It seems like the moment the kids walk in the door their coats are flung to the floor as they run off to play. If I ask them to put them away correctly they just set them on a chair! As frustrating as it is for me, as a mom I can understand why. Our coat closet is on the other side of the house and they are both to short to reach the hangers anyways. My solution was to get hooks to put on the wall by the door. However, I'm not going to spend the money right now on a want. What do to do? Start thinking outside the box, or in this case, inside the closet!

When we moved into our house we removed the rods that were in all the bedroom closets and put nice metal closet organizer systems in them instead. For almost three years these wood sections with hooks have been laying around in the "stock pile" in the basement workshop area. While looking for paint supplies I found them. I just added one hook off of one of the other pieces of wood and painted it black.


Now we have a great looking coat rack that cost me nothing. The girls love it because their coats are toasty warm in the morning because I hung it low (close to the heater) for them to be able to reach.

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One of the many things we created for our daughters' room was their own name banners that hang above their beds. This project was actually easier then I expected. Here is how I did it.



First I found the font I wanted to use on Word. I printed out the letters I needed in a 250 font size and cut them out.




Then I laid them out on the letter fabric and traced them.


Next I carefully cut out all of the letters.


For the triangles I chose a heavy home decor fabric that I had left over from another project. I made a template out of paper and traced it onto the fabric as well. The triangles were 6 inches wide and 8 inches long. I used pinking shears to cut them out.


I then laid the letters on the triangles to come up with the distance I needed from the top before I adhered them. Don't forget to leave room for your bias tape at the top as well.


Next I sprayed the backs of the letters with a temporary fabric adhesive spray and placed the letters onto the triangles.


I then sewed the letters onto the fabric using a tight zigzag stitch to give it a cleaner look as well as to make the letters stand out from the fabric.


Once the letters have all been sewn lay them all out in order with correct spacing between them. Stretch out your double fold bias tape to make sure that it is long enough for the name before you start to sew.


I found it easier to not pin the pieces to the bias tape but to add them as I sewed so that it didn't weigh down the tape. I started at one end and of the bias tape and sewed the full length of the tape.

And that's it! It didn't take long at all to sew and the girls love them. I'm hoping to find some time to make some that say "Happy Birthday" "Thanksgiving" "Happy Halloween" and "Merry Christmas".

For more great ideas join us on:
Get your Craft On
Make do Monday
DIY Day
Tackle it Tuesday

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It's hard to believe that our oldest daughter just turned 6 years old! The time flies by so fast. She has been wanting a bunk bed for almost two full years now. Of course we said the usual "Not until you are 6." bit. Well, she is now six years old and her little sister is ready to bust out of the crib.

Time for a new big girl room for the girls to share. As you know we are not made of money, but I still wanted a room the girls will love. It did take a lot of time to do the searching but with a little luck, Craigs list and spray paint I was able to accomplish my vision for their bedroom. If you didn't get a chance to see the inspiration rooms feel free to take a peek at yesterday's post.

Click through for the video tour!

Instead of rambling on and on about everything we did to the room I decided to make a video tour. I hope that you enjoy it!


All weekend long the Mr. and I felt like we were on Trading Spaces with just two days, two people and a small budget. To go along with that them we decided to capture the big reveal on video. It was so adorable to see our daughters reactions. It was just like on Trading Spaces! It was priceless.

We spent a total of $864 which includes all the furniture, paint, bedding, and much more. I'd give you a breakdown of the prices, BUT, I'm going to save that for a new "Price My Space" post. I'll also be posting some tutorials and specifics on how we made some of the items in the room out of scraps we had laying around.


For more DIY and home decor ideas visit:
Tackle it Tuesday
DIY Day @ ASPTL
Make your Monday

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Before I reveal the girls' new room I wanted to share with you my inspiration and prep work. As many of you know already, it is VERY important to make a plan before starting any project. This one was no different. I gathered all my inspiration photos, created a budget, and a time line. In the end I was actually surprised how well the plan came together. In our house things don't always go as planned when we tackle remodeling projects so it was nice to have this small room makeover go so smooth.

