How to save $9,000 the DIY way

I'm still LOL after seeing this outrageously expensive outdoor TV in the July/August 2009  issue of Traditional Home.

It's the Runco Climate Portfolio, and it will only set you back $8,995 to put this  42-inch LCD TV outside on your porch, patio or lanai. Oh, and probably another $150 to $300+ for installation.

If Nine Grand to watch TV outside is not in your budget, here's what we did on our lanai: We put a 32" Westinghouse LCD flat panel TV (720p) in the middle niche, behind a one-way mirror. For less than $1,000.

We're only 700 yards from the ocean, and this TV is working perfectly, 3 1/2 years later. I'm going to finish off the space with some tile or stone, but you get the idea.

See my DIY Mirror TV in action in the video below and this 2008 post gives you all the DIY details.

Happy Summer!

Photo, top left, courtesy of Traditional Home.