Burning Question: Bonus Beans?
If you had an extra $100 laying around, how would you spend it to spruce up your house? Would you grab some gallons of paint and give a few rooms a totally new look? Would you splurge for some special accessory that you’ve had your eye on (like a fancy wall mirror or glass based lamp?). Would you snatch up a Craigslist table to transform with a bit of elbow grease? Would you put it towards some larger home-related purchase that you’ve been saving for?
We’re itching to hear where that loot would end up. In fact, we whipped up this handy little poll to keep everything tabulated:
[poll id="9"]
And we’d love to hear more about why you voted the way you did, so feel free to comment away with more details.
Image found here.
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I’d use it in my garden! I just spent $50 on vegetable plants at The Home Depot. You didn’t add that as an option in the poll, but I count that as going green!
I’d totally use it towards paint. We’ve lived here two years and I’m not done yet!
At this time of the year. I would put it towards the garden. I want some berry bushes so my daughter can pick and eat the berries right off the tree. So it’s home related but not really an ‘at home’ splurge.
So hard to choose! Our weak spot is actually ‘finishing’ a room. We have no problem going to Home Depot or Lowe’s and buying construction supplies/paint/etc. But then we let the nice painted room sit there; with odd furniture in it, and we might eventually get the right furniture, but we really have yet to manage accessorizing or styling bookcases and cabinets and walls!
I’m jones’in to repaint my master bedroom from intense blue to a soothing, warm khaki, or possibly another lighter hue. I don’t know. All I know is that the current wall color needs to go as soon as I can afford it! Tranquil retreat is the name of game…
I would put it towards a sewing machine so I can make more things at home like curtains and pillows.
I would buy some time — pay someone to do my job so I can tackle some of the projects I’ve been dying to check off my own to do list!!
I want a rain barrel so dang bad!
either more plants or getting the carpets cleaned. it’s a really tough call because the carpet is gross, but we rent the place and these aren’t our stains and they might not come up…
We moved overseas almost 2 years ago and we’re still settling in and looking for some of those bigger pieces of furniture (like a proper dining room table and chairs). Have been seeking out the used furniture and antique stores and keeping an eye on their stock, with the hope of catching something great when it first comes in. AND learning you have to jump when you see something because it might not be there the next time you go back! :-( Live and learn.
At this point, my husband and I will be moving to a new apartment/condo/house… so paint & stain will probably be our first move. Then we’ll be looking for decorative items :-) We’re pretty much starting from scratch since we’re moving 1/2 way around the world, which is exciting and nerve-racking all at once!
I had to choose a few because there are so many things my house needs RIGHT NOW! I don’t need paint or stain because I just painted my house a few months ago, so I should be covered there for awhile. :-) I would love a new front door and screen door, so I guess that would be something substantial? I would love to match the other two locks with the two locks I changed so they would all use the same key, so that would be functional. I also just want some more decorative stuff for my house, like artwork for the walls and stuff. I also really need some blinds or shades for my windows because I only have curtains and the neighbors can see right in unless I close them, which I hate doing! I want new house numbers for the front, flowers to give it some curb appeal, and a table and chairs for outside. So, obviously, $100 wouldn’t be enough because my house is definitely still a work in progress!
I would use it to buy either a nice lamp or an accent rug :)
One of my favorite things to do with a little extra cash is to re-paint. A question about repainting, actually…do you always recommend primering first? If you paint a new color on top of an old color, does it change the look of the color at all?
Hey Linda,
Unless you’re taking a super dark or saturated wall (brown, bright red, etc) to a lighter color, you don’t need to prime at all (ex: going from tan to blue, taupe to gray, or white to any color = no primer necessary). Hope it helps!
xo,
s
You’re missing an option! I wouldn’t spend it! I’m a crazy saver, and I think I need a voting option for that. :)
We NEED a funky retro blue chair in the living room… bad : ) That’s what I’m spending my cash on for sure!!
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I would hit Ikea! I love their sheers and want to add some to my dining room. I would also pick up a new dish set and a can of paint if there is any money left over. :)
I have been searching for the perfect area rug for our living room since we moved in. Our house is a work in progress but the living room is ALMOST DONE! It just needs that RUG! The extra $100 would snatch us the rug I have had my eye on…I would love that! Guilt free decor for my house! SWEET!