Here was my inspiration pieces:

White Classic looking Bunk Bed

Name By Each Bed

Color Palette

A couple monthes before we even started to touch the room I started shopping for the furniture. Thankfully we have a large basement to hide furniture in! When I would get a chance I would sneak out the furniture and paint it. I also made the name banners for each of the girls in the evenings after they would go to bed. One of the other important things we did was measure their room and do a layout of it to make sure that everything would fit were we wanted it to go.

All of this prep work made it possible to do a room makeover in just one and a half days while they visited their grandparents. Stay tuned for the big reveal!

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I bought this pair of dressers from Craig's list for $180. It's in great condition and has nice metal drawer slides. The wood tone don't fit the look of the girl's room so it's on to a dresser makeover.

Here is the inspiration piece. What I liked was that the color make the dresser pop. It added a punch of color to the room without having to go over board with a whole wall of bright color. There will be enough pink in the room so I'm going to go with an accent color of green to pull the look together.


Here is what I did.

It really didn't take me long at all to prime and paint the dresser. I was very happy with how easy the project really was. I would show you more photos of the project, but this is just one step in our daughters' room makeover. But shh.. The rest is a birthday surprise! You will have to wait until after September 15th to see the completed project.

Join us for more great project ideas on:
Tackle it Tuesday
DIY Thursday

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I'm excited to join Price My Space this week! Why am I so excited? Because I LOVE our new bathroom. We completed our major bathroom renovation earlier this year and everyday I feel so good inside when I step into our labor of love. If you have not seen the before photos you should really check them out to see the before and after shots.

Without further ado let me introduce you to my favorite room. Our bathroom.

Our bathroom might be small on size but not on style. Our Kohler Escale sink was $272.66 from faucetdirect.com. It really brings a modern touch to the space along with the vessel faucet set at an angle which was purchased from overstock.com for $110.99. We wanted to keep the clean lines of a modern look but still have our little kids be able to see themselves in the mirror. To accomplish that we had a local glass and mirror store cut us two mirrors with chrome J channels to make it look like the shelf is floating on one solid mirror. The mirror and channel came to $68.74. We used FreshAire paint from Home Depot which was $38 a gallon. It only took one gallon for our tiny bathroom.


The reason we had to gut our bathroom and start over was because of the tile tub surround leaking. We wanted nothing to do with tile in the tub after that experience. What we ended up doing was a solid cultured granite made here in the USA. It came to a total of $1256 including the three floating shelves for our bath items. The tub spout etc came was bought from faucetdirect.com for $242.73 and the tub itself was $401.74. I love taking tubs now in our super deep tub (Archer from Kohler). It is the perfect soaking tub.


The flooring is Marmoleum. I can't find the receipt for it at the moment and I don't want to guess the cost. We didn't need that big of a piece and found that the cost was very reasonable. It is an excellent "green" product that I would recommend to anyone redoing a floor.


Some of the finishing touches in the room include our custom vinyl lettering for $21.35. I love having that be my first real thought of the morning when I get out of an awaking shower. It helps me start my day with a can do (cause I'm not alone) attitude. All of the bathroom hooks and towel bars came from West Elm and totaled $122. Our floating shelves were from Pottery Barn and included the spice jars for $119.20.


We filled the jars with sand and shells from our local beach for free. The tile was purchased from Lowes for apx. $170 including everything it took to lay it.


The best part of the room is something that you can not see. The best part is knowing that WE did it ourselves. It might have taken a few months, but we did the work. We didn't hire the work done. Instead we learned first hand the ins and outs of a major bathroom remodeling project.

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Over at the Nesting Place the Nester challenged us to join her in pricing out a room or wall in our homes to show how easy it is to decorate on a budget. Of course who am I to turn down the chance to brag about my good deals? I thought that I would start with our living room.

