Well, the heat about took us out! When we hit triple digits, Tim goes MIA to handle the commercial accounts he has! So, I close the doors to the demo and just think about the progress ahead =)

So, one thing I love about my job as the supportive-wife-of-a-house-renovater, is I get to do all the shopping. And I really hate shopping and spending money. BUT, when it directly makes the value of something sky rocket…. it doesnt feel like shopping to me, but investing! And I like that. It’s win-win for me and the man.

So, here are some super duper deals! Because of the location of this house and what we are going to do with it, it warrants a higher end renovation. That has also been fun trying to find the most high quality things for really cheap…. and it’s possible!

We decided to go with slate for the floors and to do a slate shower wall as well…. pretty much like tiling, except with slate! We found a left over palate from Floor and Decor and got these long rectangular pieces for $1.30 (to give you a price comparison…. really cheap tile is .79-.99 cents….. so this was a GREAT deal!) We have wet saws so we are doing all the labor ourselves. Here is our slate. And my 3 year old added her toys to the pile of it.

Light fixture. These can run upwards of $100, but I found this iron one from craigslist for $15. The bronze color is off, so I bought a $3 can of oil rubbed bronze to match everything else I have bought. I am not a big spray painter….. but, if it is going to be on something that isnt “touched” or “handled” a lot, no one will ever know the difference. Obviously a no for anything that will ever get wet as well. Yay for craigslist!

Okay! The shower and faucet pieces! These can cost A LOT, especially for a nice finish on one. I found the shower head, lever, and all those pieces in the clearance section in Lowes. It was normally $146 marked down to $50. And when it rang up, it came on the screen for $25…. CRAZY! The cashier just said, “lucky you!” I told her, “Sometimes. Only sometimes.”

Next, background info, I came from Whitewater so the kids and I were a little worn out. I start rifling through the clearance section at another Lowes. The college student that worked there asked if he could help me and I said I didn’t think so. 10 minutes later, he came over again. He kind of stood there looking at my kids and said, “My girlfriend just told me she was pregnant.” As I try to figure out mentally why this guy is telling me this, why my own kids are acting crazy, and why I can find tons of clearanced faucets minus the finish that i need…. I calmly respond, “Well, congratulations.” I mean what do you say, really? I know they are like, 18, but a baby is on the way now! He was a little shell shocked looking, so I finally tell him it will all be ok, I met Tim when I was 18, was married at 21 and pregnant with my son at 23 and its really fun to be young parents. That they will figure it out. And that it will all be okay. He says he hopes its a boy and then asks me why I am taking all the faucets off of the shelf. I explain to him I need one specific finish and I will find it if it takes me all night 😉 He then tells me to just pick out whatever faucet I want and he will sell it to me for the clearanced price. Can he do that?? So, sure enough, he walks me to the front with my faucet and tells the manager to give it to me for the clearanced price so I don’t have to keep searching with my kids. HA! Also, I have never had that happened to me before… but shopping with 2 preschoolers for a house renovation…. I’ll take it!!! Sink Faucet- $60, normally $120.

Oil Rubbed Bronze towel bar and toilet paper holder- Target clearance, 1/2 off. 9.98 & 4.98

Here are the demo pictures in timeline of the bathroom:

Bathroom demo- $12 trip to the dump….. but wait, I took the cast iron tub to the recycling center and they paid ME! $24!

*Oh yeah, and I definitely sold the used 20 year old toilet for $25 on craigslist as well. It was kind of a joke that i put it on there, but someone actually came and bought it and wanted it! There ya go!

So bathroom demo was a profit of $37. Yay!

Demo is over, now for the fun part.