New Construction Mistakes – Choices I Wish I Hadn’t Made

It’s been a year since we moved into our new home and we love it! It may still be mostly empty and in need of some serious decoration, but I’m hoping to get to that more this year. It took us a year full of agonizing over decisions and determining what we wanted, needed, and could live without. There are so many choices to be made when you build a home, so I thought I would share some of the decisions I made, that I wish I hadn’t, to hopefully help someone else with their new construction choices.

New Construction Mistakes & Regrets

New Construction Mistakes - choices I wish I didn't make and can help you avoid.

This Foyer Light

New Construction Regrets - Glass light in a two story foyer.

I found this Hundi Lantern at Pottery Barn and loved it, it is beautiful. I thought oh, it will be perfect in the foyer. Our foyer is two-story and I have no idea how I was planning to clean this light. It only took me about a week to realize this light was a big mistake. I mean, like duh. You cannot, not even with an extendable cleaning device, clean this light. It’s currently dusty, has a few dead bugs in the bottom and makes me angry every time I look at it. FAIL. If I’m being honest, I kind of regret the two story foyer in general. I plan to just replace the light, with an open lantern or chandelier instead; something I can just shake an extendable duster at. 

Herringbone Backsplash

White Grout on white tile backsplash mistake.

Oh how I agonized over our kitchen backsplash. We built our home on a cost plus model, so every decision we made, big or small, mattered to the budget. From the very beginning I wanted a small marble herringbone backsplash. However, I also wanted to finish the bonus room and put recessed lighting throughout the house. So, I had to cut a little bit other places to make all of that happen. When we went to choose tile, that lovely little marble backsplash I wanted, wasn’t in our budget so I had to improvise. I chose a simple white subway tile and asked them to lay it in a herringbone pattern. I went back and forth on gray grout and white grout. I picked white grout because in the store under the light, the tile and grout matched perfectly and I thought it would make the backsplash interesting without being too busy. Oh my gracious I was wrong. What I pictured in my mind and what was actually executed were two different things. The tile I chose was too short to give me the herringbone look I wanted. It’s still herringbone, but I was picturing the look that longer tile gives. The white grout only matches the tile under the under cabinet lighting (or in bright sunlight like in the picture). In the daylight, the grout looks yellow compared to the tile. I regret my backsplash decision. So, one day, I will redo this backsplash, but until then, I’ll live with it! Although it isn’t what I pictured, it’s still pretty overall. In hindsight, I wish I had gone with a classic subway pattern with light gray grout or just sprung a little extra for the backsplash I truly wanted. 

Matte Paint

Sherwin Williams On The Rocks

Let me start by saying, I love the color of our paint. It is Sherwin Williams On The Rocks and is the prettiest light grey. However, I chose the wrong sheen. When we built our first home I knew good and well I didn’t like matte paint. It is awful. Especially builder grade matte paint. I specifically told the builder how much I hated matte paint and somehow he convinced me to go against all better judgement and pick matte paint. I’m easily persuaded sometimes. He claimed with my kids I would want the matte paint because I could touch it up easier than if I had a sheen to my paint. He was wrong, in the case of my paint. While I love the color of our paint, you can barely breath on it without making a mark. Which means you cant wipe it clean either. You can imagine with two active boys, our walls have already taken a beating. Also, that touch up theory the builder had, nope, doesn’t work. The builder recently came back and fixed a few settlement cracks and touch up painted, you can tell. I will eventually need to repaint the entire house, which isn’t going to be an easy task or an inexpensive one. I’ll go back to my initial theory that matte paint is the devil. 

Gel Stain/Fiberglass Door

I don’t know if this is painter error or the materials chosen. All I know is our front door did not turn out the way I pictured it. Our front door was one of those dream items for me. I really really wanted a wooden front door in the same style, but it was twice the price, so I settled for a fiberglass door. I was told by the builder supply that it would stain like wood and would look realistic, he even showed me examples. I then proceeded to seek out more examples of stained fiberglass doors by stalking other people’s homes to see if it was going to be legit. I finally decided it would be fine. When it came time to stain the door, the painter told me to pick a gel stain and I tried my hardest to research the colors to guess what the final product would look like.  I don’t know if it was the color I chose or if the painter just put way too much on the door, but the door ended up just looking like a brown door. I was disappointed and after talking with the painter, the process to take the color off of the door was going to be difficult and he wasn’t sure if it would even all come off. So we left it. 

