Design, design, design

[damselfish]

The bank should be getting back to us this week with a counteroffer (or an accept/reject but we're pretty sure it'll be a counteroffer) and I'm pretty glad this is happening as I'm wrapping up with work and knee-deep in Spider Stories because thinking about furnishing this place is probably what's contributing to my anxiety. I can't go five minutes without snapping up and thinking, Oh God, something terrible is amiss! It's because this decorating project is in limbo and I cannot abide by it. I haven't even waded through the 150 pages of condo documents yet.

But everywhere I go, things keep reminding me of what I have to think about for this place. While shopping for office chairs for my mother I received yet another little jolt. I'm short. This hasn't bothered me until recently when I discovered just how short. Oh, sure, I'm aware of living in a world made for giants, but because I don't know any better I can forget that there are people who can reach the top shelf, or who don't need clips on their seatbelts so they don't strangle in an accident. These things are more pertinent to me. Examples: I have never once typed with my elbows/arms above the level of my wrists, it's a rare chair that drops low enough for my feet to touch the floor, and chair and desk combinations conspire against my ability to sit properly. I usually sit with my legs tucked under me in what a more pretentious person would call seiza, but it really is one of the easiest positions to maintain for hours if you don't want your legs dangling.

Adjustable desks are either far too expensive or hideous (form or function? Why does my life always center around this decision?) to seriously contemplate. There's still the nagging voice that wants to know about what I intend to do with the decor but I've pushed her aside in favor of hitting up the things I need. Like a desk and chair, the most important installments in a law student's and writer's life. I will also get a bed and sofa first, of course, but the desk is my primary concern. I've also been playing around at Ethan Allen, and they have a really neat style quiz that was a lot more accurate than any other I've used (I'm 'global,' quelle surprise). This worked out since we used to have Bombay, where I picked up my old bedroom furniture that earns endless compliments for being so darn cool. A sort of cool you just can't get these days, so my quest through various furniture catalogues has been largely thwarted by a bounty of stuff I don't want.

Most frustrating, I think, is that home decor goes through phases and right now we're in a retro chic phase (50s/60s) and modern. Add to that, Miami design is characterized by the modern look so we have oodles of it around town.

Neither of those is a good fit for me. If I did a local look it would be Key West charm, not the Miami glam. I've been seriously debating transporting my current bedroom to the condo, as to do anything else is a waste of a perfectly good bedroom and how many people have stepladders for their beds? Exactly. Alas, alas, that queen is far too big for that bedroom. It's far too big for any bedroom, really. Not to mention that I would have to repeat match the style with the rest of the decor and find somewhere to put my papasan chair (say what you will, but it is my favorite chair) which likely won't fit into the living room.

It's rather odd that I either go for air or earth in terms of decor. It's even more odd that I can do that with the same stuff. My junior dorm was definitely an air room with light blue and white predominating, whereas my senior dorm was smaller and dominated by a green, tan, and cream wall hanging. Totally different feels with the exact same stuff. In light of that I was hoping to keep the cozy "earth" out of the bedroom because it would be in the living room and I do work best in colder spaces, so the bedroom would be a totally different space if I wanted a change of venue. But the living room is too big and my decorating style is too turn of the century to pull off something like that without it feeling bland.

Yeah. That dusty, professorial look is what gets me going when all is said and done. I may drool over clean and modern, fantasize about zen, squeal over airy and cheerful, but in the end I just have too much of that gentleman explorer aesthetic in me. It's regency abroad, and I love it. Sure, I could probably do something cute and funky to start with, but who knows if I can keep it that way. For all my talk, I don't go into design with a specific vision, but all this "how do I keep this stuff from clashing?" is new to me.

Still. A blue bedroom.... *dreamy sigh*

Depending on what the bank says, I'll be dumping pictures into my journal for thoughts and opinions later on. I'm antsy, sure, but I don't want to jump the gun and jinx myself by posting pictures. Silly and superstitious I know but I can't help myself.