I'm considering making a mistake right now. *sigh* I should probably just post a new thread about it, but is it foolish to buy fabric for theoretical chairs that I might own some day?

Don't laugh. The dining room needs some pattern, and I found fabric I love, so...the only tiny problem is that we haven't quite found the table and chairs yet. Much less, if the imaginary chairs would even have an upholstered seat. What to do, what to do...

My current big regret is not insisting to the gc that the contractors not nail in the new moldings until the walls are painted. He told me they always put it all together then the painting is up to the homeowner. I should have said that I am hiring them to do my project my way and to cut the moldings, but leave them the heck off the walls. It turned out we ran out of money before expected, so I am doing all the painting and those have added countless hours to my work around here. This was in half the hallway, the master bedroom and master bath, the laundry room, kitchen, and den.
GRRRRRRR!

Do not buy too much before your kitchen/reno plans are pretty well settled.
I now have (excess materials):
New In Box pendants - 3
NIB downdraft venthood, ceiling over island low enough for chimney venthood after all
NIB porch swing (scrapped front porch from plan)
sold on CL - brand new luxury steam shower unit (went with master half bath instead)
new Jado faucet for vessel sink - contractors tossed box before we realized it was too short for our tall sink and will need to sell it

Worst mistake by far was getting awful architect from family member who designed plans that were too grand for our budget. We had to pay $1,750 for him to modify downward (insult to injury). Then, when he messed up structure in drawing, had to pay him $1,500 to correct his mistake and it help up our project by 3 weeks (we will be suing). make sure to tell your architect often that you need the plan to fit into your budget, not the other way around. It took at least 2 months longer than it should have for the town to approve our plans due to his carelessness. Each trip I made (6 total) took over an hour round trip to drive not counting the many hours bouncing around town hall being shown his mistakes. GRRR!

"My message goes out especially to those with youngsters, pets and a busy life. It just does not work to try to decorate in a way that you cannot maintain."

this is so true. while something might look good in a mag, store display, living with it day to day might almost kill you!
I wanted tile floors until I found out they'd kill my feet, my legs and my back. So, I reverted to the carpet I was trying to get away from... but as delays happened i got more and more uncomfortable with the idea of several big rooms of carpet - with 2 getting older dogs, living in the desert (dust storms) and a sick, very tired me who would be cleaning it. This past year I switched to vinyl everywhere! Not something I EVER thought I'd do. But I am - with area rugs in most all rooms (not baths, kitchen, laundry).

If I survive the move, ease in upkeep will be my priority. Just taking care of my 2 sick/elderly furbabies and their getting older, sickly mom (me) is exhausting!

[quote]My message goes out especially to those with youngsters, pets and a busy life. It just does not work to try to decorate in a way that you cannot maintain.
[/quote]

This is so true!! And I am constantly reprimanding my children to keep their grubby hands off my pristine white cabinets, which makes me feel like a nag.

Shee-hope your stair project goes more quickly this time. I started pulling the runner off our stairs yesterday and I am in staple removal hell. Ugh.

Love reading through these.

franksmom,

I wouldn't put the cart before the horse (fabric before the chairs) unless it's really inexpensive fabric. Just a few problems I can think of right offhand, what if you buy the wrong quantity of fabric and then the fabric is discontinued? What if you end up buying a dining set that has 10 Parsons chairs?! That's a lot of fabric! What if you find some chairs that are leather or already have upholstery you like and you don't need to reupholster at all? Is it a color you've loved for a long time and not likely to become tired of? What if the dining set you eventually find is an unexpected choice, like you thought you wanted French Country and bought the fabric beforehand in that style, but you've suddenly fallen in love with a sleek, modern, wood and chrome set?

Which leads me back to the topic... In my closet I have 2 bolts of fabric, one purchased to cover a chair and ottoman, and the other purchased to cover a sofa I didn't yet own. I also have a small basket of fabrics, a yard here, 2-3 yards there for pillows and projects, and it's like a design timeline, tracing the different periods of my decorating tastes. Some of it is in colors that I can't use or don't like anymore.

Taken individually, purchasing a yard or two of fabric here and there over time didn't cost much, but taken collectively, I could have bought a nice piece of furniture for what I paid for fabrics that I'll never use. And I got rid of the chair and ottoman because I decided it wasn't comfortable enough, and although I've since bought a sofa that could use upholstering, the fabric that I bought which seemed like such a nice color at the time--like a natural linen color-- now suddenly looks very beige-y yellow, and just won't go with my decor. The bolts of fabric were expensive mistakes. I no longer buy fabric before knowing what it will cover and with a master plan in mind. Having a master plan is a recurring theme in my posts. :)

1. Don't follow the "THAT"S THE COOLEST ROOM EVER!!!!!!" that I saw in every issue of every monthly magazine available that was delivered to my home. No room will ever get done and you will always wonder why you can't make up your mind or find your style.

