Bird's Eye View: Getting through all the furniture Bull....

I never get what I want from Life; mainly because there is too much Bull... to wade through; and, I don't have the boots for it.

When we move into our Montana home, the furniture will be slightly rustic compared to our California home; and so, we won't be using most of that furniture. We were looking for Southwestern, slightly rustic items.

At High Point, NC, there was one well-used Turkish rug that would have fit perfectly in our Library room, but it was faded in parts and had repair stitching in off colors that the Turkish dealer wanted $950.

He said, " It has historical meaning and that is why it is so valuable."

I laughed.

I said, " It's someone else's history, not mine. I don't want a worn out rug, especially at that price." He laughed out loud.

I think someone must have thrown it out on the road and he picked it up. Earlier we had bought some better quality runners (rugs) from him for less; one was, also, considered an antique.

I don't want high price rustic furniture, after all I could take a piece of furniture and bang it up with chains and a hammer for the same effect for less.

After the 3rd day of trying to figure out what kind of furniture style I wanted to see throughout the house; I got a sense of what I was striving for in design, as I started seeing antiqued or old furniture with reclaimed wood (slightly grooved and worn) with metal legs or arms. These were unique to me and creative in design.

Although the furniture tables and benches have wood and metal; the Great Room and bedrooms will have cushioned furniture for more comfort which is being upholstered.

Entry bench with distressed wood: reminded me of Big Horn Sheep Ram.

Hallway table with distressed wood, metal design and wood legs

hallway runner, Turkish rug has a Southwestern tribal feel

2nd Turkish Rug, Runner to Master bedroom

Display bedroom at High Point showroom. Bought the bed, nightstands,and dresser (only) for Guest bedroom # 1
The copper plates will tarnish in time for that patina effect.

The other guest bedroom will be a very high, paneled, headboard with metal curls on distressed wood.

Looking at Quality and the Time that passed: Our California home dining set is airtight and keeps silverware from tarnishing. It's better built than anything I could afford to buy or want to buy at prices of today even at the bargain prices at High Point.
We had purchased our California home dining set in the 70's from an antique dealer for $3000 which included mahogany inlaid china cabinets on solid wood, dining table for twelve with 6 chairs and a Buffet. Built in 1929 with the store tags, Lord and Taylor, 424 Fifth Ave, New York, NY, glued under each item.

My current California buffet we bought in 1970, dated 1929.

I was told by my designer (April 16) that the buffet that we had ordered from High Point, to be altered, to fit our home could not be made to specifications.I am so glad because now I can sneak in my CA buffet after the house is built. The buffet at High Point was almost as expensive as my entire CA dining set and it was not half the quality.
I will just call the dining room COLLECTIVE which I think means a hodgepodge: confusing mix of furniture.

After all, the Interior Design world is as full of BS as any other profession.

And after you read this, you will be surprised that I really do get along with my designer and we plan to be friends. What a shock!

Whenever I liked a piece of furniture, my Interior designer ' friend' would say, "You shouldn't get that; it doesn't fit the decor,"

Whenever she wanted me to buy something she liked, she would say, "but it could be Collective."

And I would say, "In that case, let me use my California furniture."

And she would say, "We can't do that!"

She would always use superlative words; the ones I would use, mostly, to describe the sunset or the Grand Canyon, not an ordinary piece of furniture. Beautiful and Fantastic meant nothing to me, after hearing it all day long.

So much Bullsh#*.

To top that off, I think she has a little meanness in her spirit. I actually asked my husband if I heard her correctly. He said, "yes."

Remember that "Blue Louise" granite that I found on the Internet and asked if I could get it? My designer and her granite company ordered the exact piece I wanted.
Blog: Friday, December 17, 2010 Merry Christmas and Happy New Year One and ALL

Only to tell me later that the Brazilian company told them that they had sold my slab to someone else; however, the Montana granite company had already ordered a shipment of Blue Louise from that Brazilian company for their store; and it was on it's way to Montana and should arrive in January.

Instead of waiting to see what the shipment had for Blue Louise, my designer said I need to purchase granite for my kitchen and since my granite is not coming on this boat, I should buy something else. She told me to look at the Blue Louise in California just to get an idea of what it looks like in person; and see if I wanted to purchase it from a California company, instead.

I learned that it's not granite, but Quartz. It has lots of defects, grooves and pits and the color is very dull. All the Blue Louise that I saw was not acceptable and very ugly in color design.

At the High Point, NC show last week, she tells me, "the Blue Louise granite arrived at the Montana granite company, around the same time you had bought your other granite. The shipment had your granite; and it's BEAUTIFUL."

I thought I would have heard in January about it. But nothing was said. So it didn't sound true to my ears; not mentioning the fact that she would not look at me when she told me.

I decided not to kill her on the spot since I was in shock and while thawing out, I was able to take everything in, including all the Bull Sh#* I have heard over the last year.

When the Montana granite company did not get a straight answer from the Brazilian company and my plans had to change, I had already resigned myself to getting Less From Life. Add that to my designer's lingo: " It's beautiful."

So I figured what's beautiful to her (the shipment of granite), is not necessarily beautiful to me and I am Over it.

I cannot help thinking that she told me out of spite. On hindsight, I do give her a hard time about what I want to buy and it's not what she wants most the time. Yes, I am the client, but she wants to feel essential, not just a 'tool,' she told me last week while shopping. We are still trying to find a balancing act that we can work on together. So far we agree on what we have purchased. What a surprise!

Being an indiscreet German, she probably wanted to tell me about the shipment arrival, but why the emphasis on "it's beautiful," if not to upset me?

I was more shocked and puzzled by her remarks than the screw up of granite.

I didn't get the Blue Louise quartz slab I wanted. I gave up a higher calling of using my artistic talents for a more mediocre design that is O.K. and nobody cares, but me. With our second choice of granite, since it is no longer my choice anymore; the Blue Louise being 6x more expensive, I was able to buy 5 slabs, instead of 2 slabs, to cover all my counters, walls and then some; with the less expensive granite; that is probably, in better condition from what I had learned about Blue Louise quartz.

Library Floor lamp: reminds me of Galileo and his Galaxy.You really have to have an imagination for this one.

I agreed with my designer friend that we would go slightly wild on color accessories of blankets and pillows to liven up the grayish brown tones of the Living room as we plan to be in the Parade of Homes in September to show off her interior design and our builder's construction which they have asked us to do for them, although it adds more stress for me to get things done faster than I would like.