1. Our queen sized sleeper sofa was bought for $750 but originally was $1899! Here are the details of that sweat deal. We just bought it a couple weeks ago.
2. The Lazyboy recliner was actually the Mr.'s parents. When they bought new chairs for their living room they offered to give us this one for free. We have had it for 11 years.
3. The lamps were purchased at Home Depot on clearance for $7 two years ago.
4. I bought this set of Ethan Allen end tables at an auction back in college and refinished them.
5. The curtain rod and tie backs we found at Lowes last year on clearance. The rod was damaged so were able to get it for $2!!! The best part is that no one can even see the damage because it is facing the wall. I sewed the curtains myself using fabric I bought at JoAnn's for half price.
6. The lovely mirror was a fun and frugal project. I found the frame at a thrift shop for $3. It had an ugly dated green color where the gold is now. I took some left over acrylic gold paint and painted over the green. Then I was able to have a custom mirror cut for about $10-15 at a local glass and mirror shop. It was the perfect size to fit over our old couch in our first apartment 8 years ago.
7. These beautiful 1950's tv cabinet was carefully refinished and made into a storage cabinet. We purchased it on Craig's list for $85. It now houses all of our games, puzzles and movies.
   
8. This fun 1960's stereo cabinet came with this house when we bought it. It the record player is broke so the plan is to gut the cabinet and use it to hide all our modern day tv tech stuff in it. It is hard to tell when we will get to it but I would guess that it is at least a year away.
9. Who would throw away an Eames chair? Well, someone did. The Mr. fished this one out of trash pile destined for a landfill. It took a little glue but the base and shell are now one again.
10. This blush faux leather chair and ottoman were also in our house when we bought it.
    

As you can tell we don't spend a lot of money on furnishing and decorating our home. As we find the right items for the right price we pick them up. It takes time and patience. If you can be content with what you already own you can make it happen on a budget. Not all of our furnishing match perfectly or are all one style. The walls are not painted and we are still constantly trying to reconfigure the space to work for us with our current furniture. Once the rest of our major remodeling projects are completed we will be able to focus on completing the details of each room. Until then we just enjoy what little down time we have in the living room.

Join us for the next Price my Space to learn about other great deals in our home.

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For those who are wondering... We did get the two old layers of shingles removed yesterday and had to completely remove the flat roof section (about 10x8 ft) over the entryway. It had rotted through from water damage. It looks like we will be rebuilding the flat roof almost from scratch today as well as clean up the roof and lay the underlayment stuff as well as rebuild the valleys.

Our biggest concern is the chance of rain/ storms starting at noon. Please pray or send good wishes our way for the rain to hold off until Monday. We have a wide open roof at the moment.

More updates to come as we progress.

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Roofing day is almost here. As we make our final preparations - meals, materials, tools, work assignments - I have to give a bit of pause. As I put my girls to bed tonight, we went through the usual routine including our bedtime prayer. During the prayer, I asked God to help us remember to count our many blessings. Sometimes, despite our failings, we forget how truly blessed we are.

As we approach this project, I see that our cup runneth over, in more ways than one.

1. Finances - You may have noticed that our 'Full Disclosure' progress bar for the roof fund has burst through the levees. Not only did we hit our goal, but we kept going. we knew that some materials would need to be purchased once we were through the tear-off. Fearing an under estimation, we kept going.
   
2. Skills - While I am far from an experienced roofer, we have a family friend who is. We've enlisted his help for the long weekend. While I'm leery of leaning on him too heavily, I've been told that once he starts shingling, to just stay out of his way - he is that fast.
3. Helping Hands - When planning meals, we realized what an out-pouring of support we had. 10-14 just doing the actual labor. We have others watching the kids, others preparing meals, other still offering to help as they hear about the project.
4. Time off - We scheduled these vacation days some time ago, hedging our bets that it would be a 'good time' for it. I always say, in terns of work, there's never a 'good time' to take vacation - there is always something going on. You just have to take it and not look back. This actually looks to be a 'good time', with a slight lul in projects and other efforts winding down, it's a great time when compared to the past two months of crazy work schedules.
5. Weather - I'm not going to worry about the weather. I'm not going to worry about the weather. I'm not going to worry about the weather. Seriously, Lord, it's in your hands.
   

Try this little exercise sometime. Tomorrow, next week... they don't have to be big things, in fact it's the little things sometimes that matter most.

Right now - count three blessings. What are they?

