Q: “How do you know when you’re investing in the right piece for a room? I’m paralyzed to pull the trigger and then later realize the table, curtains, or rug I’m currently eying aren’t ‘the answer’ for my room and then spend years regretting them.” – Melissa
We get a lot of questions like this one. So after around six years spent decorating two houses on a pretty modest budget, with a nice heaping portion of mistakes and trial and error worked in there, here’s what we’ve learned. We definitely don’t get it right every time. Sometimes we’re too risky, and sometimes we’re too safe, and sometimes the proportion or the size of something is wrong and we just can’t see it until we get it home and stare at it for a while. Sometimes there’s an item that we think will be functional and it ends up leaving much to be desired. In short: you win some and ya lose some when it comes to making your house a home. So if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. And again.
Mistake #1. The fluffy green rug in the living room. Cost: $425 (it’s an 8 x 10′ wool rug).
We moved into this house and had never even attempted to decorate a giant 25 x 15′ family room (for comparison’s sake our first house’s family room was tiny, just nine feet wide) so – surprise! – we didn’t get it right the first time. We bought a super shaggy rug that was way too small for the room and while the shag was nice for a baby, it was terrible for a food-spilling’ toddler. So we did the only thing we have ever found to fix issues like that. We course corrected and decided that we don’t need to be married to our mistake and invested in a better rug for the room (more on that here).
I think everyone has those oops moments when they’re decorating a house – even if you’re going slowly over time and doing your best to only choose things you think will work well for your family. You just can’t see the future – and we’re certainly no exception! The end result is that we love the living room a ton more with our new much-larger short weave rug that adds pattern without dwarfing the living area. And we’ll either reuse the first rug in another room (it could work in our guest room and then the yellow rug in there could end up in the sunroom) or we’ll probably end up selling it on Craigslist if we can’t find a spot for it. So knowing there are other options besides “just use the wrong rug that we hate forever” takes the sting out of it a little bit.
In general, reusing things in other spaces or Craigslisting them if they just don’t work is a nice little backup plan that allows us to just figure things out along the way without being completely out of luck when we don’t get everything right on the first try. And recognizing those two alternatives allowed us to go for it (instead of being shaking-in-our-boots-scared) when the right rug came along. So if it took a buying one item twice (knowing we can craigslist or reuse the first rug somewhere else) to get to the end result of this room, we’re 100% cool with that. I actually don’t think we’ve ever redone a room without switching something out along the way. So getting everything right on the first try is akin to seeing a unicorn in the front yard to us.
Mistake #2. The stools in the kitchen. Cost: around $150 including four stools plus primer and spray paint to later make them blue.
After we accidentally found stools that we loved more (seriously, they came out of nowhere) we actually sold the original stools on Craigslist for the entire amount that we spent. So one hundred and fifty beans are back in our pocket, and we have new stools that we love for $140 (so I guess in the end we made ten bucks, haha). The only thing we’re out is the time it took to spray paint them, but that’s totally worth the opportunity to essentially “test drive” two pairs of stools to us – and then land on the right ones that we love to pieces. Bonus: they swivel and are contoured so they’re the most functional/comfortable as well as the purtiest.
Mistake #3. The chairs in the dining room. Cost: $400 for eight chairs (including the $25 chairs themselves, the slipcovers, the dye, the spray paint, etc).
You guys probably remember this switcheroo, but we eventually realized (after about a million attempts to make them work that included slipcovers, die, and spray paint) they just weren’t The Ones. Sometimes we’re dense and it takes a while. So instead of continuing to spend money and time struggling to make them work, we finally cut our losses and set them free. Guess how much we got for them on Craigslist? $200. Yup, we recouped the entire original cost of the $25-a-pop chairs. We considered listing them for $50 each to try to get back the entire amount, but we thought that in order to sell them quickly and just cut our losses, $25 each was a fair price.
It was nice to know that they went to a loving home (their new owner is a reupholstery master and is planning to recover all eight of them!) and we ended up with six loungier super-on-sale Target chairs that we love to pieces. We’re so glad that the table is a lot less cluttered (99% of the time there are just three of us sitting here) and we even got two extra chairs in that new set that we couldn’t use (there were eight but we only wanted six) so we craigslisted those for their original cost of $62 each. We weren’t even turned off by having to buy too many of something that we thought would be perfect because we knew we could always Craigslist those two extras for the full price (there are many much uglier chairs on craigslist for $75+ so we knew ours would sell).
