This birdcage is one of my favorite things. I don’t have a bird. I don’t need a big huge 3 foot tall bird cage. I didn’t wake up one morning saying “this is the day, I shall buy me a needless birdcage”. I was out, I fell in love, I had the cash. I bought it for love, not knowing where I would use it and decided it was worth the risk and that I could make it work. On the drive home I had decided it would look striking on my dining room table. When I got home, I forgot, we had a chandelier and the cage wouldn’t fit. That forced me to try it in our bedroom and it worked beautifully.


Over the weekend I was hanging with my our family at my sister’s house and my dad mentioned something about me carrying around my fabric all the time and how people approach shopping for their home. He asked a question that he probably doesn’t remember even asking, and that got me thinking.

There are two kinds of shopping and shoppers.

1. Need Based Shopping/ers. You need a kitchen table so you save the money, measure, take a free Saturday and don’t stop until you find the right table.

2. Beautifying State of Mind Shopping/ers. You are out for whatever reason, you see something you are drawn to, it’s affordable, you LOVE it you might not know EXACTLY where in your house it will go, you just know that it will GO.

I would dare to say that most of the people reading this blog have experienced shopping method number one.


And, with this audience, I think lots of us have a beautifying state of mind. And we beautifiers can take it too far and have closets full of empty photo frames {or birdcages} that we love and were a great price. We can mistakenly make a purchase that we just didn’t need and cannot use. We have to watch out for that. We could learn a lot by the strictly need based shoppers.


However, I’ve also shopped with people who have agonized over a purchase. They have found something for $7.99 that they love and they stand there in the store paralyzed with fear. Should they buy it? Where EXACTLY would they put it? If it’s a frame, what photo will they put in it? What if they hate it. Never mind, it might not be the perfect shade of silver.

To those people I say, try it. Don’t take that kind of risk with a sofa but, do take that risk with a decorative pillow. You can always take it back. And, before long, you start learning what will work and what won’t and you’ll have to return things less and less.


I’m not advocating shopping as a past time. Nor am I saying that you should purchase anything you love if you can afford it. But, I am saying, if you think that you are strictly a need based shopper and then wonder why your home doesn’t seem finished, you might be stuck in the details.

I tend to be a need based shopper with the big things and have a beautifying state of mind with the small things. If I’m at a yard sale and something is 50 cents–no question, if I think I can use it, I’ll try it and if it doesn’t work I’ll donate it. I also think it’s great to shop with a friend who is the opposite type of shopper as you. You kind of balance things out.

armoire:need based shopping/stuff on top:beautifying state of mind

But, for any of you out there that feel like you can’t make a small purchase that you can afford unless you know the very place it will work perfectly, I ask you to take that risk. If you truly find the item beautiful and think it would enhance your home, check out the return policy and just try it. Take it home, try it out 37 different places and start to learn what you do and don’t like and what does and does not work. It’s not rocket surgery, it’s beautifying your home and it’s supposed to be fun!

What kind of shopper are you?

UPDATE::

It’s been 18 months since I wrote this post and I still agree with the two kinds of shoppers analogy.  I also have sold all but one big birdcage.  Over time, I’ve figured out what I love and what I don’t love and finally felt free to get rid of some things even if they are beautiful.  I still believe that there is a group of people out there who are afraid to make any type of home purchase, no matter how small~and those people could use some practice.  I also found myself keeping my “buy it if it’s $3 and I love it” mentality even after I had enough stuff.  So now, I am purging.  It’s really been an eyeopening, enjoyable process.  Read more about it here.

*****