Blog Gossip and a New Mirror. But Mostly Blog Gossip.

Let's play Find the New Thing! Can you find the new thing?
(No, it's not the dog. We are not getting a new dog anytime soon, unfortunately.)

I wasn't going to write this post, because I figured it's boring to see pictures of the same bedroom over and over and over, with just one small change in each post. So why did I change my mind? Because there's discontent in Blogland. Have you heard everyone talking? Here's what they say:
a) Sponsorship is killing design blogs. Everything looks the same, because all the bloggers get the same crap for free. It's kinda true. b) People are sick of design blogs that just show perfect before and afters, without explaining the design process and the time it took to achieve the results. Yeah, that's not so helpful. c) Stop the sponsored posts for Kiwicrate and fancy water filter pitchers, already!!! Seriously, stop.
I've been sitting on the sidelines, silently agreeing that sponsorship is boring and the step-by-step process of putting a room together is interesting. But mostly, I'm thanking my lucky stars that I'm not a Big Famous Blogger whose blog is scrutinized because it Says Something about The State of Blogging. I'm just quietly decorating a house, y'all. No important social commentary to see here! Gradually, it dawned on me that:
a) I'm not a big sponsored blogger, and maybe what I'm doing will interest someone because they haven't already seen it. b) I enjoy seeing the gradual process of building a room. Even the mistakes and missteps interest me, because I can learn from them. My favorite bloggers blog every. single. item. they add to a room. I like seeing how the rooms change with each addition. And I'm not the most unique snowflake ever, so maybe you like that, too. c) It could be worse. At least I'm not pretending to write a post about party planning when I'm really pushing a fancy water filter pitcher at you!
That's why I'm telling you about the new Safavieh sunburst mirror over our bed. We needed something BIG on this wall, and I wanted it to have a modern look. The furniture is very traditional, and I didn't want the art to push the room into Grandma territory. A sunburst mirror is traditional enough to work with the furniture, but this one is more modern. It reminds me of Curtis Jere's Mid Century Modern sea urchin wall sculptures.

Curtis Jere sea urchin sculptures. For sale at AntiqueLane on etsy.
They're gorgeous, right? Sadly, they're not in my price range. A LOT of big mirrors and wall art aren't in my price range. Big = expensive. So when I found this 40'' wide Safavieh mirror for $83, I was excited. FYI, I always have good luck with Safavieh. The quality is high, the price point is reasonable, and I like their Transitional look. Their stuff says, "Grown-ups live here. But not boring grown-ups."

So I ordered with confidence. When the mirror arrived, I was a little surprised because it was more copper colored than I expected. But I like the way the warm copper color plays off the bright green curtains, so it's all good. When we walk in the room now, it looks welcoming and finished. The rest of the room needs work, but the first impression is good.
If you're really observant, you'll notice that I temporarily moved the marble lamps from our living room into the bedroom, just to see how they would look. Meh. Those big, boxy black shades block the windows more than I'd like, and the heavily veined marble looks too busy here. That rug is busy enough for the entire room! So the lamps have already been moved back in the living room. But hey, I learned something: Smaller lampshades on simple lamps look best in here.

The old lamps are back. And the room looks so different at night, without natural light.
Do you have any big design projects planned for this weekend? We're weatherstipping windows and insulating the attic. Yawn. I hope your project is more exciting than ours!