So the $400 chairs ended up being a $200 mistake (since we only earned 50% of that back) but in the end we love our dining room, and if it took that mistake to get us from here…
… to here, we’ll take it.
Sure, we lose sometimes (and you have to hand it to us, we really bomb on occasion) but it pays to keep trying and not just give up and settle for something that doesn’t work until you finally get those “this is IT!” butterflies… even if they don’t come easy. In the end, we’re just happy that we also made a bunch of big purchases that we love without needing any do-overs. So although a few things don’t work out for us, many many things are great from the moment we get them. For example, we love:
- our Corian counters
- our cork floors
- Ed the bed
- the big patterned rug in the bedroom
- the upholstered headboard we made
- Karl the sectional
- our giant living room storage ottoman
- our kitchen appliances
- our laundry appliances
- a bunch of new lights that we made/bought
- our new dining table
- our craigslist buffet
- all of the curtains we’ve made/bought throughout the house
- the console we built in the living room
- our thrift store media cabinet
- our Ikea bookcase in the sunroom
- our office built-ins
- our office chairs
- the round jute rug in the office
- Clara’s secondhand dresser and chair in her nursery
- Clara’s crib
- our new craigslist dresser for Clara’s big girl room
So even with the loss that we took on the three mistakes that we detailed in this post (including all of our desperate attempts to save them) in the end we’ve loved far more items than we’ve bought and regretted. I think sometimes you just have to try the wrong things and live with them to learn that you didn’t want to live with them. Haha. It’s like how you have to get that glittery purple eye shadow to learn that no (NO!) it’s not gonna work, and you should probably try something else. Heck, I rocked some winking airbrushed jeans for a while as a teen. And then realized… uh, not good. That’s course correcting at its finest.
And actually, when we remember that we had a yard sale last fall and made $350 as well as selling $750 worth of old kitchen stuff on craigslist to earn money to put into that remodel (we got $90 for the old black microwave, $60 for the old fireplace insert, $120 for our old dining table and chairs, $90 for our old bisque dishwasher, $350 for our old granite, $40 for our old bisque wall oven) we’ve definitely used resale opportunities to the fullest. So those three mistakes above hurt less when we look at the $1,100 that we’ve made by not being married to a bunch of other things that we no longer want to live with.
Hopefully this post makes it easier to see how no purchase has to be forever, and things like reusing them in other spaces (be flexible!) or Craigslist can be awesome alternatives if you’re not exactly rolling in money for a million do-overs. In short: don’t sit there paralyzed with fear, afraid to get something. Obviously try to think things through and only buy things you can afford, but just don’t torture yourself by believing that mistakes aren’t allowed. If you do that you’ll never buy anything and your house will never move forward. Not only are mistakes allowed, they happen to everyone. The odds are that you’ll probably love most of your choices and regret a few of them. But that’s normal, there are ways to remedy it, and it’s completely worth it in the end.
Creating a room that you love thanks to some obligatory trial and error can really be way more “valuable” than committing to a few items ten years ago and desperately trying to decorate around them (even though you no longer love them) instead of letting them go. Sometimes getting new curtains and pillows and other little accessories to “accent” a piece that you don’t even like can cost more than just biting the bullet and switching the bad item out for something you love, you know?
And the good news is that the whole house-sprucing journey usually has a happy ending if you keep on keeping on. So try to keep the faith, get back on the ol’ horse, and remember that there are always returns if the pillow that you thought you’d love ends up being the pillow that you loathe – and there’s always Craigslist and yard sales (along with tax-write-off donations) for any of that non-returnable stuff.
Autumn says
We’ve been in our current house about 1.5 years. We have bought all new furniture for our living room, dining room, and kitchen. I originally bought one accent chair for the living room, later decided it wasn’t right, so moved it to another room and bought two different ones. I wasn’t sure if I even wanted to keep them, but did. They never felt right, and I was finding myself decorating the room around them, and disliking everything more and more. I finally bit the bullet and bought another set of chairs, which I LOVE! I was able to sell the other pair (losing $90), and after rearranging pulled the original chair back into the room, too. It was a process to get to where I am now, but it was worth it!
