STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

Congratulations!!

Where do you live? Habitat for Humanity has retail stores in several cities. Also check your local classifieds plus the Pennysaver, Craigslist, even eBay (you can search for items within, say, 25 miles of your zip code).

I have a coworker who did his patio with free flagstones he saw advertised in The Recycler - a little weekly ad sheet like the Pennysaver. There are lots of "jobsite leftovers" out there if you're willing to haul them away.

For small things like doorknobs and hardware, in addition to eBay, there's shopgoodwill.com - ya never know what you might find. If you're trying to find a specific style/pattern, try LAhardware.com. I know they have a matching service.

When we remodeled our house we had to buy a lot of things online, but they ARE out there. The challenge is, people who remove old house parts often don't understand that those parts have value to people like us, so they go into the dumpster, instead of on eBay or Craigslist. We also got a lot of repro fixtures so if you want suggestions for that, let me know.

Also, the smaller, low-budget salvage places or even flea markets won't necessarily have websites, so you might have to look in the yellow pages or ask around to find the hidden gems. If all else fails, try emailing the home and garden editor of your local newspaper to see if they can suggest something.