TWEAKS+inspiration : A New Member of the Family, Part 2

Normally, repotting a house plant would be a nonevent. As it turns out, this time it was kinda fun. Since scoring my $50 Fiddle-leaf fig last weekend at Home Depot, I've been searching for a suitable pot. I'd looked everywhere but just wasn't willing to pay $200+.

A few months ago, my friend Rita told me that she finds a lot of stuff on NextDoor. Since then, I've paid special notice to the "free" and "for sale" listings. On Wednesday, I saw this ad. Perfect timing!

CityLeaf is housed in an unassuming warehouse in Richmond, CA. For their San Francisco commercial customers, they lease and maintain plants as well as do holiday decor.

It was only a two-day sale, 9 a.m. to noon each day. On Thursday a.m., I hightailed it over and met the owner, Larissa. She was clearly trying to get rid of stuff. I ended up with the perfect pot for $35.

I paid $5 for a bin of garlands with red berries and one with the yellow acorns (both pictured at top).

Those objects at the bottom of the photo were enticing at $1 each but I just could't figure out what to do with them.

This black pot was marked $15 but she offered to me for $5.

The big pot destined for my Fiddle-leaf had a lot of white spots on it. Soap and water wasn't budging it. Uh-oh. But my miracle cure made quick work of them. Lift Off is my new favorite product. I got latex house paint on my bathrobe and it took it off. While staining some baskets, I put my "stained" hand on an exterior wall and it took it off. Well, you get the idea. Lift Off is available on Amazon.

After cleaning the new pot, I repotted the tree into a new , drainable inner container using clay balls and a mixture of cactus and house plant soil.

Here's my new member of the family - planted and hopefully, ready to thrive. This whole adventure was a good reminder for me to keep my eyes open for deals and thrills. After all, sometimes the hunt is the most fun of all. Enjoy your Sunday!