Anyone else regret big ticket items in their home?

[Mum8929]

DH and I bought some new couches recently and really regret our decision to get recliners. These sofas were quite expensive and can’t return, we also regret some blinds we got and wish we’d opted for shutters in our lounge. I guess I just wonder if it’s normal to have these regrets and if anyone else feels they have regretted some big items they bought for their house?

Yes. We spent a fortune on blinds we don't like in the lounge. We regret the model of dishwasher in our new kitchen AND the steam oven which we've used once.
I get overwhelmed when having lots of work done and don't make sensible choices.
I should have learned this by now.

No, but we put a lot of consideration into all big purchases. More than most people would consider reasonable I think. (e.g. we spent every evening for over a week comparing cushion covers 🤪. DH did a mood board).

But by the time we commit, we’re absolutely sure it’s what we want.

Life is too short for regrets.

Take these purchases as a learning curve.

What else can you do?

Oh yes. We bought the most uncomfortable sofas ever in the living room. Had them three years so far and they look good as new. And still so uncomfortable.

Pillow-top mattress. Stupid bloody thing gets an indent in the pillow bit while I'm sleeping, which causes backache. So now I'm sleeping on an expensive mattress with a cheap duvet folded over the middle, making an extra 'pillow top' to compensate for the squished part of the pillow top. It looks like a medium-sized animal has made its nest under the bottom sheet 😂

Yes I regret our sofas , bought the day the showrooms could open after first lockdown June 2020 I think. We barely sat on them in the showroom and they are sooo uncomfortable no one wants to sit on them. They were v expensive too and look lovely, colour is great but I regret their purchase almost daily!

I’ve got a hand made hexagonal terracotta tiled floor in my kitchen/ dining room. It’s beautiful and literally everyone that comes here comments on it but it’s wearing really badly under the chair legs. As the tiles were an inch thick we had to have the sub floor laid with it in mind so will be a bitch to replace and will be impossible without removing the kitchen and using more screed.

I’m glad I like it and the wear doesn’t really bother me too much. Dh hates it though.

Oh and I’ve got two Neff Hide & Slide ovens which rarely get turned on because we always use the air fryer 🤣

I regret our quartz worktops. They look lovely, but are so cold to the touch. So if you're sitting at the island, it's not comfortable to rest your hands, wrists etc on them. Although in the summer, it's actually a blessing😅

I hate our sofas

I avoid this by not spending too much money on each item. Sofas can be extortionate. I just have Ikea ektorp in fabric (which could be changed). If I spent 300 instead of 3000 then if I have any sort of problem, I won’t have wasted thousands. You have to be careful not to go too cheap, as it could end up with you getting a shit item.

We put a summer house up last year and I hate it. It’s in the wrong place and I just can’t see it being used.

Our new mattress, it’s so firm!

Laid on it in the shop, felt perfect. Once it was delivered, we both feel it’s too firm. Paid £1000 for it, not getting rid!

I have more or less got used to it but going on holiday with a soft mattress really reminded me how form ours is. Even our cat wouldn’t sleep on it at first🤣🤣

I hate our recliner sofas too!

My wardrobes. In my defence, it was in 2020 and there seemed to be a world shortage of wardrobes everywhere. I got ones that 'looked nice' and stupidly let my nit wit of an ex build them alone. He hung two of the doors the wrong way up and all the drawers felt apart within 12 months.

I'm currently saving up for my IKEA pax!

Our peloton 😅

Bloody Samsung washing machine. Noisy, crap at washing unless you stand there with a jug and add a load of extra water from the tap. I miss my old LG that was fantastic (but something went wrong in it during Covid and it was making a weird noise but no engineers would come out (social distancing etc)) so replaced it. Big regret.

Expensive at the time Sony tv in the front room where the sound is so crap we bought a sound bar a few years later. Now it no longer supports iPlayer or itvX so had to put a fire stick on it. Then the kids kicked a football at it and it’s got a striped area top right.

Telescope I never use as it’s either too light to see the sky or too cold to take it outside. It was a nice idea though.

Nice clothes I save for best until they are either out of fashion or I expand out of them.

Get a thick mattress topper x

I have done a few times over the years, although it is almost always because DH has 'won' with his cheaper-option choice (which for big ticket items are still a fair amount of money). Thankfully he is slowly coming around to my way of thinking on most things, so this is happening less and less.
The current regret is our mattress. We sized up to a kingsize when DD2 was on the way. I wanted the bigger version of the amazing mattress we had on the old bed (it now belongs to DD1 - I'm very jealous!), which was about £2k. DH talked me round to a cheaper model of the same brand - £1k reduced to £800 in a sale. It was awful. We both were waking up every morning with really sore backs. When he finally admitted defeat, I asked if we could now upgrade to the one I wanted originally. He dug his heels in, did loads of 'research' and ordered the one we have now at £1k. It is an improvement on the previous mattress but I still wake up with a sore back several times a week. It is also really hot and uncomfortable in the summer. We have now spent almost as much in total as the one I wanted but still have something far inferior, although because DH doesn't have any more back problems we won't hear of swapping it again. It makes me grumpy on a weekly basis.

Years ago, we bought a bookcase - the type with a fold out desk and glass fronted cupboards at the top. I have always disliked it. We were told it was an antique, but I am sure it is a ‘50s reproduction.

Anyway, we have moved it to another room, and painted it with a pale blue Annie Sloan paint, and I quite like it now.

The room it was in looks so much bigger, and lighter and brighter without it.

The woodburner.
Am getting it removed.
Dusty and the ugly

Our house caught fire in 2013.’

The insurance company pay for all predicating and furniture. To be found in about 2 months. So we had to refurnish and decorate a house in 8 weeks. Many many regrets.

Shit dishwasher
Shit washer
Shit oven,
Shit stair and landing carpet
Shit shit bathroom
Shit mattress.
Shit fridge freezer
Super expensive shit sofa.

Its hard to do it all at once.
It all needs replacing now at the same time😟

Could you have new filling put in your cushions.

@ArseInTheCoOpWindow friends of ours had similar. At first I thought that getting everything new was a silver lining to the terrible situation they had been through. Then I realised how stressful it was.
I hate the floor tiles in our bathroom. I'm not entirely sure why, I just do. To change them would involve changing everything in the bathroom I think so we'll be living with them for another 15 years or so at least!

This thread is making me feel glad that we don't really have spare money! Most of our furniture is over 20 years old, inherited from parents or second hand from FB marketplace. For the DC we had wooden slatted pine bed frames and just bought new mattresses as and when.

I did hate my Bosch washing machine but luckily it died after 5 years.