I’m pretty sure the lesson learned from the door and something to pass on to someone else building a new home is; show people pictures of what you want. I should have showed the painter what I had in mind. Or in hindsight I wish I had just ordered the door that comes from the factory finished, so I would know exactly what it would look like or just put a little extra into the wooden door I truly wanted. The door is still beautiful, just not what I had in mind. 

New Construction Lessons Learned

With every new experience comes lessons learned. This was our first time building a fully custom home and we chose everything down to the doors and door knobs. Although there were a few choices that we regret, our love list is wayyy longer and we are totally thrilled with our new house. I’ll share in another post our choices that were spot on! 

Do you have any home building regrets?

-Brooke

Brooke of Pumps and Push-Ups - petite style blogger

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27 Comments

  1. 9.18.17
    Biana Perez said:

    I feel like you just described the paint in my house and I had no idea there was a difference. We have “Settlement” in our walls and it drives me bonkers! I love everything in your house! LOVE! xo, Biana –BlovedBoston

  2. 9.18.17
    Living on Cloud Nine said:

    I cannot even tell you how much I needed to see this as I am pondering some of our selections right now and haven’t even seen them in play yet. I too have tile set too be in a herringbone pattern but chose a light gray grout, I hope it’s ok and wondering if I should’ve gone little darker. Thanks for the tip on the paint too!! Your house is truly beautiful and I think it’s tough to get everything spot on. It’s so hard to know til you truly see it.

  3. 9.18.17
    Brooke said:

    You are so smart to pick that light gray! I wish I had done the same. It will be enough color to give contrast but not so dark that that’s all you’ll see when you walk in the kitchen. At least that’s what I tell myself when I wish I had done light gray! Haha!

  4. 9.18.17
    Brooke said:

    Thank you Biana!! Matte paint is so terrible! I can’t wait to have it all repainted but that’s going to be a while haha!

  5. 9.18.17
    Whitney said:

    Oh I love the door! I think the color is so pretty with your house color! I hear you on things that you would have done differently. We’ve been in our reno for 2 years now and I still want a new chandler in my bathroom the one I got just wasn’t big enough! But when you are in the thick of things and there are a bizillion decisions that need to be made asap, you just go with your gut. Your house is s pretty!

    Xoxo,
    Whitney & Blaire
    Peaches In A Pod

  6. 9.18.17

    I think the updates look great! It can get overwhelming when making a lot of decisions at once. I like the kitchen backsplash a lot actually. Maybe you can change everything how you like it over time.
    ~Samantha
    http://goldcoastgirlblog.com

  7. 9.18.17

    making notes as we build…awesome post! Also, didn’t know there was any other paint type than matte.

  8. 9.18.17
    Lyddiegal said:

    It’s so disappointing to think when you have the opportunity to get your dream home, that you are still forced into things you just don’t like or don’t want. I think it’s crazy what they charge for fiberglass doors too!
    Chic on the Cheap

  9. 9.18.17
    Laura said:

    We are hoping to sell our current home in a year or two and possibly build so thanks for sharing! These are great things to keep in mind!

  10. 9.19.17
    Nikki said:

    I can’t even imagine what it would be like to buy a new construction. I feel like there would be too many choices for me. I am having to work with what I have. We bought a house that needed a TON of work so we are in the (very slow) process of redoing it and it is making me crazy. But at least your house is DONE!! It will be years before ours will be anywhere near complete.

    Nikki
    thefashionablewife.com

  11. 9.19.17
    Lisa Richardson said:

    Oh girlie! I can so relate. We’ve never built a “cutsom” home, but we’ve built 3 homes from builders that you have x,y,z choices. It’s HARD. My last house I adored (in Minnesota). If I could have picked it up and moved it to CA, I would have in a heart beat. This house….not so much. However, it’s not our forever home so I’ll just live with it for now. Your home is beautiful. I will tell you that I love that light fixture and for a split second considered those for over my island until I came to my senses and realized they’d be big ol’ dust bowls…literally. It’s all a learning process. I wonder if any ever builds and comes out with no regrets? I doubt it. Somehow things are always different in our minds eye. Thanks for sharing your experience. I’m logging all this away for the next time!!!

