…is the average amount of time a person spends in the bathroom during their lifetime.
As I type, our plumber is installing three brand new toilets in our almost-ready-to-live-in house. Is it weird that I’m excited about toilets? Probably, but I’m guessing you would be, too, if it meant you were going to be in your house soon. Toilet shopping isn’t as glamorous or exciting as picking out tile or cabinetry, but everybody has to do it at some point. You’re going to spend thousands of hours using this fixture in your lifetime. Therefore, make sure you get one that not only looks great, but functions well.
With that said, when deciding on our toilet of choice, we didn’t really have that many requirements. We wanted our toilet fit in well with the overall feel of the house, so bright white was a necessity. We also prefer an elongated seat as opposed to the “standard” circular toilets that were in the house when we purchased it. The process was far from simply walking in and back out with a toilet 10 minutes later, but it’s nothing to be scared of.
Like I said, we wanted something that would contribute to the overall feel and design of the bathrooms and house as a whole. We went to several places looking for the perfect toilet. While we were shopping around, we stumbled upon one that really fit well with our bathroom, Kohler’s Memoirs Two-Piece, elongated, comfort height toilet in white:
Another thing we like about this particular toilet is that it matches the under-mount sinks we purchased for the master bathroom and hall bathroom. We normally don’t like things all “matchy-matchy” (as Ashley says), but we thought this subtle similarity would be a nice cohesive touch.
When we first decided on this toilet, like any responsible, budget-conscious homeowner, we searched for a better price online. Our initial find was listed at $365. After some Googling, we found listings for the same toilet from $1,303 down to $255. So we marched back up to Home Depot with a printout of our $255 listing in hand, and just as we were hoping, they gladly sold us three toilets for our newly found price of $255 – no questions asked.
One thing we love about this toilet is that it comes as a complete kit in the box. We highly recommend this because it puts everything you need for a clean, tight install right in the box. If you decide to get a plumber like we did, he might use some of his own materials, but it’s nice to know he won’t end up having to stop because he ran out of something or didn’t have a part that fit.
On he plate for this weekend: moving our stuff from Ashley’s parents’ house (where we’ve been living while the renovations have been underway) to our house. We couldn’t be more excited to spend the first night in our new (to us) home! And now we even have new toilets! Woo Hoo!
‘Tis the season for holiday baking! For this week’s edition of Etsy Thursday, we decided to round up a few of our favorite baking-related items found on Etsy:
Even Donna Reed herself would have to approve of this festive Vintage Poinsettia Pleated Apron from CoffeeKlatch Vintage Linens. Straight from the 1950′s, CoffeeKlatch has a very good selection of vintage linens. Including a few seasonal options to bring that vintage charm to your holiday baking rituals. Just browsing through all of them will take you right back to the days of Lucy Ricardo, Donna Stone and June Cleaver. If you rather have a vintage apron to use year around, no problem. Etsy has 4,983 (and counting) search results for “vintage apron”. Needless to say, you have a wide selection to choose from!
Cookie Exchange Parties are so much fun! I’ve always wanted to host one but have never gotten around to doing it. Maybe next year when we aren’t in the midst of unpacking. Fingers crossed. With this kit from Did Someone Say Party?, you will have everything you need in order to host a memorable Cookie Exchange Party (just add cookies!). The kit comes with handmade vintage-style invitations with custom lined envelopes, table tent cards, gift tag favors in custom made pillow boxes, recipe cards, adorable bags for your cookies and even bags for your guest to take home their delicious loot. With all of that preparation done for you, all you have to do is bake the cookies!
Sometimes the old way of doing things is the best way. Kind of like this nifty Appalachian Broom Style Cake Tester. This handmade tool is not only unique but really handy too. Just break off a straw and insert it into the center of your baked dish. If the straw comes out clean, ta da! It’s done. This would be a great stocking stuffer!
Next week, we’re going to showcase some unique gifts for HIM found on Etsy.
7th House on the Left does not accept payment or perks for anything in our Etsy Thursday features. We simply have an obsession with Etsy that we want to share with everyone : )
It’s finally here! Our favorite month of the year! Not only is it the much anticipated Christmas season, but we also get to celebrate our 3rd wedding anniversary on the 29th! Needless to say, there are much festivities to be had. So without further ado, here’s Greg to share his favorite things for December:
1. Nothing says Christmas like… circuit boards? Yep. This Recycled Circuit Board Christmas Tree is great for any geek, gadget-lover or electronics aficionado. Deck the halls with blinking LEDs… Fa la la la la la la la la.
2. This 4 Function Ruler Pen from Uncommon Goods would make a good stocking stuffer. It’s a pen, pencil, highlighter, PDA stylus and a ruler. Perfect for simplifying the kitchen “junk drawer” (everyone has one of those!).
