My Husband is an Addict

As hard as it is for me to admit - my husband, The Tool, is addicted to Craig's List. 

Now before I divulge the dirty little secret that is The Tool's alone I have to confess that I too have my demons. - Facebook, Blogs, Sleeping - all addictions that seem to distract from my job as wife and mother. With this aired let me continue with The Tool's addiction - as this preoccupation has actually had some advantages.

The Tool comes home, and before acknowledging the clean (HA!) home, adoring wife, and loving children that anxiously await his daily, triumphant return, will sit at the computer to check what has been offered for free on Craig's List.  He's been able to score some pretty neat items with his dedication to cheap finds.  From much needed storm doors to the more frivolous canoe, The Tool, has stumbled upon a vast assortment of goodies for FREE or nearly free with this online community of want-ads.

The most recent wonderful find was a light fixture.  The ad was posted for a light fixture to be given away because "the wife wants a new one." A sound reason to get rid  of a perfectly good light fixture. (At least they didn't throw it in the trash - I can only imagine how often this does happen - WASTE!)

 I wish that I saved the pic that was in the ad. It showed the light in a grand entry way, with  a 16 foot ceiling.  The gentleman giving away the light was kind enough to ask if our ceiling was high enough because it was a pretty big fixture.  The Tool will pick up anything that is free that he thinks he can use or even turn around to sell for profit. If the light didn't fit - at least he could probably sell it for $50 or so. 

We took a family trip to pick up the light. It was HUGE! It was UGLY! It had POTENTIAL!
After a little research - I found out it is a bowl pendant style chandelier.
Again, I wish I had a full before pic to show, but you can use your imagination.

This is the color of the metal parts before The Tool painted them a much warmer brown tone.



Originally - the thing hung a little too low. About 4 feet down into our 10 foot dinning room. Granted the Tool and I are both relatively short - something that low was a bit daunting for our small charming home.  The Tool was able to cut and re-weld the pieces that held the bowl in place from the ceiling mount. The only other adjustment made to the piece was to add a cord and chain so that we could have electricity run to it.  Eventually The Tool would love to have in ceiling wires for it, but I feel the chain just adds to the vintage feel of our 111 year old home.

Total Cost: $21.78

Spray Paint - $6.79

Wire/ Chain Kit: $14.99

 Time Spent: About 3 hours total -

 between spray paint, ceiling holes, and time driving.

Seeing that similar light fixtures in stores and online can sell anywhere from $250 to $1000+  I say we came out pretty ahead on this great Craig's List find.