New York Renovator

I saw this guitar while shopping at Buy.com. OH. MY. GOSH. !!! lol!!! I kinda like it!

We are a musical family. My husband is a superb guitar player. The kids are following in his footsteps. We currently have *AHEM*: TWO electric guitars, ONE bass guitar; SIX acoustic guitars, FOUR amplifiers; ONE keyboard; ONE microphone and stand; TWO amplifier stands…. and just one tiny little guitar stand. :S And six people who are CAH-RAZY about music!

In all my meticulous planning for the renovation, I did not think of a place to store all that stuff. Oops. So it’s all piled up in the dining room and in the kids’ rooms. *sigh* Well, next year, I hope we can gut the garage and convert it into a music room (I’m calling it The Conservatory). I will rig up a super high-def sound system in there. We’ll have nooks and crannies for all the instruments, comfy places to sit and play, and all the gear to record stuff.

Anyway. Back to the pink guitar. Cute, huh? Buy.com has a lot of nice musical instruments for beginners (and advanced musicians). They have a special page of musical instruments under $50, just in time for the holidays. Things at Buy.com sell VERY quickly, believe me. I might get an email in the morning, showcasing their special deals, and if I procrastinate to the next day, stuff is sometimes gone. Right now, there are sales on all sorts of very nice instruments: guitars, keyboards, bongos, maracas, cabasas, accordions, violins, etc. They also have stuff for the music studio: microphones, headphones, mixers, equalizers, cables, and more. After I get the garage converted, I’ll be looking at mixers and recording equipment.

Oh my word. I was researching PDA gadgets recently, and lookie what I found!

It’s an HP mini-mini computer! I love it!

The hardest part about being a technology researcher and writer is seeing ALL these delicious gadgets. I DO SO want to try them out! I love this thing!

It’s a PDA, or Personal Digital Assistant. Kind of like a mini “home away from home” gadget. I like those. I am joined at the hip to the Internet (it’s my career). When I travel or am away from the computer, I have to be able to check in on my email and assignments. I have my iPod (which I adore), and I can connect to wireless hotspots, where available. I have no desire to find a replacement for my iPod just yet. I’m very happy with it. But I think eventually I will upgrade to something more. The iPaq is nice because it’s Windows-based (has Windows Mail, Windows Mobile Office Outlook, MSN Messenger, etc). And it takes an SD card for adding more memory (something the iPod seriously lacks). If I ever want to upgrade to something like an iPaq, I can give my iPod away to one of the kids (oh wouldn’t they love that! They love my iPod!) and get an iPaq and claim in for my business. That’s the nice thing about being self-employed– you can get gadgets and claim them for the business. Tax deductible.

Buy.com has the best price I’ve seen on these babies– under $400. That’s still a very very pretty penny. Not in my immediate future, that’s for sure. But it’s nice to know that there’s something out there waiting for me. See more deals at Buy.com.

Hey! I have some great news for you online shoppers and deal hunters! Buy.com has a new department called Household Essentials! You can buy household cleaning supplies, dry goods, bath and shower supplies, baby stuff, pet supplies and more in the department. I LOVE it. I dislike shopping at retail stores very much– the traffic (which is INSANE around here), the crowds, the cranky people, the rush-rush-rush of the rat race…. I like to buy stuff online as much as I can. Buy.com has been a Godsend during our renovation– I’ve ordered quite a bit of stuff from them. It not only saves me money but saves me time, too.

Buy.com combines the bets of the best in online household stores: Alice, ANTOnline, Baby Universe, Tool District, UnbeatableSale and others. The prices are very good and the shipping is free. Plus, Buy.com provides some really nice specialty items for great prices! If you like to make gift baskets for the holidays, you can order all sorts of delectable, exotic products and have everything shipped to your door. Can’t beat that!

Have you noticed it these days? Consumer products are so junky these days! What is going on?

