Place Got Hit By Lightning? F**k You, Pay Me!

On July 14th, the Charleston area was having some wicked thunderstorms. Now, this is nothing new for this area and that's one of my favorite things (or was!) - the late afternoon thunderstorm abundance in the summer. Well, this day, it was ALL day. Steve was working and I'd had a long week at work, so I was throughly intending on just relaxing, maybe vegging out in front of the TV, you know, simple stuff.

I slept late then got up and had some breakfast. It was pouring out and had been thundering all morning, so I figured it was a perfect excuse to be a bum all day. I settled onto the loveseat, which is pretty much right in front of the TV (if you sit lengthwise on the couch, you're facing the TV) and Sammy jumped up and cuddled with me under my fuzzy blanket. The poor dog is terrified of thunderstorms, so he was looking for any place close to me that he could hide.

So we sit there for about an hour, flipping channels and listening to the thunder boom. At one point, it briefly crossed my mind to start unplugging shit but I figured, everything was on surge protectors so we should be ok. Eventually, the cable went out and I waited for a moment to see if it would pop back on. When it didn't, I shut the TV off and picked up a book I had been reading from the counter near me. About ten minutes later, I turned it back on and stared at it, maybe willing the cable to come back on.

Not even thirty seconds later, I heard a thunderclap so loud it sounded like the roof was caving in, a loud pop came from the TV and the power blinked off then on. I jumped about two feet off the couch and the dog burrowed under the blankets. I tried to press the power button and nothing. My TV, obviously, had just been struck by lightning.

Upon further inspection, it looked like we lost our microwave and that the Internet was down (which would be logical considering cable and Internet are all-in-one).

But it was Saturday and Steve was at work, so there wasn't much I could do at that point. When he got home, I informed him of the bad news (considering most of our lives during the week rotate between watching movies and TV shows or playing video games, this was kind of a big deal). I had assumed he would want to run right out and replace the TV, but we had already made plans to go to the drive-in, so we stuck with that.

So the next morning, we woke up with the sole mission of replacing the TV. Thankfully, we had the funds so we could explore more "upgrade" options, as opposed to "replacement options. Two hours later we came home with a 42" LCD HDTV that we picked up from Target for a fairly reasonable price. Our goal was to get us ready for the digital cable revolution and let us watch our movies and play our video games in much better clarity than we had. So it was a slightly sad goodbye to our 27" CRT flat-screen and hello to a brand new fancy big TV that really seems to stand out and work well in our place. (I guess it was sort of bittersweet because we didn't really WANT to buy a new TV at that time but we didn't want to go without one!)

But then ... the perfectionist in me couldn't be content with that. The shiny, upgraded, brand-new TV looked like an eyesore in our "crappy" Early American yard sale living room. Plus, the extra time we were spending on our third generation couches (meaning, we were the THIRD people to have these couches) was so uncomfortable because the cushions were worn out and the couches had just seen better days (and the fabric was sooooo 1980s).

And recently, I had discovered TLC and had been watching all of the home improvement and house flipping shows and the next weekend, I got to thinking that I could "refurb" the couches with some fabric and some foam. So I went on a shopping trip to Wal-Mart and somewhere while I was wandering the aisles, I decided to get a rug for the middle of the floor and some slipcovers, instead of fabric. Oh, and a staple gun, because I needed it for this project and why not have my own. I should think twice next time I start a project where I have to buy a staple gun.

Initially, I put plywood underneath the couch cushions and put some extra foam in the all of the cushions, which helped reshape them so they didn't shift as much when you sat down. I also stapled some extra foam to the arms because the stuff that was already there had been squished and beaten down so much over the years that it served no purpose anymore. I actually did this on top of the arms because I knew I'd be tossing the slipcovers over.

So, I laid the rug down, covered the couches and was satisfied. Except, the tables and the lamps didn't match anymore. And did I tell you that I had already gotten the brilliant idea to paint said tables and chairs to match. Because, they do it on Trading Spaces, so why can I?

Yeah, well, number one rule that we all are aware of already: it's harder than it looks. I won't go into how I gave myself tendonitis trying to sand the tables. Or how the base coat of the lamps came out gorgeous (matte olive spray paint) but the latex acrylic enamel in colonial red that I used for the accent was too glossy and made them look like Christmas. And how the matte black that I spray painted the tables kind of worked, except I had sort of given up on the sanding towards the end so there were spots that didn't blend well. And the final straw was the true blue that I wanted to paint the table tops and how it turned out neither as true or blue as I needed it to and it was ridiculously glossy too and once the lamps were set on top of it, it all looked ridiculously tacky. (In my defense, with all the colors, because you're probably thinking ewww! If you look at the pictures below, you'll see the different colors in the rug so I was trying to bring each one into some aspect with the tables and lamps - and well, not so much!).

So I made another trip to Wal-Mart (because it was close and I didn't feel like fighting my way to Target!) and came home with new tables and lamps, which I'd had no intention of buying but at that point, I'm thinking, fuck it, I'm that far in already. I five hours putting each table together and added the lamps. I was finally pretty much satisfied with the living room. Except for some of the art on the walls, which I fixed by heading to Marshall's and buying some prints they had on sale that seemed to match my rug perfectly.

But then, I started looking at the dinining room and realized how tacky it looked and how much it stood out. So it was off to Target, because this time I was in the neighborhood, where I picked up the table covers (I couldn't attempt any remodeling on this one as the table is borrowed from a friend) and another rug. And I had also picked up some bargain art from Marshall's for it too, so that was hung, and finally, FINALLY, I was satisfied.

Except - I put a nicer rug on the patio. And upon returning some of the stuff I didn't use the next weekend, I picked up a few knickknacks for the coffee table (a monkey votive candle holder and some kind of horn decoration!!), a plant and a new decoration for the dining room table. And finally, I completed my gallery of my own pictures above the TV, which I had started before anything and had been meaning to finish for awhile.

So you see? There's nothing horrible. You might say, hey, how is this bad, you got a whole new living room and a brand new TV? It's not BAD!!! It just shows how one fancy new electronic can create a downward spiral of redecorations and remodeling.

And it just shows why I've been banned from watching anymore TLC. Which hasn't officially happened because I still love my house flipping shows. But I think the remodel squelched any desire to do major work like that for a little bit so I'm not out looking for houses to renovate (but it has helped me see the potential in homes as we start house hunting).

So behold my masterpiece below and let me know what you think - especially with my galley, because I'm still a bit undecided about it. And a word of warning - don't go out and buy anything big that doesn't fit in with the rest of your stuff and combine that with a love of watching renovating shows on TLC. It's just a dangerous combination!!!!

More can be seen here: Apartment Remodel

P.S. In case you were wondering, our microwave was fixed. The lightning actually struck the GFI, so it took out all three outlets behind the stove but the microwave was fine. We went a few days without it and you just don't realize how much you need it until you don't have it (because defrosting is difficult without a microwave!!!). Oh, and the internet was out for five days because our cable modem apparently went out too. Finally fixed that as well!!!

P.P.S. We did have a surge protector but apparently, it wasn't good enough. So we had my brother hook us with a lovely discount on a monster one AND we bought the three year warranty on the new TV, which covers power surges. Better to play it safe than sorry!!!