Professional Photos Make All the Difference

I had a photographer in our area come take some pictures of my daughter this week.

Oh, my, I could look at them all day!!

 

Here she is on her bed.

Neha (the photographer) grabbed her rocker out of her bedroom and put in our entryway.

She looks so much older in this photo.  I am so thankful that she got her daddy's blue eyes.

This is what she really looks like most of the time.  I just love her new big teeth!!

If you live in the Houston/Galveston area and want some amazing photos of your family, give Neha a chance to do what she did for me for you.

Beach House Renovation {my new botantical}

I love to garden and I love botanicals.

Remember, when I redid my master bedroom and filled my large wall with ten custom botanicals that Julie Harris made for me.

 These beauties still make me happy every day.  They were worth every penny!

For the beach house I wanted something a little more dramatic with all the white planked walls.

I have admired the work of Becky Davis forever.

She has been featured in Garden & Gun, Southern Living, Southern Accents and Martha Stewart Living, just to name a few.

You would think that someone who has been featured in all of the magazines would be a little uppity.  

You'd be dead wrong!

She is so extremely humble and just one of the sweetest women I have ever talked to.

She collects her specimens around her home, her framer offices out of her garage and her calligrapher lives next door.

She has this down! 

A few photos of her work:

I ended up choosing a large 30-by-40-inch water lily.

Sorry for the iPhone photo and all the junk around the house.

The water lily is green on one side and kind of an eggplant color on the other.  

I love the way she mounts the lily showing both colors.

I will get some better shots when the house is more put together but I could not resist sharing this.

I am planning on ordering a smaller one from Becky soon and a couple from Julie for our bedroom.

I'm obsessed!

 

Using the Pool {Finally!}

My husband was going to throw our daughter in the pool when he got home from work last week.

I snuck around to get a video.

It was a day before my birthday.

Best birthday gift ever:  To laugh so hard you sound like a horse!!

Beach House Renovation {my new "vintage" medicine cabinet}

The last few weekends we have been slowly putting old things back into the beach house and purchasing some new things as well,

Even though I still do not have my stove connected or a washer and dryer, we have stayed there three weekends in a row and kind of "roughed it" because we could not keep ourselves away.

This last weekend I ordered a piece that I am really excited about for our downstairs bath.

Looking into the bath from the living room is a planked wall that is between the vanity and the bathtub.

I found this glossy black medicine cabinet (the largest one) that I will use to store white towels and some bath toiletries.

Don't you JUST LOVE IT???

It was definitely pricey but I think so worth it.

Below is the vanity in that same bath room.

See the stool to the left.  I am going to paint that either a dark grey or the same color as the walls.

I also want to get a couple of scientific beakers and keep fresh greenery on the vanity like I keep on my nightstand.

I am so grateful that the house is finally coming together.

Hopefully, it will not be long before I can go back to just enjoying being at the beach with my family rather than obsessing over what I should do here and there in the house.

However, obsessing over those things is kind of fun, too.

How to File A Dispute with Restoration Hardware

I have purchased A LOT of items from Restoration Hardware.

A lot!

While most everything has held up beyond my expectation, I have had a couple of instances where I've had to file a dispute to get something replaced.

Do you remember when we put in our outdoor kitchen in November 2011?

  

I fell in love with the Provence outdoor furniture and purchased several pieces.

Each piece has held up perfectly, except for the Provence dining chairs.

 

 This spring I noticed that they were all turning green.

I actually went to our local Restoration Hardware and the guy there said just to power wash them and they would clean up fine.

Well, they didn't.

In comes Restoration's Photo Review.

I emailed these pictures (which I didn't think really showed how green the chairs were) to photoreview@restorationhardware.com with a brief explanation of the problem I was having with the chairs.  

Remember, this is almost two years later.

Within days I received an email that they would be replacing the chairs and to expect a call from the delivery service soon.

When the beachhouse renovation was winding up, I ordered the Belgian Slope Arm Sofa for our new living room.

The first time I sat on it, I knew something was off but I could not put my finger on it.  Then I realized that the back cushions were WAY TOO LOW.

Our sofa below . . .

 

. . . is definitely not this sofa from the website.

I emailed Photo Review and attached the above photo of our new sofa.

The first response I received was this:

Dear Vikki,

Thank you for contacting Restoration Hardware Photo Review.  I am sorry that you are not happy with the appearance of the back cushions on your 8' Belgian Slope Arm Slipcovered Sofa from order 6556348.  I appreciate you taking the time to provide photos showing the issue.  I have reviewed the photos provided and do not see any defect with the back cushions on your sofa.  The photos show the back cushions fitting as they should as they are designed to be loose and casual in appearance.  As there is no defect, I am unable to accommodate a return or exchange.

If you have any further questions or concerns, please contact us either via e-mail at photoreview@restorationhardware.com or by calling (877) 777-7059.

Again, thank you for contacting Restoration Hardware Photo Review.
 
Sincerely,

Barbara Land
E-Mail Customer Service Advocate
Restoration Hardware

I was seriously dumbfounded.  

So, I re-emailed Photo Review again and included the above two photos:  My sofa and the sofa on their website.

 Hi Barbara,

Hopefully the photos below will help you reconsider.  As you can see in the RH photo below, the back cushions come higher than the back of the sofa and my cushions do not even come even with the back of the sofa.
When you sit down on the sofa, you have no support for your upper back and almost do a backbend unless you have extra pillows for support.  When I spoke with the sales rep at my local store in Houston (Troy at Highland Village) he assured me that this is not the way the sofa is supposed to be.  This is not the way the sofa looks in the store either or I would have never purchased it.
I am thinking that my back cushions are actually the front cushions on a much longer sofa perhaps?

Please let me know if you need anything further from me.  I am planning on getting the local store to take a photo of their sofa on the floor to compare also.

Thanks for your help!

Vikki 

I was pleased when I received the return email below:

 Dear Vikki,

Thank you for your response regarding order 6556348.  I have ordered you replacement back casings and cores for your 8' Belgian Slope Arm Slipcovered Sofa.  Both the casings and cores are expected to ship in mid June.  You can expect delivery via UPS within 3-7 business days from the date the items become available.  When they ship, you will receive a shipping confirmation e-mail which will include UPS tracking information.  After shipment, the delivery can be tracked by visiting www.ups.com.

As always, if you have any further questions or concerns, please contact us either via e-mail at photoreview@restorationhardware.com or by calling (877) 777-7059.

Again, thank you for contacting Restoration Hardware Photo Review.
 
Sincerely,

Barbara Land
E-Mail Customer Service Advocate
Restoration Hardware

So, just remember, if you file a complaint and are not happy with the response, re-email until you are happy.

I feel that Restoration Hardware will ultimately do what it takes to keep the customer happy. 

Have any of you ever had an issue with anything you purchased at RH? 

 
 

 

 

Fluffing Up the Playhouse {white paint and bunting}

Around Christmas I finally got around to painting the inside of Conner's playhouse white.

I bought some cute burlap bunting from Etsy and added an A/C unit and electricity also.

Added a cute little chandelier from Home Depot.

I love watching her playing out there when it's dark.  The lights are on inside and I can see every move she makes.

Beach House Renovation Update {we have a barn door but I need help!}

The barn door for the master bedroom entry was installed over the weekend.

This is the problem:
I had every intention of staining the door the same color as the hardwoods but I am really liking the natural wood here.

Should I maybe just seal it and call it a day? 

Below:  The stair railings are still covered with paper and tape.

I had planned on having the rail stained the same color as the floors and barn door but now I am kind of confused.

Help!!