I think I’m a certifiable addict. Seriously. I’m having cravings that I find impossible to deny. My hands ache at the prospect of fulfilling my desire. My head is spinning for another chance to let it all go.
Yes. I’m addicted to design. Why can’t Betty Ford help *me*?
I am dying to attack a room with paint, interesting furniture, and stylish chatchkis. Please, I really need someone to save me; it’s all I can think about. I need to find paint under my fingernails after spending several consecutive days smearing a bright, bold, take-you-by-the-throat color all over someone’s unsuspecting wall. I need to rearrange furniture, or better yet, go out and buy all new furniture! I want to build an ottoman with my own bare hands. I want to sew curtains, arrange flowers, lay down unique floor rugs, create original artwork; I want to channel the essence Ralph Lauren, Piet Mondrian, Hugo Boss, or Sir John Soane. Anybody, any style, any room, any color scheme, just please, please, please, let me design something!
I haven’t had Design Fever this bad in ages. Have a room that needs to be done? All you have to do is pay for materials and maybe lend a hand with some of the hard labor, the rest I’ll do for you. All of it. I’ll give you final say and all, and I’ll even be nice enough to incorporate your own tastes and such.
This is awful. I need an outlet. I’ve tried designing stuff on the computer, I’ve tried drawing, I’ve tried painting, but it’s just not the same. It’s not the same as coming up with a complete and all-encompassing plan, and then creating it with your own mind and body, seeing the finished product. Having a room you can inhabit, surrounded by your colors, your objects, your imagination… and to do a whole house. You have no idea how much I want to do that. I don’t have to own the house; I just want to do a whole house. Several consecutive rooms - following a theme - and yet all unique in their own way. It’s the ultimate challenge.
Ooo, or commercial design… restaurants, bars, hotels, offices… An entirely new world of functionality.
I think I’m going to pour over the new Ikea catalogue that came recently. I don’t think it will help allay the fever, but at least it’ll give my mind fuel, some more things to think about. It’s something, as small as that something is.
*sigh* You know the worst part? My friend Sujit was just on this reality show where they were redoing him from the aspect of dating style. Apparently the show has some kind of style consultant that is supposed to help with your living environment. The show spent something like $500 on his Manhattan apartment, and you know what’s sick? They didn’t even *do* anything. They bought stuff, threw it in the apartment, and called it a day. That’s not style! That’s not design! That’s buying stuff and throwing it places. There’s no cohesiveness to that, there’s no overall design. They went to the Bombay Company of all places. For some reason, from what I’ve seen of Sujit’s apartment, that doesn’t even really fit! It’s not Sujit. A good make-over show should know better. I did my entire basement for $600, and I think the basement is far larger than Sujit’s whole apartment. If I can do that room – including furniture – for only $600, I could have easily redone Sujit’s entire abode for $500.
Why can’t I find one of those shows and take over? I’d kill to be on Trading Spaces. I think, honestly, they should have a few special episodes where they pit regular people like me against one of the “designers” on that show, and see which room comes out better and on a tighter budget. I won’t mention any names, but there are certain designers on there that resort to wallpaper borders and tacky 80’s colors that are so passé, they can’t even be considered retro and hip. That’s not Interior Design, that’s decorating. There’s a difference.
Okay, sorry, now I’m getting all hoity-toity. Sorry, I don’t mean to be, it’s just frustrating, you know? If Wallpaper-Border-Cop-Out Lady can get on Trading Spaces, they should give a few teenagers a shot. Namely, me. :)
I still say Changing Rooms (the British version which inspired Trading Spaces) is way better than Trading Spaces. The designers work on a tighter budget and yet their designs come out looking far more professional and put-together. They look cohesive, like they’re a full Look, not just stuff thrown in a room with a cool color on the wall. There’s so much more to interior design than that. It’s not just painting walls.
Dang it, I need a house. Or, just some person with an empty house that needs a little help. I need to get this redesign bug out of my system before I rip my room apart. And I know my parents would not appreciate that.
