A major reason shoddy and cheap quality products come out of China and other Southeast Asian countries like Vietnam and Indonesia is because the American companies that go there to manufacture tells the factories the specs and price points they want to hit. No real factory WANTS to put out bad quality products because they pay in chargebacks and returns in the future as well as a bad reputation. Think of it as this. Someone comes up to you and says, can you make this product cheap. My price point is however low and that's what I need in order to get so and so's business. It all starts off some where, and that's with the US companies that want to sell more bulk which makes the vendors have to lower their prices in order to compete. They go to the factories and present projects with super low price points and what can the factory do? Not take the order and have their competitor take it or take up the order and meet the price points by using worse quality material or less material etc. It's a cycle...the US consumers are at the forefront of it...not all but the majority. We want to pay less, we get worse quality. End of story.

Quick update and many, many thanks to everyone who offered ideas and suggestions: All bedding ordered on ebay, and all received. I ordered the RL comforter, top sheet, pillowcases and sham in the discontinued Putney pattern. The Sferra Bros. matelasse coverlet is also from ebay, another jynx find :) After spending hours in the two best Atlanta fabric houses (Lewis and Sheron and Forsyth Fabrics), I went to Lenox with my daughter and found the perfect---and I mean PERFECT---curtains at (of all places!) Pottery Barn Kids. We were there looking for a present for my nephew! $80 per panel for 96" length, lined curtains that can be used with drapery pins or directly on the pole. (I stuck them up on a rod I had around just to see what they'd look like.) At Ballard Designs Backroom I found a large mirror with useful hooks on both sides (this will have to be hung by our handyman) and a tall corner shelf. Both had minor scratches and were about 1/2 off. I brought up from the summer kitchen downstairs a table my mother had given me years ago, made of blue and white pottery shards, and brought up an extra Parsons chair to replace the kitchen French Country kitchen chair. I found the tan windowpane slipcover at Ballards, also. Two wall-mounted, swing-arm lamps have been ordered in antique brass for either side of the bed, and I am still looking for a candle lantern in dull brass to go on the right side of the armoire (to replace the clock) and another painting or print for the wall that joins that corner at right angles. Also looking for blue/white porcelain finials in a round ball shape for the wall lamps, and plan to unearth my Christmas plates and hang them this weekend! the table I already had:

Read the blog, too. Fascinating read - only complaint: got all involved in your story, not getting my own stuff done, only to find out I have to WAIT for more chapters! Arrgh! Please keep adding the updates and more details and photos!. This is truly an awesome journey you are on, WOW! My hat is off to you!

I lived with my folks for a year before I got my current apt. during a relocation for a job, so I know how that goes. Here's what I suggest. Find out if you can get a storage box at the local U-Haul place or rent a storage locker. Pick a clean, well lit, well attended place that you won't mind visiting from time to time to get stuff you need. That will help with the decluttering. Do everything you can to put your stuff in closed storage, that helps make the room look restful. I store a lot of my teaching supplies in clear plastic boxes in shelves, organized by project. Is there an unpainted furniture outlet near you? That's another source for basic storage and office furniture. Check out IKEA's Web site for inspiration, but also definitely peruse the "Apartment Therapy" Web site too. Once you get it de-cluttered in there and narrowed down furniture wise, you can work on editing and displaying your art. First things first. Get a friend to come and help you edit your clothes and other stuff. I have a friend with great taste, she helps me edit out what is no longer working for me, clothing-wise.