3. Seeing as how I also included Charlie Brown Thanksgiving last month, you might have guessed, I’m a huge fan of Charlie Brown, especially during the holidays. No matter how many times you watch A Charlie Brown Christmas, you always find yourself pulling for the poor little tree. And who can forget Linus’ 2-dimensional head bob dance? Truly a classic for the ages!
4.Holiday S’more Kit from Crate & Barrel. Handmade marshmallows, chocolate and graham crackers. ‘Nuff said, right? I’m going to have to try these with Starbucks’ Christmas Blend, which is further down the list. Heavenly experience? Probably.
5. Bentley loves pretty much anything from Harry Barker. So this Santa Gift Bucket full of gifts if an easy choice for Bentley to open on Christmas morning (Yes, he actually has gifts to open. It’s all Ashley’s doing — I promise). The hard part will be keeping him from sniffing it out and ripping up the package before Christmas!
6. Progressive metal orchestral story-driven Christmas music? Yep. The Trans-Siberian Orchestra has been a favorite of mine for years, and seeing them in concert only reinforced my already high opinion. Lasers, floating platforms and pyrotechnics are just as impressive as the music. Go see them if you can. If not, pick up Christmas Eve and Other Stories. It’s is the quintessential TSO album.
7. Every good geek needs a USB-powered Christmas desk ornament like this Snowbot from ThinkGeek! What good are all those USB ports on your computer if you’re not using them to power stuff, anyway? With a few powered USB hubs, you could even make a Snowbot army to (forcibly) spread cheer to everyone in your cube farm. Just a thought.
8. Let me say this first: Starbucks’ Christmas Blend isn’t a flavored coffee. It’s just a great cold-weather, warms-your-soul kind of coffee. The Starbucks website suggests anything spicy/citrus-y as a pairing. They don’t list it, but their blueberry scones are awesome with this blend. And like I said above, s’mores sound like an awesome pairing. I’ll let you know how that goes!
Now I’m going to hand the keyboard back to Ashley so she can share her favorite things for December…
1. I am a part of that small percentage of people who hate Peppermint Bark. Nope, not a fan. Weird, I know. Or so I’m told. But oddly enough, I am loving the Peppermint Bark lip shine by Philosophy. It’s light and minty and has a really nice sheen to it that lasts a long time. In my opinion, you just can’t go wrong with anything from Philosophy.
2. I love writing notes. Especially around the holidays. I have a wide selection of notecards and paper tucked away in my office (Well, they are currently in a box…somewhere.) and my favorite notecards to use around this time of year is Paper Source’s Mitten Stationery.
3. My beloved White Christmas Yankee Candle is now discontinued. Yes, very very sad. I was so bummed about it. But then I found a replacement for my long lost love: Yankee Candle’s Winter Wonderland. It’s scent is so festive that you can almost hear the sleigh bells in the air… Sounds corny, I know, but it’s true.
4. These miniature camera ornaments are adorable! Last year, I used them on a mini tree in my office. I can’t wait to unpack them and use them again this year!
5. I love using bakers twine throughout the year but I especially love using it around Christmas. There’s just something festive about it. I love to pair it with a solid chocolate brown wrapping paper for simple and chic gift wrap solution. And it’s very affordable too!
6. Since we are now moving into our house, we’ve had a lot of family members ask us what we want for the house for Christmas. It’s always kinda awkward — you know what I mean? I’d much rather search for that special gift for someone than telling them what we want for Christmas. So, my mother-in-law asked us to make a “wish list” and that got us thinking. After a little Google search, we stumbled upon MyRegistry.com. It. is. so. cool! You can add items from any website and make notes about color, quantity, size, etc. or even where you plan on using it in the house. Whenever someone purchases a gift from your list, it automatically updates it as purchased. One major perk about MyRegistry.com is you can put a password on your list so you can only share it with close family members rather than whoever hears you have a registry there. How cool is that?
7. I love my Kitchen Aid mixer. It was one of the very first wedding gifts we received when we got married almost three years ago and I use it all the time! If you don’t already have one of these beauties, Christmas is the perfect time to get (or give) one. Not only is it the season for baking, but you can always find these for a good deal around this time of year.
8. Just on my mom’s side of the family, we have 11 people exchanging gifts on Christmas Eve. That’s a lot of people. So in order to keep track of who’s is who’s, I love using these Paper Source Holiday Stickers. You can also use them on baked goods, crafts or on quick notes.
9. Indoors or out, Christmas wreaths are so festive and really bring home the holiday decor. I’m loving this full, Amaryllis Wreath from Crate & Barrel. It’s fun, rich with color and has an organic quality to it that makes it natural looking.
That’s it for this month’s installment of our favorite things. Do you have any fall favorites? Share them in the comment section.