2. Buy dry clean anything w/ pets and kids. I've sold off a small fortune of dry clean only throws, duvets and pillows/ pillow covers.

I'm surprised that I haven't covered my walls in hoseable plastic by now.

Here's a good one.

When you're getting ready to hire a contractor and he sends a mock-up of the room you desire and other things, and titles it:

Room Addiction, not once, but EACH time he faxes it to you, go with your gut and tell him "You're Fired!"

Thankfully we didn't pay a cent.

Seriously though, my motto for little projects is, "If you can afford it, hire a professional to do it."

Well, I've talked myself out of buying that fabric for chairs. What was I thinking? The room still needs more pattern, though. I thought about buying a small piece to make a runner for the buffet or a table topper for the table we don't own yet, but that's still a gamble in the second case, and pretty low-yield for the first.

No, today's bright idea is to buy a LOT of yardage to make a stationary panel for each side of the window. It's more money than I was planning to spend, but I think the effect would be just what I'm after.

I'm tired, but I'll post pics in a few days and see if I'm just being a nut about this before I pull the trigger.

Don't build a built-in TV cabinet between 2 windows then realize you have no room for the curtains to go past the side of the window.

Don't plan for a kitchen window until you realize what you will be looking at. In my case, the side of my garage!!

Don't install inside window shutters then realize you can't clean the double hung window or get the screen out.

And the list goes on and on unfortunately.

As far as fabric, I'm a sucker and have fabric for all those "future" projects.

And last but not least, don't follow the decorating advice of too many with different styles or you will end up with things that are not you or your home.

Paint. My biggest mistake(s) have been paint colors. Two years ago I painted my living room and dining room an old SW color called Ivory Tusk. It looked like this:

Just after I finished painting them I discovered COLOR and painted a spare bedroom Concord Buff. I just LOVED it! I painted another spare bedroom Biltmore Buff and loved that too. I was suddenly unhappy with my freshly painted living and dining rooms.

Yes, I painted them within the year. SW Blonde, they then looked like this:
{{gwi:1641980}}

{{gwi:1641981}}

I lived with the Blonde for several months telling myself that I loved it. Then I lived with it for several more months telling myself that perhaps I'd gone a bit too dark for the natural light that enters the room. Then I went another couple of months stewing and yes, I repainted it again. That's twice in less than two years. I just finished it a couple of weeks ago.

New color is SW Buff and I'm very happy with it. But not so happy about how many tries it took me to get a color I love. Looks like this now:

Too bad I can't edit my post.

I painted those rooms in 2009 (Ivory Tusk), 2010 (Blonde) and 2011 (Buff). Each time is was less than a year between paint jobs so, I painted those rooms 3 times within two years.

And yes, two coats of paint every time I changed color!!!

Hmmm...maybe we could set up an exchange for all that fabric we have acquired and decided not to use. Guilty as charged. ; )

Whit, you could paint your rooms purple and they'd still be beautiful. lol. I love your house and all the pattern on the furniture!

I agree with oakley about whitdobe's lovely rooms. They have such a peaceful and orderly feeling to them.

Buying rugs that are too small for the space.

Buying a couch with loose-back pillows.

Buying furniture I have not sat on.

Jana, that reminds me....OR...buying a sofa with those high arms which makes it impossible to set a glass on the end table or get comfy to read! That's the first thing I look for when buying furniture.

I used to think i just had stash of useless fabric. Then I read a quilting book and one of the first lines in it was: "go to your fabric library"! I no longer have a useless stash, I now have a fabric library :)

My husband and I purchased our home 3 years ago. I have many regrets.

1. I let him completely gut the house from the beginning, 3 years later - not many rooms are completed. The prior owner had many cats, it definitely needed new floors and paint. But, the railings could have stayed, the game room could have waited, the landscaping could have been cleaned up instead of ripped out. I could go on and on.

2. I wish I would have found websites like this sooner. I picked a hardwood floor strictly for its beauty. 2 short days after being installed I realized it's not durable AT ALL. Especially for 2 young boys and a pooch. Dings and gouges everywhere. grrrr

3. Don't be rushed to select paint colors. We only painted our foyer and great room. I thought I wanted accent walls. Hate the colors. hate the accents. I had picked up a number of samples and none of them seemed right. I then picked from a deck at midnight under a construction light bulb, yea - that wasn't good.

