Sources…

I’ve found a number of great sources for items for the house–and some of there were local stores. A great source sells ideal quality at a super savings over the path-of-least-resistance purchase (grabbing it off the shelf at Lowe’s or Home Depot.) Here are a few:

Habitat for Humanity ReStore– Absolutely gorgeous, new-in-wrap glass door blanks for the master bedroom door and closet door. Both are Thermatru brand and I paid $30; retail is over $200 each.

Garden pond and waterfall made of molded, durable black plastic. $15 each for the two components; retail is about $125 and $75 each.

Missed a great deal on recessed light cans. The Washington County ReStore had brand new 5 inch cans for $5 each. For similar 6 inch ones at Home Depot I paid $10 each. For “eyeball” trim for these, the ReStore had the trim for $1 each and it cost  $6 each at Home Depot.

Amazon marketplace– I purchased two Kidde smoke/CO alarms that verbalize what the warning is (“danger, smoke” or “danger, carbon monoxide”) and can be interlinked so that when one goes off, the other does too, automatically. I paid $35 each; locally unavailable.

eBay– I purchased a gorgeous, new light fixture for the bathroom for $100; local retail is $230. I bought a track light for the closet for $34 when locally similar track lights were $110. I also bought the exact, new ceiling exhaust fan/light I wanted for $65. The exact one wasn’t locally available but a very similar one was $98 in Lowe’s.

Northwest Flooring Outlet– With a limited budget I could afford either extremely cheap quality wood or very high quality laminate. I went with the laminate and was glad to find these guys. I paid $1.34 and $1.92 per square foot for 16mm thick (very thick) interlocking laminate with built-in backing. It’s commercial grade so for residential use it has a lifetime warranty. The closes comparable at Lowe’s was $1.99 a square foot, 12mm thick, with no backing.

ACE Hardware– Some time ago they had a “fill the bag” deal with about 20% off everything you could fit in a standard paper grocery bag. I filled the bag with the lever door handles I wanted. The retail was about the same as Lowe’s and the discount put ACE in the lead.

WILCO Farm Cooperative– I scored some nice water collection barrels for the garden for $35 each. Lowe’s sold the same ones for $85.These are former food service barrels– mine smelled like pickled peppers– so I’m betting if you know the right people, you can get the even a lot cheaper than this.

IKEA– I haven’t gotten over there yet, but they have exactly what I’m looking for in the way of a utility room sink. I don’t want one that sticks 24 inches out into the hall or looks like a plastic bucket. Most nicer options run in the hundreds- ouch. They have a narrow, deep sink and the perfect cabinet (in brown/black, white, or aluminum with frosted glass) for it to set into. It will set me back about $150 for both, but other options ran upwards of $150 just for the sink alone.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have some more shopping to do… I have to find my bathroom door and two outdoor wall sconces. Is it shopping or is it treasure hunting? I just wish I had a few days to tour a bunch of the ReStores.