This Girl’s House

January 4, 2009

Towels – Hallmarks of a Fresh Statement to any Bathroom

Filed under: Home Improvement,Product Review — ThisGirl @ 11:37 am

Desperate to get out of the house after 2 weeks of being snow bound, I headed off to the mall for some after Christmas shopping sales.  It wasn’t quite the madhouse that was advertised, but it was crowded.  I headed to JC Penney’s, an ad placed in my mailbox indicated a linen sale.  We needed new towels for the both bathrooms.  Stevie was tired of using the rags that I had collected over the years (I think I last purchased a set of towels 2 decades before), and I was ready for a fresh statement that not even new paint can convey in a bathroom.  Paint a bathroom, great.  Plush towels are even better.  I figured that with the 50% off sale, plus $15 dollar off coupon, we could afford to get some pretty neat towels. 

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I paid $12 a piece for the Chris Madden towel collection (regular $24.99), a gorgeous Artic Blue (a combination of dark blue/dark gray), the 58″ length.  I bought 6 towels and 6 washcloths for the master bedroom. 

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I also purchased another Chris Madden towel collection in a sage color for the guest bedroom.  Not the hotel special but still a nice weight and feel to it. 

All totaled, I purchased 2 towel collections for $175.  I had never spent that much for towels, but they make a nice addition to the bathrooms.  After I finished my shopping at the mall, I stopped by Target and picked up for 4 towels in a dark navy blue for $2.99 a piece. 

Now you might ask why I didn’t buy all of my towels at Target.  First, even though these towels were still a great find, they were not the quality and weight of the Chris Madden towel collection.  In this case, you get what you paid for.  For one thing, they were thinner.  Also, in the washing machine, these towels had a tendency to bleed and pill.  They won’t last long, and after a single washing, they’re not the dark dark blue that they once were.  I was only using these towels to lay on the floor when we get out of the tub or the shower.  I was no longer interested in having rugs for the bathroom floor.  I had found that keeping bathroom rugs was not sanitary, and the cats and dogs just used them as play toys.

 Now if I only I could decide on the perfect towel rack.  Towel racks didn’t come with the home that I had built.  Neither did toilet roll holders.  I’m not sure what to get for both bathrooms.  I’m thinking that I would like the hotel type of towel rack that usually juts over the toilet filled with plush towels and other supplies but I’m still thinking about the possiblities.

January 1, 2009

Staining The Kitchen Cabinet

Filed under: Renovation — ThisGirl @ 10:51 pm

I started staining the kitchen island cabinets.  Well, I’m starting on a door.  I picked up a can of Old Masters Penetrating Stain in a Rich Mahogony color.  So far, the color has gone on very deep and smooth. 

Microwave Hood

Filed under: Product Review,Renovation — ThisGirl @ 10:28 pm

The last appliance we purchased for the kitchen was a stainless steel microwave hood.  The microwave had gone out (it had lasted more than 14 years), and the range ho od was white and didn’t match the other stainless steel appliances we had recentlybought for the kitchen e.g., the refrigerator, stove and dishwasher.  We purchased a Kenmore Stainless Steel 30″ MicroHood for $350 from Sears.  Here’s the review that wrote about the product and published on the Kenmore web site.

“I love how this microwave/hood works. The microwave is powerful. The range hood is has powerful suction. It’s a great looking piece to the kitchen.

My only complaint with the micro/hood is the lighting. It’s very dim as an another reviewer indicated. I’m going to have to add above cabinet lightening over the stove to compensate. In addition, it’s absolute impossible to read the writing on the microwave panel in such a low lighting situation. The lettering on the panel is a mid gray color against a darker gray. There is not enough contrast to read the panel without additional lighting.

I have pressed the wrong keys in the past, which could be dangerous. I’m thinking of having some symbols printed in a higher contrast medium that I might paste or tape over the pad, or perhaps adding additional lighting over the cabinet with a focused beam on the panel might help to. My partner has the same problem with this feature of the microwave.”

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