I would definitely invest in a HUGE mirror to hang right behind our couch. Our apartment is a bit of a cave in the summer– when all of the light is blocked by huge, “fluffy” trees right outside all windows and doors. A large mirror would, hopefully, help to reflect what little light comes in.
After just (today) moving into a new apartment {such a great one at that} my bank account is looowww, so with that extra $100 I would put it towards the West Elm pintuck duvet that I’ve been drooling over am wanting oh so badly. With time it will be mine and will compliment my new place oh so well….but that $$ would be helpful :)
I really want that “birds of a feather mobile” by ige design at grow-kids.com that you posted about! My daughter is no longer an infant, but it is so cool to hang in a kid’s room, too!
My husband and I just bought a 100+ year old house. We are also falling in love — but we are finding that old houses need lots of extra love.
Repointing the bricks on one side of our house looks like it’s going to be necessary to stop the moisture from coming into the house. (If I had a better choice, the money would go towards replacing the linoleum floor in the kitchen!)
My husband and I just bought our first house and are in the process of making it our own. We have two little girls (2 years and a 4 month old) so it takes a little longer to get things done. We have the inside just about the way we want it, but the outside needs some help. The previous owners thought it would be a good idea to paint the exterior pumpkin orange. I hate orange. If we had a couple hundred dollars laying around painting it would be the first thing we would do!!
I voted transformative paint – i would paint the outside of my house. I’m a new homeowner and am already figuring out all ways to squeeze more things and fixes out of my money. If i had some laying around, I’d paint the outside. That’s not on the plan for a few years, but the current green’s old and faded and gross looking.
It’s hard to pick just one thing because there’s so much that needs to be done. Right now there are three Major projects. 1: finish the kitchen. We need a base cabinet, counter tops, and wall cabinets. 2: Molding. We have some, but we need a bit more before we can finish every room. 3: Garden. This is more elbow grease than anything else, we need to build raised beds and get our balcony cleared and set up for some hanging baskets (for tomatoes and peppers) and large troughs for potatoes and onions.
I would love to spend $100 on new lighting fixtures! We have these terrible recessed box lights with plastic covers throughout our entire house. I would love to change all of them out in favor of more visually appealing pendants. Although with just $100, I might be able to do only one or two? At least it would be a start!
What a perfec question this week. I just sold all of my kids stuff that they have outgrown (toys and baby clothes) and a big mom to mom sale (100 vendors selling all their gently used kids stuff for great prices). I made enough money to buy my 3 year old the new dresser I’ve been eyeing and to make new bedding for both my boys. I love being able to save for small projects like this that also de-clutter my space.
definitely towards something more substantial: furniture! we’re shopping for a new sofa, chair, table, a/v stand…. basically re-doing out whole living room! so that’s where any and all extra money is going towards at this time!
dy-dy-dying to repaind our new house! It was freshly painted when we moved in, but I really want a little more umph! lol…
Really need frames to hang lots of pics, and need to get my banister fixed those beans sure would come in handy!!
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Ours would go towards one of three things:
1- A patio set
2- Everything necessary to make the beautiful headboard from Knock Off Wood that I’ve been eyeing
3- More cedar and dirt for a second 100 sq. ft raised garden bed.
Perfect timing for this post…My husband and I spent $100 this weekend and replaced all of the old vent covers, outlet covers and switches in our house. It seems like a small thing, but the fresh white color made a huge impact!
I would buy either a light fixture(all of ours are builder grade and absolutely ugly), OR a DIY piece of furniture on craigslist, we need some accent chairs in more than one room of our house.
I’ve been wanting to start a mini veggi/herb garden (a raised one so the condo association can’t tell me no) on our patio and that is EXACTLY where an extra $100 would go.
I said decorative because we sold our full glass storm door so we could replace it with one with gingerbread. Our home is a Victorian Revival. We have the pretty ones on the french doors, but thought we needed a storm for the main entrance. We rarely use it so it really doesn’t need the glass.