Let’s be honest: we’ve all got a corner, cupboard, or maybe an entire spare room dedicated to stuff we swore we’d use.
These were aspirational purchases, hobby gear, and life-changing tools that now mostly function as guilt-inducing paperweights. They weren’t bought on a whim. No, they were part of a plan—a version of you that wakes up early, eats chia bowls, does yoga, writes a novel, and bakes fresh sourdough every Sunday. Unfortunately, that version of you seems to have left the chat. Here are some of the things you thought you’d use one day, but instead, they’ve made themselves quite at home in the back of a cupboard, gathering dust.
1. The fancy blender you bought during your smoothie phase
It started with good intentions. You pictured yourself sipping green smoothies on the go, glowing skin and all, maybe even making your own almond milk. Then reality hit: bananas rot quickly, kale is weirdly expensive, and cleaning the blender is a full workout on its own. Now it lives at the back of a cupboard, plugged in exactly once every six months when someone gets too enthusiastic about health again.
2. The stack of books you bought during your intellectual awakening
Source: Unsplash You were going to read more, remember? You wanted to get smarter, deeper, maybe even develop a personality rooted in literature. The books arrived in a flurry of self-improvement, and then… they sat. Maybe you read the intro. Maybe you underlined a few quotes. But now, they’re more aesthetic than educational—artfully arranged on shelves, gathering dust and a faint aura of ambition.
3. The yoga mat you swore would help you find inner peace
Source: Unsplash You rolled it out once, lit a candle, and did two and a half minutes of child’s pose before deciding the floor was too hard, and your wrists were too weak. No shame—it happens. The mat is now rolled up and stored somewhere “accessible,” which in practice means buried behind a suitcase and an old printer.
4. The sewing machine that unlocked your brief upcycling era
One YouTube video convinced you that you could turn old clothes into runway-worthy outfits. You bought fabric scissors. You learned what a bobbin was. You even made a lopsided cushion cover. However, that sewing machine now hums with the energy of “we had potential,” tucked away like a retired robot from your brief stint as a one-person Etsy shop.
5. The pristine notebook you were going to fill with Big Ideas
Source: Unsplash This was supposed to be the place where you journal your thoughts, write that book, or sketch future business plans. However, when the time came to actually put pen to paper, it felt… too pure. You couldn’t bring yourself to ruin it with anything as basic as to-do lists. So it lives on your desk, untouched but very admired. A monument to all your unwritten genius.
The funny thing is, you’ll roll back ’round to this one and instead of using the notebook you’ve got, you’ll go buy a new one, and the cycle will repeat itself.
6. The bread maker you thought would make you a wholesome domestic god
Imagine it: fresh, warm bread wafting through the house, your kitchen glowing with golden light. The reality? One heavy loaf that came out dense enough to be used as a doorstop. Cleaning the machine was a nightmare. And let’s not talk about the ingredients you had to Google just to make it work. Now it sits proudly unused, next to your blender, daring you to try again.
7. The coat you bought during your “investment piece” moment
It was marked down, designer, and promised to make you look effortlessly stylish. In reality, it’s slightly too stiff, weirdly itchy, and doesn’t actually match anything you own. It hangs in your wardrobe with the tag still on, silently judging your daily hoodie rotation and wondering why it was ever chosen.
8. The slow cooker that was going to revolutionise your evenings
“Set it and forget it,” they said. “Come home to dinner already made,” they said. You made one attempt at a stew that ended up more like meat soup, then decided this wasn’t your path. The slow cooker now takes up a quarter of your cupboard space and a third of your emotional energy. You keep it because it feels like admitting defeat to give it away.
9. The art supplies that were definitely going to help you unwind
Source: Unsplash You bought paints, brushes, maybe even a sketchpad with the belief that you’d become someone who decompresses with watercolours. One Sunday afternoon you did attempt a still life of a lemon, but it came out looking like an alien onion and you never tried again. Now the supplies are quietly drying out in a drawer, ready for your next creative rebrand.
10. The niche kitchen gadget you got in a moment of pure optimism
Whether it’s an avocado slicer, a spiraliser, or a garlic-peeling tube, these items always seem like a good idea at the time. You use them once, possibly twice, before realising your hands and a knife do the same job faster. But do you get rid of them? No. You keep them, just in case there’s a day you’ll spiralise a courgette. Spoiler: that day has not come.
11. The workout gear you swore would replace a gym membership
Resistance bands, ankle weights, a foam roller—you were ready to build a home gym. The gear arrived, you did one workout, and then it slowly migrated under your bed, tangled in wires and good intentions. Every time you vacuum, you find it again and think, “Next week, I’ll start properly.” You won’t. And that’s okay.
12. The tools you bought after watching one DIY TikTok
You went to B&Q for a lightbulb and came back with a drill, a set of wall plugs, and big dreams of hanging your own shelves. You even got safety goggles. But the first time you tried to put something up, you hit a pipe—or a nerve. Either way, you’ve decided that DIY now stands for “Don’t Involve Yourself.”
13. The musical instrument you were going to “get back into”
The guitar from your teenage years. The keyboard you swore you’d relearn. The ukulele bought during a pandemic identity crisis. You tuned it once, played half a chord, and then let it gather dust in the corner. It now lives as decor with a faint hope that someday you’ll remember how to play “Wonderwall” without Googling the chords.
