JoAnn's New "Design Your Decor" Offering

I love JoAnn's stores... it's one of those places where I could spend hours getting lost in all the cool new sewing and crafting gadgets. That's why I was so excited when they launched a new program called "Design Your Decor." What a great concept! You can use their online tool to create pretty much any kind of furniture or decor you want. Pick what you want to design (sofa, window coverings, etc), pick the fabric (best feature: large selection offered), pick the finishings, and voila! you have a custom-made item! So I went online to investigate this new program, and went through the steps to design a small ottoman for my living room. I loved the program! It was super easy and intuitive. But of course, there were drawbacks... first of all, I will not buy a piece of furniture or decor before I see the fabric sample in person, and this program did not have an easy "order samples" button. And when I got to the end and saw my beautiful new ottoman I had designed, I was sadly shocked by the price. What a dream killer! The program never listed base pricing when showing the various options, so I had no idea how much this would cost me until the pricing summary at the very end. They wanted to charge me $600 for a small foot ottoman! I couldn't believe the outrageous price. Even with the promotional 50% off fabric, it was still way more than I wanted to pay for any piece of furniture, especially an ottoman. I realize this is much cheaper than a truly "custom-made" ottoman, but it is significantly more than comparable items at other retailers. One great option is Home Decorators Collection, which allows you to choose from a variety of fabrics in order to customize your furniture. Until JoAnn's gets their pricing in line with their true competition, I don't see this program being successful.

Home & Garden Deals.

From Groupon:

$15 for $30 Worth of Paint and Supplies at Frazee Paint

$10 for $20 Worth of Dining and Entertaining Items at Marigold Houseware

From Home Decorators Collection:

Free Shipping on Select Rugs

20% Off All Dining Furniture

The many (confusing) options of closet organization systems.

For my closet organization system, I chose the Martha Stewart collection at Home Depot. I chose this particular system based solely on how it looks; after extensive research, I realized that the majority of these install-yourself kits are the same in terms of quality, features, and price, and the only differentiating factor is appearance.


The install-yourself kits from the big home improvement stores are the cheapest option out there, but they are not the only option. Depending on your budget and desire to do the work yourself, there are many possibilities. The most expensive but easiest and highest quality option would be companies like California Closets, where they design and install the closet system for you. Another great option that I just found out about is the Elfa organizing system from The Container Store. It is more expensive than the install-yourself kits, but The Container Store has a yearly 30% off sale on all Elfa items every January-February. If you decide on going with this option, I would wait for the sale. The staff are great and will design the closet for you, which is a great relief since the Elfa system can be really complicated. You do have to install this system yourself, however. Ikea has a system similar to Elfa, and they will also design it for you (but not install it). Last but not least, there is EasyClosets.com, an option that is only slightly more expensive than the install-yourself kits. EasyClosets.com designs the system for you, which is a great time-saver, but like the Elfa system and the home improvement store systems, you have to install it yourself.

If you decide to go with the install-yourself kits from the home improvement stores, I have one suggestion: use EasyClosets.com online closet designer. It will make your life much easier! Designing your own closet system is like a jigsaw puzzle with endless possibilities, but this online program simplifies it tremendously. The program does have some short-comings, however, so you may need to resort to old-fashioned Excel or graph paper to map out your plan. See my Excel-generated floor plan below.



Have you installed a closet organization system in your house? If yes, what system did you use?

What to do when the money runs out.

By August of 2010, I had completed the majority of the items on my to-do list. There were still a few key items I wanted to get done, however:

1. Install closet organizing system in walk-in closet.
2. Build wooden structure to create privacy on my small patio.

But I had a major dilemma... I had run out of money. This is the consequence of not creating an itemized budget before I started, and not carefully watching my expenses throughout the project.  So I had to re-evaluate my priorities. I had already bought the organizing system for the closet, so it would be fairly stupid not to go ahead and install it. But I had not invested any money into the wooden structure on my patio, so that was an easy item to scratch off the list (at least temporarily). Like I had learned with my earlier flooring experience, renovations are all about compromise.

Since I was definitely going to install my closet organization system, but was definitely out of money, I decided to do what I had tried to avoid from the very start... get my hands dirty and do the hard work myself. I recruited my family to pitch in, and I am so glad I did because it turned into a very big undertaking. With 3 of us working on it, it took approximately 20 hours to build and install my closet organization system (for a walk-in closet space of about 6' by 6')!

My advice if you ever install a closet organization system: have at least 2 to 3 people installing it, otherwise it is too difficult.

More great deals for Home & Garden.

If you have not yet checked out Home Decorators Collection yet, I highly recommend you do so this week. They are an online and catalogue based home and garden retailer owned by Home Depot, and carry great products at reasonable prices. I have ordered several items from them and have been very happy with the product I received. Follow this link to receive 20% off your purchase - hurry, offer ends 4/29!

New Groupon Home & Garden Deals:

$50 for $150 Worth of Contemporary Furniture and Accessories at Modani West Hollywood

$25 for $50 Worth of Custom Products from The Personalized Doormats Company Online

Acoustic-Ceiling Removal from Neptune Construction & Remodeling. Two Options Available.

$69 for a Whole-House Carpet Cleaning and Disinfecting Fog, 50 Square Feet of Bona Hardwood Floor Care, and a Mattress Steam Clean from Air Comfort Green Seal 212

JoAnn's Home Decor Sale

There are many retail and online stores where you can always find great prices on home furniture and decorations. One of them is JoAnn's; if you are just patient, the item you want will go on sale in the near future. Right now home decor fabrics, tassels and trims, window treatment hardware, and many other items are on sale. So if you are thinking about changing your window treatments or adding privacy to your outdoor patio by hanging canvas curtains, I highly recommend shopping JoAnn's before the sale ends!

50% Off Entire Stock of 54" Home Decor Fabrics, 40% Off Entire Stock of Home Decor Trims & Tassels, & Many More Great Deals at JoAnn's!

Groupon now offers discounts for home & garden.

I love Groupon; in fact, it may be verging on an addiction. And to make this addiction worse, Groupon has recently launched deals aimed specifically at home and garden. If you haven't checked out these deals, follow this link to their webpage.

And if you have not yet signed up, do so immediately! Don't waste another second missing out on these great deals.

Some great deals currently available (hurry before they expire!):

$20 for $40 Worth of Designer Home Furnishings from BurkeDecor.com

Custom Home Furnishings, Window Treatments, and More at Ferrufino Interiors in Culver City. Two Options Available.

$50 for $100 Worth of Fabric, Pillows, and Gifts at Silk Trading Co.

$35 for $70 Worth of Plants and Accessories at The Plant Stand in Costa Mesa.

$20 for $40 Worth of Gifts, Jewelry, Fashion, and Home Decor at Bear Essentials Gift Shoppe in Arcadia.