The Good Enough Decorator

Have you ever noticed that when you are given an object as a gift, you are far less critical of it’s actual qualities? That dress that doesn’t fit perfectly but you still wear… The scarf that’s not exactly right for your complexion but you use anyway… The serving bowl that doesn’t match anything you have, but is out on the table every week…

I think there’s something about the fact that you already have something that gives it a special feel, especially if it has the added value of being a gift. At least for me, when I’m at the store, whether I’m trying on clothes or trying to find accessories for my home, I am always far more critical of whatever-it-is I’m trying to buy. I am constantly asking myself: Do I really need this? Is it exactly right?

Sometimes this is a good thing, because I can sincerely say I do not have a lot of junk and that most of my clothes fit and are flattering to my figure. However, sometimes this means that I lived in my last apartment for 6 years or so without a single piece of art I bought myself. Though there were two prints hanging on the walls I had been given as a gift (see? I told you so).

This time, I decided on a new strategy: I would be the good enough decorator. In other words, I would not wait until I found the perfect piece that I absolutely love (never ever gonna happen), I would just buy things that were good enough, not perfect. And if I decide later on that they’re wrong – replace them.

So I did.

And guess what? It worked! Once they were in place, I loved them. They felt right. Especially the pink horse. But even the crumpled vase with the over-sized purple flower and weird green something or other (which, at the store, I actually called “something out of an alien horror movie”). Suddenly our living room / dining room is starting to get that “someone actually lives here” feel (and those people have a bit of personality). There’s still a lot of work to do, but for now – I’m happy.

But most of all the pink horse.

How do you decorate? Are you a “must be perfect” or a “good enough” kind of person?