Home building is an incredibly stressful process, even if you have relatively low expectations. It’s still overwhelming. I was fortunate that my friend Holly, who has experience with home building. Life on Botany Bay, shared some valuable tips to help us save our allowance for other items to make our Spec Home feel more personalized. Here are my 5 items that I skipped:
1. Stock Mirrors
We were offered identical stock mirrors for each bathroom, which were cookie-cutter and way overpriced. In fact, they didn’t even fit the spaces. The best way to make a bathroom feel custom and expensive is by adding your own unique mirror. Mirrors can be expensive, but you can find great options at home retail stores like Walmart, Target, and even Amazon that look great. For instance, we got our arched mirrors at Kirkland’s during one of their sales and paid less than $200 for both.
We decided to make our half bath truly unique by installing an oval mirror that covered the sink and toilet. I absolutely love it! We bought it from Wayfair.
2. Lighting
Our entire lighting budget was $500, and we had to purchase from a local light shop—which is fine—but all the items were the same light packages that were in everyone else’s houses in our neighborhood. So, we decided to buy two really nice lights, and the rest would be the cheapest to pass inspection.
In the half bath, we installed a chrome light that gave it a very schoolhouse appearance. I wanted my half bath to resemble a bathroom in a fancy restaurant.
In the rest of the house stock lights all over!
3. Built ins by the fireplace
This was something I genuinely desired, but I’m glad I listened to Holly and didn’t get them. They do look fantastic, and this is undoubtedly just a matter of personal preference. However, once you incorporate built-ins, you’re bound to them. While you can always add them or find a fun cabinet to complement the space, your fireplace area can change depending on your life stage, which has been fantastic because it allows you to avoid being confined to a single look.
Below are some different uses we have had for this space over the years.
4. Classic fireplace Mantel
We opted to skip the conventional fireplace mantel and requested the builder to simply wrap the shiplap around to create a seamless, clean look. We were intrigued by the concept of a floating rustic mantel, but we also liked the idea of an all-black metal custom mantel. Then, I stumbled upon this mantel at an antique flea market in a booth that had custom wood pieces for about $50. I couldn’t believe it! I love how unique it is.
5. Hardware
Our home was preselected with several finishes that we couldn’t change once we got under contract. We were fortunate to like the flooring and cabinets, but the hardware was all satin nickel, which I wanted all black. They informed us that changing the door hardware would incur an astronomical fee, so we decided to wait. However, they did allow us to change our cabinet hardware if we brought it ourselves.
While searching online for the perfect hardware, we discovered that we had to have it by the next day or they would install their hardware. In a pinch, I ended up purchasing these pulls from Lowe’s because they were a good size to accommodate future changes. Surprisingly, we kept them, and I’ve received numerous compliments on them. Occasionally, I wish I had opted for a knob handle combo, but we don’t have many cabinets anyway.
Bogue On a Budget 
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