Now I can be slightly self-righteous and put that sucker up.

I’m blowing this lighting allowance out of the water.  OK, that’s an itty bitty exaggeration.  The truth is, I’m probably going to come in about $10 under budget, but that’s 10 bucks that can go towards, say, one square feet of tile.

One surprise, is how many absolutely terrific, unique antique fixtures I’ve been able to find shopping around in the local antique shops.  I would have thought that these fixtures would have broken the budget, but they’ve actually been less expensive than I could have found online.  The stores that have been so kind to my budget are Chatsworth Antiques in downtown Asheville, Bryant Antiques and the perennial favorite, the Tobacco Barn on Swannanoa River Road. I was going to post pics of my finds, but they look slightly sad and droopy on my guestroom bed , so you’ll just have to wait.

I also broke one of my cardinal rules today….you see, my dream of dreams is to totally furnish this house ala Sarah’s House.  If you’re not familiar with this show, it’s from HGTV Canada and features host Sarah Richardson and her gay husband Tommy as they buy, rehab, and totally trick out houses throughout Toronto.  These will give you an idea:

 A room in Sarah’s really cool brownstone.            A room in Sarah’s really cool         

                                                                                   backsplit.

                                A POOL PEOPLE!!!!  THE WOMAN PUT IN A POOL!

Call me naïve, but I actually thought the woman was doing these homes for herself, that’s sort of how she presents it, but then I realized that no woman needs a downtown brownstone, suburban midcentury modern, country farmhouse and cottage by the lake, all probably within fifty miles of each other…I don’t care how famous she is in Canada.

There are a few things that distinguish Sarah from myself….she’s a celebrity designer, she has a staff, she wears her hair in a shoulder length brown bob, AND SHE HAS A TV SHOW BUDGET BEHIND HER.  Tomato, tomahto.  I just can’t give up the dream though, and so I continue to think about upholstery choices and tchotchkes.

 So the rule I broke is this….I bought these:

Right now they look like two forlorn slipper chairs talking to each other in the corner of my dining room, but after a facelift, they’ll be absolutely delightful.

The problem is, I was trying not to buy any furniture whatsoever until I could assess the budget.  Considering we discovered that we did, in fact, have to replace the roof and we found a corner of the house that had to have some wood removed and replaced, I should have walked on by.  But they were cute, and they matched.  And, I’m still holding the IKEA cabinet trump card…..Sarah uses those in her houses, by the way.