Have you ever made a poor decision when it comes to something in your home? This entire home process has been a learning experience. I've learned a lot of what I really love and don't love about our home. I've also made a handful of decor mistakes.
I'm not beating myself up over these decor mistakes, it is all a learning process and everything can be 'fixed'. But I thought this little mistake was worth sharing.
I ordered this light fixture from Ballard Designs, a brand I have ordered a ton from in the past few years and have always been pleased. I really love Ballard Designs and find their items to be of quality and the prices are always very reasonable. The fixture was going above our dining table. I ordered it because it reminded me of another light fixture I had been eyeing from Serena and Lily, only the Ballard Designs one was a fraction of the cost. It was a look for less.
So I received the Ballard Designs fixture in the mail and had my dad install it for me. When I pulled it out of the box, I thought it felt/looked a bit cheap. I was pretty surprised as I had never really ordered anything from Ballard Designs that was cheapy and poorly made. I knew I should have returned it, but it would have been a pain and I really wanted a light fixture put up asap. I also thought because it would be hanging from the ceiling, you might not notice it as much. Spoiler alert: you do.
So, in my haste, I had my dad hang it and it's been there ever since. Every time I look at it, I get a bit annoyed with myself that I didn't listen to my gut and return the light fixture. Even my dad didn't love it when he was installing it!!
As soon as I finally saw the pricier light fixture in person, I could immediately tell the difference between mine and the Serena and Lily one. Lesson learned.
So the moral of the story is to, first of all, stick with your gut, if you don't absolutely love it, return it (even if it is a hassle), and secondly, sometimes budget buys are not always a good choice. Lastly, everything with decorating and creating a home takes time and there's no reason to speed up the process just because you're impatient... I'm normally pretty darn patient and I've really seen it pay off on scoring some amazing things for our home, but this was definitely a result of me being impatient!
It's like that saying 'buy the best and you'll only cry once'. It's so true!
3 comments:
Living by that motto, buy the best and only cry once. It might hurt to be incredibly patient and save for exactly what you want, but it's always always always worth it. I'm currently saving for some splurge worthy Boll & Branch bedding, I'm over halfway to my save goal and can see the reward in sight!
I love that quote at the end! Sometimes paying more is the less expensive way to go because you will have what you want the first time around. I hope you get the fixture you want soon!
So true! I had the same experience recently where I purchased a look alike version of the Darlana Pendants and ended up returning them for the real thing and worth every penny!
One tip - many places won't allow you return a light fixture once it's been installed. Try listing it on FB marketplace and then buy the one you love!!
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