YoungHouseLove says
That’s awesome!
xo
s
Katie says
Love this post!!
We are closing on our new house next week and am already decorating it in my head:) Random question for you on flooring. Our new open tv/kitchen/dining area needs new flooring desperately. Wanting to do wood, but there are so many choices (good looking laminate/engineered/the real stuff). We are a young, 2 dog, and someday some kiddos family…have you had any of these products? Just want them to stand-up to daily use and not have buyers remorse a few yrs down the road!
YoungHouseLove says
Hardwood is awesome! I would go for the real stuff (places like Lumber Liquidators sell it for the same price that Home Depot sells laminate/engineered stuff).
xo
s
Julie says
Haha, we have lived in our house without furniture in our living room — the room you walk into when you enter the house — for TWO YEARS because I could not decide what I wanted to do in there. Kind of challenging because our house is kind of open concept to a fault — living room, dining room AND family room all in one big almost 1000 sq ft space, and the living room space is very narrow, only about 9 ft, but very long, 25 ft, and there is a gigantic 9 ft fireplace on the long wall. But finally last month I said enough is enough. We bought a loveseat and two chairs for the space. A bit out of my comfort zone – it’s the crate and barrel taylor sofa in deep teal, but I think it’s going to be awesome and I can’t wait to start actually using the space.
YoungHouseLove says
That sounds really pretty!
xo
s
Ashley S. says
Great post! I do the same thing. More often than not things end up in a different room then they were intended for around here haha
Also on an unrelated note, I thought John would love this. It could maybe even work it’s way into the sun room (:
http://www.notonthehighstreet.com/vyconic/product/bike-wheel-clock
YoungHouseLove says
So cool!
xo
s
Leah says
Great post. I’m terrible at choosing rugs. I really appreciated that even the “pros” make mistakes. Sometimes my mistakes are simply that I don’t really know my own taste…it’s a process.
Jenny says
Okay, so I’ve seen the picture of Sherry many times with her fabulus jeans ;) and this time I really took a good look of the room she was in (hers, I am assuming?). And I noticed the “hammock” of stuffed animals. Wow talk about revisiting my childhood! I totally had that hammock stuffed with animals and spilling over! Thanks for this awesome blog! I love love love it!
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, yes that was my old “pet net!” – I loved that thing!
xo
s
Ellen says
Miss Mustard Seed had a great post yesterday called “The Ridiculous Evolution of My Bedroom.” Walks through all her mistakes on the way to getting a look she loves.
http://missmustardseed.com/2013/02/how-things-change/
YoungHouseLove says
Such a fun post! Love it!
xo
s
michelle@decorandthedog says
Great post. I’m going to make the husband read it and maybe he’ll understand my constant need for change. ;)
I just discovered the beauty of selling things on Craigslist. I bought a beautiful jute rug off of Overstock. Turns out I’m allergic to jute. Womp. Womp. Posted it on Craiglist for $40 less than I paid for it and sold it in 3 hours. Craig is awesome.
Striving for SImple says
This is such an encouragement. Sometimes you dont know what you love (or dont love) until you see it in your space and live with it for a while. This post is a great reminder to let it go and not be afraid to change things along the way!
Danyelle @ Bifold Doors Brisbane says
I cannot imagine our house without Craigslist or yard sale lol. Anyway, it’s nice to hear that experience Sherry.
christina says
Hi Sherry! Gotta love the airbrushed jeans!!! Don’t feel bad, I have some cringe-worthy pics wearing ruffle shirts with biker shorts a-la 90’s style! Yikes! It’s great to know that you guys are like most of us – a lot of decorating is trial and error. I think I’ve painted our kitchen six different times! But I was wondering, how do you have so much success selling on craigslist? It seems like it’s been so easy for you. Do you have any tips on posting and pricing? I’d love to get some money back for some of my decorating mistakes!!! Thanks!!!
christina says
Sorry!! Just read my comment and I meant that my pics are cringe-worthy, not yours!!! LOL
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, I knew what you meant! You’re so sweet.
