Our Home (Depot) Away From Home

I talked Shane into going to Home Depot three times in the last week. It wasn't hard to do. Like pizza and sex, it's a suggestion he's not likely to say no to.

Last week we priced pickets for the privacy gates, bought some plumbing supplies needed to install the back flow valve to keep the basement from flooding again, and looked at new kitchen sinks.

We decided on stainless steel. Why do they mount the sinks on the wall? Shane had to give me a boost while I climbed all around the stacks so I could run my hands over the surface of each and every one of them. Despite touching them all, I didn't find any with a finish I liked. It's a little quirk of mine, but if I run my fingers over a grooved surface such as a vinyl record album or those little holograph picture things, I immediately get shivers and goosebumps. Well, the same thing happens with brushed stainless steel sinks. Anyway, none of the sinks were smooth enough, so we put in a special order for one with a "satin finish".

Monday night we went back to "the depot" because Shane decided there were a few more things he needed for the back flow project. While we were there, I bought a gallon of paint for our bedroom. The guy behind the paint desk mixed the right colors into the wrong base, so I had to wait while he mixed a correct gallon. As I watched him label the erroneous gallon and set it behind the counter, the wheels in my head starting turning.

Tuesday morning I headed back to Home Depot to see if that mis-tinted paint had been put out at a discount. Not yet.

After work Tuesday, Shane said he needed to make another trip to Home Depot to pick up a specific ball hitch he would need in order to get the rented mini-excavator to our house on Saturday. While he was there, I realized that our special order receipt for the sink had our phone number wrong, so I called to correct it and was told our sink was in. I called Shane on his cell phone and he was able to pick up the sink while he was there.

He also checked and was able to get that gallon of mis-tinted paint for $5. Because it was the same color mixed into a deeper base, it will be perfect for trim work with the paint I bought Monday night and will be perfect for the bathroom we plan to build downstairs. But hey, lets not stop there. Shane also picked up a small vanity and sink that was drastically reduced to $30. It will be ideal for the downstairs bathroom, whenever we finally get around to that project.

Shane brought it all home and we took the kitchen sink out of the box and guess what? It was a brushed finish and not satin, although the box and the order receipt both indicated satin. So, back into the truck we went to return the sink. But not without going to Lowe's first to check out their sinks. Just in case. After climbing the walls at Lowe's, I found a sink I liked with a texture I liked, and what's more, it was $30 cheaper. We bought it, but not until we opened the box first and made sure it really was the one I wanted.

Finally, back to Home Depot to return the first sink. We anticipated a 15% restocking fee for returning it, but they gave us a full refund. Sweet.

While we were there, there was a feeding frenzy going on in the area rugs. They were giving away all of their 5'x8' samples!* Most samples have a small area where there is no pile, but instead a label that says "sample" sewn into them. However, a few of the samples have a sticker (strongly) glued to the pile that can be carefully removed with a razor. We found a 100% wool rug, with a glued-on label, that no one else seemed interested in, but that would work wonderfully in our living room. One was all we needed or wanted, so we left the rest there to be fought over. We're ALL FOR bargains and freebies, but that some people were grabbing up as many as 10 of these rugs left us scratching our heads.

So, we ended up saving $30 on the sink, got great discounts on the vanity and paint, and got a free area rug to boot.



*One employee said they were getting rid of them to make room for new samples. Another employee said they are no longer carrying rugs or carpeting at all.