Burning Question: Spendy Splurges?
This query of the week was actually submitted by a reader named Molly and we couldn’t wait to get everyone’s read on the subject. The big Q: What has been your biggest home-related splurge? And looking back, was it worth it?
We love to hoard our pennies whenever we can but we’re also known to save them up for something truly special for our little ranch, so we know a thing or two about splurging on a few occasions. What have you guys gone all out on? And was it all that you thought it would be? Does it make you smile every time you see it? Or are you too scared that you’ll “hurt” it to truly enjoy it?
Breathtaking kitchen image (which appears to be a nice balance of steals & splurges) via Cornflower Cottage.
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Two of our splurges were in our kitchen: the quartz counter tops and stainless steal appliances. Also, the hardwood flooring we put in our dining room and living room. These things were definately worth it — they add a lot of appeal and value to our house, and will hold up better in the long run.
You don’t mention what your splurges were?
Hey Rebekah,
Whenever we pose a burning question we refrain from shouting out our “answers” right away- just because we love to see what everyone has to say on the subject and don’t want to sway or provoke any answers. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Our biggest furniture purchase was a beautiful farmhouse style dining room table from Ethan Allen (the chairs cost more then the table though!) We do love this table and are not afraid to use it–that does not mean that I am a little sad when I see a new scratch.
We splurged on this couch from Macy’s: http://www1.macys.com/catalog/product/index.ognc?ID=285801&CategoryID=35388 when we moved into our new house a year ago. We were able to find a coupon that basically covered the tax. It was worth every penny. It fits our room perfectly, is super comfy and is easy to clean. I would definitely do it again.
We got an amazing sectional that we couldn’t live without!
Our biggest splurge was this trash can: http://www.simplehuman.com/products/trash-cans/kitchen/plastic-lid-rectangular.html
We lusted over it for a full year. It’s not even close to being the most expensive thing in our house, but $100 for a trash can?? Finally, one day, we were standing in front of it at Target AGAIN, and my husband rolled his eyes and put it in the cart. And it’s one of the best purchases we’ve made! It keeps every bad smell under the lid and is just so pretty. Totally worth it.
New hardwood floors downstairs and new carpet upstairs. Well worth the cost!
Next splurge will be some type of countertop… quartz, granite, or recycled glass.
I wish I could say that our biggest splurge was some really nice piece of furniture…..but alas, the biggest spurlges have been our SS fridge, front loading W/D, and getting our flat screen TV mounted on the wall.
We are replacing the kitchen countertops with granite this month.
Our biggest splurge to date would either be our mattress or the decked out WVU rocker recliner I surprised my husband with. We did a lot of shopping around and saved a ton on our mattress, but still wanted a high quality one with a hefty price tag. We love our bed, so I’d say it was worth it. And putting it on a 25 dollar frame w/headboard evens it out. And the chair was totally worth it. My hubby sits in it constantly when he’s home and loves it! I also enjoy to recline in it at times for a nap or to enjoy a show if I’m home alone.
Our biggest splurge is coming VERY soon. My dad’s is coming up to help us convert our kitchen closet into more counter and storage space with a DISHWASHER. We don’t have one, and since we run a cooking/baking blog . . . it’s kind of ridiculous the number of dishes we’re washing by hand — ok, the number of dishes my HUSBAND is washing by hand.
So, that whole project will be our splurge-baby.
Other items we’ve put some some serious cash for include our new refrigerator and stove (to update from the 1980s appliances that were here when we moved in), and I think that’s about it. We try to be really thrifty about things (get lots of inspiration from this site and others on how to best do that).
Happy Friday! <3
My husband is very frugal!! We’ve been in our house for 5 years and have done a lot of superficial renovations (you wouldn’t recognize the place), but not much was expensive. Our couches and dining room table were his parents and my son’s amazing wood captains bed was bought on Craig’s List. We did splurge (only twice!) on our bedroom furniture (we spent about $3,000 on 2 dressers and 2 nightstands) and our living room TV (50 inch LCD purchased in 2005 for $2,200). Other than that, we’ve probably never spent more than $200 on anything in our house.
Our bedroom furniture from Maine Cottage…mainly the Juliana bed, it was a five year anniversary present to ourselves, and we love it!
@Lauren– we have that trash can! It is good-looking but hard to keep clean with two medium size dogs who do weird stuff like randomly walk over and slobber on it!
last year we bought a beautiful red leather chair and a new dark espresso, high-end finish dining room table and chairs. (The chair was the Crate and Barrel Odeon chair, no longer available, and the table is the C+B Pascal Dining table http://www.crateandbarrel.com/family.aspx?c=881&f=25987). Love the leather chair, its comfy, pretty to look at it, perfect scale and aesthetic, and has held up fairly well to the rugrats climbing all over it.
