I recently purchased this mirror to fill what has been an irksome empty wall space in our living room. But I’m conflicted.
photo from Home Depot
On the one hand, it’s a pretty decent looking sunburst mirror, it fits the space well, and it was very reasonably priced. That’s a lot of look for $35. And the mirror is convex, which is something I’ve always wanted but couldn’t afford. (Exhibit A is only about a grand over my budget. So close.)
On the other hand, I’m tired of sunburst mirrors (even though I’ve never owned one), this one reads a little too formal for us, and it’s just not as cool as the DIY project I had planned for that space (inspired by this).
Then again, it’s less expensive than my DIY is likely to be and who knows when I’d get around to it anyway since I have a million other projects on my list. (Don’t worry, I’ve only purchased supplies for about ten thousand of them.) Besides, and this is important, this mirror is already here, encouraging me to move on to other spaces and leave well enough alone. But is it really well enough?…
I treated Hubby to this stream-of-consciousness wafflefest the other night in search of absolution a solution. He hit me with, “Well you know what I’m going to say.” Right, I thought, hold out for what you really want. He tends to be a very prudent, do-it-right-the-first-time kind of guy. But he wanted to go ahead and hang the mirror, despite my talk of replacing it with a DIY as soon as I can and despite not actually liking the mirror himself. I’m still trying to process what that tells me about where we are in our renovation/home sprucing experience. Fatigue?
While I ponder that, I’m looking at this.
For the first couple days I was pretty sure I’d take it back. Then, true to personal form, I inadvertently nixed that possibility by leaving the packaging out in the rain. So we’re keeping it. It’s not awful; it’s really not. It looks fabulous in other people’s houses (like this and this). But in our house? Meh. I’m trying to love it, but so far it’s making me more committed to my original plan.
Oh, I’ve just made a deal with myself — just now, as I’m writing. I’m going to force myself to live with the mirror until I tackle a much bigger issue in the living room. Here’s a (terrible) picture of the opposite wall from about a year ago.
And here it is today.
What a difference a year makes. Or not. (Highlights here include the toddler sculpture on the coffee table and the antenna stuck to the wall with blue painter’s tape. Class, folks. Class.) I’ve had the art and the frames to fill in that ocean of gray for at least 18 months. No joke. So I suppose it’s only fair to prioritize this wall over replacing the decent-enough-for-now mirror. I guess. Ok, ok, it’s a deal. (But you should know that I am generally comfortable breaking deals with myself.)