Renovation Thoughts Too Short for a Blog Post

I’m spending money like a drunken sailor. Actually, worse than that– I’m spending money like Congress. Oooo watch the dollars fly! OK, I KNOW we need the cabinets, the countertops, the lumber, the flooring… and I’m not going bananas buying the luxury items. But even the cheap stuff is expensive! I have never spent this much money before in my life, ever.

I have been finding some really great deals on stuff, though. I needed a pull-out trash bin system- you know, one of these things:

The larger ones at Lowe’s are about $300. Yes, THREE HUNDRED DOLLARS. For two plastic trash cans, metal drawer hardware, and the pieces of wood for it. WOW. Selling kitchen remodeling supplies is quite the racket, eh? I was not going to pay $300. I didn’t have the time to make my own roll-out thingie, either… so I found that exact setup on eBay. I won the bid! $117!!! It’s still a heck of a lot of money, but I’m glad I got it for so much less money.

I am loving my local Grossman’s Bargain Outlet store lately. I bought my cabinets from them (more on that later). I had to make two trips to get my cabinets, to two different Bargain Outlet stores. This is because they didn’t have all the cabinets in stock that I needed. And I just didn’t have the cargo truck equipment or van ladder racks to haul everything around at once. :S

Here are the cabinets I purchased:

Bargain Outlet was having a “Wheel-O-Discount” promotion when I bought them. You spin the wheel and get anywhere from 5% to 50% off your entire order. Wow! So i rang up a big bill, and spun the wheel!!! What did I get, what did I get?? 5%. I was pretty sad. I got an additional 10%, though, for signing up an account with the store… but I was pretty bummed.

Well, we had to go to Bargain Outlet again, and I bought up another big bill of stuff (not as much as the first bill, but pretty big). I asked my son to spin the wheel.

HE GOT 50% OFF!!!!

I couldn’t believe it! Why didn’t I have the kid do it for me the first time?! Oh well! I saved almost $500 off my order. I was so excited!!! The clerks are the store were all real sourpusses, though. LOL.

It is possible to buy building supplies online. So far, I have ordered wallpaper, a stove range hood, a dishwasher, a kitchen sink, gas space heaters, countertops, Tung oil, network equipment, trim molding, plumbing supplies, and cabinet hardware. Some of the best stores I have ordered from include:

Lumber Liquidators
DoItBest.com
HomeDepot
Lowes
eBay
PEXSupply.com
Buy.com
NorthernTool.com

These stores have been pleasant to deal with, have great prices, and their shipping and delivery is great. There is also NO WAY I could have purchased these things at the stores and hauled them home. I have only a minivan. It will hold 4×8 sheetrock and plywood sheets (yay!), but there are no van partitions to hold anything beyond that. So I have relied heavily on delivery. It costs a little (most of the time) but it has saved me endless labor (and saved my van from the heavy loads).

Once we finish the Sheetrock and the painting, the renovation will start to get interesting and more fun. The photos will have more interest, too. There are a LOT of loose ends to wrap up, though. I realized the other day– while the construction schedule ends right around the last week of August, I will be working on this project at least up until December. I still have lots of trim work, custom cabinets and pantry shelves to make, decorative accents to paint, heaters to plumb and install, a few interior doors to install, and more. Whew!