paisley and the pup

Confession time: I'm kind of a home-decor nut. I do things like sketch room designs, sew throw pillows, paint, and sand down chairs for fun. HGTV is my favorite channel (David Bromstad anyone?), and a not-small part of me wishes I'd studied design. I love making spaces beautiful.

My apartment here is not beautiful. Think blank white walls, mismatched furniture, scratched parquet floors, and rust stains on the side of the refrigerator. It's been difficult to balance my need to live in a space I think is beautiful, with the transiency of this position and my limited budget. So far, I've been leaning heavily to the don't-spend-money-you're-moving-in-a-year side.

But this weekend, I dared to step into Zara Home. With Gwen refusing to sleep on the floor (what is she, a dog or something?), my comforter was starting to look a little battered, and I decided that a duvet cover was a practical investment: first, I'd be able to wash it, without needing a week of line-drying; second, I could find something that would do a better job of camouflaging dog hair; and, third, gosh darn it, I just wanted something that made my room feel like home, like someplace I would choose to spend time.

Gwen approves

I ended up with paisley, which is my favorite print ever. It may sound silly--it's just a duvet cover, fer Chrissakes!--but I feel so happy every time I walk into my room now. So was it a bit of a splurge? Yes. But was it worth it? Definitely.