Let the Decorating Begin!

One of these days I'm going to have to find myself a design class to audit. Maybe a class on color theory. Something. Just to immerse myself in it for a bit once again. Nothing for credit or a degree because I don't want it. I just love color and design and art. It's been with me as long as writing has. Just can't get enough of it.

Having a relatively empty house has given the designer in me so much happiness but it has also shown me just how limited I really am in my way of thinking about how to make things work. It's taken me a while to figure out some of the problems we have with the rooms but I am happy with the resolutions so far - on paper. How they will play out in real life is another thing.

But what's good so far is the reassurance that Mr. T and I didn't just marry each other. Our tastes married as well. Having similar taste is really helpful when you have to live with a husband - and furniture - for a really long time.

I've been furniture shopping for the living room for the past few weeks. Mr. T has been working pretty much non-stop so I've been happy to make my plan on my own and figure out what I wanted to see in the room. Some men don't like to be bothered with these trivialities and tell you to just pick what you want. Mine is involved with every detail of just about every thing. So the key is to decide everything beforehand and then let him in on it so that his mind is now cluttered with my thoughts and it's harder to think of his own thing. Sneaky? Nah. Men need guidance. Women know that. Besides, I'm not discounting his opinion entirely. Just looking for my top choices and then he can pick from those. Easy!

Or not. It's been a tough search finding the right rug. I don't want to spend $800 on it because it's not going to be a focal point in the room. The current carpet is a light beige and I just need a little distinction, nothing major. But so far I haven't found what I want. So I focused on furniture for a bit. Can't be too light or hard to clean. Can't be too big or too small. And in all that searching I had finally found my inspiration:



I fell in love with it instantly and it gave me the design direction I needed. I realized that I didn't want it to come from the budget I had slated for the room. This was going to have to be my own personal purchase so the cost of it can go toward all the other furniture needed. But Mr. T was still so busy working, working, I couldn't show him my new find. Each day I'd ask him, "Don't you want to see my chair?" "Not now," he'd say. "Tomorrow, tomorrow."

Tomorrow finally came yesterday after he woke up from his long nap. He looked at the picture and made a face I couldn't interpret, but I told him - as I showed him all the things I had found so far and explained the design plan - that the chair was non-negotiable. "Sorry. I love it. It stays. But you can go with me to sit on sofas!"

"OK," he said, prompting a mad dash to get the kids dressed and to make the rounds in about 5 stores in the 1 hour we had until they closed. He was interested. I had to run with it - literally!

I drove and thought about where to go first in order to maximize our time. Then I realized I had to take him to see the chair in person and the set that went with it, which was the best of everything I had seen. This way he'd keep the colors and style in mind as he looked at everything else.

We went, we sat, we corralled our children and started to walk away as Mr. T. told the sales guy, "I can pay cash. If you give me a deal, we can do this today."

"Ohhh! Well, I can't do that. I've gotta talk to the boss."

"OK. Talk to him then."

One brief negotiation and a new credit account later, the chocolate brown set - minus the chair - is slated to be delivered Thursday. I'll get the chair in a few weeks after wedding mania slows down. (I've got 3 to attend next month.) All I can do is smile. I love it when Mr. T does what I want no questions asked except for one:

"It's what you wanted, right?"

"Yep."

"Done."