Reduce, Reuse, Recycle...ain't cheap!

I have a hankering. I have a hankering for a good ol' fashioned farm table for my kitchen.

When I first started buying home furnishings, it was back when every piece had to be made from (or at least look like) cherry wood, all the hardware was brushed nickel, and everything had to be a shade of either taupe or beige: it was all so matchy-matchy. The coffee tables matched the bed, that matched the armoire, that matched the kitchen table, that matched the kitchen chairs...well, you get the idea.

I am happy to say that my tastes have evolved since then. I am anti-matchy-matchy, anti-brushed nickel, anti-faux wood, anti-looks-like-every-other-house-on-the-block. I want my home, and the furniture in it, to be comfortable. I also have a desire to re-purpose as many pieces and materials as I can. This saves me money, granted, but it also makes me feel like I'm doing a little bit to help reduce waste and give new life to something long forgotten, and that's a good thing!

Because we have a formal dining room, the table in the kitchen will likely not play host to any fancy shmancy dinner parties. It will, however, play host to some very important tea parties with the little girls I am blessed to have in my life, it will be a homework station, be a location for arts and crafts (including messy, messy, lord-help-me-it's-messy playdough), serve as the occasional food prep centre, sewing table, and buffet counter. Basically, it has to be durable. It HAS to be.

I was sure that what I wanted existed. And it does. It's made by a fantastic company called The Lorimer Workshop. At $1075 USD however it is yet another item that is far beyond my budget. A girl can dream though, right? This is my inspiration though, perhaps I might become brave enough to attempt to build my own...if I can find a pile of old wood no one's using, that is.

Wall Art Inspiration

One of the keys to being able to decorate the house on my frugal budget is to get creative about *everything*. I am scouring the internet for imaginative wall art projects and ideas for the living room. Anyone who knows us knows that Mr. Mel is very much an "in the box" kinda guy, and I am much more willing to try quirky and funky colours and projects. Here are a few of the awesome ideas that have made my short list:

How cute is this?! Mr. Mel would NEVER go for this, which gives me the sads.

This is a great use of those pricey scrapping leftovers!
I love this idea too, but I don't have that many cool dishes! ha!
I think this may be a winner...Mr. Mel approves! Who says ceiling medallions have to stay on the ceiling?

**Sometime between last night and this morning, this post lost all of it's links. I'll be sure to post links to the above asap**

It figures

I have always swooned over silk drapes. All you have to say is "Dupioni" and my heart skips. There's something so luxurious and dramatic about them. They remind me of ballgowns, and what better than to have ballgowns hanging in a room?! ha ha! I have always longed for floor length, buffalo check, dupioni silk drapes. Always.

Sadly, at $300/panel, my budget doesn't allow for such extravagance. Because our main floor is, essentially, one big open space, I wanted to do the same window treatment on each window and door - which meant that need a total of 8 panels. After many many days of searching, I finally found what I was looking for at Pier1 Imports for the bargain price of $31/panel:

Just my luck, they are sold out! They don't anticipate getting them restocked for another two months. Bummer. Damn this teeny weeny budget of mine!

DIY - Do it Your (own damn) Self!

Sooooo, I'm going to be honest with you. I went over budget on the house. Poor Mr. Mel, he had no clue what I had gotten myself into and was, understandably, shocked when the final bills rolled in.

I had big plans for furniture and decor but, with the moolah gone, I am left brokity broke and in need of some creative ideas to get it all done on a tight tight tight (did I mention tight?) budget.

Mr. Mel has agreed to pay for a new living room sofa...and the rest he has insisted must be on the cheap. That in mind, I have been scouring blogs, the internet, and magazines and have found alot of really inspiring ideas that I hope I can parlay into some awesome and totally unique decorating touches. I am hoping to share some of my ideas, and also share the results of my DIY projects!

I know it's small, but my first DIY for the house was jewelry storage for my closet. I love necklaces but have never had any way to store them that didn't end up in them becoming a tangled mess of chain and beads. Here's my solution:

I started off with a 24" shelf that I picked up from a discount store for $5, and cup hooks from WalMart for $4.
I measured for two rows of hooks, with each hook 2" apart. I staggered the top and bottom rows so that the necklaces on the top row would hang between the hooks on the bottom row. I drilled holes in the shelf with a small bit and had Mr. Mel screw in the hooks for me with his big, strong man-hands.Voila!

