CSN Stores Product Review - My New Bookcase

I got a new bookcase! It's it nice.

This one is my latest purchase from CSN Stores. I first saw this bookcase on another blog (I can't remember which one just now), but I really liked the colour and style of it. It didn't hurt that it had many glowing reviews on the CSN website.

It was a little stressful when the box first arrived. The courier with his big truck will not drive down our driveway because he's afraid that the overhanging tree branches will damage his truck. We've already trimmed them back a couple of times and while some big trucks have ventured down the driveway, this guy won't. Anyway, this box weighed a ton (slight exaggeration) and he carried it the +375' to our door. Did I mention it was winter? I know it's really his choice, but I still felt really bad. I probably won't be making any more big (as in heavy) purchases in the near future.

Anyway, my husband and I have assembled a few pieces of furniture like this before, so we knew what to expect as soon as we open the box. The instructions were easy to follow; all of the pieces were present and clearly marked. Overall, the bookcase was very easy to assemble. We have run into trouble in the past with furniture like this from other companies. Sometimes the milling of the holes are just a little off and the piece will not go together. However, I can gladly say that each and every hole was placed exactly where it should be.

I was surprised that I didn't have to pay international shipping costs. This is a huge bonus. Had I know this I probably would have ordered it sooner. I saw that it was manufactured in Canada, but I've heard that some things are made here, transported across the border to be sold. They then make their way back to Canada at a premium price and additional shipping costs. Sad, but true. I'm happy to see that's not always the case.

My one little disappointment was that the wood scratched easily. We managed to put in a few very minor scratches while we were assembling it despite being very careful. I bet the ebony colour doesn't help. Anyway, we were able to disguise them with the black marker that was included in the package. It looks good as new.

Eventually, this bookcase will make its way to our newly finished basement. Until the flood risk has passed, though, it's going to stay in the master bedroom. For the time being, I've loaded with it a few books, boxes and baskets to see how it's going to look. I love it! It's really going to be great for oversized books, like the ones published by Dorling Kindersley (DK).

Overall, I'm very happy with this purchase.

For more information about this bookcase, please visit the CSN Stores website.

Disclaimer: I received a coupon/gift certificate from those nice people at CSN Stores that partly covered the cost of this item. I tried to present an honest review despite that fact.

CSN Stores Time Again!

Now that I have a cool new knife holder (see the post on January 30) in the kitchen, I still need something for the newly-finished basement, which I still haven't decided how to decorate. I could also use something for the bathrooms, both of which are about to be gutted and redone. While our house is a Victorian Queen Anne style reproduction on the outside, it's definitely more modern on the inside. Our tastes are somewhat eclectic.

Once again, I've been looking around the CSN stores website to find something interesting. Every time I visit the site, I'm amazed at what they have. Since I have a few books, a bookcase is always a possibility. However, I was also thinking of something a little more fun and funky, like some of the items in their modern décor section. Did you have a look? Doesn't that stuff look fun? Like last time, maybe something from their newsletters will catch my eye.

Anyway, I haven't decided yet, but once I get the item (or items) I'll be back to tell you about it.

Time to go shopping.

Weekend Cooking - CSN Product Review

Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, fabulous quotations, photographs. For more information, see the Welcome post on Beth Fish Reads.

I don't have a recipe this time. Instead I'm going to review a kitchen product which I purchased from the CSN Stores website. The last time I wrote about CSN Stores, I mentioned that I needed furniture or accessories for our newly finished basement. Well, I had a wonderful new bookcase picked out and was going to wait until after the holidays to order it. However, when I received an email from CSN (one of their newsletters), featuring some specials, something else caught my eye and I knew the bookcase was going to have to wait. The item I picked out is whimsical, fun and functional. I love it! Here it is:






















Isn't it great? It looks fabulous in my kitchen, too. It's perfect for a mystery/thriller/true crime lover with a sense of humour and a love of food and cooking. That's me!

The whole thing is sturdy enough to hold the knives securely, but not too heavy to move if necessary. The protective holders (which are firmly attached to the holder) keep the sharp blades covered. The quality is really good for the sale price. Had I paid the full price, though, I would have expected to see something a bit more substantial and a bit more finely milled. As it is, I'm very happy.

