it all started with a pillow…

How on earth could a month have passed since Dad and I were in Europe?  It’s crazy how quickly time flies.  The good news is I have crossed a task or two off my list but am still woefully behind in the blogging department.  And since I have nothing else to do with my time, I’ve added interior decorator to my list of summer to-dos.  Specifically, I am redecorating my bedroom and the upstairs bathroom.  Not at all a time consuming or (slightly!) expensive hobby but...it all started with a pillow.  A Bed, Bath, and Beyond pillow to be precise.  You see, I’ve wanted to change my color schema for several years but never found anything I liked.  And I mean anything!  Mother and I looked at comforters galore trying to find a starting point but nothing rocked my boat.   About ten years ago I finally painted my walls white since nothing else stood out to me (the teenage inspired lavender walls had to go) , and though I’ve never been satisfied with the end result it seemed silly to redecorate since I wasn’t sure how long I would stay at home.  Recent life events encouraged me to rethink this decision, but I didn’t intended to begin quite so soon. 

Memorial Day weekend was a little difficult for me  and to get out of the house, I decided to begin shopping for  upcoming weddings I'm going to.  It sounded like a good plan, but I  struck out completely at Bed, Bath, and Beyond.  They either didn't have what I wanted or I didn't like the selection.  However, at one point, I wandered over to the bedding section to check out the wedding registry selections and found the comforter.  It was me to a T: the colors, style, and price.  It eventually found its way into my cart as did a lamp and curtains.  Seems I can’t do anything small!  I still wasn’t 100% percent sold on the idea,  so I decided to buy everything so I could see them in my room.  Sometimes a girl just has to see things in person. This visualization thing only goes so far. 

Six days later I was back at BBB returning the lamp (it had a crack through the middle) and the curtains (they didn’t match).  I spent a good 45 minutes looking at window options for the current bedding and finally found something that could work. Then I went back to the bedding section to see if they matched the bedspread and found ANOTHER one I liked.  That’s where the pillow comes in.  I absolutely loved the color and design (of course, it didn’t match the comforter I just bought) and within a few minutes found another bedspread (also on sale), 2 pillows, and window treatments.  I thought I liked it better than the set I bought last week and was ready to pack it up and return #1, but when I got home I decided it was nicer than I remembered.  Which meant I had TWO sets of bedding, with TWO different looks, and had to decide which one to keep.  Gah!

So, I did what all girls do during times of crisis: turn to friends for advice!  I e-mailed my two closest friends with an abbreviated version of my saga and photos to get their opinion.  In retrospect, I overreacted, but I think I was feeling overwhelmed by how much I needed to do and the thought of making another decision related to my room was more than I could handle. Silly!  It took a few days of laying out a different comforter on my bed before I knew I wanted #2.  Even though the colors differ from my usual taste, something about the look makes me happy, and right now that’s all the matters. 

And to top it off the set I chose is called Vienna.  Perfect, huh?