  12. 9.19.17
    Sierra said:

    Thank you so much for sharing this!! We are considering building and while I love all things renovations and design, I feel like deciding on things for yourself is so tough. Your home is beautiful but I can understand things coming out not like you pictured. I’m sure it will be a work in progress until everything is the way you would like. xo, Sierra Beautifully Candid

  13. 9.19.17

    This is awesome. I don’t plan on building a house, but if I did, these are good lessons. I think in general if you can squeeze the extra money to get what you really want instead of settling is worth it. I love your front door. I want a new front door for myself, ours is 40 years old and the glass is cracked. I really want a mostly glass door, but #privacyissues, although our door doesn’t face the street, I feel weird, cause sometimes when someone rings the doorbell and I see who it is, I don’t answer..that’s just awkward if they see me stare at them and then walk away, haha!

  14. 9.19.17

    I can only imagine how frustrating and can totally relate to that light issue! We remodeled our kitchen in 2008….pre-pinterest…it is nothing like I would do if I could do it all over now. Too bad so sad cause it’s too pricey for a do over. I’m working on a new front door right now and saving up for real wood. We have a metal door and even painting still looks crappy. Ahhh….just a reminder we will never have a perfect house and that’s okay…really more about the people we share it with right!?!

  15. 9.20.17

    Oh man thanks for sharing. We just bought a home and are doing some renovations. Already there were some things we were thinking we could skimp on and try to save money and I’m like nope let’s do it right the first time. If that means we save and wait one year or two then we do it. I totally get what you mean about that lamp. I wouldn’t have thought about cleaning it either until it was actually in the house. Hope you can find something you like. There are some great deals at World Market for lights!

    http://www.mylittlenest.org

  16. 9.20.17
    Sarah Zinn said:

    We built and closed two years ago in November. I feel ya on some of those regrets! We had no choice in the paint and I hate, hate, hate our builder grade white paint. It gets so gross! Our two biggest regrets, which really aren’t too bad, is that we didn’t opt for the extra 4 feet added to the garage (because it would have been $10,000 of our options) and that we made the loft a 4th bedroom. It’s a super tiny room that can really only be an office or my husband’s game room (it’s current use). We’re still slowly making it ours and our next project is backsplash!

  17. 9.20.17

    Well I think your regrets are small and can be fixed without much hassle. In fact if you had not mentioned they were “regrets” I would have never thought they were !
    I have a roof to fix in our weekend home and I am dreading it just thinking they get it wrong 🙁

  18. 9.25.17
    Brooke said:

    So very true Lorena! You’re always getting me to look on the bright side!

  19. 9.25.17
    Brooke said:

    It was a great experience overall and I really love that we got to pick everything!

  20. 9.25.17
    Brooke said:

    I wish I had noted the dust bowl situation sooner! Haha! Pottery barn got me with their beautiful catalog.

  21. 9.25.17
    Brooke said:

    It is!! Like it was still so expensive! It’s disapppitning when you get into the cost of the things, those dream items end up being out of reach. (For us at least)

  22. 9.25.17
    Brooke said:

    I had satin in our old house, it way better!

  23. 9.25.17
    Brooke said:

    Thanks so much Samantha! You’re right, over time we will make the changes!

  24. 9.25.17
    Brooke said:

    A lot of really was the quick go with your gut decisions! Makes it hard to make every one a good one!

  25. 9.25.17
    Brooke said:

    I do appreciate that it’s done! I would consider doing a reno one day. We’ve never done one, but I bet it would be cool to see the before and after!

  26. 8.15.20
    Anna said:

    We are starting the process of building a custom home. I look all over Pinterest for these kinds of articles. Thank you for the insight.

    I tried looking up front doors and it’s overwhelming. Yours is still beautiful!

  27. 8.16.20
    pumpsandpushups said:

    Thank you! It’s an overwhelming process, but so rewarding! I hope you love your new home!

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