xx
plus bonus is, you are test driving local businesses for people in your area. super kind of you 😉