As for the knives, they look great. As with all stainless steel, fingerprints are a nuisance. At least they wipe off fairly easily. The slots are nice because they are magnetic. The knives can slide in and out easily, but the magnet holds them in place while in the holder. I'm a bit of a knife snob and was afraid that at this price the knives would look good, but would not be that functional. While the weight is a little light for me, the balance is great. On initial tests, they have performed excellently. The knives will definitely be put to good use.

I can see this becoming a great conversation piece. Right now, I have it placed so it's almost the first thing you see when you come in the kitchen door. Sure, some people are going to think it's a little macabre, but it will definitely get noticed.

For me information about this knife set, please visit the CSN Stores website.

Disclaimer: I received a coupon/gift certificate from those nice people at CSN Stores that partly covered the cost of this item. I tried to present an honest review despite that fact.

For other food-related posts this week, click here.

Renovating our basement and CSN Stores

When we moved into our house just a little over 18 months ago, we knew that we were going to be renovating the basement at some point. That means insulating the walls, drywalling, painting, installing a drop ceiling and all the rest. Since there are some government grants available now for insulating basements, we figured we'd take advantage of them.

The supplies arrived on Monday and the workmen started yesterday. We were so excited until last night we were standing in the middle of the basement looking at all of the new living space we were going to gain, when we came to the realization that we had no furniture to put in it. Zippo. Nada. That's what happens when you move into a space that's bigger than your last one.

So this morning I was surfing the web and looking at newspaper flyers to see if I could find something (anything) to fill up that space. I came across these beautiful bar tables and stools that will come in handy in our little bar area. It's great because I found them on the CSN Stores website, a website that I love and have used before. They also have some other stuff that will look great in our new basement (once it's done). All I have to do now is decide what to get first.

Stay tuned because in the near future I'll be reviewing my purchase from CSN. Don't know yet what it's going to be, but it should be fun.

Pasta Bowls from CSN Stores.

Honestly, I didn't really NEED new pasta bowls. I have two old sets. One set I bought at Canadian Tire for $8 on sale and the other I got at a garage sale for $1. Both sets are chipped, stained and have seen better days, but they still worked.

I still figured it was time to get some new ones. It was a really easy decision once I saw these ones on the website. I fell in love.













I was waiting for the matching serving bowl to come in (CSN was out of stock for awhile), but I thought about it and decided to do without it. My husband and I usually serve from the kitchen so I didn't really need a serving dish that much. I figured I'd spend my money elsewhere. (Did you see my post about the mandoline?) Having said all that, now that the serving bowl is in stock, I reserve the right to change my mind and order it in the future. Or maybe I'll order another piece from the Hot Tamale Collection. Isn't it beautiful?

As beautiful as the dishes are on the website, they are more impressive in person. The colours are bold and vivid. Also, the bowls are larger than I thought they'd be. That's a huge plus for big eaters like me and my husband. Well, maybe not such a good thing for our waistlines. Because the bowls are a little larger, I can snuggle a piece of garlic toast right in beside the pasta and not have to use a side plate.













We use our current pasta bowls a lot; not just for pasta. I can see us using these ones even more. I'm thinking: stew, main-dish risotto, chili, etc. ; anything that's a little too runny for a plate, but not quite suitable for a regular soup bowl. These ones are so pretty I'm tempted to use them for snacks and dips or maybe even a serving dish for a small side.

Check out these pasta bowls at the CSN stores website. If these ones are not to your taste, type "pasta bowls" into the search box for more selections.

Disclaimer: I received a coupon/gift certificate from those nice people at CSN Stores that partly covered the cost of this item. I tried to present an honest review despite that fact.

OXO Mandoline Slicer from CSN Stores

I love making (and eating) scalloped potatoes. However, I refuse to make it unless I can get the potatoes sliced paper thin. I used to have a mandoline, but it was old and a little broken, so it got thrown out before we moved. So when I saw the mandolines on the CSN website, I knew I had to have one. You can probably guess what I made first.

But first let's back up a little...

When this slicer arrived, I was immediately impressed with the packaging. I just knew something special was inside because those people at OXO made the box even look beautiful. Notice the instructions on the lid in the second photo. A more detailed instruction booklet was included inside.



















