It was a crazy busy day yesterday.  Midnight Monday a frantic email from a long time client came with a demand to “come now”.  What?  I was in my pajamas! 

As it turned out, NOW actually meant the next morning, so I blew off a Chamber of Commerce meeting to make a mad dash in a thunderstorm to Home Depot Expo to choose river rock for a new shower.  Now in all fairness to my client, Susan, her contractor was unexpectedly free and could start on her project immediately.  No harm done, I can choose under pressure.  (And choose we did: pale river rock with taupe grout on two walls, a seamless glass shower on the other two, tied together with Sand Dune paint.  Marvelous.)

Then it was off to a lunch meeting with another wonderful long time client who is beginning new construction.  We discussed the overall “Look”.

A quick visit to my client with a clothing store who is expanding.  She was too busy.

Finally, 5 hours were spent at Direct Buy with my client, Mary, who is putting an addition onto her home.

Direct Buy was really interesting.  The concept is this, you pay a rather hefty fee, which gives you the privilege of browsing their many catalogues of merchandise offered close to wholesale.  The Woodbridge store, one of 5 franchises in DC, was very pleasant.  We had a lot of space to spread out and browse binders of manufacturers.  We chose flooring from Shaw because of the samples in the showroom.  With the furniture, Mary had to trust my recommendation.  There was little to actually sit in, but the upholstery swatches were large.

Direct Buy might interest you if: 1) you were planning on spending enough to hit the break even point.  It can cost from $1,500 to $5,000 to join.  Or 2) you don’t mind buying sight unseen.  Most items are only illustrated by tiny catalogue photos.  3) You plan to do your own research.  The young women working were polite and helpful when asked, but certainly could not have a level of expertise on many items.

In Mary’s case, the membership works.  I imagine we saved at least 10K.