Lessons Learned

After all is said and done, I have certainly learned some valuable lessons through this process. I thought I would share some of them with you:

1. Contractor's lie. They are not your friend, they are not your advocate, they are business people in it to make money. They will take advantage of you if you allow them to.
2. Be sure to explore alternatives to traditional financing. We chose a line of credit, instead of a builder's mortgage or having the builder finance it. This allowed us to ensure that bills were paid, and that the contractor wasn't compensated for work not yet complete. It also allowed us to have a lawyer involved through every stage of the build, ensuring that all the builder complied with all requirements necessary to receive a payment. It also allowed us to keep the lot in our name, as opposed to signing it over to the builder for the duration of the build. This *may* however, cause problems with hooking up utilities so be sure that you have an agreement in place, in the event that those utilities must be in your name, that the builder is responsible for all charges during construction.
3. Solid-core interior doors are a great investment...however they are a pain in the butt for pocket doors because of their weight. Leave the pocket doors as hollow-core, your finger tips will thank you.
4. Sit on your toilets when you pick them out! This may seems silly but, let's face it, these puppies need to be comfortable.
5. Measure the garage! Measure, measure, measure! Even though we increased the size of the garage, we didn't account for the stairs . Once these were installed, our truck didn't fit.
6. Don't try to save a few hundred dollars here or there...pay someone to do it for you! We attempted to save money by buying and installing our own closet organizers. It ended up costing us much more than we anticipated, and they were a headache to assemble and install.
7. Have you electrician install as many plug ins and cable outlets as is legally allowed. They are easy peasy and only a few dollars to install at the time of rough-in, but it saves you the headache of worrying about where you'll be able to plug in your lamps and electronics down the road. Oh, and be sure to have them install floor outlets, you'd be surprised how handy they are!
8. If you have a vision for what you want in your home, DO NOT let anyone talk you out of it! I cannot tell you how many times I selected a finish or fixture and had people cringe or tell me how much they disliked it...but when it all came together it was exactly what I had pictured, and I was relieved that I had stuck to my guns!
9. GO GREEN! It's more expensive but, if you select your items carefully, you can get some really unique looks and great warranties...and you're helping Mother Earth at the same time!
10. Do your homework. Research products: how to care for them, warranties, etc. What you thought you wanted, might not be the best choice for you and your lifestyle in the long run.
11. Upgrade when you can. It really is true that you should budget between 15-20% more than your original quote for upgrades. Upgrading at the beginning saves you money down the road. Whenever you "cheap out" or "settle" with a mind to change it later. You are now paying twice: once for the initial item and install, and again for the replacement item and install. That in mind, make sure you are realistic about what you can afford.
12. Include as many upgrades as you can in your initial quote. We ended up spending only 7% over our initial quote in upgrades, because we included as many "wish list" items as we could in our initial quote from the builder.
13. Ensure that your builder is a member in good standing of any local builder's/construction associations, and is a member in good standing of the Canadian New Home Warranty Program. Insist that your builder provide you with similar information regarding their sub-trades as well.
14. Count on the following: your home will be behind schedule, it will cost more than you thought, you will shed tears and vent in anger throughout the process. It's best to keep you eyes on the prize, though, and know that in the end it will be worth it.

They don't want my garbage!

We put our new garbage can out on the "curb" (I use the term loosely as there is no sidewalk...or road) yesterday and they didn't pick up my garbage! I'm gonna try again next week. Maybe I'm missing something?????

Yay for Garbage Cans!

I know this may sound insignificant...but I have a garbage can! Woo-weeee! The contractor had the Loraas folks take away my humongous garbage bin and I wasn't quite sure how garbage pick up worked around these here parts. Soooooo, I sent the hubs to Town Hall to find out the scoopity doopity about the town's services. The idea backfired somewhat. He did arrange to have our garbage can delivered that afternoon, and found out all about the local community centre...but he also let slip that we didn't yet have a water meter on the house. So, guess who was at the house later that morning to ensure we no longer took advantage of the free water?! Ha ha. Tomorrow is our first garbage pick up day. Annnnnd, we have no garbage. Huh, oh well, maybe next week.