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The Mrs. clued you in a month or so ago about the completion of the 'Great Bathroom Overhaul'. She was excited and rightfully so. This was our only full bathroom in the house. We were pleased to see that so many others were interested in this overhaul and how exactly we managed to do this. Knowing my task, I pounded out a post and had the Mrs. look it over.

Fail. She had lived through this too and had not a clue as to what my post was about, thus necessitating a rewrite. But as I went to do that, I came up with so many other things I wanted to add - so not to leave anything out.

So to get things started - and buy myself more time on my rewrite - here are 11 things you should know before starting a full bathroom remodeling project like this.

1. Harbor no delusions - You will not get this done in a weekend. You will not get this done in a week. You will be lucky to get this done in a month. Now maybe you, humble reader, are more skilled, more diligent, better equipped than us. Good for you. Let me assure you, that for the average DIYer(s), this is twice the work you think it is.
2. This is a '5 hammers out of 5' on the difficulty scale - But fear not, it is also a '5 kisses out of 5' on the reward scale. You will use all of your skills, favors and know-how on this one - and then some. Be prepared to sweat pipe, mud drywall, grout tile, pull wires, plumb fixtures, and set a toilet - and that's just the installation.
3. This is an instruction-less job - Sure, the sink, the tub/drain/overflow, the tub filler, the shower surround, the grout, the thin set, the flooring, the adhesive, and the toilet all come with instructions. And they are all cryptic, incomplete and/or incorrect in their own byzantine way. The grout, for example, had instructions in illustrations only - no text. The shower fixtures practically came with a novella, showing how to install all 6 different types of fixtures that company offers, and in 3 languages. But which one is ours? "But does the flooring go down first and the tub over the top? Or do you install the tub and then cut the flooring to fit?" There are no instructions for questions like this. (BTW, the tub goes in first)
   
4. Know your local Pros - One day, and this day may never come, but you may find yourself worn-out, broken-down, at your wits-end, and cleaning up a small flood in the basement. When you are in over your head, be ready to call a professional. There is no need to struggle with something for days on end when a pro could come in and solve it in an hour for a few bucks. Be sure to budget for some of this.
5. The right tool for the job - I've wasted enough time struggling to 'make do' with what I already had to know how important the right tools are. A flat bar for demo work is worth every single penny and then some. Putty knives and scrapers - also invaluable. It doesn't take a tool collection like Norm Abrahm's, just the right ones.
   
6. This can be expensive - Vanity tops for less than $500? Faucets for less than $300? A lot of this stuff is not cheap, especially at retail. Expect to spend a fair amount of time just hunting down good prices on stuff. You can do this on a budget, but it will require effort.
7. This is worth it - The time, the sweat, the blood, the tears - the end result made ours all worth it. Looking to add value to your home? This will do it. I'm not sure why, but few things are more impressive in a home than a fancy bathroom.
   
8. Cooking, cleaning, and watching the kids is helping - You don't have to be knee deep in dry wall to be considered a part of the project. Especially in a bathroom where there is rarely room for two to work. Keeping the budget in check, finding items for the right price, tracking down products and samples - no small task, and not to be taken for granted.
9. No off-gassing required - If you have health and environmental concerns, then fear not - so did we. There's lots of ways to go 'green' and not break the bank. Availability can be an issue sometimes.
10. When in doubt (and you will be), ask - I very nearly installed shut-off valves on the shower that would have reduced the flow by half or more. A quick query of the salesman at Lowes clued me in to the small, but vital info I needed. Don't assume you can make sense of the plumbing isles all by yourself.
    
11. No debt required - Don't think this kind of project requires a wallet packed with credit cards and a home equity loan. Complete nonsense. With bit of seed money, some allocation in the budget, and some keen bargain hunting skill, you can totally do this sans debt.
    

Read. Review. Internalize. There's more to come.

Anything here surprise you?

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Even though I always get the winter time blues, this year my goal is to save some green while being green this winter. I'm thinking of not just the usual home energy costs, but beyond as well. There are so many wasteful things we do every winter so here is my list of ways to save.

• Thermostat- Our house does not have programmable thermostats and I miss them. This year we will be getting new ones to help cut back on our heating cost.
  
