If you recall when we got our mattress and
boxspring delivered we were a little, uh... surprised by how TALL it was. It was something that honestly I just couldn't deal with for the first week it was in the house. We've been sleeping on a full bed in the guest room while they finish our master bed/bath, so it was out of sight/out of mind. But
everytime I went in there I had a bit of an anxiety attack about it.
.... so one night this week while husband was practicing piano downstairs, I decided to go in and actually investigate. These photos don't adequately show how GIANT this set on our bed is. I'm 5'2. Literally the height came to about mid-torso for me. I tried climbing up onto it and that was something, but then getting Off the bed was even more ridiculous. We had joked that I would need a trampoline or step stool to get on and off the thing, but turns out it wasn't so much of a joke. It's one thing now, but can you imagine when I'm pregnant or when I'm 65? I'd need an automatic lift to get into bed! Also, I was not happy with the way it took over the whole room.
Our bed (from the Valencia collection from Pottery Barn) doesn't need a
boxspring. I had just assumed that since we had a
boxspring before that we would want a set again, however it's clear that our old mattress which was a real cheapo kind had a MUCH smaller profile.. suddenly with a high quality mattress it was overwhelming. I decided the
boxspring had to go.
ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh..... SO much better.
The whole room
opened up again and I don't fear for my safety when I think about going to sleep in this room. In comparison it looks a bit low now, but add a fluffy duvet and some pillows and it will be perfect.
Now you can actually see the lovely settee from the other side of the room. Okay so problem solved.... except we now have another problem on our hands..... we have a queen size
boxspring. I could really kick myself because had I just ordered the mattress alone in the first place we would have saved $$$. After weighing all options, we had decided to go with a high quality, Royal
Pedic all organic mattress set.... so it's not your standard
boxspring either.... On Monday they are going to call back and let me know for sure, but on speaking with the vendor, they basically said that the cost to ship it back is so great that we won't really get any refund at all. So here are our options-- please, please weigh in-- we've been going back and forth all weekend.
1. Try to sell it. We had a nibble on craigslist, but for literally pennies on the dollar for what we spent. The pro of this is it would be off our hands and we could put it out of our minds. M. said if this is the one expense mishap in our whole rebuild it's relatively minor.... still it's painful to take such a financial hit on-- jeeze-- a mattress mistake!
2. Donate it. Pro is I think we could claim a deduction for the full amount. But it seems somehow a bit strange somehow to donate such a high-end unopened... boxspring.
3. Keep it. Here's where things get tricky. We have a full size set for the guest bedroom, but we could buy a queen mattress for this boxspring and have another fully-functional guest bedroom. In future years, though, these guest bedrooms will hopefully have permanent residents. I know plenty of kids grow up sleeping on full size beds... but to have a queen size in a kids bedroom....? Especially being that these are not huge rooms and we don't have a basement or other playroom area.....
Argh. I've now flip-flopped once again on this.... opinions are welcome and I'll keep you posted...
... and here's our deck in progress.
What's so amazing about this product is these little caps that go over the nail heads so they all but disappear.
Tomorrow Greg is coming to regrade our property, deliver a bunch of topsoil and build in the drainage. He'll wait to seed and hay until the soil warms a bit more, but we may start seeing some basic landscaping on Saturday. Meanwhile.. I've got my own gardening plan in the works.
.... so one night this week while husband was practicing piano downstairs, I decided to go in and actually investigate. These photos don't adequately show how GIANT this set on our bed is. I'm 5'2. Literally the height came to about mid-torso for me. I tried climbing up onto it and that was something, but then getting Off the bed was even more ridiculous. We had joked that I would need a trampoline or step stool to get on and off the thing, but turns out it wasn't so much of a joke. It's one thing now, but can you imagine when I'm pregnant or when I'm 65? I'd need an automatic lift to get into bed! Also, I was not happy with the way it took over the whole room. 
Our bed (from the Valencia collection from Pottery Barn) doesn't need a boxspring. I had just assumed that since we had a boxspring before that we would want a set again, however it's clear that our old mattress which was a real cheapo kind had a MUCH smaller profile.. suddenly with a high quality mattress it was overwhelming. I decided the boxspring had to go.
ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh..... SO much better.
The whole room opened up again and I don't fear for my safety when I think about going to sleep in this room. In comparison it looks a bit low now, but add a fluffy duvet and some pillows and it will be perfect.
Now you can actually see the lovely settee from the other side of the room. Okay so problem solved.... except we now have another problem on our hands..... we have a queen size boxspring. I could really kick myself because had I just ordered the mattress alone in the first place we would have saved $$$. After weighing all options, we had decided to go with a high quality, Royal Pedic all organic mattress set.... so it's not your standard boxspring either.... On Monday they are going to call back and let me know for sure, but on speaking with the vendor, they basically said that the cost to ship it back is so great that we won't really get any refund at all. So here are our options-- please, please weigh in-- we've been going back and forth all weekend.
Speaking of landscaping-- here are the few plants we did purchase. Some dragon lady holly for the back (my new nickname with dear husband has become dragon lady) and a couple of contractor boxwoods to cover the huge gas meter on the side of the house.
They started the deck the other day.... (Seen from out the french sliding door off the dining room). Pretty hardware, no?
...and here's a view of the deck (in progress) from the outside.
