When I saw my sister over Thanksgiving, she was telling me about her brand new clock. Well, not completely new, but new to her! And we don’t normally get excited over clocks, but this clock is a special cuckoo clock that belonged to her grandmother once upon a time. Shortly before Grandma died, she gave the clock to her daughter and son in law, and now they’ve given the clock to my sister. She had it fixed, polished up, and hung it on the wall in her living room. The clock was a gift to Grandma when she retired from her job in New Jersey, and it was so nice, the clock shop where my sister had it repaired offered to buy it!

Myself, personally, I’ve always been partial to grandfather clocks. I think the constant cuckoo sound of a cuckoo clock would eventually drive me…well, cuckoo. I’ve got nothing against the deep chimes of a grandfather clock though! My mother has always wanted a grandfather clock, and she was (I think) a teeny bit jealous when Jim and I received one from his grandmother. I’d love to get her a grandfather clock of her own for Christmas one year, like these Howard Miller grandfather clocks, but I’ll definitely need to convince the siblings to chip in on that gift with me. Knowing my mother, she’d love the Howard Miller Majestic Grandfather Clock I’ve shown here. It’s got additional shelves inside where collectibles can be displayed, making it a clock and a curio cabinet of sorts. And did you know that Howard Miller clocks are made in the USA?

When we built our home last year, we got to choose a lot of options, but none of the things we got to pick were truly custom. For example, I have a nice little island in my kitchen that matches the rest of my cabinets. Had I been given the choice, I would have loved to have done a custom cabinet in the center of my kitchen with a shelf for my cookbooks. In the bathrooms, we have standard cabinet vanities - I would have much rather had a unique bathroom vanity lthat looked like an antique. It’s unique home decor like the vanities pictured there that will set me apart from the other 10 people who have the same house I do in my neighborhood - LOL! You won’t find bathroom vanities like that at your local home improvement store either - your best bet for saving money on such an item is to order it online. You’ll pay much less than buying it locally.

In the meantime, I’ve thought about pulling down the huge (plain) mirror in my bathroom that the builder installed, and adding 2 framed oval mirrors about the double sinks. I hate knowing my bathroom isn’t unique, and I’d love to give it a little more style!

So you’re looking for furniture, and not finding the look you want, or the price you need, anywhere? I know all too well how hard it is to find something you love in a price point you can afford. We found the nicest dining room table last year when we were shopping for a set. Beautiful construction, beautiful colors, the perfect size for our dining room. The only trouble was that it would have cost us $5000. I didn’t want to buy a table that I’d be afraid to eat on, so we let that one go.

I recently discovered the secret to saving money on furniture, but still getting the look you want. Buying your modern platform beds and contemporary sectionals from a wholesale furniture broker will save you time AND money. The chain has 39 outlets, which allows you the option of having something shipped to pick up at your local store, or paying for white-glove delivery to your home. Because these items are offered online, GoWFB.com can stock the latest trends at a great price.

Their selection of recliners is amazing, especially the theater seating. It’s so high quality and unique it looks like custom theater seating. With theater and media rooms continuing to be such a big trend in homes, this recliner featuring a built in cupholder, adjustable headrest, and easy pushback operation would be a great addition to any great room!

When my husband and I were first married, and actually, until a few years ago, every single piece of furniture we had was a hand me down. It feels SO nice to have new stuff, lemee tell you! And while we’ve got nice furniture now, it’s not all brand new. We’ve still got hand me down furniture in 2 of the kid’s rooms, and I sure am looking forward to replacing it next year. The trouble is that we bought my oldest daughter’s set from a local kids chain, and there’s not another set there I like. Same thing with the other stores we’ve found in the area. Most of the kids furniture seems either too juvenile, cheaply made, or a combination of both of those.

