tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16634800.post8053559643832298092..comments2024-03-11T06:27:38.308-07:00Comments on AND SEW IT GOES: Answering questionsTerry Granthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16650965451863656517noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16634800.post-58409731739978187722008-01-18T10:59:00.000-08:002008-01-18T10:59:00.000-08:00"And, geez, people get whiny and demanding and obn..."And, geez, people get whiny and demanding and obnoxious about stupid, insignificant details. "....this is what eventually drove me to give up interior design and go into art full time, the design side was fun but dealing with spoilt people obsessing about possessions all the time really sucked the joy out of it! Anonymous has had some pretty extreme events in her life, but the lesson is so valid, at the end of the day, does any of this REALLY matter in the overall scale of things. So your philosophy of enjoying it and taking it in your stride is right on the button!Suzi-khttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00338300048993883066noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16634800.post-81624898007214682882008-01-14T08:10:00.000-08:002008-01-14T08:10:00.000-08:00I could absolutely have written your "dithering" p...I could absolutely have written your "dithering" post myself. I too was an interior designer (and taught) for 25 years, found it a delightful pursuit, and was constantly amazed at folks who hated it and were more than willing to let someone else take charge. I'm so hypersensitive to my surroundings that I find such an attitude odd.<BR/><BR/>We have the same sentiments about travel reminders and pieces passed on by loved ones. I have a sure sense of what I am comfortable with and what feels like <I>my</I> skin. But because I was (still am to a degree) exposed to so many design approaches, my problem is often that nothing seems new or fresh to me. I am in the 11th year of most of the same delicious draperies I designed when we built our third house. Because I don't want to replace what was very expensive to create, because I still like them, and because much of what I see that is "new" is just the same ole, same ole. Then again, my bedroom is having its second incarnation and I still haven't got it right. Sometimes interior designers are their own worst clients.<BR/><BR/>However you arrive at your decisions, they are lovely and I enjoy getting to be a decorating voyeur to your process.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16634800.post-24734358185109053722008-01-12T19:59:00.000-08:002008-01-12T19:59:00.000-08:00I just wanted to say, Terry, that your home has al...I just wanted to say, Terry, that your home has always felt lovely --lived in and delightful and not at all intimidating. Or at least not until I start to look closely at things.<BR/><BR/>Your knowledge -- that new things become old -- is a life-shaper -- I love a variety and change and routines that involve my favorite coffee cup and the mirror in the hall way. And mostly I don't dither -- after all, it's easy enough to break the ugly dish you bought by mistake _- or take it to a potluck and leave it there. I've never built a house, so that might bring out the dither in me. But then, I don't think I'll find out in this lifetime anyway. I liked the way you sorted out your kitchen design, although am I wrong in thinking that the original impetus has now been discarded, but the rest of the design stands?<BR/><BR/>Anyway, I can't wait til we get back to Portland to see the new place. Loved the kitchen tiles.<BR/><BR/>JuenAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16634800.post-87679446280492702092008-01-12T11:51:00.000-08:002008-01-12T11:51:00.000-08:00Decisions like this used to paralyze me. Then, in ...Decisions like this used to paralyze me. Then, in the last few years, my husband was diagnosed with aggressive prostate cancer, my 25 year old daughter was diagnosed with thyroid cancer, and my 23 year old daughter was raped - while PeaceCorps-ing in Africa - by a man who very likely is HIV positive. Now I don't care a whit what my kitchen cabinets look like.<BR/>BarbAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16634800.post-82993949354113746972008-01-12T10:31:00.000-08:002008-01-12T10:31:00.000-08:00I've made so many costly decisions in my life (cos...I've made so many costly decisions in my life (cost me money and years of happiness) that I am a champion ditherer. It helps me make leaps of faith to watch people like you, Terry. And I'm glad that you aren't saying that your choices are not snap decisions--that thinking about what you want, what makes you happy is an on-going thing. I think that's where a lot of us ditherers get into trouble. We don't think about how our surroundings effect us, so that when we suddenly have to make that decision--we're paying a designer to get started or the calendar says, "it's now or never"--we fall apart.<BR/>I have a friend who is starting the building process and said that they would be buying second-hand cabinets, "just to get us in sooner--we'll get the new, pretty stuff later." There was a sigh and the indication that was a necessary sacrifice.<BR/>I said, "Who knows, you may love the second-hand ones..." That's one important thing I've learned from you, Terry--new isn't always the best.<BR/>There was a pause and everyone in the conversation looked at me like I had lost my mind. I'll have to remember and quote you, "things are only new and perfect for a day, so I've learned to love things that are old and imperfect."<BR/>That philosophy has made every place you've ever lived warm and comfortable for everyone who enters.<BR/>~BeckAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com