The dining table and chairs on the other hand….sigh. I have 3 kids under the age of four, and in retrospect should have bought a farmhouse table, or something that could take a few dings. The dining chairs are scratched beyond belief. To protect the tabletop, I have one of those grandma plaid oilcloth elasticized tablecloths from Miles Kimball on it. So I have this beautiful fancy table covered in old lady country kitchen oilcloth. Le sigh.
My splurge was a professional range for the kitchen. I’ve wanted one
for years and saved my nickels. When we renovated the kitchen, I
made it the focal point. It was totally worth every penny and my chicken
is to die for .
We splurged on a lighting fixture for our dining room from Restoration Hardware. I smile every time I see it, and everyone who walks into our home seems to comment on it. It was well worth the money to us.
Our biggest splurge was our kitchen remodel, we did most of the work ourselves which made us appreciate it a lot more and made our money go a long way. Since we saved in labor we really splurged on granite counter tops and back splash! I wasn’t so sure about the granite back splash at first (my husbands idea), but looking at it now I’m so in love with it and this it was well worth every penny.
I LOVE the picture of the kitchen you guys used! I really love the overhead light in it and all the clean white. Anyway. We’re still renting, so we’re pretty picky about what we’ll spend money on when we don’t own the place. We have all hardwood floors which are great, but we finally got an area rug for our living room. We got it from Target and it’s kind of blocks of color – very earth toned and it has great colors (browns, taupe, grey-blues) in it we want to build from as we get new furniture and window treatments. It’s more than we thought we’d spend on a rug-but very worth it! Plus, it can go with us when we do buy a place. :)
New bathrooms! We had our original 60s bathrooms complete with shattered black & white tile (similar to YHL’s old bathroom tile), foul-smelling linolium flooring and old plumbing completly replaced. We put in new tile, fixtures and beadboard. Best $$ I ever spent.
When we got married my husband and I discussed three important items we would invest in.
1) Our bed. And it is phenomenal! Like sleeping in lotion from the comfort of the mattress itself, our amazing sheets, and the eye appeal of the frame.
2) Largest kitchen table to fit our dining area. We moved into our new house last fall and the new table will be delivered next week! Good thing too because we are down to two chairs from our $99 table/chair set.
3) Living room sofa- buying a modern style sofa that’s well constructed costs an arm and a leg. However, I found the perfect vintage sofa (!) and we’re investing in new cushions and a fitted slip cover to make it completely our own.
The rest of the house is made up of hand-me-downs, dumpster dives, and thrifted merchandise.
We recently renovated our bathroom and we totall splurged on the tile for our floor and standing shower. it’s exactly what we wanted and we were okay with spending a little extra for it. We went went with precut vanity top and basic vanity that was a little less expensive so we could splurge on the tile.
it all works out in the end.
Hands-down the bamboo flooring throughout the first floor. We are slightly stressed about scratching them, but are getting over it now that we’ve had them 2 years. We still don’t wear shoes in the house, but I think that’s a habit we’ll be keeping.
I absolutely LOVE them.
Our most recent splurge was a new 40-gallon water tank – and we couldn’t be more thrilled! We’ve lived in the house for three years and have had cold showers every winter…we finally figured out how to fix it and we’re happy campers :) Not glamorous I know…but we’re thrilled :) Next is insulation!
While I’m not sure some would consider this a splurge I felt like we splurged in redoing our wood floors when we moved into our 1920′s three story house. Yep all three floors oak hardwood. I rented a sander ($65), used a friends belt sander and my orbital sander (belts and pads $60), and bought stain and enough poly for 3 coats ($250). I think it was the best thing we did for the house and I smile every morning when I get up and see the sun shining off of them or at night when they glow under the soft mood lighting. And the best part is, I really feel like I splurged because I took a week off work to do this back/knee-breaking project!
Our biggest splurge on this house was going very high end on the HVAC system. And very high efficiency as well. I splurged on the powder room too. Small space so I felt justified on installing marble mosaic floors, real v-board, and a lovely reproduction sink. Eventually, when we finish the master bath, I am going to splurge on radiant floor heat in there. I have already splurged on the glass block to replace one window in the shower. I really love that touch.
My biggest splurge wasn’t that much money (less than $200) but it felt like a splurge because it wasn’t totally necessary. When we bought our house a few months ago, we were super careful to only buy things that were truly necessary (given all the expenses that can quickly add up with buying a house!) But I just had to have this new lighting fixture for the dining room. And it was so worth it- makes me happy every time I see it.
When we added a sunroom to our house, we fell in love with travertine when picking out the flooring. It added a lot to the total spent on the room, but we still agree that we are sooo glad we did it!
We splurged and had our hardwood floors refinished before moving in to our new house. I love it and they do make me smile whenever I see them … Very worth it.
