Frugal Babe

My parents helped us build a set of shelves for our bedroom yesterday, and we spent part of today putting on the finishing touches.  We used high-grade birch plywood to make the shelves, which cost about $120 (as opposed to $1000 if we had used solid oak - the shelves are 6 feet by 8 feet and 16 inches deep).  We stained and varnished the whole thing, and it looks great.  Last night, we went to Target and got canvas baskets to put on some of the shelves - the rest will be open for folded clothes and linens.  Should solve all of our storage problems, which I’m very excited about. 

When we went looking for baskets, we stopped at TJ Maxx first, and went to their home section.  Going to that store right after you’ve remodeled your house is like going to the grocery store when you haven’t eaten all day.  Everything looks good.  All sorts of bamboo gadgets for the kitchen, beautiful towels and linens, throw pillows for the couch… there was stuff everywhere, and I kept thinking about how nice it would all look in our newly-finished house.  I’m happy to report that I resisted temptation and left the store empty-handed.  They didn’t have any baskets that would fit our shelves, and that what what I had gone in for.  So I left with nothing, and went to Target, where I bought the baskets without even looking at the rest of the home section. 

It’s a lot easier to stay on a budget if you don’t go into stores.