February 13th, 2018

Yesterday I went with my sister on a shopping mission.  She wanted to buy new bedding.  And a seemingly small thing like new bedding, can make an old room look brand new or a new bedroom look extra special. (The photo here is our guest room - not what she bought, it's just for illustrative purposes)

​She had an idea of what she was looking for but only in the broadest sense. Still it helps to have that kernel of a concept when on a shopping mission. Otherwise the sheer number of possibilities can be overwhelming.  The first store we went into did not have much to choose as far as what she was specifically seeking which made decision making easier. It was pretty much yes or no.  Not a lot of maybe about it. She wanted white or cream bedding.  She needed the comforter to be lightweight. She prefers a rather modern esthetic.  Ok now we are narrowing things down.

​The second store had loads more choices but again, easier to filter down with colour and weight preferences. So not the floral, not the tropical birds, not the stripes or solid dark colours.  Still there is texture and fabric to take into account. They had a comforter she liked, but no matching shams. Dang.  They had a toss pillow she really loved which looked very nice with the comforter, but no dustruffle that looked good with any of it.  Dang again.  Moving on.

​At the third store she hit paydirt.  There was a set already pre-packaged that had everything she was looking for and that she adored. The right colours, the right weight, the shams, dust ruffle and toss pillow were already in the gigantic package.  There was even a set of sheets in the enormous zippy bag. Holy Cats!  Even though we had to wrestle the package out the store, across the parking lot and into the car, it was totally worth the hunting trip.  Mission Accomplished!  That's a good feeling.  She was elated and I shared her excitement.  After all, who hasn't been there?

​When we first moved here, we bought a new bed. I mean everything, bedframe, mattress, headboard/footboard and boxspring.  Not all in the same store of course, nope, that takes some hunting. I don't know how many different places we looked at headboard/footboards trying to find the one we both liked, that suited the room before we decided.  I suspect it was multiple weekends over perhaps a month.  And then the mattress.  Mercy.  There was actually a super-duper comfy one we tried, I don't recall where, but the price tag made me sweat.  Nope.  I want to be comfortable but unless that thing is lined with gold and rubies, that price was crazy.  We moved on.  

​Finally we happened across a place called, "Land of Sleep".  Yeah, I know, the name is a little precious.  But the prices were sane, the people working there were very nice, knowledgeable and not at all pushy AND they delivered for free, same day.  Awesome!  Yup that was the one we chose and we have not regretted it for a second.  None of those missions seemed anymore difficult or discouraging than any other furniture shopping trip.

​As a side note, does anyone besides me feel ridiculous and uncomfortable laying on mattresses in a store while strangers are looking at you?  Is it just me?  Anyway....

​Pillows on the other hand see to be especially difficult for Tim and I both.  Finding just the right pillow seems to be Mission Impossible.  We had bought, tried and discarded a ridiculous number of pillows in our time together.  What seems to be a reasonable choice in the store is uncomfortable at home. I feel like Goldilocks, this one is too hard, that one too soft.  Struggling to find the one that is "just right".  We both like multiple pillows, Tim for switching out when one gets too hot.  I like a firmer pillow for sitting up reading and a softysoft down pillow for sleeping.  As anyone who has ever owned a down pillow knows, eventually the poofiness is gone and you just have a sack of limp sad tired feathers and it's like sleeping with no pillow at all. It's very sad.

​I haven't yet replaced our old comforter. Not just because I'm cheap. I am but in this case it's not why. It's because at some point, I plan to repaint the bedroom and I have no idea what colour it will end up being.  So even though our comforter is old and has a few little holes here and there, it actually looks really good with the current bedroom colour. So I'll keep it until the bedroom is painted. And then I will go through what Joy just did in the search for the perfect bedding to transform the room entirely!  And that will be a fun adventure! 

​Maybe I"ll start in that last store.........