I agree, buying furniture I haven't sat on was a mistake. I've got this lovely sleeper sofa that I bought from someone else, great price and nice and new looking, but I was more concerned with looks over comfort and the seats on that sofa are hard. Also, the color looked like a nice neutral beige but when I got it home, it looked green! I'm making it work but lessons learned!

Don't leave the sunroof in the nicest car you have ever owned open, with red leather gloves on the passenger seat,which is made out of cream leather, for 3 days, and of course, it rained.

Such a bad morning.

Oh, were we talking about design mistakes? Sorry.

If you are doing some major work and your family member is doing it and they get to a point that they have never had experiance doing, hire a professional to do that part of it. I now have a shower diverter cover that had to be cut down to fit over the faucet for the tub in my gutted bathroom remodel. It works fine, but doesn't look so hot.
Also, buying furniture without a plan or without measuring space. I think I have finally learned my lesson but now I don't want to get rid of furniture that I spent money on even though I could find things that fit the space much better. And then theres painting....

Sheesharee- "But life happens and things don't always go right. I knew my feelings would pass and I figured this thread could be good for some chuckles and some tips..."

You're such a mature young lady, Shee! Wise beyond your years, if you can so gracefully put this disappointment into perspective, and have a sense of humor about it to boot! Good for you also, for standing your ground at SW, insisting upon a refund and compensation of supplies! Good going Shee!

Well that's it, I need to get tested! I have a house book where I write products, materals and paints names and the rooms they are used in. The one time I forgot to log something is causing me much grief. It's a mystery really because I mostly use colors off the Benjamin Moore paint chip of China white for porch ceilings and drop ceiling in the living room, soft beige (really more soft yellow),Albury and rasin plus a little orange from Behr with a sprinkle of others. I went to touch up some of the ceiling with China White on the front porch and was painting away before I realized it
it was wrong. I had marked the China White paint can as front porch ceiling paint. What on earth??? There is no other exterior paint cans with anything remotely in the same color family. Now I know I bought the exterior china white for the ceiling but what the heck did I end up putting up there? GRRRRRRRR! And yes, I did stir well. Grrrrrrrr

Today's mistake: telling DH that I FINALLY found an acceptable dining room table. He replied that he didn't want or need a table in the dining room, and that no, I couldn't buy it.

Lesson: it's easier to ask forgiveness than permission.

Just purchased family room furniture four months ago - and I hate it! Searched for two years and made a quick decision so that we would have it for the holidays. I hit myself in the head at least once a day and ask "What the @xo# was I thinking?" Thanks for hearing my confession.

Although part of me feels guilty for saying it, reading about everybody's decorating mistakes makes me feel better about (all of) mine. Great thread, Shee!
Where do I start???

How about, when you're having your house built, ALWAYS always always keep a ring binder notebook that you carry with you every time you visit the building site. Keep copies of ALL receipts, notes, etc., and have everything signed by your builder, subconractors, etc. And, keep detailed notes . . . says the couple who didn't and had to sue our builder to get a number of big things redone right.

Hand-carved mahogany dining room furniture may look drop-dead gorgeous, but it's also very heavy! DH and I now joke that when we're older and more feeble, our neighbors may someday find us starved to death, after having gotten stuck in our chairs at the table and unable to push away ;^D
Lynn

Not really thinking your plan through. We're currently in the middle of a kitchen re-do, and keep coming up with new stuff we would like to add, but that would now be a PIA to incorporate.

It started with just replacing the range, and has snowballed into replacing all of the appliances, refinishing the existing cabinets and having some new ones made to match, new countertops, sink, backsplash, some rewiring and replumbing, etc.

Of course, since we've picked out new stuff, the fabric I bought to make drapes for the kitchen/family room (but never made), is totally wrong, and I'll have to use it elsewhere or put it on Ebay.

And trying to get DH and myself to agree on everything and hope it will eventually all come together in a cohesive, livable room is another adventure in itself.

I love this thread! I made one moderately expensive mistake last year:

Decorating with a color scheme (turquoise and red) I ended up hating in my home. My neighbor, who is a fantastic decorator, had it in her home and it looked great, but I didn't consider the fact that don't like turquoise (and never have).

I had two rugs, pillows, throws, and small decor items I gave to Goodwill. I'm now replacing the last turquoise velvet curtains in our master bedroom. Thankfully I sewed them myself, so those weren't too pricey, but still...time and money.