• Down a Notch- Our first winter up north after moving from the far south was a tough one. I was freezing if the house temp dropped below 72 degrees. As our family's bodies have adapted to the climate we have slowly dropped the winter temp in our house. Every degree lower does (obviously) save you money. We have also turned off the heaters in the bathrooms and the kitchen. If you have an unused room you might want to also consider not heating it as well. Every bit counts.



• Caulk- I think Mr. NtJS is starting to despise caulking. It is so important to make sure your windows are not drafty but also check your attic to make sure that all places for air to escape have been properly sealed.
• Curtains- If you have an older, draftier home consider making some heavy full bodied curtains. When the sun is shining on a window open the curtains to let the sun warm the house. When it's not sunny leave them closed to help keep the warmth from escaping. Going one step further. If you live in a really, really old and drafty house the cold air could be coming through the walls. We had that growing up. When I would wake up on really cold days, there would be frost on the walls in my bedroom. Now that is cold! To help with that problem you can hang large "decorative" quilts and blankets on your walls. This will help keep the draft down as well.
• Boiler- Our boiler is the original 1964 model - a classic! It still works but it is on it's last leg. Even though a new boiler would be a lot more efficient saving us money on the heating bill, it would cost us a LOT upfront. After discussing it with our boiler repairman last year when one of the water pumps went out, we decided it would be best to wait until the boiler started leaking or died a "natural" death. When the day comes, we do have money saved up that can be put towards the boiler and it will pay for itself in the long run as long as we live in the same house for many years.
• Netflix- save time, gas, and money by not going to the movie theater or the video store.
• Gifts- This is a big drain on our budget. Not only do I plan ahead for the usual people but I also plain on four "extra" gifts. It seems like there is always a person who I feel like I need a gift for at the last minute.
  
• De-clutter- While trapped inside it's a great time to start going through your house room by room and setting aside garage sale items for the spring and freecycling your other unloved items.
• Gardening- Sound weird? The best time to start your garden is in the winter. Well, actually it is the best time to start planning your garden. What you are going to plant where. It's also a great time to start seedlings indoors.
• Soup- Nothing feels better on a cold winter day then a hot bowl of soup. Soup also makes my wallet feel better. Soups and stews are great ways to make your food dollars stretch.
  
• Preventative Care- The best way to save money when hit with the winter bugs is to not get them. I'm willing to spend the money up front on healthy foods and supplements to avoid having kids miss school.
  
• Freezing- If you have put up a lot of frozen fruits and veggies over the summer you will notice your freezer will start to empty fairly fast if you are anything like our family. The more open space in your freezer the more it costs to cool it. My solution is to make extra casseroles and other meals to freeze. This warms up my kitchen keeping my heating bill a little lower, fills my freezer, and then when I use them in the summer it helps keep my kitchen a little cooler taking less energy to keep us cool on a hot day.
  
• Christmas lights- Mr. NtJS spends a little too much time and gets a little too much enjoyment out of programming the timer each year for the Christmas lights. Then again, it is a rather complex product with too few buttons. Anyways, I do appreciate the effort each year when I see the neighbor's over-the-top display left on all hours of the night. Ours only come on after dark, off again at bed time. Sometimes, just for fun, they'll kick on for an hour in the morning when it's time to go to work and school. Like I said, a little too much enjoyment in the programming.
• Bartering- Our neighbor has a plow blade and some time on his hands in the winter. We have loads of delicious home-canned goods in the basement. For a few jars of of our home-made apple pie filling, some peach butter, and some pear preserves, we get our abnormally long driveway plowed after every snow. Not a bad deal, eh?
• Junk in the trunk- This may not be what you think. A few hundred pounds of ballast over the rear axle of your rear-wheel-drive car or truck will increase your grip and keep those wheels from spinning so much. Try a few bags of softener salt (if you have a softener) or rock salt. Add as needed. I like to use rock salt as if all else fails, a handful can melt that ice or snow and get me in contact with the pavement again. Spinning your wheels wastes a lot of gas.
  

This list will not make you rich but it should help you make some cheap or free changes to your life that will keep you from going broke - and maybe out of the ditch - this winter.