We bought some beds for the kids about 5 years ago. They seemed very nice (and cost nice, too). But now, they are totally junked. I remember in the Good Old Days that beds would last many years before the mattress and box springs gave out. These new things are awful. They are lumpy, bumpy, torn… what gives? This seems to be the plague of modern shopping today– nothing is built to last like it once was.

Anyway, I’m skipping the box spring and mattress stuff from now on. It’s so uncomfortable. The Hubs got me a Tempurpedic mattress from a local retailer a few years ago and I love it. (Although the foundation we got has severe defects and we’ve had 3+ replacements so far). If the memory foam mattress is on a solid, firm foundation, it’s the BEST bed ever. If it’s on a creaky, shifting foundation, it’s horrible. Needless to say, we’re going to get a better foundation box that doesn’t break down every 6 months…. and I’m going to be getting memory foam for the kids as soon as I can. I think it is better for their spines. And they will definitely sleep better.

Memory foam mattresses are not exactly cheap, though. The local store sells them for about $1000! I have four kids, you can see where this would lead me…. but once again, it’s Buy.com to the rescue. They sell mattresses, can you believe it?! There’s a nice 10″ model (twin size) for about $300. And the shipping is free. VERY nice.

The best thing to do with the memory foam mattresses is to place them on a solid base. I have plans to make very simple bed bases, out of lathe stock wood pieces, a wood frame, and a slab of thick plywood. This will provide the foundation as well as the bed frame. And it will be as solid as anything. The kids can even paint them or decorate them in any way they desire. I had a bed like that when I was a teen (we had a regular foam mattress, not “memory foam” back then) and it was solid and comfortable. These kinds of beds are also very durable– no cheapo particle board and Chinese glue!

So that ends one problem. I love Buy.com. I have ordered tons of stuff through them over the years, and I have never been displeased! They ship fast, their service is incredible, and they don’t sell me junk!

Well, I’m stumped. I can’t make up my mind about a clock for the dining room. I have a gorgeous (and HUGE) one for the kitchen, and the living room already has a nice swinging pendulum one… I want the dining room to have a classy, elegant clock. I’ve been surfing through the collection at Buy.com, and I have whittled it down to two choices. They are both so beautiful

There’s this one. It’s a Westclock Deerfield, on sale at Buy.com for only $20 (free shipping, too!). I like it because it’s simple, elegant, and made of wood. Its something I can see from across the room without having to squint.

But I really like this one, too. It’s the Ashton Sutton Discover Clock. It’s got a reproduction of an antique Dutch map created by Fredrick De Wit. I love that!! It’s a large clock, too– 18 inches. But it’s $60.

I’ve said before that I am bananas about clocks… I would like to get some really nice ones… $60 is a bit much right now, but it’s still a great deal..

What do you think? Do you have a preference or any advice to add? My dining room is very traditional. Here’s what it looks like with the new flooring.

So I’m trying to build around the classic, traditional style. NO cheapo plastic Walmart clocks for me! Hmmm, choices, choices…

While we have moved in to the kitchen, the dining room still has no floor, and we are eating meals at the coffee table in the living room. I still have a good amount of work to do, especially the trim work. I have to have all the trim installed and painted before I install the flooring. What a job! The dining room has more trim than all the other rooms, combined. There are FOUR big windows and SIX doorways. Yahhhhhh! All need new jambs, pediments, and side trim. Plus, there’s the crown moulding and the baseboard moulding. Plus, there’s the restoration of some broken areas: the window sill broke off during demolition; the sub floor has huge gaps to be filled; etc etc.

Moreover, the kitchen is not completely done, either. I have a half dozen shelf systems to build and install yet. The trim work is not done in there, either, and I have yet to finish the window seat/bench, install another cabinet, install baseboard moulding, and build a cabinet system under the stairwell. It’s enough to keep me busy, full time, until Christmas. Lord, help me to get this all done…..