I kept trying to make it work and there was quite a bit of decorating around my mistakes spending before I realized I hated the whole thing.

Now I stick with the colors I have always loved.

Make sure your last payment to the gc is large enough that they actually have a real incentive to come back.... Apparently $1,800 due is not enough.

Misery loves company. This thread is fantastic! avesmor: I'm glad I'm not the only one to rush a job just so we can get the house listed. I still feel guilty, but since the guy got our house for a steal, it is only a little guilt. :)

We gutted our kitchen and a week later my husband was offered a job out of state. So I'm at home in a kitchen of studs, with a 1 1/2 year old, and pregnant. I was really happy during this time....

DH finished the kitchen during weekend visits home. The 12" granite bar did not have supports, which made me really nervous at the time but once we sold the house I really didn't care. Please don't judge me. My hormones were all over the place! Then we also realized that the counter tops were a bit too long, so if an appliance needed to be replaced it wouldn't fit through the doorway without removing the granite.

New homeowener: I'm sorry.

If there's something you really really like that is of good quality and you know will last for years and years, please don't worry about saving a couple hundred bucks and just buy it. If I would have bought 10 really nice things istead of 50 not as nice things just because they were cheaper, I'd be in much better shape.

I was too overwhelmed by other things that needed my attention and so I let my husband buy a leather couch that I hadn't seen. Bad..very bad!

I must be a slow learner. How many times have I said not to share your vision, plans, ideas with people who you KNOW will think it's odd?

I did it again with that stupid light fixture. I love the fixture. It was the one that made my heart go pitter-pat, the one, that when I saw it, I knew it was exactly what I was looking for in that space. Well, so far everyone that has seen it in person hates it. The comments have been that "it's too busy, it's the wrong finish, it's ugly, why did you pick THAT," etc.

My idea to paint the wall in that same area pink has also been met with distain.

Whatever.

When you're buying a new construction home and you pick your granite from the sample, INSIST that you also get to pick the slab. Our sample was a creamy granite with flecks of dark colors in it - so our backsplash is also a creamy color. Our counter, on the other hand, is more than 50% dark.

Also, dark hardwood floors are beautiful. But if you have a drooling lab and two toddlers you will see EVERYTHING in between cleanings.

Franksmom-

"...so far everyone that has seen it in person hates it"- What do they know! If I recall, a lot of people around here loved your fixture, and I love your other decorating that I have seen pics of- you are very creative!

Never buy a sofa that resembles The Michelin Man. It will be the one thing in your house that inexplicably refuses to die a natural death (it seems to be pumped full of preservatives) and you won't be able to bring yourself to part with it because, despite being uglier than a moldy marshmallow, it still serves a purpose. ::sigh::

Nancybee, thank you very much! That's very sweet!

I'm still going to rewire the fixture and hang it, and people can just think it's tacky if they want to. I'd rather have an interesting fixture that at least *I* like, than the bland, boring Home Depot fixture that's there now.

Most people have nice things to say about the house when projects are done, (maybe they're just being nice because it's too late then) but it's during the planning and execution stages that people get kind of critical. I just need to keep my mouth shut.

! :) Or decorating every living room for 30 years to include Grandma's Ugly Chair because it's special.

Sooo many mistakes, but the best post I can make is to reiterate Jockwing's "If there's something you really really like that is of good quality and you know will last for years and years, please don't worry about saving a couple hundred bucks and just buy it. If I would have bought 10 really nice things istead of 50 not as nice things just because they were cheaper, I'd be in much better shape."

Yes, but make it 10 nice instead of 300 cheap. Of all our purchases, the few truly enduring ones, the real keepers, are "too-expensive" indulgences I broke down and didn't walk away from. These range from a $40 6x6 painting in the 1970s to...well, let's just say a layaway paid for over 10 months for a price I've refused to tell my husband to this day.

To this day also, when I happen to think of it, I regret turning down the kind offer of the kind owner of a fine Persian rug shop in Hollywood to let me buy one I loved for tiny payments over time. I was a 19-year-old wife who pushed my stroller by and chatted every day, and my husband said no. Hmmm! It would have been a memento of a lovely person and that special period of our life, not just a fine rug.

Oh, then, I do have one of my own: I've mostly let a sweet but cheap (not frugal, just cheap) person with a profound disinterest in decorating over-influence most of my decorating decisions. 40 annual incomes with the same keeper later, I can say with total authority: That was false economy.

