Yesterday was
one of the least favorite days of my life. Not this day particularly
but this type of day. And by that I mean the kind where I spend a lot
of money. That's not completely true of course but I am frugal by
nature and even as a kid I tended to save my allowance instead of
spend it and living hand to mouth for most of my adult life has
reinforced my natural tendency so when I do spend money it tends to
be in large sums. If I'm going to do something I'm going to want
something nice. With an eye to the expense vs pleasure ratio, I don't
throw caution to the wind but I don't pare it down to the bare
minimum either. This is one of the reasons it normally takes me a lot
of time to decide on things, like tile and flooring and paint color
and vanities. Will the idea that appeals to me today appeal to me
tomorrow or next week? Because I'll be living with the results of my
decisions. So I feel a bit under pressure since I have to commit now!
And commit I did yesterday.
I
bought the light fixture, the glass shades, light bulbs, the
baseboard trim, the 1” x 4”s for the window trim (couldn't decide
on the door trim), 1/4 round for the baseboard at Lowe's then it was
off to Floor and Decor to get the tile for the shower, the pencil
tiles (which involved the difference between polished and unpolished
and the price difference), the blue glass accent tiles, the marble
flower accent tiles, grout for one and grout for another, spacers,
special adhesive for the glass tiles (holy crap!), and sealer for the
stone.
I
had to get someone to help with the pencil tiles and the flower tiles
as there weren't any on the shelf so I found the woman who had helped
me on my first visit. She did find me what I wanted, having to go to
the back and root around, but she and I had a different perspective
on what would look good. She thought my design was 'outdated', I
don't care I told her. And she didn't like my idea of using a darker
grout in the flower border tile, you won't like it she said, I've
done it before and it looked fine, I told her. She thought I needed
five boxes of tiles for the shower when I thought four would be more
than enough (I had already figured up my square footage). I can
always buy one or two extra if need be but at four boxes, I think I
will be returning some.
Anyway,
it was nearly four before I got home with all that material loaded in
my truck cleverly disguised as a car and we got everything unloaded ,
it doesn't look
like much for the amount of money it represents
I fed the dog and took her outside, then sat down at my computer and
realized I should have left 10 minutes ago to go get my sister for
the yoga class that night and rushed my way out and we barely made it
in time. It was a large class last night and thankfully it was a
gentle, restorative class (they alternate on Thursday evening between
gentle and active).
I
was a few minutes late to watercolor class Wednesday because Rocky
showed up just as I was leaving and we had to have our morning
confab. The last project that we will work on the the last three days
of the class (she added an extra day) is a water scene with a water
lily. We transferred the waterlily to our paper but we had to draw
the rest ourselves and I took far too much time on my composition (you may not be able to see the faint pencil lines in this pic) and
consequently got the least amount of painting done of anyone in the
class. Here's mine...
group
shot...
you
can see how little progress I made compared to everyone else so it's
a good thing I have two more days to work on it.
Well,
Rocky might start tiling the shower today or he might install the
light fixture first. We'll see when he shows up.
The older I get, the more loathe I am to spend big money. And yes- you had so many decisions to make in that money-spending venture which, when you put them all together will certainly affect how you feel about the money you spent. But I love the fact that you didn't let the lady at the store tell you what you wanted. I would have been tempted to say, "Uh, which one of us is the artist here? Oh yeah, that would be me."
ReplyDeleteOf course I'm not an artist but you are.
Your water lily is going to be gorgeous. As with almost everything you do, you take your time and make of it what you want. I love that about you.
You are a busy lady and a woman who knows just what she wants.
ReplyDeleteI also am thrifty and a saver and give lots (sometime too much) time deciding on big items. There are a few things that I wish that I could have a do-over, but I try to accept things because in the end, they are just things.
Re. the painting, maybe you're just more careful than everybody else. :)
ReplyDeleteI totally get it about spending money. I am not a spender either, but when I do lay out, I want to do it right.
I am meticulous. my friend calls it anal.
DeleteI hate spending money on big items like redoing a room in the house. David and I are doing the kitchen ourselves and it has taken us years of work and money to upgrade it. We only have the counters to replace and will do it when we get the money. For now we are living with it.
ReplyDeleteI am ultra frugal but when it comes to big expenditures, like my laminate floors and Anderson 100 windows, I go for the best, including the installers.But it's worrying all the same. My income is very modest, so I can't afford a redo.
ReplyDeleteBut when it's home improvements, it's not spending as much as redeploying assets. You still have the value, in a different form.
At least that's my self talk at times like this!
Large expenditures are nerve wracking. So far we've had to replace the HVAC, the hot water heater and the driveway on this house. Tall dollars. We're not doing much more on the house until we find out if the orange cheeto is going to impact social security.
ReplyDeleteIt's so cool that you can draw such a pretty lily.
Many people do not pick the right tiles and color so that is why the salesperson gave her advice. She may not have known that you have an art background. I am sure you will be happy with your choices...even if they do not stand the test of time.
ReplyDeleteand yet the woman who I bought the tiles from when we redid the little bathroom recommended a darker grout for the decorative tiles I used there to help them stand out (and they look very good) so really it's just a matter of preference. and no she didn't know my background because I didn't tell her. she was pushing whatever the industry says is the current 'thing' (which changes about every two years she said) because that's her job, plus for some reason she thought we were updating the bathroom for selling the house. and besides, my house was built in the late 50s/early 60s so no matter how outdated she thinks my design and choices are, they are a vast improvement over what was there.
DeleteI do not like busy days like that. I don't like pushy sales people either. Ann used those same glass strips to space out the free tiles she had for her little downstairs bathroom, The Loo. I will see if I can find a picture.
ReplyDeleteYour watercolor technique is delicate and beautiful.
ReplyDelete