I did some trial cuts with a potato before making the above-mentioned scalloped potatoes. The slicer is well-built, sturdy and comes with an easy to grip food holder. The food holder clips to the underside of the body when not in use. This means that it's not necessary to keep the storage box. As far as cleaning goes, the whole thing comes apart without difficulty making cleaning a breeze. The body is even dishwasher safe (a must in this house).















I found the slicer fairly easy to use. I was able to create slices in various thicknesses and a couple of different sized juliennes. The crinkle cut also worked like a charm. However, I couldn't get the waffle cut to work correctly. It looked like it should work in theory, but the slices are too thick so the waffle pattern doesn't come through. Maybe I'll have more luck with more practice.

Like most things in this world, the slicer is made for a right-handed person. I happen to be left-handed. So when I use the slicer, I can't easily see what the thickness dial is set to. It's just something I'll have to get used to.

Back to those scalloped potatoes. Scalloped potatoes are fairly easy to make, but slicing the potatoes can be chore without a mandoline. Luckily, I have one now and I had those potatoes sliced in no time. I'd love to include a picture, but they were so good, we ate the whole thing. Delicious.

The second thing I tried to make using the slicer was sweet potato fries. While the regular potato went through the slicer (set on thin slices) with no difficulties, the sweet potato (set on large julienne) was less successful and took a little practice. After a few tries, I was able to get some decent looking fries, though, so I'm happy.

If you're in the market for a mandoline slicer, this one can be found on the CSN Stores website.

And that's not all. In a day or two, I'll have my second review of another CSN Stores product!

Disclaimer: I received a coupon/gift certificate from those nice people at CSN Stores that partly covered the cost of this item. I tried to present an honest review despite that fact.

CSN Stores - Finally!

Way back on July 20, 2010, I posted about CSN stores and how I was going to buy something from them, but I didn't know what.

I had tons of trouble just picking out something. I didn't have a problem finding something I liked. The problem was that I liked everything. I tried to narrow it down to something I really needed. I had various things in mind: bookcase, pasta bowls, bread machine, another bookcase, another set of pasta bowls, mandoline slicer, various kitchen utensils, various home furnishings, another bookcase and on and on. At least one thing was out of stock and decided to wait for awhile for it to come in. In the meantime, I had picked out more stuff I liked. Almost every other day I changed my mind. I'm usually really good at making decisions, but this was hard.

I finally made a decision and ordered the items. I had a little trouble with the ordering process and found it a little confusing at times. I should say at this point that I'm not a big online shopper. I can count the number of times I've ordered something online on one hand. So my experience with ordering will probably be very different from those who do a lot of online shopping.

Anyway, I added the items I wanted to my cart, which went fine. However, the final price changed a number of times before I actually submitted the order. I think it had to do with the international fees (I'm in Canada so this covers the international shipping costs, duties, and brokerage fees), which kept changing based on the various fields I filled in (postal code, coupon, etc.) At one point the charge disappeared all together. If that wasn't confusing enough, at first it was presented as one charge, then on the final screen, it was split between the two items. I almost backed out of the order because of the fluctuating price. However, I submitted the order and crossed my fingers.

After that ordering confusion, everything went very smooth. I received an order confirmation email immediately and shipping emails shortly after that. Once the items crossed the border, I received another email letting me know. I received the items a lot sooner than the estimated delivery time. Yippee!

So, the items are here and I absolutely love them!!!!

Did I forget to mention what I got? You'll just have to come back for my reviews which should be posted in the next day or so.

CSN Stores

I’m ecstatic! Jason from CSN Stores contacted me the other day about reviewing a one of their products. How cool is that?

I’ve seen some of their items on other blogs, but since I saw mainly bookshelves/bookcases, I thought that was all they had. I was surprised to find out that they had other furniture (like twin beds); cookware and everything else you’d need for the kitchen or barbequing; lighting for your house, inside and out; entertainment stands and CD racks; and a huge selection of toys and games? That’s not all. If you click on one of the above links, you'll see that there are tons of categories under each one of these. You could just about equip and decorate your whole house with the items that CSN Stores have.

Now I just have to decide what product to review. If you have any suggestions, please leave a comment or email me.

Once I've decided, I'll let you know. When my review item arrives and I've had a chance to do something with it, I'll post my review.

Stay tuned.