"A Cautionary Tale"

Greetings,

It's an old, old story. The plot line a numerous Summer films. You find someone new. Someone wonderful. And you are immediately comfortable around them. They seem to be able to sense your every mood. They are right there when you need them. They are the last thing you want to see before you close your eyes to slumber. You're even pleased to see them first thing in the morning - when you might not be at your best - but, no worries, they will understand. You love them. They love you.

Then, you decide not to leave well enough alone. You decide that you can start 'fixing' things. To try and make things better. And this is where the 'cautionary' part comes in.

Oh, and did I mention, my 'someone new' is my new bedroom.

If you are a regular reader, you'll know that I re-designed my living space several years ago - and have been as happy as a clam ever since. Until, for some inexplicable reason, last Thursday. I came home from an exciting day at the design center with one overwhelming thought - "What if I put my bed at an angle?" Well, that was Thursday evening - moving things around, but went to bed quite unfulfilled and rose from the bed feeling no better. So Friday evening after work - "What if I flipped the placement of the bed and dresser?" Grunt. Moan. Carry. Move. And that was the beginning and the end of the second day, and tartanscot said, "this is crap." My room wouldn't even look me in the eye.

So after a busy weekend, for my room and I needed some time apart - today was all about putting it ALL back where it started. And after a few hours, and a kinda sore back, it's all in its proper place. And after a weekend of my room staring at me, sullen and disappointed - our original love seems to be coming back. So let this be a lesson to all of us - whether you're dealing with a new room, or a new person, you can encourage them to live to their fullest potential. But, please, don't require them to be something that they never were.

If only I had listened to the wise advice that Lisa offered - and just baked some banana bread and bought fresh flowers, I could have enjoyed my day today.


and they lived happily ever after,
tartanscot

Comments

Sandra said…
Wonderful post! I have been unhappy with my bedroom since I "got rid of the old stuff" - this has me thinking that maybe, just maybe it is the "old stuff" that I miss . . .
@ 101,

it's been a kinda funny weekend - because I'm a HUGE proponent of editing one's belongings and experimenting in one's home. it was just SO frustrating because every move was SO unproductive.

I hope you ca rekindle that 'love affair' again with your home. We all need to be surrounded by the havens that we create.
LadyeLisa said…
I just love a happy ending!
katiedid said…
Any relationship takes a bit of work. I am glad you realized before it was too late that it never pays to try to change a cherished partner that is fantastic just the way they are! And I DO mean FANTASTIC: Handsome, well-dressed, and such a gentleman!
Mrs. Blandings said…
See, but now you know - without straying too far or doing anything permanent - you were able to go back and no one is the worse for wear.

Except maybe your back. (Hard to imagine you'd be dissatisfied with this, but I do know the feeling.)
Alicia said…
Yeah my bedroom & I are not speaking now I've informed it that everything has got to go, minus that Heneredon slipper chair I stole, well paid for but at a we're redoing our showrooms sale..and no one had never even sat on.$440.00!!! It's getting recovered though.
My secret....do it slowly & sweetly. That way the egos & backs aren't bruised.
Get a massage, a mojito & feel better!!!
Gee wiz! You had me going for a second! You know the old Southernism, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it!"

It looks like warm, masculine perfection to me.
Lovely! Obviously, some rooms personify that age-old junior high school yearbook inscription: "Don't ever change." And may I say what a stunning room it is? It looks like a Vermeer painting. I want to crawl into it and put one pearl earring on.
Oh but you had to try!!! Funnily enough last Friday I woke with a free day and an urge to tackle the guest bedroom/junk room/treadmill space. And after moving a honking big wall size wardrobe unit by MYSELF, removing 2 pieces of furniture and rearranging the room it so how went from looking college dump to multi-purposed cozy! For weeks every time I'd entered the room I thought... "what if?"

So if you wouldn't have tried, then you would have never known!
Scott Fazzini said…
Ooooh, what a room! If I had a actual bedroom, I would want it to look just like that!
I so enjoyed the "southern" story telling approach to your post!
Alicia,

no mojito - but tons of Advil have me feeling much better . . lol.

GSG,

It felt more like a 'tinker' than a change - but, still a fruitless project for the weekend - but, ya gotta try!

Lisa,

I think I might be down in LA this summer - I'll give you the details and maybe we can meet.

Diva,

Good for you!

Scott,

thanks !
I know so many people who like to rearrange furniture in their house and I know i'm an oddity here -but it takes a long time to come up with the optimal floor plan for a room -a way to use the space and think I either lack the creativity to reimagine a particular space in any other way after that point. I like to find the best configuration and stick to it! I guess it's my yankee determination and stick-to-itness ;-)
Nice knowing that I'm not the only one who succumbs to impulsive changes or "improvements" and then puts
everything back where it was before. It would seem that bedrooms cause a good amount of dissatisfaction in more than a few people.
In the book The Englishwoman's Bedroom, Lady Caroline Somerset (afterward Duchess of Beaufort) begins her essay by admitting that she often lies in bed looking around at her room and "hating it", even though it was splendidly designed by Tom Parr of Colefax and Fowler. What she really refers to is restlessness or insomnia, it hadn't a thing to do with the quality of the decor. And speaking of quality, your own room has got loads of character and it all appears natural and unforced, not a false touch anywhere!
Perhaps it is the changing of the light as summer solstice beckons. On a practical note have you not discovered the joy of those "moving men" thingies you put under furniture? I thought it was a TV joke, but they really work. Buy yourself a summer fragrance candle, send your bedroom some flowers and make your peace.
great post.
and btw, i feel for ya !

x
Janet said…
I like the big things to stay where they are, but looooove to rearrange the little things. The dark walls are beautiful!
columnist said…
You've got to try, even if just to prove to yourself that the arrangement you had in the beginning really is the best one. I think it's in our DNA to test our creativity. And sometimes little changes do work. Moving of heavier items does give me pause for thought however! And a few groans from my partner, which brings a touch of reality to the experiment!
Loved the writing and LOVED the room, just the way it is.

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