Now that we’re finished decorating our kitchen, for the most part, we thought it would be appropriate to share the things we considered purchasing for our home and why we did not.
There were some things that when thinking about how I wanted our kitchen to look, I almost purchased or did. These were items or concepts that I had started drawing out potential budgets for and considered when we were still in the brainstorming phase of how we wanted our overall space to look.
While we are not completely ruling all of these items out, they are things that for the most part, did not feel like items that would either fit in the space or that we would necessarily need at that moment. Since we’ve pretty much finished decorating our kitchen, I thought it would be fun to share the items that we almost considered purchasing, but did not.
NEW LIGHT FIXTURES
In our brainstorming post, this was one of the things I imagined we’d grab for our kitchen to make it more ours. Right now the lights are pretty basic and one of the things I’ve been wanting to change since we moved in. However, pendant lights are expensive and the fact that I would need to get more than one means I’d be spending at least $400 on lights.
So, about those lights…
For now, I am keeping them until we can afford to splurge on it or until we hit the lottery. Whatever comes first. Eventually, I want to spray paint it gold but have not gotten around to doing so yet. Plus the silver works for the time being. Speaking of gold, though…
GOLD FAUCET FIXTURES
I almost purchased gold fixtures for the kitchen because I am a sucker for gold things and love the look of them in kitchens and bathrooms. For me, it felt like a no brainer when we moved in that eventually we’d switch out all of our silver fixtures, with the exception of the appliances, for gold ones. However, after thinking about it, it felt like an unnecessary purchase that would only be for aesthetic purposes. It’s not like the fixtures are old or broken or rusted. They’re updated, work well, and I think it works better with the countertop and cabinet colors, so we kept it.
PERSIAN RUG
This one I was sure we’d end up finding and purchasing. Ideally, I wanted a Persian rug that was navy and red, with different ornate details in them to go as a kitchen runner or a small, 2×3 area rug in our kitchen. Originally I imagined that it would add some color to our kitchen and allow us to add a little warmth.
After looking at hundreds of rugs online and comparing them to the colors nearby where we were planning to place it, it just didn’t fit. It’d be TOO much of a pop of color because there would be nothing else around it to counteract it. With the white cabinets, black countertops, grey floors, and greyish blue walls, it would be a pop of color, but it wouldn’t really work well together. Our kitchen was very grey (like floors, walls, etc), so it made choosing a rug that matched without making it even greyer seem like a formidable task.
Instead, we decided to hold off on the rug until we can find one in person that fits the most with our color scheme. As or right now I actually like the way it looks without a rug and may leave it that way unless we end up finding the perfect rug.
CHINOISERIE GARDEN STOOL
Y’all know I love a good chinoiserie pattern, especially in blue and white. I’ve been eyeing this one stool from Target that has fluctuated for the last couple of months in price, because I was waiting for it to get in the $40 range. For something that’s just for decoration, I didn’t know if it would be worth it to grab – especially at full price. I did not end up purchasing it because I was worried about whether or not it would be able to be safely shipped to our home since it’s so fragile. I decided I’d just keep an eye out for it and if I can’t find something cheaper or similar in person, I may eventually get it.
A FAUX FIREPLACE
When we first saw the house, they had this beautiful faux fireplace in the kitchen against the wall. I remember thinking it looked so nice and added a bit of warmth to the kitchen. I was thinking about doing the same thing, but eventually decided not. Perhaps one day we will, but right now I felt that it wasn’t a necessary purchase.
A BAR CART
I’ve seen so many spaces with beautiful, gold bar carts in their homes. I love the element of class that it adds to a space and the function of it. You could use it for a coffee or hot cocoa bar or pretty much whatever you can nicely fit on it. However, as of right now, a bar cart would primarily be for decorative purposes since we could not find a use for it to justify getting one so soon.
Neither of us drink a lot and with the playfully rambunctious cat we have, we’re not sure if it’s a good idea to place nice wine glasses or china on it knowing she may accidentally slide into it one day while we’re at work. While we host every now and then, we don’t host often enough to use it as a host/hostess table. We already have a coffee nook, conveniently where the coffee brewer currently is. Therefore, there wasn’t really a purpose for getting one.
We may change our minds in a couple of years but right now it just didn’t feel like a good idea for us.
A TV TRAY STAND
This might be something we purchase later down the line, but since we usually do not eat in the living room and we don’t have the rug yet for that area, it didn’t feel like something we needed to get right away. It’s definitely something I could see us grabbing in the near future, however.
DRINK ORGANIZER
As I mentioned, neither of us drink much, but we like to have a glass every now and then. Originally I thought it would be cool to use one of our cabinet spaces for those bottles and organize it in some way. We did not because it’s not really something we need right now, since we don’t really have a lot of bottles, but we may do this in the future.
NEW KITCHEN ISLAND/BAR HEIGHT CHAIRS
The chairs came with the kitchen, but as with everything else in the house, it’s pretty grey. I’d love to get some new kitchen chairs, but I want to pick ones that are comfortable. I may end up actually just getting them reupholstered or getting covers for them in a fabric and color we decide.
A BIN FOR KIMI’S FOOD
Full disclosure, most of the time, because it’s convenient, Kimi’s bag of dry food is upstairs in the kitchen. I know, I know – somewhere there’s an article about what a faux paux this is. It’s bagged, sealed, and nowhere near our food, but it has been in the back of our mind to find a better place to store it. I was originally considering getting a bit, kind of like a chest, to place her goodies inside of so it’s hidden. I ended up not purchasing it because it felt a bit excessive to get a bin just to hide her food when there are other places we could store it in our kitchen, so instead, we decided to keep her food in the basement and routinely fill it up to then store in one of the lower cabinets.
What being a homeowner the last few years has taught me is that home decor and renovations take time and they require a lot of trial and error. Sometimes the plans you have for space work and sometimes they don’t. Sometimes a bar cart seems like a good idea and then sometimes it seems like a waste of money.
While it is still absolutely a goal of mine to have it unpacked and done by the end of this year, I think it’s important to give ourselves grace with this. Sometimes life happens and decorating or renovating becomes the last thing on your mind. Sometimes you’re so tired from working full time or being a parent that you can’t imagine going out and painting a bedroom. Sometimes you cannot afford to completely furnish everything at once. That’s okay.
The most important thing is to remember that God-willing, you are in your home for as long as you want to be and you have plenty of time to make the space your own.
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