Last weekend I finished painting the basement, and while the lighting in these pictures leave a lot to be desired, they should at least give you an idea of the progress we are making. The color is a light-greenish-aquamarine. (I have decided that the reason paints have such silly names is that you are much more likely to buy something named "Soft Sea Foam" than "Light-Greenish-Aquamarine.")
We are now ready to lay the floor, and so we took a trek to the awe-inspiring but dangerous orange galaxy of the Home Depot last night. I don't know what it is about the Home Depot, but it seems to be surrounded by a powerful magnetic field that pulls homeowners irretrievably toward it. For instance, last night we were pulled through the glass doors like humans caught in a sci-fi tractor beam not one, not two, but THREE times!
We plopped the girls in the cart and grabbed a few odds and ends like switch plates and light bulbs on our way to the tile aisle. We spent forever trying to decide which tile was a good combination of cheap and acceptable, which grout matched, whether to use pre-mixed thin set, blah, blah, blah. We finally got it all worked out and carted our load to the checkout counter. Then, on our way out the door, what do we see but a huge stack of perfectly acceptable tile on a screaming clearance sale! Why would they put this display in the exit doorway, I ask you?
Poor, Ryan. I made him turn the cart around and take all the tile and grout we had just purchased to the return desk to trade it for the clearance tile. You just can't beat 68 cents per square foot! He also had to get a slightly darker grout. I loaded the girls into the car while he did that, and then, right as he was lugging the cart of new tile to the back of the van, I was struck with the thought that we should go ahead and buy enough tile to do the upstairs bathroom as well. We have always been planning to rip out the nasty linoleum in there as soon as we finished the downstairs bath. So back toward the glowing orange lights one last time to get another four boxes of tile. But 68 cents, I tell you! We would have kicked ourselves for missing out on that, especially considering the laughable budget we have for this project!
And while we have escaped from the clutches of the Home Depot for now, it has only to bide its time and perhaps cackle evilly for good measure because we will soon be back in its grasp buying light fixtures and moulding and blinds and who knows what else.
5 comments:
Oh the memories of the DIY projects in our last home. (Am I smiling? I think I may be smirking ... or not.) We lived many miles from Home Depot and usually found what we needed at the local mom and pop in a one-street town. The funny thing: We got better quality for LESS, but we just didn't have all the choices. My husband says time is money so he wouldn't be smiling about 68-cent tile with all the labor of three trips in and out of HD added in. I can just picture it and I am snickering. Too funny to be made up. I love your refreshing take on life. I've gotta go LIVE LIFE, but I'll be back again soon. Enjoy that beautiful bathroom! : )
I wish you were here so I could save you on your Home depot retail mark up prices!
But, doesn't it feel good to finally actually get excited about a basement:)
way to go Julie the tool woman Taylor
I confess...I have my own home depot credit card and i am not afraid to use it. actually i don't even own a home and i love home depot! so awesome that you are nearing completion. love it!
Yes, yes, yes, it is looking awesome! And all at a discount price, smart shopper - You rock!
We shopped for tile for about a whole month. We ultimately ended up with the cheap stuff. I have never regretted not getting something pricier or fancier. It looks just fine and I don't have to super-seal it all the time etc. Way to go on the house! When you're done, will you come finish mine?
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