At Home In The Woods

[ruralruss]

We finally got furniture! Yay! It's nice that we can now have vistors and have a place for them to sit.

We bought a sofa and matching chair. We already had the love seat. My wife quickly gave up on finding used upholstered furniture on Craigslist so we bought these two pieces new from a local furniture store. It took about 6 weeks from time she ordered it with the color fabric she wanted until it was delivered. After the furniture was delivered, we moved the piano to where you see it in the pictures.

We are still looking on CL for end tables, a coffee table, and a dining room table with chairs. I certainly hope we find these pieces used; the prices on Craigslist make it evident how high the furniture mark-up is for new furniture. People are asking $700 for 4 year old dining room sets for which they paid $2000 new.

What I really want in a DR table is something that comfortably seats 8 people, but would prefer seating for 10 with removable leaves to shrink the size to 6 or 8 chairs normally. I also want a table that is rectangular with 4 almost straight legs; I don't like the pedestal legs because there's no good place for the person on the end to put his feet. We are looking for a dark wood, possibly cherry. Unfortunately, most of the cherry tables have the pedestal type legs that I consider to be impractical. The most common size of tables for sale on CL seat 6 people. We have a hand-me-down DR table that seats 6 so we don't have to get in a hurry. I look on CL everyday to see if something I like shows up. So far, nothing has shown up that both my wife and I really like. In contrast, several of the 6 chair light colored oak table sets show up for sale every week.

I like the old sewing machine. When I was young my grandma had one. I was fascinated by the machinery of it. I played with a lot. Maybe that why I became an Engineer. That and growing up on a farm!

 

[PAGUY]

Obed - Have you given any thought to attending estate auctions in your area? I have two auction houses in close proximity to where I live and there are always ads in the local paper of auctions on owner's property being held. I have two websites that I check on weekly to see what is being auctioned on the day of the auction. Just another idea for you to consider.

 

[dstig1]

Sounds like you are finding the same thing I did - used splitters are a rare find, at least around here. Lots of folks are very pleased with the Huskee or Speeco units (same thing, different label), especially for the cost. The word of caution is that the TSC folks are really bad about assembling correctly them so you want to check/tighten all fittings and oil levels before starting it up the first time. After that you should be good to go.

 

[Obed]

I was looking at the brand new Huskee log splitters at Tractor Supply today. 27 ton unit with a Honda engine is $1,600. They have those sales all the time, so I figure it will be ten or 20% off sooner or later.

I think that something like a log splitter, that gets abused without any preventative maintenance is something that is better off buying brand new. You will get 20 years use out of it easily if you take care of it, and if you buy used, you never know if it will work the next time you try to start it. No matter how cheap it is compared to new, that's just not something that I want to deal with when I want to split wood.

Good luck,
Eddie

Eddie,
You make some good points. I'm thinking I may have to buy new, regardless, because of availability and timing. You're right; I will use the splitter for many years. Home Depot had Troy Bilt 27 ton splitters with Honda engines for around 1400. I won't be surprised if I end up with one.
Obed

 

[Obed]

You might consider either painting your dining room chairs, and then apply a stencil design...I rather like your chairs....and painted furniture is `hot`.....Your wife is talented in that field, so why not let her do her thing.....Tony

Tony,
While our dining room chairs are ok, we really do not like the DR table. It has the pedestal legs and you cannot put a cold glass on the table without staining the table top. We can make do with it though until something that meets our liking comes up.
Obed

 

[Obed]

Obed,
We bought one of the Amish lighter colored oak tables, similar to this...
Amish Oak Dinning Table
only ours has a different style chairs which I prefer. I think I got ours for $400, with the three leaves and four chairs. I then was able to find two matching captains chairs that were $80 for the pair, and I actually even found a matching high chair for $35. I thought I did pretty well for just over $500. With all three leaves in we can (relatively) comfortably fit 10 at our table. Four on each side and then one on the end. If we want to squeeze a couple more we will add two more to the ends, normally kids, and can get twelve. Happy hunting, craigslist is a jungle.

Tororider,
It sounds like you did pretty well. Yes I would love to be able to seat 10 people; 12 would even be better. We like the simpler designs like you see on some of the furniture labeled "Amish". I saw an Amish table set I loved at a furniture mall in Hickory, NC. However, it was $4000; that's a little rich for my blood. I'd rather have some tractor implements.
Obed

 

[Obed]

I like the old sewing machine. When I was young my grandma had one. I was fascinated by the machinery of it. I played with a lot. Maybe that why I became an Engineer. That and growing up on a farm!

Russ,
The sewing machine was my wife's grandmothers'. There is semimental value to it in addition to the uniqueness. We also have her grandmother's fine china. My wife believes in using stuff you have, so we frequently will eat a meal using her grandmother's china, probably at least once a week.
Obed

 

[Obed]

Obed - Have you given any thought to attending estate auctions in your area? I have two auction houses in close proximity to where I live and there are always ads in the local paper of auctions on owner's property being held. I have two websites that I check on weekly to see what is being auctioned on the day of the auction. Just another idea for you to consider.

Yes, I've thought about that but haven't yet put any effort into it. Combing auctions can take some time; right now I'm just trying to get to the place where we can plant grass around the house.

 

[brin]

Yes, I've thought about that but haven't yet put any effort into it. Combing auctions can take some time; right now I'm just trying to get to the place where we can plant grass around the house.

Obed,

You are lucky, in our country you cannot get signed off on your final and get an occupancy permit without having a sodded lawn or planted seed with straw over the whole lawn...We went through that 6 yrs. ago...

 

[Obed]

I did some fine tuning at the back of the house near the upstairs back porch. My wife did not like how the grade dropped off quickly. Thus I made it so the transition from almost level to steep was a more gradual transition than before I started. I also made a suttle swell to keep water from running under the back porch deck. I'm being very **** about how the water runs off. I don't want water draining up against anything structural. It just makes sense to do so.

I drug the extra dirt down a gully in the woods. The picture makes it look like a new road but it is not a road. The path quickly becomes nothing. When the leaves fall for a few seasons, you will never know the dirt was added; at least that's my hope.

My wife is liking the grading work I'm doing. She says that everytime I do some grading she can see a striking difference. That's a good thing because she has been worried about the grade. She wants the grade to be attractive. I'm relieved she seems to like what she's seeing. I can do "practical"; accomplishing what she thinks is "attractive" is a bit harder.