What "green" things do you do in the winter to save some green money?

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Disclaimer: This is the second, and I can't say the final, post based on a country song. Fan or not, they are many times difficult not to relate to. You've been warned.

Few things are quite as frugal as going the DIY route. Many times this can be simple things:

• Mowing your own yard instead of paying the neighbor kid twenty bucks.
• Washing your own car instead of blowing ten bucks on the Scratch-o-matic downtown.
• Making your own meals instead of letting McDonald's catch your slack.

You didn't know you were a DIYer, did you? Stop discounting it and give yourself credit - some folks would balk at those tasks without even considering it. Sure those are all pretty low-risk, low-involvement, but money-savers none the less. People typically associate DIY with higher risk ventures like carpentry, plumbing, car repair, basic wiring, or the dreaded computer repair. While the first list is often overlooked, the second is all too often farmed-out and put off as being 'too hard'. I will admit, they are - in their own way - a gamble, a risk.

Here is what the Gambler taught me about DIY:


Know when to hold 'em: Some things are just as simple as you would hope. A burnt out tail light on NtJS-mobile-1 required removing 1 screw, unfastening the harness from the reflector, replacing the old bulb (a few dollars for TWO from the auto supply store), and putting it all back together. A 15-minute job. Even an auto-repair-phobe like me can handle that one. Some things you should just dive into and not worry about it. If it's in the front half of the home improvement store or featured on a commercial, then you can probably handle it. When in doubt, read the instructions. Celine fans, wall paint, lawn and garden care - you can do this stuff and succeed despite your skill set or lack there of. And the small wins will give you confidence to move up to bigger things.

Know when to fold 'em: Somethings you just shouldn't even attempt. I'm not saying that they are not possible. Just that they lie far enough outside of your abilities to have even a chance of success. We needed some electrical work done recently. The first bit was hired out. We got a recommendation on an electrician and he was great. When the next bit came, I thought I should at least look into doing it myself. Frugal? Over-confident? Who knows, but I mostly found myself wanting to do it. I could see other electrical projects on the horizon, and if I could do this, then the others would be no problem. I went through 3 or 4 resources from the library before I decided to call the guy back. I just wasn't getting it, and an attempt by an uniformed novice could go awry fast.

Know when to walk away: Some DIY is based on prior experience. In a previous life, I've hung drywall and gone though gallons of joint compound. I've built various things out of raw lumber. I've operated and serviced lawn care equipment. But all initially with the guidance of someone who knew what they were doing. With a little luck, I can repeat those tasks today with success. Some DIY is based on little more than a willingness to try. During a kitchen remodel, we replaced - among other things - the sink and drain. Whenever I get the chance, I add shut-off valves where they would today, but didn't 40 years ago. When I went to do that here, I got in a hurry and made a mistake that I had made before: I didn't open the valve prior to soldering it on. Even with the water off, there is still moisture in the lines. When you add heat, you get steam. When you get steam, it will look for the easiest way out - usually up and/or at the weakest point. My closed, un-soldered valve was both. Once enough pressure built, it overcame the weight of the valve and shot it 7 feet into the air. The burning hot brass valve landed 6 inches from my hands. It was time to walk away, b r e a t h e, and take some time to regroup. I came back a few minutes later with a clearer head and did it right - valve open - with no trouble.

Know when to run: Sometimes, you get blinded by bravado (or the fear of a professional's bill). As my father would say, "He knows enough to be dangerous". I've had no formal training when it comes to plumbing, but that didn't stop me from... well any plumbing project. While some were surprising successes, they didn't all go well. In a recent venture, my largest to date and the reason for our intermittent posting as of late, the test run of the new supply and drain resulted in 3 leaks. I was beaten and I knew it. The close quarters soldering and blending of the new PVC drain to old cast iron proved to be too much for me, especially after weeks of following up an 8 or 9 hour day at work with 4-6 hours of DIY at night on this mega project. It was late, I was defeated, and I could see it going from bad to worse in a hurry. I looked at the Mrs, and asked her to call a plumber in the morning. It was time to cut my losses and run.

