I Know Why Kmart Sells Homewares So Cheap!

I have a bit of a confession to make – I’ve been on a bit of a spending spree – WITH the full approval of the hubster.

Believe it – or not!

Much as I’ve admired the gorgeous Kmart homewares range, I haven’t really indulged – for a few reasons:

• After nine years of living here, our house was pretty much “done” so anything else would just be clutter;
• I struggle with the concept of changing my home’s “look” on a regular basis, somehow it just feels wasteful;
• There’s nothing wrong with the stuff we already have;
• And, there’s more to life than “stuff”.

So why, after all this time, have I fallen under the Kmart spell?!

As with so many things, I blame the hubster 😉 .

We’ve bought a new house (in the same area), and will soon be selling this one.

Now I don’t know if you’ve hung out much on the real estate websites, but it seems pretty much every house that hits the market has been styled and staged. It’s meant to bring a better price and a faster sale, and it’s just one of those things you have to do these days to be competitive.

(A sidenote: the house we’ve bought was NOT styled and staged. It’s been a rental for the past decade and was looking decidely unloved, and cluttered with the tenants’ belongings. We were able to see past the surface to the potential beneath, which is why we bought it. Mind you, it’d already been on the market a couple of months, AND we got a good deal – so maybe there is some truth to the whole styling and staging phenomenon).

Rather than spend the money on staging and styling our current home, we decided to give it a go ourselves.

We thought it would involve some major pruning and decluttering, and sticking with what we already had …

But then hubster insisted that we need to upgrade the curtain rods, so he bought some on Gumtree.

That probably would have been that, except the guy he bought them off threw in a heap of dark grey curtains, for free.

We hung them up, and they looked AMAZING.

But although it kind of worked with our current teal and turquoise theme, I couldn’t help thinking how much nicer it would be with some grey and blush pink accents instead …

So we made the bold decision to go with the latest trend, to give our home as much eye appeal as possible prior to putting it on the market.

My first shopping jaunt took me to big chains like Spotlight, Kmart and the Reject Shop, as well as to op shops and independently owned stores.

Normally I love finding bargains online and in op shops, as it gives our home a more eclectic look, but it’s more by luck than design and you can’t always find what you want – which is what happened in this instance.

Part of me wanted to support local and independent businesses, but the prices were wayyyyy out of my reach.

In the end, I transformed our home using good ol’ Kmart homewares, and here’s why:

• Kmart is the cheapest. Way cheaper than the boutique stores, but also cheaper than the cheap shops. Seriously.
• Kmart is quick and easy. For people wanting decor in a hurry (to put their home on the market!), it’s all there. You don’t have to source pieces from all over the countryside; Kmart has everything you need to put together a cohesive look, quickly.

So why does Kmart make their homewares so cheap?

Because it’s a slippery slope.

With items like quilt covers for $9, and vases for $3 … how could I say no?! Already I was imagining how cheaply and easily I could update our master bedroom. My goal was to transform our living, dining, kitchen and bedroom for under $200 (remember we already have the furniture, so it was just the “set dressing”, so to speak).

Trouble is, once you bring a couple of new things in, the rest looks a bit blah.

And so you head back to Kmart and buy just a couple more things.

And a couple more.

And then maybe a few more.

I blew the budget – total spend came in at closer to $500 (note to self: must buy shares in Kmart Australia) – and I’ve still yet to get new towels (as ours are very sad looking).

Not that I’m complaining. I’m sure it’s still heaps cheaper than outsourcing AND it gave us the motivation we needed to start packing our stuff up and cleaning 😉 .

Am I unhappy that we got a bit carried away with our budget? No, because unlike stylist fees and renting furniture, we get to keep the items and can either use them in our new home if we choose (I choose!), or sell them afterwards. It’s a win/win.

In one way, I do feel some guilt that I’ve caved into the consumerist culture – but am consoling myself that the ends justify the means.

Have you succumbed to the lure of Kmart homewares?!

PS reading through this blog post, it occurs to me that I overthink things!