Decorating

For Mother's Day this year, I asked Joseph if we could redecorate the living room. We're not getting rid of our 15 year old furniture, even though by the end of the day, the cushions have slid almost to the floor! Instead we're pulling down some of the wall hangings, repainting and trying to make the room tidier looking in general.

On Saturday evening some friends of ours watched our kids and for our date, we went shopping. We went to four different stores. I wanted some yarn (I'm going to crochet a new afghan), a small lamp, a new print for the wall, some baskets and a few other things. We found something in each store we visited and made mental notes of things we were interested in, but unsure of.

I know that I want more of a nautical theme and the walls are going to be painted a very pale blue. We found and bought some baskets to make the computer desk more organized. Like it or not, the computer desk is staying in the living room. We found and bought some wall hangings (sea star and scallop) for a grouping with the new print I'm going to get (Monet). We found and bought some jars to put shells into for display. We looked at a couple of yarns but didn't buy. We saw a really cool tree wall hanging, but didn't buy because it seemed too breakable. We saw some decorative pillows for the couch, but we weren't sure they'd match the blinds we have. We couldn't find a lamp that would work.

After we got home, I immediately regretted not buying the tree, but I also remembered that I had a 40% off coupon that we could use. I asked Joseph to pick that up. After I got the kids off to school I went to look at the yarn again thinking I had chosen, only to realize that the soft yarn I wanted had too much turquoise. Our couches are forest green and I just don't think those colors can mix well. I also walked through more of the Michael's store than we had on Saturday and found a lamp for half off that matches the wall hangings and tree perfectly in style and color. I tried again on the pillows and still didn't buy because of the colors. I found some silk flowers and rocks so that I could make a simple floral arrangement (see picture above).

As I was doing all of this shopping, I realized that my decorating life could be much easier. I could just go to Jo-Ann or Michael's or (fill in the blank store) and buy a bunch of things out of their nautical section and just be done. It was at this point that I realized that the searching and the mix and match are my style. I love it. I love getting things that work together from many locations. It gives me a thrill. I like doing this with birthday party supplies and other projects as well (the best example would probably be May's doll house). Though I usually like the end results of my searches, I have no idea if my versions of these fashions would be "socially" acceptable. That's not really what matters anyway!

I asked Joseph if he liked this as much as me. He said he'd rather just find it all in one place and be done with it. But he was happy to do it this way if I wanted.

It made me wonder what other people's styles/strategies are like, too. I wanted to make a poll, but I didn't know how to word it. How do you do these kinds of things? I know some people do the mix and match version to save money. Sometimes I fall into this category. I've been very pleased with thrift store finds, like an outfit that comes from three different stores and works perfectly together. Other times I probably spend more than if I were to just pick up all the items from one store and be done with it. It's these times when it's purely for the creative feeling I get.