Our New Saying and the Almost Disastrous Bar Stool Purchase

Well, I might be a little dramatic using the word, ‘disastrous’, but then again I tend to get a bit extreme when I obsess over things…

Recently, we ordered bar stools for the kitchen of our ski condo in Vermont.  The old stools were a bit worn out from many years of renting the place and it was time we replaced them.  I spent a good month or so traveling to different stores, armed with paint samples to hold up to every stool I could find.  I finally settled on the Mason Bar stool from Pier 1 Imports.  I chose the rust color after rummaging through every leather swatch about 63 million times.  The rust color looked like it would work well with the olive colored walls in the kitchen.  Of course, I was a bit nervous but then again, I wouldn’t be me if I wasn’t nervous about making a big purchase.

I waited until the stools went on sale and we ordered four of them to be shipped directly to Vermont.  We had our rental agency deliver them to the condo so they would be there waiting for us on our next trip up.

The few days before we left for Vermont, I stopped by a Pier 1 Imports store – a different Pier 1 than the store I browsed through to find the swatches.  I was pleasantly surprised to see how many bar stools they had displayed on the floor…until I saw the red one.

Ew, that’s an awful color, I thought to myself.  Then I took two steps back and looked at the stool again.  OMG!  That’s the rust color!…the one I ordered – or should I say the four I ordered!  I hated it!  It looked red…and not a good red – an ugly red.  I don’t know if it was the fact that the stool was next to very dull colors or the fact that the lighting was different but I was not happy.  I raced home to check online to see if the order went through.  Well, lucky me…I received an email just hours before that my order had been SHIPPED!  Just great.

Killington Vermont

Killington Mountain

Fast forward to the night we drove to Vermont.  During the 4 1/2 hour road trip, all I could think about were those stupid bar stools.  I drove my husband crazy planning what we would do if we hated them.  We didn’t really have many options.  There is no Pier 1 Imports close by to return them and there was no way we could fit all four of them in the car so we could drive them back to New Jersey to return them.  We figured we could always ship them back and pay a ton of money to do that.  Not my husband’s favorite option.

Throughout the drive I imagined all kinds of disastrous scenarios.  Here are a few comments my husband had to suffer through…

…”I think the actual red was much brighter than the swatch….They are totally going to clash with everything in there….What if the red is really red?…What if our kitchen ends up looking like a 1950’s diner?!!…Just great, we might as well paint the tiles on the floor in a black and white checkered pattern to match those stools!…Heck, let’s go out and buy a Juke Box to go along with our new theme!”…

Yes, these were the actual comments pouring out of my mouth.  My husband is a saint to put up with me.

Now my husband knows when I really like something.  I usually cannot contain my excitement and I say “It’s perfect!” a lot..like all the time.  When our cabinets were installed in the new kitchen, “Oh, they’re perfect!”, or the transom window, “It’s perfect!”, the plantation shutters in my office, “They look perfect!”  He has heard me say it over and over again through the years…

When we arrived at the condo, the huge boxes were sitting there waiting for us.  We opened the first box and pulled out the bar stool.  I stood there staring at it for a moment and said, “You know…they’re not terrible.”

And he replied with his sly half grin, “Great!  Not terrible is the new perfect!”

And from that moment on, we have been using “our new favorite phrase!”

Pier 1 Imports Mason Bar Stools

And honestly, they are not terrible.  In fact, I actually like them.  The color was what I expected when I originally ordered them.  They blend well with everything in there.

Mason Bar Stools

The stools are comfortable and lighter than the previous stools that were so heavy they made a scraping sound on the tile whenever we moved them.  Dare I say, they are perfect?  No, but only because that would mess up our new favorite saying…

Not Terrible is the New Perfect - The Story Behind our new phrase. Calypso in the Country Blog

I really need to learn to relax about these type of things.  Just think of all the time I wasted obsessing over these stools for nothing!

Now if I could only adapt my new carefree attitude when it comes to choosing counter stools for our home in New Jersey!  No, I haven’t made a decision on those yet!

And now on top of that…my kids are wondering when we are going to get that Juke Box!

Do you ever obsess over purchases?

 

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12 Comments

  1. LOL! I could definitely relate to this post and the needless worry over things. My husband is actually very relaxed about stuff like that which is very helpful to me when I start to obsess. And I really like the stools. I am always amazed at how differently colors can appear in different spaces. Have a great weekend!

  2. Oh Shelley… my middle name is OBSESS! You would think that I would have gotten more relaxed with age. On the contrary, I have gotten worse. I think the chairs look great. How fu to have a condo in Vermont! Enjoy your weekend!

  3. Oh Shelley… my middle name is OBSESS! You would think that I would have gotten more relaxed with age. On the contrary, I have gotten worse. I think the chairs look great. How fu to have a condo in Vermont! Enjoy your weekend!

  4. I could probably count on one hand the number of times I've obsessed over something. It's just not in my makeup, and I make decisions about furniture, color, etc., very quickly. As for the new barstools, I think they are perfectly not terrible!Warm hugs,Carol

  5. I think they are perfect for your space! One year we bought our first artificial tree. After decorating it and standing back to admire our work, my son said "Well, it's not too ugly". That tree is still among our multiple Christmas trees and is still referred to as "not too ugly" every year. I understand where you are coming from!!

  6. They are pretty and I bet they are comfortable…which most barstools are not. The only hitch for me would be when something's not perfect or just ok…I tend to keep looking. Do you?Thank you so much for linking with Thoughts of Home on Thursday. We are thrilled with the turnout and so happy to have you. :)Pinned.

  7. I Love this!!Not terrible is the new perfect! My new mantra!Thank you so much for joining Thoughts of Home on Thursday!We are so glad you are here!Pinning to out TOHOT board.

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