What's in a Thread Count - Pine Cone Hill Outlet

Sometimes (ok, most times) I seem to have to learn all of my lessons the hard way. Not the serious hard way that lands you in the pokey but just hard enough that I have to have a more than occasional “now why did I do that” dialog with myself.

This was the case when many years ago now I decided thread count be damned I was going to go for the pretty, inexpensive poly/cotton blend sheets I spied at Wal-Mart (did I mention they were pretty). Now to be fair, this incident occurred during my brief residency in New York that was definitely one of the more financially challenging times of my life. We all have them, young and starving…living on love. Well, that should give you an idea of how this crucial error in judgment came to be.

Excited with the bargain and how pretty my bed was going to look I immediately went home, washed the pretty sheets & put them on my bed. It didn’t take too long…we’re talking days not weeks here…for these very pretty sheets to start to pill and scratch. It took even less time once this started happening for them to go into the donation bag.

Lesson learned, fabric blend and thread count matter!

In the years since this unfortunate incident I have progressively gotten more expensive and more expensive taste in linens. As much as I hate to accept it, you do get what you pay for in the world of linens. These days I am lusting over Serena & Lily and Pine Cone Hill linens but it kills me to even think of paying full price for them. I have been fortunate to find sheets at a decorator shop sale and a dust ruffle at TJ Maxx of all places but it’s been a while since I’ve scored any swanky linens at bargain prices so I’m due.

Lucky for me, Pine Cone Hill is headquartered in Pittsfield Massachusetts and even better luck they have a factory outlet store there. Now this is a real factory outlet – not one of those outlets who produce lesser grade inventory specifically for the outlet instead of a store full of legitimate discontinued & seconds. The only unfortunate part of this story is that when I Mapquested directions the estimated arrival time was 3 hours!!! Really, Massachusetts is not that big of a state…where is this place?

Could it be any farther away???

So, I put it on my list for a “later date” and before I knew it a couple of years passed and I still had not made the trek. It’s tough to commit a whole day for linens but recently I saw on their website that they are also carrying Dash & Albert rugs - another product I have been lusting after.

This beauty now officially has a new home in my
guest room. Prices are 50% off retail and they gave
me an extra special discount for edge discoloration...
do you see any discoloration? Me neither but I certainly
wasn't going to pass up the extra special deal!

So many rugs, so few floors...

The scale was officially tipped and this weekend I woke up to a dreary Saturday that was stopping me from finishing up that darn trim paint on my house (see Summer Project here) so a road trip seemed in order.

Pine Cone Hill Factory Outlet
125 Pecks Road, Pittsfield MA
Does this look legit or what???

They are all so beautiful...how do I ever pick just one???

It was soooooo worth the trip! I had to literally keep reminding myself that I only have 3 bedrooms and 2 beds (soon to be 3)…where would I use all of the beautiful things I was desiring?

They even have furniture (really large furniture). See those
curtains on the middle shelf...well those also have a new
home in my guest room

More beautiful large furniture...and filled with gorgeous
hued towels

It took all of my self discipline to leave this in the store...as Arnold says
though "I'll be back".

I’ve been working on finishing my guest room for a few months now and I had no idea exactly what direction I was heading on it but I literally finished buying everything that was left to complete this room on this trip.

Pine Cone Hill has the absolute best cotton pajama's - pretty & comfy!

Yes, this lovely little number accidentally snuck into my
bag...hmmm it will look so nice in my recently redone
master bedroom...can you say little pop of color

I’m so excited to put it all together now...pictures to come soon.

A Room with Another View..

It has been so nice to hear all the positive comments on my blog so far.  There have been quite a few requests for more pictures though so here you go….

Here is my inspiration room.  I loved the sophisticated color of Sara’s room but as I mentioned I just couldn’t get there with the match so I went with another neutral that I am truly happy with.  I so love Sara’s room in its entirety (especially the sofa) but I did not want my room to be quite as feminine so her room is truly an inspiration room – my goal was not to simply copy it but infuse some of her elements into my style.  I stole her accents of red idea – a color choice I never would have added on my own and it really does bring some punch to both of our rooms.

This is the front side of my room before:

It’s hard to see but, there was a built-in wooden valance above the windows.  The afternoon of day I closed on the house I left the lawyers office and drove directly to my new house.  One of the first things I did that afternoon was to remove the valance (and the hundreds of screws holding it up) and take the very dusty curtains down.  I left the window shades in place for privacy until I had decided on what I was going to install for blinds.  My room stayed that way for a while – a good long while during which I tested paint sample after paint sample….

These are the front windows now:

I have installed wood blinds in the rest of my house so I was a bit concerned about installing the cellular shades here but I really wanted the ability to close the blinds for privacy yet open them wide to let the light in.  This room gets tons of sun so I really wanted to let it shine in.

I don’t seem to have any before pictures of the other side of my living room but I am confident given the other pictures I have shared you can easily imagine the before shot.  Here is the after:

The door is my front door and there is a small vestibule between it and the outdoors – it was a faded brown color when I moved in kind of like baking chocolate that has been sitting too long and has that white coating. Not attractive!  My first plan was just to replace the door with a French door but I was a bit concerned with the lack of privacy as well as keeping heat in during those cold winter months here in Boston. 

So, while mulling my door issue over I happened upon a picture in a Serena & Lily catalog (love, love, love their linens) that gave me the inspiration to do something similar to my door. 

I have to say I love it now, I never thought a little paint would make such a difference but it really does help balance the window on the opposite wall (from last post picture).

So, that’s the finished product in its entirety.