xo
s
YoungHouseLove says
We try to take really pretty pics (good camera, using a tripod, decorated nicely looking very clean, etc) and we also take care to write a nice post up with reasons why we’re selling it (ex: it functions well but is just the wrong size, etc). Most importantly is pricing I think, so we search for similar items and undercut our price, so anyone looking for that item will bee ours vs. the others and notice that our price is the most competitive. Hope it helps!
xo
s
Andrea says
Sherry & Jon, Love your blog, have been reading for several years now. I’m wondering if you can do a post on how to not have remorse for your clutter. Or how to get rid of clutter, or how to store clutter. My husband and I had a 2000 square foot house and recently moved to a 550 sq foot apartment in Boston. Our apt is cramped! I tried to decorate it nicely and choose nice pieces, but it just looks like a giant mess still because all of the bookshelves are crammed with books, board games, movies, video games, etc. There is no where to store anything. Do I get rid of my books? Get rid of the dvds? I don’t know what to do anymore but the clutter drives me nuts and I’m embarrassed to have people over because my house doesn’t look nearly as nice as yours or anyone else’s.
YoungHouseLove says
We have written a few posts on how we store and organize things (you can find them in our cleaning and organizing section on our Projects page if that helps) but we always love revisiting that topic and sharing hints and tips whenever we think of anything new! In general we like to get rid of anything we don’t use a lot (if we read books once and don’t need them anymore we might yard sale them or gift them to a friend, or get them from the library to begin with, etc) and we also like finding spots for everything so it’s easy to clean up on autopilot (a box for hats and gloves by the door, a bin for all of our DVDs and whatever doesn’t fit in there gets paired down, etc). Hope it helps! And good luck with everything Andrea!
xo
s
Angie says
My question is this: how do you decide which thing on your list you will tackle first? Do you wait for sales/finds? Do you fix the thing that you hate the most?
Do you do lots of inexpensive fixes before the big one? Do you do outdoor projects vs indoor projects weaather dependent?
YoungHouseLove says
As for the method to our “project order,” we don’t really think there is one. We generally just do whatever we’re in the mood for (barring anything that needs to be moved to the top of the list for safety or other extreme-urgency reasons). So we definitely jump around from room to room just to stay excited and avoid feeling too forced into doing something that we might not be ready to deal with yet. We generally like to keep the bigger projects that we want to save up for in the back of our mind for a while (until we’re feeling more sure about our approach so there’s no shoulda-woulda-coulda going on later). Thinking about those long term/bigger projects keeps us excited to squirrel away as much loot as we can to make them a reality down the road. And seeing all the crossed off smaller items reminds us that bite-sized undertakings can really keep you motivated and excited to keep moving. After a big project, sometimes we’re happy to take a breather and tackle the little stuff for a while. And other times we’re psyched to keep our momentum up and start planning the next big project right away.
xo
s
Brandy says
Not sure if this was said before or not, but another thing to remember is that you can always save your receipt and exchange/return item from stores. There have been a couple pillows and lamps that my bf and I bought and when we brought them home, we quickly realized that they did not work in the space at all, but it was no biggie since we knew we could just return them and get our money back.
Colette says
This could not have come at a better time. I suffer from buyers regret a lot. Currently I’m struggling over a rug for the living room. I wasn’t happy with the first one, then the second one was too big, so I’m now looking at a third, but I’m kind of paralyzed because I don’t want to make yet another mistake :(
Pam in NC says
I wish I had invested the money and paid for a design plan from an interior designer when we bought our home. I would have saved a lot of time and frustration.
Lara says
It’s so good to hear I’m not alone! And for you guys to “normalize” those feelings. I’d like to go by your mantra (“it’s only decorating”), but I get so emotionally tied up in the process, that a mistake or the possibility of making one looms weirdly large for me. There’s actually a term for it: maximizing. I am SUCH a maximizer. Anyway, it was helpful to see your list of things that have gone right, wrong, and the corrections you made (and expense involved). Thanks, as usual, for the inspiration!
Anna says
When my husband and I moved into our house seven years ago, and everything was beige, including our new couch and love seat, I decided to add some colour by painting the walls blue. As soon the colour was on the walls, I hated it. But, I had just put in all that work so I decided to leave it “for now”. Shortly after, I was out shopping with my mother, and she pointed out a pair of curtains, brown with subtle blue dots: “These will go great with your wall colour” she said. So I bought them. A couple years later, choosing upholstery fabric for a new chair, I found some with a blue/grey/beige pattern on a brown background that tied together the walls, curtains and couches. Finally we rounded it out with a brown rug and now I have an entire room based around the paint colour I hated seven years ago.
