Ways You Can Save Money While Decorating
Ways You Can Save Money While Decorating
By Melinda Campbell-Reflections from the Kitchen Sink
I literally am always on the lookout for money-saving moments. As a solo mom on a fixed budget, I have to, but it has always been my nature to penny-pinch…that’s good stewardship and a good quality, I think. When we bought this home, we had so many maintenance things to do before we could move in, and I made a trip to the clearance displays in every home improvement store I entered hoping to find a bargain or two. We had to replace every light fixture, many plumbing features, just a lot of stuff. When you absolutely need things in the moment, you can’t always find a sale, so I tried to think ahead to some projects that would be on the horizon when I saw some cool things. Well, life got lifey—a borrowed line from Tom Mabe—and some of my bargains sat in the corner of the garage for over six years!
After years of trying to hire a contractor, I finally got bids from a couple friends and was able to work on the little building out back. (Remind me to tell you about the contractor who told me he didn’t have time to write up a bid, but he could start working and stop when I ran out of money…for real, he said that!) The building was a garage that one of the previous owners turned into a man cave and office combo. There was a truck stop style bathroom with a sink smacked on the wall and a toilet but no shower. That was fine for then, but now that my son with autism is an adult, we thought expanding the bathroom would allow the space to become a real apartment living space for him to venture into some semi-independent life eventually.
We are nowhere near finished with the space, but I am so pleased with the progress on the bathroom and bedroom side of the little house…AND I have worked hard to find ways you can save money while decorating. My focuses for this week will be the faucets, sink light fixture, and paint. Y’all might want to sit down for this…A couple of the prices are from memory because I threw away boxes and receipts before coming up with the idea to share. Pricing is pre-tax, but I used my Lowe’s card for the 5% discount which basically cancels my 6% sales tax! I take savings any way I can get them.
5 gallon ceiling paint: retail $75ish…paid $15ish **product label changeover!
Wall paint from the “oops” shelf: retail $45ish per gallon…paid $7-9 per gallon **we dumped all four gallons together and loved the color!
Light fixture for above sink: retail $100ish and first clearance $73.09…paid $18.27
Shower faucet: retail $218…paid $54.75
Sink faucet: retail $150ish…paid $25ish Totals—retail $725 range…paid $150ish
That’s about 80% off, my friends!
…and that doesn’t include the flooring remnant that I have no clue what the savings would even be. That bathroom floor cost me about $20. (I know, right?!? #winning!) Look at all the great ways you can save money while decorating! Extra great quality products…super discount prices! Even with the regular retail costs on the other basics, I was thrilled with the bottom line. We had enough paint to carry the color out of the bathroom, too, and cover the paneled walls in what’s now the bedroom. We will share more pics as well push through the rest of the facelift. That almost $600 savings can buy a lot of peanut butter for the hungry Campbell boys and maybe another few pots of flowers for the mom zone out back! I am pretty happy about that.
Don’t forget to share some of your favorite bargain find locations! Teresa (Nana from Nanahood) and I are almost ready to do some road trip time again, so who knows where you will spot us! #frugalfashion#homedecor#bargainhunting#renovation#designonadime#budgetfriendly#lowes#loweshomeimprovement#clearance#quality#bargainshopper#nanahood#reflectionsfromthekitchensink
