Mar 21, 2013

Working on a Budget

What is this weather?  I am dying over here- I refuse to wear tights once it is officially spring, so I will be showing off some pale, frosty legs Sunday at church.   Hotness.  After last weekend's glorious taste of spring, Dell Harper is just utterly confused why we can't go play outside.  Things are blooming, the sun is shining- it's just downright confusing, and has been the source of several a temper tantrum this week.  Thanks, Mother Nature.

Thank you for all of your helpful comments on my bathroom plans.  Yesterday I trekked out to my favorite stone supplier, where I purchased the condo's kitchen counter tops, as well as my current house's.  I loved an entry level marble similar to this:


Then, I found a "Crema Marfil" slab already cut for a seven foot double sink vanity, with a chip.  I love chips, dents, any imperfection that allows me some budget finagling.  The chip can be fixed, and the price of the "second" slab is a third of what the above marble would cost.


It actually matches the marble in the guest bathroom.  Is it my top pick?  No, I prefer the white above.  Do I like it enough to live with it and enjoy it?  Yes!  For a third of the price, it is great!  It gives me more wiggle room on the vanity and the tub.  The rosy tones will look great with the pink (err, I mean, "warm cream") on the future walls too!


Our original estimate for this addition was above and beyond what we wanted to spend.  I adore this house, but it is not our "forever" house, and we did not want to price ourselves out of our end of the street (the other end gets pretty fancy, but we keep it real on this end).  Our contractor (full disclosure- he is a close friend) came back with a lower number that we could handle.  However, we are paying for  finishing out the space- bathroom flooring, tub, shower and bath fixtures, vanity, light fixtures, etc.  

Not everyone would like that, I realize, but it is exactly my cup of tea.  I love scouring salvage places, and going to low rent areas of town, looking for the best deal.  My antennae start bristling whenever a store is located in a sketchy part of town- a chorus of "low overhead=lower prices" begins to buzz in my brain.  It's a sickness, really- parsimoniousscottishitis (genetic, inherited from my mother, begins to manifest around age thirty).

Now onto a vanity and tub and my work is complete!



4 comments:

  1. I cannot wait to see the finished product; anything to do with remodeling makes me happy! I told my husband I missed my calling as a contractor. Ha!

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  2. I'm so excited to see it all finished! And I still want to see finished kitchen pics!

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  3. You have such a gift for being funny. You might be the only person I "know" that is cleaver enough to make me laugh while reading about a bathroom.

    I'm excited to see the finished product! Keep updating us!

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  4. Can't wait to see the finished product. I love shopping and finding the best deals, it feels like I've won an award.

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