Great post, I wish I had read it seven years ago!
Anne Weber-Falk says
Wow, this is a very good post. After reading this I don’t feel so nervous about making my house more homelike. I had all those fears you wrote about and had just furnished my place to make it livable. Now I will take the plunge. No more nervousness because if it doesn’t work I know I can change it to make things even better. Thanks for the confidence.
tonia says
I bought a dining room set from Craigslist, and I’ve grown to hate it! I’m trying to re-sell it on Craigslist, but it’s not budging :-( And I listed it at half the price that I paid! Any tips to help that thing sell??
YoungHouseLove says
I would take really great photos of it. Detail shots, a pretty shot of it set up in the room with great lighting, etc. That really seems to make the difference!
xo
s
Melissa says
Am I the only person who loved your first set of kitchen stools? They were so cool. Did you not like the look of them, or were they uncomfortable?
YoungHouseLove says
We just realized as the room came together that the kitchen had a lot of “slick” going on (corian counters, stainless steel, clean open shelves, etc) – so we came around to the idea that warm wood stools (that swiveled and were contoured, so they were a smidge more comfy) would balance out all the modern and tie into our cork floors. So it was really more aesthetic than functional since the first stools weren’t uncomfortable they were just a little too sleek.
xo
s
Rachel says
Great advice! I think I am good at knowing when to invest in a piece or not, but convincing my husband that the piece of furniture will work is another story!
Christina @ Homemade Ocean says
Ohhhhh the chair fiasco….that was so funny.
Hey speaking of chairs, how are you liking the egg chair?
YoungHouseLove says
Love it! It’s great out there in the sunroom! Clara uses it the most!
xo
s
Kristy says
Thanks so much for this post! I feel like this all the time – for me, I think the combination of Pinterest, blogs, pretty house magazines, and the internet in general can be paralyzing. It’s hard to see so many options out there for everything from throw pillows to shower curtains to paint colors – sometimes it makes me really confused about what would work in our house, with our style. I’m always waiting for that “aha!” part to materialize (whether it’s a paint color or a fabric pattern or whatever), and then usually once that happens, the decorating paralysis goes away. :) Even then, there have been lots of mistakes, but we’re slowly getting there!
Ash says
Here’s a paralysis-related question – when it comes to a BIG project, something you’ve never done before, how do you know where to begin? My basement is partially finished, totally usable and all (in fact, it was rented out to college students before I bought the house, although it wasn’t anywhere NEAR up to bedroom codes). I need to put in a ceiling, as it’s all exposed joists/beams/ductwork, redo the walls, including some water damage, re-carpet the whole thing in ONE carpet that matches what I installed on the main floor 18 months ago, install a half-bath, and create a proper laundry room, and it’s really overwhelming to think about. And this might be too long of a question to answer with a comment, but I’m totally paralyzed on what to do first on something like that…how do people just “know” where to begin?
YoungHouseLove says
We like to take things one small step at a time, so try breaking down the project into small steps and then seeing which step feels the best to start with. There are probably a million orders or approaches, so just try to break things down into doable tasks and tackle them one at a time in an order that feels logical to you and your needs :)
xo
s
Kitty says
I find it super hard to admit to purchasing mistakes and tend to go the “live it out” route. This post has really helped with my thinking and I think (hope!) that I’ll be a bit more on the “this isn’t working, lets sell it and try another idea.” bandwagon in the future.
jenna says
You can avoid all the time of trial and error by calling in a design consultant just for ideas. Won’t cost much and you will know that at least the scale, proportion and maybe even your own design is working. I know these are naughty words to you guys but not everything needs to be DIY (there, I said it) But your advice is good if you dont want to hire someone to help with buying decisions.
Miss R says
LOVE the fixtures in your dining room! Could you please tell me where they’re available? Thank you!
