I don't know about the rest of you but with all the great season closeout sales I've been picking up some steals.

This summer I went on Wicker Watch. I've wanted to replace our outdoor furniture for quite some time now. Hubby and I agreed wicker would look and feel a whole lot more pleasing than the current fake rod iron stuff currently on our front porch.

Each and every store we went to carrying wicker was inspected. We just couldn't bring ourselves to the point of purchasing full price wicker. I mean half the stuff out there wasn't even properly protected for outdoor use let alone indoor use when you have kids.

A few weeks ago while surfing the net I hit the jackpot! Wicker on sale for 75% off. Sure it was the wrong color and in order to get the number of pieces we needed I would have to go to three different stores but at 75% off I was given the green light. Not that I need a green light from hubby, he knows and repeats many times a week "ultimately it's your decision", it just makes him feel in-the-loop a bit more when I discuss my ideas with him. Men.

Any way, let's get back to the situation at hand. After making all the calls necessary to hold the clearance wicker at three stores I hit the road. My first pickup found a wicker chair slightly damaged and a matching table in new condition. The chair was the floor model and had a scuff in a visible area. However, because I already knew I'd be painting it I didn't care. A bit of haggling secured the chair purchase at another 10% of the already 75% clearance price. Score!

My next trip carried all but one piece of the puzzle, 2 chairs and another table. Of course after careful inspection I found more damaged pieces and was able to get an additional 10% off. As I was ready to check out I noticed a not so little sign stating if I opened one of their credit cards I would receive 10% off of my total purchase. Hello.

I mentioned I'd be willing to open a line of credit if I was able to return and repurchase the chair & table I just picked up at another store along with purchasing the pieces in their store. Can you say cha-ching! Yup, you guessed it! The manager was gung ho and withing 10 minutes I had all but one piece of wicker from a 75% clearance sale, some an additional 10% off due to damage and then a final 10% off the entire purchase.

On to the last store. They failed to tell me the last piece, a chair, was noticeably damaged when we spoke on the phone, again a scuff on the arm. Disgusted in their dishonesty, I mentioned I'd be happy to purchase the piece at an additional 10% off the clearance price. Bam! Yup, it was mine after only a moments hesitation from the manager.

The next few days were spent outside priming and painting all my wicker pieces while the neighborhood rubber necked each drive-by opportunity. I haven't been able to secure cushions for the chairs (silly me for refusing to purchase orange cushions to place outside my yellow house!) but rest assured when the new cushion shipment arrives later winter I'm so there.

I tried to find a picture on-line of the before but no luck ~ they are sold out nation wide but if you just imagine them in a sick looking tan that's what they looked like before I got my spray can aimed at them. Here's a picture of the wicker as it sits in the seasonal area of our basement. Please excuse the extra mattress, box spring, disassembled outdoor table and umbrella. Seems like I have some organizing to do in the basement this winter.



I've got some more good stuff I've been working on in my absence in bloggy land and promise to share it with you. Stay tuned ... it's a construction zone around here!