I recently found a pair of chairs in a thrift shop. They weigh a ton and they look like thrones, and I am mad for the dusty pink velvet upholstery, but they’re presenting a challenge; namely, how to keep them from making the whole room look like Barbie’s dream house. I spent five minutes making some eensy pillows using wacky upholstery samples and a skirt that didn’t fit me anymore, which seems to be helping.
I don’t know a thing about design, so this is how the process works for me: if something is too glamorous or pink or frilly, I feel it’s time to add something brown or beat up or weird, just to bring things back to center. My lack of design skills frustrates me a lot, actually, because I really want to be good at it, and I just stab around in the dark and get lucky sometimes, and fail mostly, but I am so intrigued by it all. When it works, for anybody, I really love it, and then I think How did they ever know to use that blue? and I know I never would have thought of it, and part of my trouble is that I kind of like everything. Sparkly Victorian chandeliers? Yes. Granny blankets in every color? Yes! Funny taxidermy? YES!
Figuring out how to reconcile all that into one little house is how I have fun in this life.
