Colour swatches for kitchen, flooring and floating shelves
Decisions, Decisions… and More Decisions! 😂
Life at the Old School has certainly been a journey!
We've had days of frustration, wondering if we would ever actually get to move into our unit, followed by days of pure joy and excitement as we watched new cabinets being installed or gathered together as a family to celebrate another milestone.
It's been a roller coaster, to say the least!
But one of the biggest challenges for me throughout this whole process wasn't the construction itself.
It was making decisions!
Oh my goodness, the decisions!
If you've ever built a home or taken on a major renovation, you know exactly what I'm talking about.
Flooring, tiles, faucets, sinks, cabinets, doors, door frames, countertops, appliances, lighting… and the list goes on and on.
And before you can even start choosing those things, you have to decide what style you want!
Modern farmhouse? Industrial? Cozy farmhouse? Craftsman? Contemporary?
And what exactly is the difference between modern farmhouse and cozy farmhouse anyway? 😂
Once you've finally chosen a faucet, you discover that you have to choose a finish.
Black? Gold? Brushed nickel? Chrome?
And will that finish match the cabinet hardware? The lighting? The door handles?
Then there are paint colours.
Don't even get me started on paint colours!
Who knew there could be so many different shades of WHITE? 😳
One of the couples living here hired an interior designer to help them make all those decisions. They had a beautiful, cohesive plan laid out before construction even began.
And their finished home? Absolutely gorgeous! In fact, it was so beautifully designed that it ended up being featured in a magazine!
We didn't go that route.
Which meant it was up to us to choose everything ourselves and hope that, when all was said and done, it would actually look like everything belonged together!
Now, I did have a vision in my mind.
I've always loved soft colours, natural textures, and warm, earthy tones. I wanted a modern farmhouse feel, although I'm still not entirely sure what that means! 😂
I've also always dreamed of having a white kitchen with an apron-front sink.
And I wanted flooring that would bring warmth into the space, especially since I was planning on white walls.
Of course, the flooring also needed to complement the furniture we already owned because buying all new furniture was definitely NOT in the budget!
I had a few other dreams as well.
Ceiling beams.
A cozy window seat.
Little details that I imagined would make the space feel extra special.
But as the renovation costs continued to climb, some of those dreams had to go.
The beams and window seat were crossed off the list.
Not essential, but still a little disappointing.
Then there was the practical side of me.
I wanted to choose things that would stand the test of time rather than whatever happened to be trendy at the moment.
Remember all that shiny brass from the 1980s? 😳
Exactly!
So I bought home decorating magazines.
Lots of them.
Kitchen magazines, renovation magazines, farmhouse magazines, design magazines.
I'm pretty sure I could have bought a new car with what I spent on magazines! 😂
And did they help?
Not really.
In fact, I think they just made me more confused!
Finally, I came to a realization.
Why was I so worried about choosing what was popular or what might appeal to someone else someday?
This was going to be our home.
Lord willing, the place where we would spend the rest of our lives.
For years, working in real estate, I had thought about homes in terms of resale value and what potential buyers might like.
But this time, I wasn't choosing for a future buyer.
I was choosing for us.
So I decided to stop worrying so much about trends and simply choose what made me happy.
Soft colours. Earthy tones. Warmth. Simplicity.
A home that felt peaceful and welcoming.
Now, at this point, you might be wondering where my husband fit into all these decisions.
Well, he's a builder.
He understands construction, structure, and how to make things work.
But ask him to spend hours comparing shades of white paint or choosing between two nearly identical faucets?
Not exactly his idea of a good time! 😂
He was always happy to offer his two cents when I asked, and of course we made the final decisions together.
But I think he would have been perfectly content with almost anything I chose!
Once we had a general colour palette and flooring picked out, we forged ahead.
We visited stores, looked at samples, compared finishes, and took photographs of everything we liked.
I thought that was a brilliant idea!
We could look back at the pictures and make sure everything worked together.
Except…
My photo collection became so enormous that I couldn't find anything when I needed it!
Was that the faucet from the first store or the third? Which flooring sample was the one we liked? And where on earth was that light fixture we had agreed on?
More confusion! 😂
And speaking of lighting…
After visiting what felt like every lighting store in the city, looking at hundreds of fixtures, and trying to find just the right ones…
We ended up ordering our lights from Wayfair!
Go figure! 😁
But you know what?
In the end, we're really happy with the choices we made.
Our home feels warm, peaceful, and comfortable. It reflects who we are and what we love.
And that's really what matters.
Are we finished?
Not quite!
We still need backsplashes in the kitchen and bathrooms, and we're still waiting for a shower door in our master bathroom.
And my husband has decided that perhaps we have a little too much white.
So apparently, a feature wall is in our future.
Oh no.
More decisions! 😂
But we'll get there.
One choice, one project, and one little improvement at a time.
And I have to say, after all the planning, shopping, second-guessing, and wondering whether everything would come together, it's a wonderful feeling to finally be living in the home we dreamed about.
Even if it isn't quite finished yet.
After all, is a home ever really finished?
Now I'm curious!
If you've ever built or renovated a home, what was the hardest decision you had to make?
And here's another question: Do you decorate your home with resale value in mind, or do you simply choose what makes you happy?
I'd love to hear your thoughts!
Follow along for more adventures, updates, and eventually a full reveal of our school-turned-home! ❤️🏫
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