Flowers!!!!!

Hello Blogging Friends.

I am doing the Happy Dance and do you know why?!!!!

It is Flower Time here in my neck of the woods.

Finally Old Man Winter has let go of us here in Illinois.  Hopefully we will have a little Spring and then OH YES SUMMER!!!!

I went to my favorite nursery for my flowers on Mother's Day.
 
That is the tradition I have for My Mother's Day.
 
I start my planting on Mother's Day.

My two daughters and granddaughter's and I had pedicures and brunch on Saturday to celebrate Mother's Day.
That leaves us the actual day to rest, relax or do whatever we want.
I chose each year weather permitting to start my flowers.

This is my first trip.  It usually is two trips for me to get all the flowers.
Buddy was a bit concerned if there was going to be room in the car for him!

Okie Dokie!!! here is my Pottery Barn Story! 

As you know I custom ordered this sectional from Pottery Barn a while back. 
Almost all of their furniture is custom ordered.  Nothing in stock for immediate delivery.

I originally ordered it to fit in the room in a whole different way.
That did not work out as planned.

On top of it not really fitting in my small space the way I had envisioned,  I had some issues with the cushions and a couple of the covers.

To make a long story short I will never order something I cannot sit on or really have all the information on the warranty.

I ordered the high performance fabric for this piece.  It is guaranteed to hold up to every stain imaginable and clean like a dream!

Nope one of the cushions had a rip that I noticed where the pipping did not catch with the fabric.

Then Buddy ran in on a rainy day with mud on his paws and I used mild soap and water like they said and it took the mud off right away but I noticed as it dried it lightened the fabric where I cleaned.

Number 3 issue on the larger seat cushion it kept breaking down and going flat where we sat on it.  After only having the sectional for two months it looked worn and flat and uncomfortable.

I called customer service and they had me take pictures and send them the issues in an email.  Then it took them two weeks to get back to me on what they would do with the issues.  Their answer was to send out new covers and new cushions.
Ok good.
The problem is the cushions are doing the same thing.

Not Happy!

I thought this is not good.  I paid a lot of money for this sectional and was not happy with the quality of the cushions.

I decided to sell the piece and lucky for me I found a buyer that gave me almost what I paid for it new.  That was a welcome relief since I could not return a custom piece back to Pottery Barn no matter how unhappy I was.

So it has gone to a new home.

It was a sad lesson to learn on something so expensive.

So now what?!!!!!

I was on the site that I buy and sell items and saw this sweet Rachel Ashwell Shabby Chic Couture line loveseat up for sale.
This love seat sells for over $4,000 on her website.
I know crazy but if you ever sat on her pieces you would see how wonderful her furniture is.

Never in my lifetime did I ever think I would own one of her pieces with how expensive they are.

Well here she is.  More my style and fits so much better in the room. 
It opens up my window.

I am looking for a recliner for that open corner for Terry to be comfy and watch TV in this room with me.

I like having that window open it lets so much more light into this room.

Here is a picture of the couch from Rachel's Ashwell's site.  If you would like to see her collections you can go here.

Her furniture is made with down cushions and beautiful fabrics for slipcovers.

I have to say I lay on this couch at night and fall asleep many times it is that comfy.
Even Terry sat on it and said how comfy it is.

With how expensive these are I never thought I would ever own one of her pieces.

The lady I bought the loveseat from sold it to me for $400 and I tell you that was a bargain of a life time.

Finding this piece after being so upset with the PB sectional was a true blessing.

I still cannot believe I have this piece in my living room!

Now I am on the hunt for the perfect chair for Terry and I will add some pillows and fun decor and have that to show you in the future.

I debated on sharing my story but thought it might help one of you out there that might be thinking about buying a custom piece of furniture.

My suggestions after my experience is to make sure you can actually see the piece in the show room that you are ordering.  You can actually sit or lay on it.  Make sure you understand any warranties and company policies.

I got so tunnel visioned on the size being right for the room.  We measured and re measured and it was going to fit.  Nope not like we had hoped.

Pottery Barn also voids your warranty if you move or sell the piece to someone else.  I think that is terrible.
When you spend that kind of money and if they back their product the warranty should be in place no matter who has the sectional.
It blew my mind when the customer service person told me even if we moved from the house we are now and still had the sectional it would no longer be under warranty.

 What difference does it make where I live with the piece?  They should be guaranteeing the fabric and quality of the piece no matter where it is!!!!

That is crazy and one of the reasons I will never buy something so expensive from them again.

I have friends that have PB pieces and they love them. 
I am not bashing PB because I know they have nice pieces and probably many of you out their own something from PB and love it.

This was not my experience.
I should have never ordered something I could not see or sit on in the show room.  I also do not like their policy on their furniture and fabrics. 

 I hope my learning curve might help one of you thinking about buying something custom no matter if it is at Pottery Barn or another store.

My story ended well.  I was able to resale the sectional and was able to get the new RA Shabby Chic Couture Loveseat I have dreamed about.

Hope you all had a wonderful Mom's Day.
Enjoy the week ahead.
Off to plant more flowers.
Yeah!!!!
Hugs,
Kris