When you build a home, you have to make thousands of decisions. Many of these decisions have to be made blindly. You don’t know what other options may exist (that you don’t know to ask for), and you won’t know how things will look until they’re paid for and installed. It’s a recipe destined for at least a few failures, because you just can’t know everything there is to know unless you build houses professionally – which I don’t. Here are 3 things I regret in our home that I would go back and change if I could!
Not Adding Accent Lighting to the Eaves – I’ll start with the biggest of the 3 things I regret in our home – exterior lighting! Our home is a semi-custom build, and our builder never provided us with a complete list of add-on options. There were lots of things we asked to add on, and a few that the builder suggested, but there was no central list that we could review in deciding which options we wanted to splurge for. Had we known additional outdoor lighting was an option, we absolutely would have opted in! There are some houses in our neighborhood that apparently did get the lighting memo, because their homes are beautifully lit at night. I wish we had known!
Not Hardwiring Power to the Living Room Windows – I chalk this up to being first-time home builders. We have 3 really tall windows in our living room, and those windows get a lot of sun throughout the year. We didn’t know that you could hardwire power for automatic shades, and I wish we had! It would have only cost us $50 per window to add outlets with our builder, but it costs significantly more after market with an electrician. We ended up with battery-powered shades that are working just fine (here’s what we have!), but it would have been great to know that there’s a more permanent solution.
Our Kitchen Backsplash – Don’t get me wrong, I love a white on white kitchen. However, when we selected our backsplash, there were hundreds of options and I felt very time-pressured to pick one. There was a model kitchen at the design warehouse with the backsplash we chose, and it looked fantastic against charcoal-colored cabinetry and white countertops. I was hesitant, however, to pair it with our white cabinets and white countertops. I was worried the undertones of all the whites would clash (and they do). I asked the designer who was assisting us what she thought, and I shared my concern, but she assured me it would all look great once it was installed. My husband really liked the one we chose and I didn’t have a backup option to propose, so I went with it. I wish I had gone with my intuition. This is something we can change someday, and maybe we will, but the bigger lesson here was I should have trusted my gut.
All in all, not bad to have just 3 things I regret in our home! I learned a ton, and if we ever build again (unlikely) I’ll have better information to make these decisions. I truly LOVE our home, and over time I’m sure we’ll make the upgrades that we didn’t know to make when we were building. If you’re building or you have built in the past, I’d love to know some of the lessons you learned in the comments below!
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