I bought my home in August 2009 and upon moving in decided I wanted new furniture. If you don't know me, new to me was scouring Craig's list for furniture on a discount for my new home. I found some great pieces and for under $2000 managed to furnish my entire 1500 square foot home. I'm not much of a designer so I knew that I eventually would need to pay someone to furnish the home for me. I had one friend that suggested a few places and I decided that I would search around. I attended a business function in May of 2009 and rekindled a friendship with a wonderful woman I had met 3 years prior at the Small Business Center. We were taking a 6 week course on How to Start a Business.
Unbeknownst to me, she still had her business and it was thriving nicely. She gave me another card and I immediately began thinking of ways to afford her services. Well, we set up an arrangement to have her come out and do a consultation and immediately I wanted to use her and decided that $250 of the $400 that I would no longer be paying to my son's daycare could easily be allocated to pay for the Redesign Interior Designer (what was I thinking?)
Well, of course my Redesigner asked what I could afford to spend (if I could afford it, why was I making payment arrangements) and my limit was $2k. Well, of course that is what the bill came up to (almost). The bill total came up to $1,715.46 and that included 5 hours of labor at $500 and 2 hours of shopping for $150 not to mention a rug that was listed for $298! Are you kidding me? My entire dining room set was less than $200. I couldn't believe it when I looked at the prices. There was a cost price and a price markup. Not to mention the $125 desk that was a used item. (I wanted to office in my bedroom! Why didn't I put it there you ask? Because of the Redesigner suggestion of course.)
At first, my mouth dropped and I had this sunken feeling - I knew I had paid for a luxury and it was going to cost me-big time for making such a stupid decision to incur debt to do it. That's not it, my Redesigner also called me one day to tell me about a super outdoor set she found that was amazing and this would only add an extra $100 on my bill that I had already surmassed. Great, I said (why didn't I say no?) and received the updated, revised bill with yet another $100 added to what I already could not afford.
My Redesigner is an amazing lady with an amazing business and eye for design. She did a super fantastic job with what she had to work with and Icertainly believe in paying people what they're worth. My stupidity? Budgeting and incurring debt for a luxury instead of saving the money and gathering up some friends to help me shop and design the rooms myself. Since then, our dog has delightfully used the carpet as an outdoor bathroom and now the rug has a dingy look.
Would I have ever paid $300 for a rug-probably not especially since it's in the Dining Room where we eat daily and food drops on the floor from my Kindergartner. I've since asked for the receipt for the Liora Manne rug only to receive an updated invoice from the Redesigner (I guess the original is gone?) This is a moment as a parent that I have come to realize that I must continue to be diligent about what is best for my family. I now have an area where I have a wonderful office that I don't use because I am unable to concentrate because of the noise in that side of the house.
The moral of this story? When you want to get a luxury item or service, do not incur debt in an effort to afford it. The result of my $2000 makeover? A beautiful home with nice items (much of my own) and stress from a $250 monthly bill that I should never have promised to pay. Enjoy! Be sure to view the rug at the very end here.
Have you incurred the "stupid tax?" If so, on what? Do tell!