2 custom side chairs for my living room and 2 pillows to match, cost almost as much as my sofa/chair/ottoman from macy’s, but haven’t yet seen anything that comes close to how nice they are or comfortable and I haggled with them before ordering.
Of course they’re covered in plastic until I’m done, but some primer and paint in the room is all that’s left to keep me from sitting in them!
And on the topic of splurge, that wonderful mirror you bought for the nursery that I was too cheap to buy the other day is gone:( But I keep checking hoping to find it! What was I thinking? My living room needs it!
DE-J
We definately splurged on the flooring we replaced in our house. We had builder grade laminate and carpet. We put gorgeous Brazillian cherry in our entryway and hall (I’d have done the whole house if budget would have allowed). We also put a higher end carpet in the living room and tiled the kitchen and bathrooms. The flooring has made the house look so much less “spec home” and more custom. We also splurged on our Tempurpedic matress. The lack of sleepness nights and backaches was worth every penny! The rest of our updates will be a little more budget friendly as we don’t anticipate staying in this house much longer.
Our white subway tile shower for sure! It was 2.5k, it was a big chunk of our whole house remodeling buget (10 k).
We got it 6 months ago and we LOVE it so it was worth it!
The receptor, glass door and labour were very pricy but we saved on the tiles (white subway tiles are so cheap but classic and we love the crisp and clean look) and faucets (we reused the one we had before).
Our biggest splurge was a new air conditioning/heating system including all new duct work. No new system is cheap, but we did choose one with a better SEER rating which made it even more expensive. Living in the south, I consider this a necessity, although my husband did not, and tried to prove it by making us suffer all the way through summer (with no working a/c, window unit, etc)until mid August before deciding to go ahead and put a new system in! Second runner up to the a/c and heat “splurge” was the complete gutting and rebuilding of our family room. It was horrible with really old pink carpeting covered in stains of unknown origin, fake wood paneling, and popcorn ceilings. Now it really is beatiful and I just love to sit and look at it.
My splurge was paint. At the time it was a splurge because I had very little money.My husband insisted on this dark, drab wall color for the living room/dining/entryway. When he walked out on us, that next weekend I painted over the dark and drab, a nice light and airy cream. It was the best thing I did to brighten our home and start fresh. I have never looked back.
our biggest splurge was definitely our Via sectional from Crate and Barrel. I don’t think they make the same one any longer, but this is very similar:
http://www.crateandbarrel.com/family.aspx?c=960&f=35371
We had never spent more than $500 on any single piece of furniture before, so it was a huge deal for us.
It fit our awkward space perfectly in our old place. Luckily, it also works well in our new house. The microsuede is very kid friendly. The only problem is that everyone wants to sit on the chaise part of the sectional, it’s so comfy!
I see a lot of sectionals in your mood boards–paradoxically, although they’re large, they are also great for small spaces!
There’s a pic of the sectional in our old place here, if you want to check it out
http://buckcanuck.blogspot.com/2010/02/all-things-under-foot.html
Well, we have moved a lot (3 states in 5 years) so we never were really anywhere long enough to splurge. We are settled now (hopefully) so we are saving for hardwood floors and new formal living room furniture. I will be so excited when my LR is not empty!!!
We’ve only been in our new house coming up a year and we haven’t really splurged on anything yet. Although hopefully sometime in the near future we will need to replace our rotting windows (all 37 of them) and put hardwood floors down throughout the house. These two items will be expensive, but totally worth it. Now we’ve just got to win the lottery!
we’ve done almost nothing in the house we currently live in, but we haven’t been here long. in our last house, we put in low-end stainless steel appliances, which was a splurge, because the home was a very small, basic, entry-level duplex. most of the surrounding homes definitely didn’t have stainless in the kitchen. it turned out to be a good investment, because now that we’re renting the unit, we have had almost no problem getting tenants, and most of them tell us “it was the kitchen that made us want to live here: it doesn’t feel like a rental.” this has been a big relief, since our area has a very HIGH vacancy rate right now with the bad economy. we feel like that little “splurge” has saved our tushies.
Mine is totally boring, but it was our new boiler that we put in this fall. We bought an extremely high quality and energy efficient one, which, along w/the installation/removal of the old one, set us back a cool $8200. In the long run it will be definitely worth it to have bought a better quality one we think :)
Other than that, we haven’t splurged on anything fun yet.. Most of our furniture is either hand-me-downs or from target, and decorating has been diy or just slapping some fresh paint on the walls :) We’re definitely taking our home renovation slowly so far.
