There are certain stores that I frequently visit because the style of their wares blends seamlessly with the style of my home, and I can easily picture most anything on the display shelves meshing with my own collection (Pier1, Target, Crate & Barrel). Then there are stores that I love to peruse, but the complete night and day difference between their styles and mine makes me feel like it would be impossible to integrate anything without doing a complete overhaul on my home decor. For instance, I love shabby chic, but I think my whole house would have to be done up in shabby chic decor for it to work. Since I am not willing to scrap everything and start fresh with new furniture, window treatments & the whole shebang, shabby chic is not the style for me.
This is the feeling I always get when I visit Restoration Hardware. The style is so particular, so specific, that I think it would be hard to work any of it into my current furnishings and not look really wacky. Plus, most of it is way above this shopper’s price point. While in the RH store in New York, I saw these little book bundles that really intrigued me. For $29 you can own a random assortment of “antique” books having had their covers ripped off and bound with twine.
Or for less than $5, you can get some bargain bin paperbacks, rip them apart and tie them together yourself with a piece of kitchen twine. My local used bookstore has a Free bin outside. I mean, is this what we’ve come to? Is the need to add style to your home via random looking items (tchotchkes) so great that we would spend good money on something like this? And if you’re thinking that it might be a cool grab bag of genuine antique books…think again. The stack I saw in person contained a Dean Koontz novel!
I’m not trying to hate or anything. If you love these, more power to you! I have a glass doorknob sitting on a table in my home. Maybe this seems wacky to you. And we all have our own likes and dislikes. I just can’t stay silent when there’s a more affordable method available to us. Wouldn’t you rather spend $29 on a great coffee table book that you can actually read?
Please weigh in…I really love hearing your take on things like this!