YoungHouseLove says
The light above the table is from our lighting collection with Shades of Light! Here’s the link for ya: http://www.shadesoflight.com/lighting/young-house-love-collection/
xo
s
Archer says
I really like your encouragement in moving out of the mindset of “mistakes aren’t allowed”. We bought a gallon of mythic paint for our bathroom, and once it was painted on the walls, it was totally Covergirl Foundation color. GROSS. We paid to get paint samples (via Mythic online), and then finally bought a new gallon of color. About a $50 additional cost, on top of the $40 for the original gallon, so $90 for pretty walls in our bathroom! But we really like it now.
J Bagley says
We are in the middle of purchase paralysis trying to decide on a sofa.
We have a toddler and a baby and were eyeing the Ikea Karlstad, but also loving the “Tyler” sofa from Thrive (http://www.thrivefurniture.com/tyler-sofa/), but also have a friend who can get us a sweet deal on the “Reverie” sofa from EQ3 (http://www.eq3.com/ca/en/p25466/reverie-sofa-leather#view2).
Those button-tufted sofas are beautiful, but I’m wondering if they will be kid-friendly enough.
P.S. It was so great to meet you at the Atlanta YHL book signing!
YoungHouseLove says
Aw, thanks for coming out for our ATL stop! It was so much fun! as for the sofas, they’re all gorgeous! We love our Karl too, if that helps :)
xo
s
sarah says
how do you feel about the scalloped urban outfitters rug in your kitchen? I got that same rug for our baby’s room but am now realizing it’s hard to keep clean and vacuum without bunching up. i’d imagine it would be much worse in a high-traffic area. it’s so cute though!
YoungHouseLove says
We stand on the corners (one of us) while the other vacuums it to hold it in place (and we have a thick rug pad under it which seems to help too). Other than the weird two-person vacuuming it’s still holding up well and was so cheap that we’re happy. Ha!
xo
s
Evelyn says
Hey! Love the new swivel counter stools.
I was just looking at the photo of the kitchen and it looks awesome. Did you ever think of making the side of the cabinet on the left a chalkboard for munchkin?
YoungHouseLove says
Oh yes we have thought about that but we walk through there (it’s a doorway) so we don’t want to brush up against it and get chalk dust on us :)
xo
s
Suzy says
boo. this post made me sad because i currently have a 7 month old baby and a shag area rug that i’m in love with. it’s great for crawling, but totally see your point on bad for toddlers. :(
Joanne says
I have a fear of listing things for sale on Craigslist. I don’t want murderers, burglars and assorted crazies lining up at my front door.
Advice, please – I have a sofa that is and has been a major mistake/eyesore/pain in the neck and I want it gone.
YoungHouseLove says
We actually wrote a whole post about that! Here’s the link: https://www.younghouselove.com/2012/11/this-is-how-we-craigslist/
-John
Samma says
Commenting late to this thread because it kinda goes with ‘what you love’. Saw this hack and thought it might be a fun mini project for your Karl = ) http://www.ikeahackers.net/2012/11/karlstad-sofa-gets-retro-update.html
BTW, in the midst of painting a CL sofa – I keep telling myself the Middle Makes no Sense, so hopefully it’ll all work out well in the end. But if not, I know I can get it professionally recovered and still be happier than I would with the original white upholstery.
YoungHouseLove says
Love the link! And good luck with everything!
xo,
s
Alex @ northstory says
Do not get me started on rugs and bad purchases. My kids ruined 2 rugs in under a year including a shag rug that I blogged about b/c it looked like a dead cat dragged it in. I thought how can goldfish cracker and spilled milk do all this? Then we bought a striped rug that I loved to death. It was impossible to clean b/c the colours bled into each other when it got wet. We currently have no rug.
Mind we share the same sectional as you guys and that was a really good purchase.
Hollie @ I'm Busy Procrastinating says
What great advice! My husband is of the mindset that you should only buy something you’re sure about, and then live with it forever. While that’s all fine and dandy in an ideal world, sometimes it takes a while to find the perfect product/color/price combo. And like you said, sometimes you have to try something out and live with it for a while before you realize it’s not the best. I purchased some club chairs on One Kings Lane a couple years ago and once they were set up in my living room, I realized how compact they are. I’d really prefer something with a higher back and something a bit cozier. Lesson learned, and I’ll resell these chairs when I find the perfect set down the road.