Sucker!

I finally did it! I purchased a steam vacuum! It's really sad that I am this excited but I can't help it!

We have only two carpeted rooms in our house- the den (Southerners call it "the keeping room" so we do too) and the master bedroom. In the past we've had a yearly visit from Stanley Steamer. However, that was silly because for the price of 1 Stanley visit, I purchased my own steam vac.

I purchased:

Hoover SteamVac Carpet Cleaner with Clean Surge, F5914-900

from Amazon.com for $139

It cleans carpeted floors and hardwoods as well. It also comes with an upholstery attachment and a spot cleaning tool.

After reading the instructions the vacuum was easy to use. I vacuumed both carpeted rooms and then used the upholstery tool on my kitchen chairs. I wish I had taken some photos of the chairs. It made a huge difference. I promise I will take photos next time!

Overall, I am very pleased with my purchase. Here is the run down of pros and cons:

Pros:

My carpets are clean! Stains came out! Got A LOT of dirt out of my carpeting and upholstery

Easy to use

Convenient

Carpets dry very quickly in just a few hours

Price- paid for itself by in one use

Cons:

I have to vacuum

I now realize that carpeting is totally unsanitary. I can't believe how much dirt came up!

Takes some work to clean the machine afterwards- however, this is the case with all steam vacs

It's big and heavy- needs to be stored in our basement

Does anyone else have a steam vacuum? Do you like it? Any other creative uses for it?

Galbraith & Paul Textiles

Right now I am a little obsessed with Galbraith & Paul Textiles. At first glance, the beautiful patterns and colors caught my eye. From geometrics, to birds and flowers, there is a little bit of everything. Almost all the patterns come on a white or natural background and feature a range of bright colors (yes, I realize I just said I liked something with bright colors.)

As I learned more about how these fabrics are made, I became even more impressed. Each piece is created by hand using a 18" X 18" stamp. The amount of work that goes into these textiles is obvious.

When an order is placed for any of these fabrics, you submit your memo sample for color matching. Aside from the standard line custom pieces can be ordered from among 30 patterns, 8 grounds, and over 100 colors.

To see more, visit the Galbraith & Paul site here.

What do you think of Galbraith & Paul Textiles?