1. Don't use a particular Big Box Store (that starts with the letter "L")to do any work in your home. EVER. I have spent over $3000 fixing what they broke. Even having before and after pics, including pics of their own people taking pics doesn't seem to convince them that they messed stuff up (walls, ruined, paint ruined, flooring incorrectly installed).

2. Use anything other than wood in your front hall. I had wood floors installed and while they look lovely, the schmutz from peoples shoes, plus the dog, makes for a daily cleaning ritual I'd rather not have. Even with a custom runner, its always a mess.

3. Have your flooring and carpet installed BEFORE you paint. Refer to item #1.

4. Take pictures of everything. Before, during and after. If and when you sue, it will make life way easier. If you have access to a video camera, use that instead, so you can narrate it. Plus if you get your contractors on camera making a promise, its a BIG score for you if they don't follow through.

Great thread. I've made many mistakes over the years.
When I needed drapes for 5 very tall and wide windows, I thought I would save money by making them myself. I ended up buying 30+ yards of a synthetic moire on sale at a chain fabric store, along with drapery lining, and after making up one panel, found that even with lining, the light coming through the fabric made the color brighter and kind of gaudy. The bolt is still in an upstairs closet, and I found 96" crushed voile panels online that I like very much for about $20 each.
Lesson: keep it simple.

A couple of years ago, I hired a local designer mainly to help me choose paint colors and advise on accessories/tweaking. In the master bedroom, I had some custom green silk drapes that I never liked that much, and she talked me into spending the money to have them interlined and a printed fabric border added, along with custom shams with the same fabric. I had already spent $2000 on the drapes, and now I spent another $1000, and I still didn't like them. I took them down, and they and the matching euro shams are in the closet in the guest room. I put up natural linen-look semi sheers from target, and I like them better.
Lesson: keep it simple, and don't throw good money after bad.

We weren't using our formal dining room much, and the same designer suggested moving the dining furniture into one end of our large living room, and making the old dining room into a den and the old den into a home office, which was really needed. Since I wanted to replace the old LR sofa anyway, I moved the den furniture into the living room and had a custom ($$$)sofa made for the new den. It was not a huge space, and we tried to keep the sofa scaled down. When it arrived, the fabric was gorgeous, the style just what I wanted, but the seat depth was so shallow that it was not very comfortable. I had also slipcovered the old den chairs to go with the new sofa ($$). I ended up moving the new sofa to the living room, where it was more appropriate for perching ladies than lounging TV viewers, and now none of the colors I had chosen (with help paid for by the hour) for the LR and new den would work. Plus, the newly slipcovered den chairs (on swivel rocker bases, I love them) don't work that well with the old sofa color. Fortunately, I hadn't painted yet.
Lessons:
Don't buy furniture without sitting on it.
Choose paint colors after you are certain of your fabrics.
Don't let your designer talk you into stuff you don't really need.
Keep your major pieces fairly neutral.

The worst was the master bath update. I had chosen tile for the walls and floor, and the tile vendor gave me a couple of names for the installation. The guy with the higher quote was very highly recommended but I went with the other guy because he said he could also do some other work I needed done. Even though I had a gut feeling I was making a mistake. He did a horrible job on the tile, broke my toilet, and disappeared. I had to buy more wall tile and pay another contractor to replace it, and I'm still stuck with a bad job on the floor. Between the cost of doing the job, redoing the job, and buying a new toilet, I could have had the better contractor do the job, and replaced the vanity and sink as well, and upgraded to a better tile.
Lessons:
A jack of all trades might be a master of none.
Go with your gut.
Ask contractors for their license numbers and CHECK IT online with your state to see if it's in effect.

I've made more, but these are the recent highlights, LOL. I feel better having confessed them here.

My biggest decorating regrets are all from impulse purchases. And they usually happen right before I have a party and decide I want a new painting, or new drapes, or something of that nature. I have several paintings sitting in my basement that I bought because I wanted something new *right now* because we were having people over. Lesson learned: keep the receipt and the original packaging in tact as much as possible!

On the other hand, I tend to research things to death and cannot make a decision on anything. It has taken a year to find laminate that I like for my countertop and I still cannot find anything I like.

BIGGEST mistake was putting in dark hardwood floors with two light haired dogs! I am a slave to the floor!!!!!

"It has taken a year to find laminate that I like for my countertop and I still cannot find anything I like."

are you me? lol!

