If there was a black market in light switch plates I would have been accused of running it. Over the past few months I have purchased and returned more switch plates than anyone else in the country. Okay that is probably definitely not true but the number of trips I have made to various Home Depots is ridiculous.

The switch plate adventure started last December when I decided to replace the switch plates in my weekend house. I spent an afternoon making a wonderful chart of each and every room. I drew little circles and rectangles to represent the kinds of switch plates I would need. I counted and tallied how many of each kind I would need. I described them with words that made sense to me – ” triple switch”, ” single outlet”, ” double slider” and “side to side”. Unfortunately when I got to Home Depot there were words like “toggle”.  This was an epic fail. Standing in front of the array of switch plate options my little chart made no sense. It didn’t help that Home Depot always feels like a foreign country to me so I put on my “I am confident, capable human being face”.  I didn’t  want to admit “yes, I need help but I can’t show you my chart.” So I decide I would use this as a learning experience. I am capable. I can learn what kind of switch plates there are and what kind my home needs. Really, how hard can it be. Thankfully there are many Home Depot locations so those first switch plates I bought in Monticello I can return to Middletown and that second batch I bought in Middletown I can return some of them  in Monroe. This is when I became worried about Home Depot thinking “what is this woman doing?” To be honest I was visiting different locations not to be tricky but because that is where my daily travels were taking me.

Well, the adventure continues because two weeks ago I purchased what I thought were the last 9 plates I needed in Stroudsburg, PA. And on Sunday I pulled out my screwdriver to install them and realized I had bought 9 of the wrong kind. I got the double circle kind and I needed the rectangle kind. I am not even sure how it happened. So yesterday I went back to Home Depot and returned them. So what have I learned through my almost weekly trips to Home Depot

1. There is no such thing as quick, easy home project.
2. It usually takes two different kinds of screwdrivers to replace switch plates.
3. I can (kinda)  learn something new. 🙂
4. Laughing at myself is good.
5. Home Depot graciously takes my returns without judgment.
6. Shopping at my local hardware store may have been easier in the long run.