Has this ever happened to you?
Friday night I went to my thrift store of choice - the one that always seem to pull through for me, with the most interesting, delightful, cheapiness of things...
And it's one of those magical days. At every corner something new jumps out at me. I pile the items up in my cart and they look so wonderful jumbled together.
I go to check out. $40. Wow. That's a big thrift day (for me at least) but I still feel that glow as I pack my back seat full. As I drive, I glance at my finds now and then, still beaming.
I get home and begin unpacking. This is a lot of stuff... I think. Am I so sure about this? The first glimmers of doubt appear.
That lamp I thought would look so terrific in my living room? It doesn't.
That oil painting I thought would look cute, somewhere... But where?
The ugly canvases I bought to paint over are toted out to the garage, where they sit like misfit toys waiting to be loved.
The mounted antlers I thought were such an amazing find (I mean antlers are "in", right?)... I'm not sure where to put them yet, so I hang them on this open spot on my fire place.
Hours later my husband glances up and his mouth drops open. His face is baffled and shocked. He's seen the antlers. He immediately begins talking about the poor baby deer. And besides that, he says "They're ugly..."
Another thrifting high gone bad...
This HAS happened to me before. It's sort of a problem of context. In the context of the thrift store moment, all my chosen items appear divinely inspired. When I get home, the context has changed.
Often, this is where the real "work" of thrifting comes in... cleaning up my finds and experimenting until I find the right placement for them that brings out the full potential I saw there in the first place. So I'll be working on that this week and sharing photos if I get anything worthy of sharing.
I have experienced this thrifting high gone bad often. But, like you said, that's when the work/talent comes in. Even if only one thing out of the bunch makes it to the "I love it" list, it was worth a fun day thrifting.
ReplyDeleteBlessings... Polly
I know all thrifters will recognize themselves in your story! One of my goals the past couple of years has been to limit my buys to things I will really and truly use and love. Sometimes it's hard--but often I find that the items I like and pass up are forgotten almost immediately. So that encourages me to pass up more. And it's something we learn with experience, what will cause us grief because we didn't buy it. Truthfully...not that much! One of the truths of thrifting is that there will always be more to find out there.
ReplyDeleteOh hell's bells this happens to me all the time. I get mental or greedy or something and occasionally all good taste fly's out the window! You aren't alone.x
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