You never count your money, when you're sittin' at the table, there'll be time enough for countin', when the deal is done: I can't help but think of my early days of computer building and repair here. In college, I was introduced to the notion of computer DIY. It started with simple upgrades: more RAM, extra HDD, new video card. It was surprisingly easy. Then a friend took me to the next level - building from scratch. The mechanics were surprisingly easy, but there was still a chance for failure. Cards not seated properly, incorrectly set jumpers, or the dreaded static discharge, could leave you perplexed for hours. The rule of thumb was, "never put the case back on before testing it". Even a simple task would get the kiss of death if you were so foolish as to make your upgrades, close the case, and then fire it up. I can't say that it always made sense, but it usually held true. Don't count the job as done until it's truly done - testing and all.

DIY work can be incredibly rewarding, and if nothing else, should give you an appreciation for the professionals who do this stuff every day. Basic competencies in these general home improvement areas can be just as valuable as having a phone list of contractors that you can trust. One will mostly cost you your time, the other is more taxing on your wallet. Like anything, the more you do this stuff, the better you'll get at it. But the next time you are staring down the barrel of a home improvement project, think of the lessons of the Gambler.

DIYers: How do you choose when to hold 'em and when to fold 'em?

Non-DIYers: What keeps you from sitting at the table?

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The "What's it really worth" segment has been a tad neglected over the past several months, but it's not exactly something that you always have worthy subject matter for. 20% off? Buy one, get one free (BOGO)? So called 'employee pricing'? Nothin' doin'. This is for serious deals - sharp discounts. Deals so good that they cause you to pause on your way to the cashier, thinking, "Wait. So what's this really worth?!" This is one of those times.

We had purchased these a while back, but they had been in cold storage until the opportunity arrived recently to install them when we were reminded of this deal. Did we need 4 new light fixtures? No. We needed one because the main kitchen light had gone bad. Somehow. But! Were we going to pass up the opportunity to get 4 matching fixtures that could replace the one that had failed and three others that were underpowered and ugly? Not on this day!

We already wanted to goose up the brightness in the hallway which gets no significant natural light at any point of the day. The existing fixtures did an excellent job a throttling the brightness that they did have by about half. Being who we are, we naturally wanted something cost effective, but also low-wattage fluorescent for our fixtures. Options: Zero. We got to the end of the lighting isle at Lowes, and looked back saying, "Where's the good stuff?" Everything was low-output LED, or high-heat halogen, or just plain ugly. Where were the nice looking, designed-for-fluorescent fixtures? Apparently not at Lowes. Home Depot was no help either.... at first glance. Once we found the isle o' fluorescent, we found a whole host of fixtures. A much better selection than Lowes, but they seemed to be separated into two categories: Grandma's basement, and needlessly expensive. Ug.

After three passes, the Mrs. was ready to walk. I couldn't blame her. We were both pissed. We knew that in about 18-months, after settling for something lesser, there would be any number of attractive, cost-effective solutions. I talked her into one more pass. I don't know how, but I did. "What amazing deal are we going to find that we already walked by 3 times?" A few minutes later, I had the answer.

While walking the isle this time, I cross referenced the display items with the stock below. A couple bins toward the end had no display. "What are these?" They turned out to be somewhat stylish fixtures originally marked at $74.95. OUCH! For some reason, they were on clearance, but not congregated to the endcap with the other clearance items - despite the lack of a display model. The sticker for their bin had them marked down to 10 dollars and some odd sense. There were 4 left - two blue, two amber. We took one of the amber ones and pushed the rest back out of sight (it may have been kind of a dick move, but it worked). We wanted to make sure that it was the right size and would put out enough light.

When we got to the check out, the price was not $10.something. It was even less! We paid just over 7 dollars for this thing. We installed it that night, and were so pleased with it that we bought the other three the next night. They were just where we had left them. We had budgeted $40 for the kitchen light, little did we know we would get 4 for that amount!

Styling? Check - good fit for decor. Low-price? Yep - still under budget despite purchasing 4 of them. Low-wattage? Relatively, see next. Good light output? Oh, yeah! These things put out so much dog-gone light it's unbelievable. Very high compared to the wattage.

So what are they really worth?

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