Over the last year, I'm becoming more and more careful about shopping for items that can potentially stay in the home forever. Mainstays like couches, beds and dining sets. Even accessories like light fixtures and larger rugs. Even though they can be changed out, usually you wouldn't take the trouble or spend the money to do so after you've already made a purchase.
So I'm looking at items with a more selective eye these days, and trying to think beyond the latest fads. I'm trying to envision items in the intended space to see if they're cohesive with their neighbors. Does the size/color/lines feel in harmony and/or add a new dimension to the space? Or does it feel matchy-matchy and out-of-place?
I've come to accept just because I've bought a lot of pieces I love it doesn't mean they all come together nicely. (I used to have whole collections of pink items). There needs to be balance and contrast. This is when having a big-picture vision (or an inspiration photo) comes in handy.
Overall, this shopping practice is kind of a strange feeling. I feel constantly non-committal. Today's love may be tomorrow's ex-lover. I'd sit on decisions for weeks or months. Anyway, here are the two items I'm shopping for this week.
1. A rug for our closet
Here's what our closet looks like now. (Well, I cleaned it up a little to take this photo to avoid any embarrassments). :D
Here are the current contenders:
I feel slightly snobby for claiming we have a cafe in our home. The truth is I love the coffee shop ambiance and I really wanted to have a place like that at home. So when we bought our house, I (in my totally glamorous and idealistic dream) thought that having a cafe would be so awesome. I'd imagine us sitting there every morning sipping our coffees to welcome the day. I'd imagine us parking there to read a book with tea in the afternoon. I'd imagine us....anyway, you get the idea.
Thanks to David's concessions and support, I got my wish and we bought two very nice and comfy "cafe chairs" from Scandinavian Designs. They are the comfiest chairs in our entire house. We also got a "cafe table" from Target, which houses all my catalogues and magazines. Then, there's the rug from World Market to define the space. I'm not 100% in love with the rug (it was a hasty purchase) but it serves its purpose.
Here are the current contenders: