Because Every Remodel Needs a Great Story

Once Upon a Time . . .

There was a crazy woman who wanted to completely gut her bathroom.  Lots and lots and LOTS of planning went into these dreams.  She had a notebook full of ideas and dimensions and prices.  She found a free white toilet.  She saved $400 on a sink.  She knew what tile and lights she wanted.

But she did not have a bath tub.

Her adorable Hubby had a major problem just ordering a tub online. Unless he could see it, measure it, sit in it, he just wasn’t going to do it.

The problem with this? The local stores only carried cheap $100 tubs that had horrific reviews, or super expensive $700+ options with jets.  Neither was acceptable.

After 2 weeks, Hubby finally decided to believe the online reviews and agreed to let her order the perfect $300 tub. 

So she tried. (ok,the third person thing is getting annoying. I’m switching now!) The site wouldn’t let me order the stupid thing!  I tried calling the 800 number. I was told I couldn’t order because there weren’t any tubs in the warehouse, but they might be able to help me at the store.

This was NOT GOOD!  The tub is one of the very first things you put back in a room – it goes in before the walls do!  I proceeded to spend 4 hours online looking for ANY other option (no, I wasn’t the best mommy this day!).  Honestly and truly, there was not a single other tub at any local store that was in our price range that I was willing to put in our new bathroom.

So, 30 minutes before bedtime, I bundled all three kids up and drove to lowes.  The man there told me that yes, it’s true, there aren’t any in the warehouse. But he could call the next day (during normal hours), and find out when they would get some in. 

Hubby’s parents live a couple of hours away. I asked if THAT store had any.  Nope.  There was one store four hours west that had a few, and another store two and a half hours north that had three, but that was it. I asked him to call me the next day and we’d decide then.

With great frustration, I drove home, put the kids to bed, and despaired. If we couldn’t get a tub, how could we even do this remodel? My Dad was flying out, Hubby had 11 days off work, and there wasn’t going to be anything for them to do!

Out of sheer curiosity, I got back online. I changed my store to the city 4 hours away. Nope, couldn’t buy it.  I changed my store to the one 2 1/2 hours away. Still couldn’t buy it, but it came up with a store that was only ONE and a half hours away.  It had 20. TWENTY!!!!!!  Without even consulting Hubby, I whipped out my card and bought the sucker.  Later that night, when he called to wish me good night, I told him what I had done. I worried he’d be bugged, but nope. He was happy that I’d done it.

5 days later, the store called to inform me my tub was ready. After I put the older kids on the bus, I drove ‘Lil to a friends house, and took off (Harry Potter #5 in my cd player to keep me occupied). I drove straight to the store. Two very nice helpful women put the tub in the back of my van, and I drove home. I was gone just over 3 hours total. 

And it was worth every single mile!

(Can I say I love my van! You can fit a ton of stuff back there!)