LightingUniverse.com and BuildersDepot.com have been a complete nightmare for me! I ordered lighting from lighting universe and it arrived with parts missing - it obviously was a return as I actually found the nasty note the lady who recieved it before enclosed when she sent it back. I called customer service and they were very nice and said they would send the missing parts. A month and several phone and emails later and I still do not have the parts. I am now in contact with American Express (card I used to purchase with) and they are disputing the charge and getting my money refunded. I also ordered a light from Builders Depot - it was packaged VERY poorly and arrived damaged but my husband fixed it because it was not worth the hassle and expense to ship it back. I did get some beautiful lighting from Pottery Barn and it arrived perfectly and their customer service is top notch - but you will not get any bargains here. I ended up going to my local lighting store and ordering Golden Lighting - I mentioned the prices on the internet and they beat them all and threw in free light bulbs! I couldn't be more pleased. Might as well start at your local lighting store and give them a chance to match or beat prices - it can't hurt to ask! Your local stores are hurting right now and making some fantastic deals - not to mention not having to worry about returning stuff you bought online.

I ordered recently several fixtures from The Bright Spot. They were great, very easy to order from and have lots of nice things at reasonable prices, in fact couldn't beat their prices on what I ordered, either locally or other online sites! They also personally will email you right away if you send a question and some items have additional discounts, plus free shipping. Highly recommend them. The site is http://www.thebrightspot.com and I will try to put it in as a link below. Here is a link that might be useful: the bright spot

Try SelectBlinds.com. I just special ordered 2" wood blinds for a very large bedroom window. They were delivered within the week. Right now they have free shipping and 30% off orders. Personally, I would never have faux wood blinds again. I had a bad experience with them. I special ordered them from Lowe's. They were an off-white color and they turned yellow from the sun within two years. I contacted the company that made the blinds and they replaced them for free but who wants to reinstall blinds every other year after they turn yellow. Not me!

The x98 looks like a typical 2-part water borne finish with low odour and low VOC content (the information page indicates "less than 200g/L"). Cure time = 4 days. I would expect the odour to reduce or be eliminated by that time. This is typical for 2 part water borne/based finishes. http://www.pallmann.us/uploads/tx_dddownloadmatrix/Pall-X_98_PDS.pdf If Pallman is the only water based product the finisher uses, then you should be fine. Please ensure that they plan a total of 3 coats. Some refinishers will try to convince people that two coats are all that are needed....which is where we get the issues with finishes "not standing the test of time" = complaints. When it comes to wear resistance I prefer the Loba 2K Supra AT (2-part water based finish out of Germany that has ceramic nano-beads infused into the liquid). The scratch resistance is OUTSTANDING and the slip resistance is second to none (literally...it has the best slip resistance ratings on the market). And the odour is gone within 4-6 HOURS. Total cure is 5 days.