So we aren’t DONE just yet. I am waiting for the crowning moment– the moment that tells the family that WE ARE DONE with the project. It is the hanging of The Clock. [trumpets blast]

My husband got me The Clock for my birthday, months ago. All my life, I have wanted a huge clock in my new kitchen. And- thank You, Lord– I got one! But I cannot hang this clock until the kitchen is DONE, to mark this historic moment. That, and I don’t want it to drop off the wall if we’re still banging nails on it! It’s been difficult to restrain from hanging it, but I must!

I am a clock freak. I love clocks! I am going to indulge my love of them, and start collecting them. I only have a few paltry plain ones right now. I am going to hang them in the dining room and the family room (when I build it). I love all sorts of clocks, even cuckoo clocks and clocks that tick noisily. I find them very soothing. Buy.com has a smashing collection of the quirkiest clocks!! I have made a little wish list (after all, I expect to have many more birthdays yet). Aren’t they deliciously whimsical? I love them!

That’s only a smidgen of the clocks on sale that I saw. Wow. A girl could go cuckoo over so many! Buy.com is mostly known for their superior deals on electronics, but they really have everything under the sun. They allow vendors to list their products, which offers consumers a very wide variety of products. On many things, there is free shipping. And I think Buy.com’s customer service and fast shipping is superb.

So it isn’t OVER until it’s OVER. When you see a photo of a clock hanging on the wall, THEN you’ll know.

Well, the trim work is still not completed (geez Louise, this house has a TON of trim), and there’s no floor down in the Dining Room yet… but we’ve reached the point in this adventure where I am starting to think about decor for the kitchen, living room, and dining room. FINALLY. I really haven’t decorated the house at all in the 13 years we’ve been here. I knew we’d be renovating at some point, and the color schemes of the rooms were very disjointed until now. So, I’m hunting for decor, and trying to create a “theme” as I do.

Personally, I am (probably for the first time in my life) SICK and TIRED of shopping. Can you believe it?! Well, the reason is that for the past four months, that is all I have been doing, for the kitchen and dining room renovation: cabinets, lights, flooring, hardware, paint, etc etc….. but this kind of shopping is fun.

Because my house is so old, I’m trying to stay with the “Greco classical” style of architecture. You know: fluted trim, triangular pediments, acanthus leaves, colors red, green, and ivory…. but I don’t want the house design to be too stuffy and formal. We like our whimsy. And right now, we are REALLY into vintage tin signs. LOL. Buy.com has a bunch of them on sale, for really good prices! Click on the image to view them separately.

I really like the Hamburgers vintage sign best, but I also like the Take Off Shoes one (a much-needed sign here). I have another one that says “I’m sorry, you must be confusing me with the maid we don’t have” that is going to go right in the kitchen, LOL. So I think we are incorporating plenty of whimsy around here.

Besides funny vintage signs, Buy.com has a whole section devoted to home and garden stuff: posters, prints, lighting fixtures, furniture, rugs, garden accessories, and loads and loads more stuff. The shipping on many items is free or very affordable, and believe me– the shipping is fast! Definitely check them out for good prices. Let the decorating shopping begin!

Haven’t found a stereo system that’s *just right* for the kitchen yet. I’ve been looking around for about two months now (yes, I do usually take this long to shop!). It’s not as important as, say, installing the Sheetrock or the sink! But I do want a nice speaker set and an iPod dock. It must have AM radio capability. And it MUST NOT BE A PIECE OF JUNK. Beyond that, I’m pretty happy.

But I can’t find anything yet! I’ve been SOOO close to buying one… but the reviews are always mixed. Everyone loves Bose, I know, but I will say flatly that I am not spending more on a stereo than I’m spending on my dishwasher, k! Whoa, $350 for a stereo?!?! My budget is more around the $50 to $75 ball park range. (And that’s pretty high, I think).

Anyone have any good success stories to share? I don’t know if it’s *just me,* but when I read the reviews of a product, they are all over the place. Some rave with euphoric glee, others say they had to return the product ten times because it wouldn’t work. How can these things be from the same product?!?

