The Ricker likes to save money while redecorating.

Usually he accomplishes this by adopting a style as it is on its way out, so he can get discounts. He held on to his 70s hippy/macrame look well into the early 1990s, when he adopted the Southwestern motif. His recent update to the black and purple spaceship look came well after the sleek lines of the 1980s popularized this look, but he tried to modernize the look by upgrading to stainless steel appliances (again, well after the start and peak of the trend, though he was closer on this one).

I'm sure the Ricker realized that stainless steel appliances are expensive. Besides, why replace a perfectly good refrigerator, dishwasher and oven (even though the oven is going on its fourth decade). Therefore, the Ricker fell back to his old tried-and-true renovation tools: velcro, spray paint and super glue. From a scrap yard, he bought cheap sheets of raw metal. I don't think he bought steel; it has to be something cheaper than that. He cut the metal into shape and velcroed it to the refrigerator. He did the same with the dishwasher and oven, although he used super glue on the oven.

Despite his careful planning, there was one problem: the black control pad on the dishwasher didn't match his new, sleek look. However, he simply spray painted a piece of cardboard silver and taped it into place on the top, using velcro on the bottom to keep the flap closed. He's very proud of his "remodel," but I know for a fact that Mrs. Ricker hates it. I think she wanted new appliances.