Day 25 of 31: Exercise Caution

A rental home is a great reminder to use caution in purchasing and decorating.

Early in our marriage, we made a beautiful antique purchase: a full size guest bed with gorgeous curved details, a dresser, and highboy. The dresser had the most beautiful attached mirror...I loved each piece. I loved the bedding we bought for it.

We found the furniture just months before we were moving into a four bedroom house...with only nine-month old Hadleigh in tow.  

Master bedroom. Nursery for Hadleigh. Office. Guest room. Perfect.

The guest room would have many occupants...but it would only be used for six months before the discovery that baby #2 was on his way!

Needless to say, we realized that this purchase was made prematurely, without giving a lot of thought to how our family needs would change. We sold the furniture (the picture above is the only one I have) and this room was filled with a crib and lots of airplanes. :)

It was a good lesson to learn. Slightly expensive lesson, but good.

The house we're in now has more space than we're accustomed to using. Some of our favorite pieces of furniture don't fit (lower ceilings come with multi-storied homes), and we've had to make some small purchases to make things work for the duration of the year.

But we're not trying to fill the space with more.

When I think about decorating here, I think about this house AND past this house. I want this time to feel cozy, but I don't want to invest in future mistakes.

New bedding for the master? Sure, if I find what I'm looking for. It's usable no matter which house we choose.

More seating for an additional living space we've never had? Proceed with caution. Make do.

New centerpieces and table runners for the holiday season? Why not?

Entertainment center replacement due to height restrictions of current piece? Yes...but an inexpensive option so that we feel good about passing it on when we can use our tall investment piece in the next place.

Exercise caution. It's a good lesson to learn!

~This is Day 25 of 31 Days. You can find all posts in the series here 31 Days of Making this House our Home.