I have been so thrilled with the level of customization we got to do in our new home. From the built-ins in our game room to the shoe closet, to making our kitchen island larger and bringing cabinets to the ceiling, we truly got to create a home we love.
Now that we have lived in our home for six months (!!!), I thought it would be fun to reflect on a few things we didn’t or couldn’t change that I wish we would/could have. We are so thankful for our home – these are just little things that in the grand scheme of things are totally insignificant, but that I would have changed, if I could.
MASTER BATH OUTLETS
I wish I would have had our master bathroom outlets installed inside of our cabinets and/or drawers. I prefer them hidden (especially since we have wallpaper) and it would be convenient to have the outlet where my hot hair tools are stored. I’m not sure if our builder would have done this or not – I didn’t think to ask until the wiring was done.
MASTER BATH SCONCES
I had our builder add wiring for master bathroom sconces centered over each of our sinks. I later came to regret that decision as I couldn’t find a mirror and light combo I loved enough. I felt limited in my mirror choices due to the height of the sconce wiring – but since I had already had wallpaper installed I couldn’t move the lights up or down. Eventually I realized the room needed large and tall mirrors – and I ordered these mirrors that were tall enough to just cover the sconce hole/wiring. I wish I hadn’t had it wired for sconces at all, since we don’t need them (we have a ton of can lights in the bathroom and only use one set of them- there is plenty of light!)
BUILT-INS IN LINCOLN’S ROOM
I wish I had better utilized the wall in Lincoln’s room where his closet is. Looking back, he does not need a closet as large as the one he has (we keep his clothes in a dresser). I wish we would have made the closet much smaller and then bumped back the walls on either side of it and had built-ins made with both shelving and storage cabinets at the bottom. It would have been a better use of the space – that vision just didn’t come to me until now. I have seriously contemplated getting a quote on doing this but it’s more complicated now to remove what’s already there. I’ve also contemplated removing everything in his closet and having a bench-seat built into it with storage for toys too. It wouldn’t be as intensive as removing all of that drywall and we don’t use his closet other than for storage of random things, so it would be a nice little nook for him.
MOVE WINDOWS IN MASTER BEDROOM
Our house was already framed when we signed the contract, but I wish we could have measured out the wall in our master and moved the windows to directly flank each side of our king-size bed so that they’d be centered over the night stands. Now that we have curtains, it bothers me less, but it’s something I think would have looked better had we been able to move them. I also would have happily paid for two larger windows instead of the small transom-style windows on our other wall. I don’t want to do a window treatment due to their awkward size and would rather just have normal windows there. I have contemplated blacking them our and just covering them with large art. I sleep with a mask over my eyes so the light doesn’t bother me, but they’re just kind of random and not what I would have chosen. Shop our master here.
LIGHT FIXTURE IN MASTER BEDROOM
I’ve already talked about this on my IG stories, but I wish I would have waited to find the perfect fixture instead of just finding one that was closest to the one I loved that was way over budget. I had to order a new one since the one we have just doesn’t work with our décor. It’s way too rustic/farmhouse for the space – I knew it the day it was installed. I always sell items easily on Facebook, but I do feel bad for not waiting for the right fixture. I gave it six months to try to see if it would grow on me, but alas it did not. To be clear – I do like the actual fixture, just not for our bedroom style/decor.
NO WINE FRIDGE
We don’t drink often, so for us, a wine fridge is kind of useless. Looking back, I wish we would have installed another pull-out trash system instead of the wine fridge since we make our lattes there and have to empty the used espresso grinds all the time (and Nespresso pods). We could have also added a dedicated recycling bin there. It would have looked nicer to just have consistent cabinetry versus a wine fridge smack in the middle. I know this is a thing a lot of people will not agree with, but we just don’t need a wine fridge and I find it to be an eyesore (sorry!) Shop our kitchen here.
OUTLET ON KITCHEN ISLAND
I asked our builder to put the outlet on the side of our island that faced the front of the house so that you wouldn’t be able to see it from the living room and dining room, but they accidentally installed it on the wrong side. At that point it couldn’t really be re-done. I like a “clean” island where the trimwork doesn’t have outelts, so this was kind of a bummer (albeit insignificant). I also would use the outlet more if it was on the other side since that is where I keep our mixer.
ADD MORE TILE IN KITCHEN
We upgraded our kitchen tile to tile all the way up to the ceiling where the range is also also where our cabinets and windows are – even the inside of the window above the sink is totally trimmed out. I kind of wish that I had them do the wall where our pantry is too – just because the wall is between our wall with floating shelves and the range wall, both of which are tiled to the ceiling. It would have been nice for continuity. It’s something I’m considering doing in the future since subway tile is relatively inexpensive.
I hope you enjoyed this post! Do you have any things you wish you would have changed if you have a newly built home?
The post Our New Home: What I Wish I’d Changed, Six Months Later appeared first on Veronika's Blushing.