Buy.com has this Hi-Fi System on sale for about $97 (free shipping).

That’s over my budget, but if it’s very high-quality, I’d get it. I want something small (something I can put on my shelf) that has a big sound to it, but I don’t want a lemon, nor an alarm clock with it. It’s tough to find one!

Got any suggestions? Do you have an mp3 player or iPod dock? Does it work well? Let me know!

I’ve been in the slow process of creating an entire Ethernet Internet network control panel (I’m still wiring the cables while we have the walls open right now). But after seeing some technology called “powerline switches,” I wonder if I should even bother with the Cat5/Cat6 wiring. This stuff just TOTALLY blows my mind!!

Basically, a powerline switch allows you to extend your Internet connection using your home’s electrical system. I had heard of this technology last year, and I figured it would be a while before it was really stable enough for me to consider. But there’s been a lot of progress in a year’s time. A tech dude from Netgear went to the Buy.com headquarters and made a very informative video about the Netgear XAV2001 Powerline Switch. It looks so amazing!!

OK, OK, I know some of you are totally uninterested in technology– but before your eyes glaze over, I want you to remember back when there was dialup and you had to learn about that, and then there was cable and DSL, and you had to learn about that…. so let me give a few gory details about this gadget. This just may be how we connect the Internet in the days to come.

• There are two powerline switches per box. One plugs into an electrical outlet and connects to your router. The outher powerline switch plugs into your electrical outlet somewhere else in the home (like the upstairs game room). The switch has a small port for an Ethernet cable. You connect your computer (or HDTV or Playstation or Xbox or Wii or print server or storage server!) into the powerline switch using the Ethernet cable. Voila, instant Internet.
• The powerline switch is geared to lessen the load on wireless. If you have a lot of people on wireless connection at once, you know how slow things get. The powerline uses the internal electrical system of your home to connect to the Internet router. The powerline switch is also terrific for providing Internet access to rooms that have spotty wireless coverage (or no coverage).
• Buy.com has the best price (of course!). I have seen this Netgear powerline switch for $100 or more everywhere else. Buy.com has a sale for $70 and free shipping.
• Netgear’s switch has a security feature– press a button on both switches, and it instantly encrypts all data streaming through the network.
• Data are fast– rates up to 85 Mbps, which is faster than 802.11g wireless.
• The powerline 4-port switch will connect up to 4 devices at a time.
• The switch works on standard 240volt electrical service. No special electrical receptacles required.

So I wonder, am I wasting my time and money, wiring all this Ethernet cabling?! Technology sometimes develops too quickly. I haven’t even gotten the NEW stuff in yet, and already there’s something newer. Whew, it just blows my mind.

I am REALLY into space-saving devices. I dislike clutter. I like my furniture with legs (Queen Anne style) because I like the airy look. I dislike knick-knacks and other clutter, too.

So when I was searching around for computer monitor wall mounts and spotted this at Buy.com, it was instant love.

Isn’t that cool?! The Ergotron StyleView HD Combo. VERY expensive, though. A little too much for my budget. That model there is about $400. Even with Buy.com’s low prices, it’s still a lot of cash. But what a great space saver! Here’s hoping it goes on deep discount sometime…

This one is nice, too. It’s the Ergotron Neo-Flex, and it’s a lot less expensive (but still expensive) at less than $100.

I’m always fussing with my monitor, moving it to this side of the desk and then the other (I do a lot of things at my desk, not just computer work). The monitor is always in the way, so I’d like to get a mount for it or something. Plus, I also have a mini-station upstairs in a small bedroom… and the clothes dresser is not meant for holding a computer and monitor! Anyway, I’ve done a little research, and I think Ergotron makes the best monitor mounts. All the others are short and rather stiff; Ergotron seems to build in better engineering and support than the others. Of course, Ergotron is, like 2-3 times more expensive, too… Buy.com has great deals, but the Ergotron stuff just never seems to go down in price very much. oh well, maybe someday….