So yes, I would seriously consider purchasing from an internet furniture store, especially if it meant getting exactly what I wanted and not settling. The Jessica McClintock children’s furniture shown here is exactly what I’d like - something that will take my kids into their teen years, but something that doesn’t look too grown up for them right now. Here’s another reason why GreatPriceFurniture.com beats the local competition - delivery within 1 to 4 weeks! All of the local stores promise that in their ads, but they VERY rarely deliver, as we’ve found. In fact, we just waited 4 MONTHS for the chair for my daughter’s room that we ordered from a big local chain. When you buy furniture, don’t you want it now? Not in a few months. The site also offers a no interest and no payments deal, just like your local stores, so there’s no reason NOT to check them out.

We ordered bedroom furniture for my oldest back in January. At the time, the chair for the desk was out of stock. We were told it would arrive in March.

March came and went. We called, and were told it would be in sometime during April.

Well, it’s April now. No chair. I’ve called a few times, and we keep getting told one more week, one more week! I’m irritated now. I need the chair to match the set, and RTG has had my cash for 3 months! We’ve been told Monday now. We’ll see. If it doesn’t happen, I may end up bitching so loud that I get the chair for free!

(How do you sell a bedroom set, and have every piece in stock except the chair?)

When we were shopping for a new dining room set, I was frustrated. We’d see similar things in all of the local stores, and nothing original. Everyone just seemed to have slightly different variations of what the last store was selling, and everything was in matchy-matchy sets. We ended up buying a table, chairs, a curio, and a sofa table for our dining room. Yes, a sofa table! It’s our sideboard in the dining room, and no one ever realizes that it’s not a real dining room piece. With local stores not having the best selection, I can see why people shop for dining room furniture online. This site has things that you won’t typically find in chain furniture stores, like a huge selection of mirrors for your dining room, or bar sets, or a wine chest - even corner cabinets! (I could have really used one of those in my dining room, but we couldn’t find one!)

I love that the site offers tips on buying your dining room furniture also. There’s more advice here on one page than we got in our whole day of shopping.

Our quest for finding great furniture at reasonable prices usually takes us all over the Tampa Bay area. There aren’t any big furniture chains in our small town, so we usually travel at least 30 miles away to check out the bigger stores. Why not buy online instead? Stores like Best Priced Furniture are doing a booming business, and I can see why! But how does shipping work? That’s my big concern with buying furniture online. No one wants to save $ buying online if you’re going to spend a ton on freight and delivery. You’ll be happy to know that Best Priced Furniture offers FREE shipping, so there are no surprises at checkout. Ever notice how all of your local chains carry similar pieces? You won’t find that when you shop online, in fact, I found some very unique pieces that I’ve never seen locally, like this dollhouse bed and these children’s bedroom sets. Keep in mind those prices include your free shipping, and I think you’ll find that the prices compare to your local furniture stores, and in some cases, the prices are even lower! Love the little boys firetruck bed too - I saw one like that on the show “Moving Up”!

This is a sponsored review.

We did some rearranging in my son’s room this weekend. A large bookcase that was stuffed to the gills with books made it downstairs to the yard sale. We sold the bookcase and most of the books, so he’s got a lot more space in his room. He loves his bunk bed, but I find myself wishing he had a loft bed instead. No one ever sleeps on the bottom bunk except the dog! I’d much rather see that space being used for homework and extra storage, than an over sized bed for our lazy chocolate lab.

We have a leather loveseat and a leather sofa in our family room. We wanted leather instead of fabric for those two areas because we learned that fabric simply doesn’t hold up with 3 kids and 2 dogs. Kids spill juice, dogs smell up the cloth…whereas the leather looks as good as the day we got it, if not better. I do have a hard time finding the right cleaning products for it in the stores. Most retailers sell a container of leather wipes which aren’t really sufficient for doing a good job. And once I store the package for a few weeks, the rest of the wipes tend to dry out. The cleaning products found here are commercial grade. In addition to leather cleaners, you’ll find wood and leather repair kits. I can certainly use that - our recliner has a small nick in the leather from where it constantly rubbed a wall in our last house. It irks me every time I see it! A professional leather cleaner and conditioner will probably be a lot better for our furniture in the long run, compared to these cheesy wipes I’ve been using.