Makeover or Muckover?

I've been watching an especially many home improvement shows on HGTV the last few weeks. It's pretty amazing how they can stretch a couple grand with some creativity. Some of the projects sound (and end up looking) pretty tacky but for the most part they look pretty good (at least on tv). Several years ago, I tried a project that I saw on a show that involved turning a piece of metal air conditioning duct into a pedastal. An uplight was place in the duct with a colored glass plate on top. You could place a plant or any knicknack on it and it would have some lighting on it. Now that I think back, that was one damn tacky display. I can't believe that I had not one, but two, in our living room!

Today, we started a project to give the wood fence that surrounds the pool pump and filter a makeover. The fence is almost 25 feet because it also hides a huge, but defunct electrical box. So far we've spent about 6 manhours painting trim and straightening up the existing boards and I hope we can finish tomorrow in about 3 hours.

Total spent Wednesday:
$5 quick lunch for 2 at Costco with colleague
$154 Costco ($70 Oral B toothbrush and misc food)
$20 appetizer and drinks for 2 at Habana in Costa Mesa (discussed business plan)

Total spent Thursday:
$11 workout gloves at Sportmart
$7 lunch

Total spent Friday:
$5 lunch with 2 colleagues (we recently started getting take out from a Viet place and eating at Mile Square Park in Fountain Valley)
$238 Lowe's (paint, lumber and supplies for fence project)
$18 quick dinner for 2 at ramen noodle shop

Total spent today:
$19 lunch for 2 at Lonestar Steakhouse
$12 drycleaning
$34 dinner for 2 at Indian restaurant in Belmont Shores (saved $11 with Entertainment card)