I understand what the naysayers are trying to get at, but I'll keep proving everybody wrong like I always do
- delta: maybe you misinterpreted the word "pristine." I said I wanted "the finished product to look pristine." All that word means is that something is in it's original condition, unused, unspoiled, clean, fresh, in good shape, uncorrupted, etc. It doesn't have anything to do with prefab vs. custom or the quality of original appearance, craftsmanship, etc. And while I'm not looking to go well beyond that monetary figure, I do have some wiggle room. The "nicest piece of furniture in my house" thing may have been a bit of an exaggeration. Plus, we are pretty broke and don't have any valuable stuff in our place anyway! It's all relative, ha.
- ro_nicu: I appreciate your references to egregiously (hilariously) overpriced art and to a wedding haircut, but I feel that you actually helped to supply greater wind to the sails of my approach. Before my wedding, I went to my usual barber, to whom I usually pay about $15 per haircut. When she discovered I was about to be married, she did it for free (and I gave her a very large tip in a gesture of reciprocity, of course). I could have told other people I paid $190, and they wouldn't have been the wiser. Another example: years ago in college, on a vacation, my friends and I filled a few empty bottles of Cristal (go for $200+ per bottle) with cheap $10 champagne and served it to the crowd we were partying with. We could not count the number of times people were using superlatives for how amazing the Cristal tasted and how it was the best drink they'd ever tasted, etc. This is akin to the Two-Buck Chuck social experiment, etc., etc., etc. I would never, ever pay anywhere near $200 for a haircut and the 45 mins. of work you refer to. I work 80-100+ hours per week and commute 2 hrs. round trip per day, so I certainly appreciate the value of a full day's work and of quality craftsmanship. I grew up doing many woodworking and "handyman" projects with my father and my grandfather, so I am not hopeless with woodworking projects, but I do have the appropriate belief that somebody with a carpentry/cabinetmaker background will do a much more efficient and higher quality job than I could ever accomplish on the build. We certainly do get what we pay for - but the world is also filled with overpriced, crappy deals that you have to wade through in order to find the gems.
At the end of the day, I was just trying to send out feelers re: possible avenues I could take to get a reasonably-priced, nice stand/canopy for a 125 gallon tank. I understand and appreciate the points made here and I don't have an absolute fixed price point or design in mind. I would just like to end up with a nice-looking stand and canopy, that will reliably hold the immense weight it is built to support, while not quite costing me the equivalent of a used automobile
Thanks again for the responses and I hope everybody had a nice weekend!
