When Opposites Attract

Rick and I are polar opposites which often is the cause of conflicts and compromises.  This Saturday's trip to the furniture store was no different!

As most of you know, we are in the process of remodeling and/or finishing  the rooms in our 85 year old house.  Given our ages, we decided to go room by room and make the changes we've always wanted while we still have the energy and money to do it.  Last month we put the new hardwood floors in the living room.  Now it was time to get new furniture ordered!

Before we get to the actual shopping trip, there is some background information that you need.  Rick grew up  in a house that had mostly white walls and few items hanging on the walls.  When we first moved into our house, he thought he was thinking outside of the box when he agreed to taupe walls!  I, on the other hand, grew up with a closeted interior designer.  My mom could paint, wallpaper, decorate and accessorize an outhouse!!!!   Seriously, our house could have been in a decorating magazine.  You never knew when you would come home and there would be new wallpaper on the walls.

Well,  the decorating apples don't fall far from the trees.  Rick is a crisp and clean guy, and I'm a shabby chic girl.  He loves plain fabrics and I love mixed patterns.  So, you can only imagine our trip to the furniture store.  Before we even went into the store, I spied the red couch in the window.  It had a chair with a tree branch pattern.  I said, "I love it".  He said, "NO!"   Once we got in the store, we looked up my sister.  She works at Coconnis in Zanesville.  She was waiting on a customer and told us to look around.  We did the initial first time through the store.  I'm pointing to plaids, checks, big florals in reds and greens.  He is pointing out every non red and/or non green solid couch.   I say it is beautiful and he says it's ugly.  He says it is gorgeous and I roll my eyes and keep walking.  After the initial walk through, we talk about how we have to find a style and then worry about the fabric. Of course, I keep going back to the furniture styles with the fabrics I'm drawn too.  Why?  Because the style and fabrics go together.  Rick, however, can't get beyond the fabric.  He keeps saying, "Denise, I just can't live with those fabrics."  Eventually, we take a break and look for coffee tables and TV stands instead.

Finally, my sister comes to the rescue and helps us redirect ourselves back to picking our style.  Not only do we have our opposing decorating styles, we have another issue to consider.  We have dogs who get up on the furniture.  We consciously made the decision to allow this when they were puppies and we chose to cuddle with them on the couch.  Eight years later there is no going back!   Piece of advice:  Dogs can be a lot like small children. Don't start habits that will need to be broken later!  So, anyways, we start round two of furniture shopping. My poor sister must have thought she was dealing with two adults with ADHD.  Neither one of us can stay focused on style and comfort.  We keep drifting back to pattern vs. solid.  Paige keeps yelling 'just  to sit and find comfort.  We can look at fabric swatches later.'

Finally, 3 hours later we achieved success!  We found a style we both liked.  Now it was time to choose the fabric.  Believe it or not, we found the perfect pattern right away.  The final decision is a camel colored couch with a burnt red welting (piping).  The chair has a geometric pattern with camel, burnt red, clay orange and green!  He got his plain couch and I got my funky patterned chair!!!  It was amazing that we actually picked the tables and TV stand in less than 45 minutes.  It will all be here in 4-6 weeks.

As we waited for all of the paperwork to be completed, I looked at him and said, "Honey, I just want you to know that if you go first, I'm buying a red couch."  He said, "Honey, I just want you to know that if you go first, I'm buying a yellow Camero!"

It was exhausting to say the least!  Of course, the next hump will be room arrangement and  accessories!  Let's just say I'm glad we have 4-6 weeks to recuperate.  It will be another round of conflicts and compromises.

Make Every Day Count!
Denise