Now that we're fully moved in to the new flat, we're dealing with the next step of setting up our household. You may remember that we left most of the furniture behind in Notting Hill, because it belonged to our landlords. For the new place, we bought couches and end tables from the previous tenants, and we inherited a pair of wardrobes for our clothes. But at a minimum, we still had to purchase some dining room chairs and a bookcase.
Get ready for a story that I hope is not too tedious.
We ordered a set of shelves that I saw, of all places, in an advertisement on the tube, and we also ordered an accompanying desk. Then Dave found a cool set of teak '60s chairs on Etsy to go with our vintage '60s dining table, so we ordered those too.
Then we began hitting snags. The guy selling the chairs asked for an unexpected shipping charge, which we choked down. Then we found out the chairs came with a table of their own. "It's in the ad," the seller said when Dave questioned him about the appearance of this mysterious table -- and sure enough when we rechecked the ad it said "...and table." (Dave is convinced the ad was edited, but I don't see how the dealer had any motive to throw in a table at no additional cost.)
So we had to decide whether we wanted that new table. We'd basically already paid for it. It only added £12 to the shipping, and accepting it would allow the set to be kept together. The downside -- we already have a table and had ordered a brand new desk!
We briefly dithered over this. The obvious solution was to keep the table and chairs together, use them for dining purposes, and use our existing table (built by my dad) as a desk. We cancelled the desk order from the other furniture company -- ultimately the most expensive of all these items, so we saved a chunk of money.
The table and chairs are supposed to arrive today, delivered from a vintage furniture dealer in Coventry. The shelves won't come for another few weeks, so until then our books will remain stashed in boxes and lining the windowsills.
(Photo: A grocery near our new flat. Georgia on my mind!)
Can't wait to see pictures!
ReplyDeletePleased you were able to get the table and chair dilemma sorted and also pleased you kept the table your Dad made - extra desk space never goes astray.
ReplyDeleteMs Soup
Ah- it will all be settled eventually and you will take a look around, breathe a deep sigh, and relax a tiny bit.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on the successful move. I bet it feels good to have that behind you.
ReplyDeletesetting up a new house is my favorite part of moving.
ReplyDeleteWell, I am still complaining about my computer...we are moaners.Our problems are - not very much. I would accept the table and sell it if I did not like it but you have solved the problem very well. Good job!
ReplyDeleteI love the word conundrum.
ReplyDeleteChaos attends every move. This seems like a big adventure. Even the furniture can tell a story.
I hope you get into gardening at least a little bit. I don't do much but what I do is so satisfying and fascinating to the mad scientist part of me.
So happy for you two.
Also: loved the vintage gals in yesterday's post.
ReplyDelete