In my mind, I am the star of my own reality show. The focus and subject changes often but in the last few weeks I have been on a very long and drawn out episode of “Design Star,” a reality competition you would find on HGTV. In this version, I’m the only contestant, so the fact that designing one room will take me months instead of hours shouldn’t bother me – but it does.
In the long drawn out process of updating the master bedroom from our home’s previous owners, I have learned that I do not like to be wrong. I have also learned that I will suffer rather than admit to blemishes on my shopping record.
The bedroom walls have turned from discolored cream to a calming blue and the swirling orange carpet that frequently swallowed my dog’s fur got hauled to the dump and was replaced with new flooring. That’s when I saw a local department store had white down comforters on sale for 75% off. It would be the next step.
Once I got there the light and medium weights had already been picked up, so there was one left in the “extra warmth” weight. My usually decisive manor was challenged – I really wanted this style of comforter, but I was sure that the extra warmth comforter would be too warm. I spent 30 minutes in front of them, trying to figure out if I should take the plunge.
As I had the comforter in hand and was still hesitant, a customer walked by and said, “Oooo, which one are you getting? I got the extra warmth comforter yesterday and I love it!”
She said she could probably even use it in the summer. Sold.
I could hardly wait to get home and put it on the bed. When I spread it out, it looked beautiful. I loved it. I couldn’t wait for bedtime to experience the luxuriousness of this new comforter, fit for high-class travelers at a ritzy hotel.
My excitement faded within the ten minutes of trying to fall asleep – I was roasting. When I finally did fall asleep, I had a dream of being trapped in a sweat lodge for eight hours and another that I was a wrestler in training, trying to cut weight. This went on for three nights. I didn’t want to admit that I had bought a comforter that was too heavy. (Of course, Terry was perfectly comfortable; he’s usually colder than I am.)
I had to do something to reclaim my restful sleep. So I experimented with the heat controls.
The next night before I went to bed I turned the heat down two degrees, though I didn’t tell Terry that right away. Still too hot. The next night I turned it down three degrees. Almost there. The third night I turned it down four degrees and it’s just right. The downside is, it’s chilly in the house in the morning. The bright side is we’re sleeping comfortably and saving money on the heat bill.
And most importantly, I didn’t have to return the comforter.
Through this entire process I just kept thinking back to the “Design Star” show and I am amazed at what they can create in such a short amount of time.
My season of the show is going to take years, especially with these kind of setbacks