I had been searching for dining room furniture forever, and the minute I saw a particular mesquite ranch table, I knew it would be perfect and absolutely had to have it. Haven’t regretted it for a second. Here’s the story:
http://www.the7msnranch.com/2008/07/ranch-tour-dining-room.html
Our new tv/sound system that we just put in a few weeks ago. We were using a hand-me-down tv that I had since college (It was made in 1995). My husband loves the picture/sound of the new system, and I love how much more open our living room feels! Now if only I can have all of the other splurges on my list, like hardwood floors and new countertops. I guess one thing at at time!
We put in hardwoods through out our home. The carpet was gross when we moved in and one of my kids has asthma and the other has an eye condition made worse by dust so it just made sense and looks much better too! Worth every penny.
My biggest splurge was definitely wood floors–totally worth it of course. A plus is the house is 900 sq ft. I don’t mind splurging on quality furniture because I can always justify it with “we’ll have it forever.”
Some might consider the Benjamin Moore aura paint a splurge–it ain’t cheap that’s for sure! But if I was going to be breathing it while painting and every day after, it was worth it to me.
Hmmmm… I think so far our biggest splurge has been the new 55″ flat screen. We bought our house back in October, and it has a living room and a HUGE family room, so we finally had a formal space, and an entertainment space with not only enough room for hubby’s big desk we had in storage, but also a large TV…
Our biggest splurge was our black concrete countertops we had put in two years ago. When we bought our place, it was in awful shape and needed a lot of new finishes. Since our kitchen is open to the living room, we wanted a nice material that would last forever. The company that did our countertops (The Design Center in Franklin, TN) poured them in place (no seams!) and sanded them down to where the marble chips they put in the concrete are exposed. My husband and I love our countertops and friends are always asking about them when they come over.
And, just for fun, the biggest splurge I regret is I rushed to replace all the lighting fixtures, sink faucets, etc. in our place (like I said, everything was in bad shape). However, I didn’t put too much thought into it because I was busy busy working on my thesis in another city and I figured we would only live in our new home for a couple years before moving to another place, so I tried to just buy stuff that was nice quality and would be liked by everyone when we sell our place. While I still like the stuff I bought, I think if I would have waited until the craziness of life slowed down a bit, I could have really searched for the best thing(s). Plus, we’ve been in our home for two years now and don’t plan on moving for a few more years. Lesson learned.
Being poor young students on a single income I have managed to furnish our entire 4 bedroom home for less than $1500. Our first big splurge is going to be quartz or soapstone countertops once we finish painting our kitchen cabinets! After that we are redoing our front landscaping from desert (read: gravel, dying bushes and tumblesweeds) to a beautiful stretch of sod and flowerbeds!
Thanks for using my question guys! I suppose I should answer, too.
Our big splurges so far (we’ve only been in our house 5 months) have been our Pottery Barn Tanner coffee table and farmhouse nightstands, both of which were from a Pottery Barn outlet but they were more than we would normally spend on fairly small pieces of furniture.
Were they worth it? We’ve only had them a few months and I’m still feeling the guilt. I love the look of the coffee table, but I feel like we could have kept hunting for a better deal on the night stands.
Our biggest splurge, other than our house, was our king sized mattress set. It has been so great, especially after sleeping on an old mattress for 2 years. Every time I get in bed I sigh in happiness.
Refinishing all our floors has cost us the most money but it needed to be done, so I don’t really count that as a “splurge”.
Our biggest SPLURGE – hands down – is our master bedroom curtains. They’re vintage theatre curtains hung on authentic theatre curtain track {new & custom cut}. The track was expensive but boy was it worth it. They glide so smooth. I love the weight & texture of the curtains. They block the street light enough to sleep but as much as blackout curtains. My husband & I also met and were married in a theatre, so they remind us of our beginning over a decade ago. Pictures here – http://brickcitylove.com/2010/01/12/curtains-curtains-curtains-curtains/
Our stainless steel french door bottom freezer refrigerator looks to be our splurge, but I got it at the scratch-and-dent place for under $1000. Almost all of our furniture was purchased at Pottery Barn Outlet and Ballard’s Backroom (master bed, TV stand, armoire, dining room chairs, slipper chair, desk, artwork), so no splurge there, either. I am starting to feel pretty cheap. Our 57-inch LCD tv may have been the biggest splurge but my husband saved $20 a week until he could pay for it with cash.
Our house is less than 1.5 years old, and the builder used a lot of green and high-end features (score!), so our splurges have really been more the “accessories:” our counter-depth SS fridge, front loading washer & dryer, latex mattress (which we loooooove) and most recently, an elliptical. It helped that this is our first home, so we didn’t already have a lot of stuff, and we’d saved for awhile.
My two most recent splurges are:
New bedding for everyone!
New landscaping for our entire yard (1 1/2 acres).
Both- well worth it.
(I do cringe when my kids pee on their blankets though, for more reasons than one. I haven’t second-guessed the Landscaping at all!)