From Auntjen - "Never buy a sofa that resembles The Michelin Man. It will be the one thing in your house that inexplicably refuses to die a natural death (it seems to be pumped full of preservatives) and you won't be able to bring yourself to part with it because, despite being uglier than a moldy marshmallow, it still serves a purpose."

Well, I have great news on that front :-) DH is a heavy perspirer and with this heat, finally after several years, the leather Michelin Man recliner is losing color across the top!! I couldn't be more thrilled. This fall we will shop for a new recliner with much less bulk.

My biggest mistake is paying too much too soon and not holding back enough from contractors. I can't say that enough....
HOLD BACK A SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT OF MONEY!!!

We got near the end, the gc rationalized that we were almost done, and I caved. I paid more than the contract stated I needed to at that point (had not consulted it at the time) and it has been costing me ever since. We wanted to hire a lawyer but our contract does not provide for compensation of legal fees if either side is found in breech of the contract, so we have to go to small claims court in order to sue. It is time heavy, stressful and our work is not getting done until we finish the process. having had more money owed, leverage, would have made all the difference. Please learn from my HUGE mistake!

I'd like to add that if you have a bad experience (or good), please google the contractor's business and add user reviews in as many places as you can. As consumers, if we stick together, the lousy contractors would not be able to keep doing bad deeds. If your contractor was good, then it is a nice thing for you to do to acknowledge it.

I have learned that OJ/grapefruit/cranberry juice with vodka makes me feel a lot better about all the myriad of mistakes I have made in my master bathroom. I never used to drink until the bathroom project....

I am lovin' this thread. Here are my mistakes: thinking a decorator knows more than I do. I spent a lot of money following the suggestions of a decorator. Now, I intensely dislike half of what she suggested. I knew I wasn't comfortable with her choices but figured her eye was better than mine. Wrong. If doesn't feel right, don't do it.

Same thing for kitchen floor. The designer sang the praises of a porcelain tile floor. Something inside my head was saying no -- sounds cold and hard to me, but I went with it anyway. I hate that floor every day of my life.

Presuming that contractors will do the right thing and I wouldn't have to be breathing down their necks. Another big WRONG. I found trash from my kitchen in the crawl space of my basement. I guess they thought they were hiding it inside the wall, not realizing what they shoved in there would be in plain view downstairs. I also figured they would ask me what I wanted before replacing the banister and spindles on my stair case. Wrong again. Got home to find they had installed Home Depot crap without even telling me they were starting that project.

Check on every order and never presume the correct item was ordered. Supplier got nearly every item in the order for my bathroom wrong. I made them replace it all except I was stuck with a centerset faucet instead of the widespread I had ordered because the granite had already been drilled. I could have insisted they replace the granite vanity top, but it would have held up the project for two weeks.

Listen to your mother! I ordered a largish bed with an upholstered headboard, and wood frame. My mom said to just get a regular headboard. I can't tell you how often I have barked my shins on the corner of that bed and every time I hear my mom's words. LOL -- although I have never admitted she was right.

And lastly, never order sofas and chairs from a catalog without sitting on it first.

I've wanted to update my interior doors for years. My house was built in the early 80's and had those textured brown doors. I did paint them white but still wasn't happy.

So we bought those cheap paneled doors that Home Depot sells. They were a huge pain to put in. My paint spray gun broke so I painted all of them by hand.

The door knobs needed to go in a different spot so my husband had to redo all the door frames where the knob latches went. And not a single door fit without planing and cutting, which we didn't discover until after all the hinge cuts were made. So the hinge cuts were done twice.

And while I think they look better I so wish I had gotten solid doors. These are a bit cheesy and we could have had solid doors for about $1,200 more.

Don't hire people because they are nice and you feel indebted to them. Don't go with ANY franchise company for a complete remodel of a large bath. I had no one to help with the really crucial decisions had to manage all of their subs they must hire off the street. The faucet in my new tub is on the side of the tub so that when you walk into the room and see it under the huge palladian window it is centered. Sounds reasonable except that we have interior shutters on the window and they cannot be opened now because of the freestanding faucet in front of the big window. It a clawfoot looking tub on a more modern pedestal with a telephone type of faucet rather high over the tub. So if I want to ever clean those windows I will have to take apart the faucet so that I can open the shutters. OY vey....but that is just one of the easy mistakes. The others would take an entire book...I bought faucets online they are ugly look nothing like the picture. Ditto for undermount sinks. I think things online are seconds and that is why they are cheaper, off in color etc.. They are just not the same as at a fine plumbing store. At least that has been my experience so far. I feel like such a loser, lol. These are just the mistakes I made this week...