Because this whole moving thing wasn't planned and went so fast, and because we ended up buying a spec home and finishing it, I had to make some quick decisions on what to add. There were quite a few things I repeated from the old house and a few we didn't/won't. I always love reading about what people love in their homes so I thought I would share them with you!
What we're keeping:
The wood and white stairs. I tore the carpet off of our old ones and never looked back:
And they were an absolute must for me. They changed the way our whole main level looked and felt and I just love them. I did consider just having them install the wood and I was going to stain them...but I knew they'd get filthy in the process. We also mess with our warranty if we do stuff on our own during the build so I didn't want to chance that.
And because I get asked this every time I mention our stairs -- we have found them to be less slippery than carpet by far. We slid down the carpeted stairs quite a bit, but not these. I'm crossing my fingers the old ones weren't some magical non-slip wood steps and the new ones are the same. ;)
Another item that was an absolute MUST for us was the trash compactor. Ours will be in the island like our old one:
It will be next to the sink which makes me super happy. It was really convenient to have it right behind the sink at the old house and I think this will be even better.
My husband insisted on this when we started the building process with the old house 14 years back -- and I wasn't familiar with them much so just went with it. Now I get it. You can see why we love the trash compactor so much in this post. ALL the heart eyes.
Another item pictured above will show up in the new kitchen as well...any guesses?:
I've had a wood island countertop for seven years now and it was a priority when we were deciding on what to add to the list. This time it will be a little different because the sink will be in the island, but I think it will be just as beautiful! I used butcher block tons of places in our last house -- I can count five projects just off the top of my head. It doesn't matter if you stain it or leave it oiled, it always adds warmth to a space.
One more item in the kitchen that I love and had to have again are my tiny hidden storage compartments behind the drawer fronts here:
Otherwise known as the tip out tray. They keep clutter off the counter around the sink and are so convenient. I had two and used one for sink/washing stuff and the other for dishwasher tablets. These are under the new sink as well.
Another one that I don't have a photo of, because it's boring, (but awesome!) is the humidifier on our HVAC system. This was another one my husband insisted on and I'm so glad he did. It keeps the house from getting super dry in the winter -- no shocking each other after walking around! And we feel like it helps us health-wise too.
What we're not keeping:
I LOVE the look of a fireplace in a bedroom...love. But we won't have one in a new house. I think we'll survive? 😆
I absolutely loved having a warm fire on really cold nights...but 99 percent of the time our room would get too hot to have it on for any extended time. I like our room a little chilly at night so we rarely used it. It was such a lovely idea and again, I loved the look...but it heated the room a little too much. (Even the pilot light would make it warmer!)
The big items we won't be adding are outside. We will be adding a pergola or something similar one day:
But I don't want to do a deck. Again, love the look! But I want to simplify our lives a bit and if we can go without the upkeep of wood I'd rather do that. Having a wood deck wasn't as hard as I thought it would be to keep up with -- but we got full sun so it did need to be restained every few years. We had to replace a few of the boards this past summer too.
This time, I want a HUGE patio. But not a paver patio like before:
As beautiful as it is, I'm craving something with less upkeep. Simple, remember? The pavers themselves weren't bad at all...it's the weeds that grow between them (and seeds that land) that you have to keep up with. I WILL miss the pretty moss that grew between the pavers though -- that was one of my favorite things about our backyard!
This time? All concrete. We'll probably do stamped concrete, but I want easy maintenance. All one piece! Whoot!
Is there something in your house that you would repeat in another home? Of course many of the design changes I made will show up again in the new house too...can't wait to get started!
from
http://www.thriftydecorchick.com/2017/09/take-it-or-leave-it.html
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