Day 12 – Don’t fret the failures

This post is part of a 31 day series – “31 days to decorate your home on a budget.”  You can read all the posts in this series here.

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So it all started with this lovely light fixture we had on our front porch.  Ha-ha!  Definitely was on the list of things to replace ASAP!

So I was THRILLED when I found this Hampton Bay light fixture at a thrift store for $4.94!  I LOVED it!  And bonus, it was already ORB (Oil Rubbed Bronze) so I didn’t even have to spray paint it!

I finally got tired of waiting for hubby to have a day off up the nerve to install it (by myself, no doubt!) in JULY, in GA (read 99 degrees) and I think it must have weighed like 15 pounds.  Imagine me on a chair sweating like crazy, balancing the fixture on my shoulder while trying to put the caps on the wires and tighten the knob on the top– ok, so maybe don’t imagine that, not a pretty sight, I am sure!  (And by the way, I always turn the breaker off when installing a light fixture – sometimes to the whole house, just to be safe. )

Turned the breaker back on, flipped the switch, and it WORKED (you never know with thrift store fixtures) and I LOVED it!

That was…. until….hubby got home   Oh, don’t worry, he loved the way the light fixture looked  too (who wouldn’t compared to the before picture?? ) And no, the house wasn’t burned down because I wired it incorrectly.

It had to do with the fact that our porch ceiling is 7 feet off the deck, the fixture hung down almost 2 feet (20 inches or so) and my husband is 6 foot  tall.   Hmmm.. I am not a mathematician, but 7 foot ceilings minus 2 foot light fixture doesn’t leave room for a 6 foot husband to walk underneath.

I think I might have shed a tear or two… especially as hard as I had worked getting it up and as much as I loved it!  But hubby was also tempted to cry not happy when it wacked him in the head the next day when he came home from work.  (We only had 1 chain link in the top so nothing we could remove there, and the decorative piece on the bottom actually was a screw in part that held the whole fixture together so we couldn’t remove it either.)

Chalk it up to a FRUGAL FAIL

But with most failures in life, they usually can be fixed.   You get up, dust yourself off, and try again.  And don’t get discouraged!

So I was on the search for another light fixture –  and fast before my frugal light fixture ended with my husband on a costly trip to get stitches in the forehead.

This past Saturday, my favorite parking lot yard sale was PACKED!  Probably the most sellers I had ever seen there.  It took me almost an hour just to browse everything.  I was headed on my way out past a booth I had already looked at and my eye caught this –

Brand new, in the box, still sealed in plastic, and see the price – $5.00! 

(By the way, I looked up the same fixture with that item # online when I got home and it sells for $24.97 new.)

Hubby was home yesterday and we installed it.  This one is much smaller and it’s pretty too!

I am so glad I was patient and waited for a deal.  I was thinking I might have to go buy one at full price, but I ended up getting a brand new one at yard sale prices!

I thought of this post by Laine that I read last week on how having patience (even with home décor) will bring a reward in the end.  God is always on time, never late!  And He never fails us!

Oh, by the way, if any of my local readers or friends have a short husband or TALL porch ceilings,  I have the perfect $5 light fixture for you.

What about you?  Any “frugal fails” you care to share?  Did they turn out ok or maybe even better in the end?

{cj}