It was too good of a deal to pass up....

Happy New Years, everyone.

We happened to be walking past a new consignment shop this past saturday.
(4 days ago.  4 LONG days ago...)

And there, in the window of the shop, was an extremely cute headboard / footboard with matching bedside table.    It was perfect for Fiona's room.

Fiona's 5.5 years old, and has been on us recently to buy her a bedside table.  She likes the ones in our room, and apparently feels she would benefit from having a similar convenience next to her own bed.

So, there the pieces were in the window.    Whilst we had not planned to furniture shop that afternoon, we also have learned to maintain flexibility in such matters, over time.

"I'm almost positive I've seen these exact pieces in __________ catalog"  Wendy mentions quietly to me as we enter the store.
"They're wicked expensive."

So we look around a bit, find a very nice guy to help us, we looked at the pieces, and at the extremely reasonable prices on them, taked the guy down a bit, and ended up purchasing the bed and table.

How could we not?  It was just too good a deal to pass up.

"Does it come with rails?"  I asked before we left.

Nope, but they should attach to any standard frame.......

We stop by a hardware store near the consignment shop, a ndget the requisite bolts, nuts and washers for it.

We get it home, and go online and see the frame in the catalog, and congratulate ourselves on getting such a great deal.

And.... the metal frame that Fiona's bed is sitting on, does not have footboard attachments.

Strike one.

No problem, I hate the metal frame in the spare room, we'll buy a new one for Fiona's room, and use hers in the spare room.  

6 phone calls later, I find a place that both sells the frame I need, AND has it in stock.  And it's only.... 30 minutes away.     But closes in 10 minutes.

Sunday morning, I took a drive to the bed store that had the frame, bought it (for more than the headboard and footboard cost me) and realized I'd need narrower bolts....   Stopped at another hardware store on the way home from the bed store, made sure I had the right bolts for the new frame, and got home.

Only to discover that the large holes that were pre-drilled on the head/footboard did not line up with the new bed frame, and therefore would not line up with any standard  bed frame.

Strike two.

What to do, what to do... ponder...ponder.... ponder.....     I set up the new frame, it's easy peasy, and put Fiona's bed on it.  At least she'll be able to sleep.   I took her old frame to the spare room, swapped it out with the frame-I-hate, and took solace in the fact that at least something worked out just the way I pictured it.  

After much deliberation and lots of swearing, I decide that there's one more thing I can try, before taking an ax to our too-good-of-a-deal-to-pass-up.   I can measure new frame holes against the wood of the head/footboard, and very carefully drill new, small holes, attaching the boards to the frame in a way that would keep them from being weight-bearing.   Attach them for strictly cosmetic reasons, in other words.

I got a pencil, lined it all up, realized it would be close but  juuuuuuusssssttttt doable, as long as I did not allow them to be be load bearing.   No problem......

Went to a 3rd hardware store for the narrow bolts (and nuts and washers); the drill bit that would be exactly the right size; and a wee-tiny little wrench for tightening the wee tiny nuts onto the wee tiny bolts.    Get 'em all home, and.... the battery on my drill is dead.


#$^($%&(#$^( GOD #($%^&(#$%&(@#$^(GOAT F(#$%^&(#$^(#% SUCKER!!!

I had used the drill for, like... 2 minutes, 3 days earlier, and didn't pop the battery out and plug it back in.....

Strike 3.  
(At least.  I'm not counting each individual trip to a hardware store as a separate strike...)


Fast forward to today.   The drill's fully charged, the holes are drilled as planned, everything lines up, and.... the bolts are too long.   I chose the side of caution when I bought them, and... they won't work.

Back to the hardware store, shorter bolts, come home, slap it together and.... there it is, looking cute in Fiona's room, and she's terribly excited about the whole thing.

And we are too, because it was simply too good of a deal to pass up.

(If I don't think about the fact that I've spent 4x more on frames and gas and bolts and drill bits and wrenches and band aids and the $$$ my time is worth.... )

Not sure about y'all, but this is, sadly, not that unusual.     I've dozens of tiny plastic bags of various nails and nuts and such from hardware stores all over south suburban chicago in my tool box, each trip costing me less than $5, and therefore not worth a special trip just to return them.

But it's a new year, and a new me, and I've already been back to the first of those stores, with my little plastic bag o' bolts.

"You want to RETURN these?"  they ask, with a certain astonishment
Yep.  here's the receipt.

"And here's your... $3.80."  they say in return with a "Don't spend it all in one place..." undertone.  

I put the most of the refund right into a donation canister for some charity, on the counter at the hardware store.

"Thanks!"  I reply cheerfully, as I stuffed most of it into the canister.

 I haven't felt this good in 4 days.....