Friday, July 29, 2011

Tommy Smythe And I Cried


So at the beginning of the year, our Master Bedroom was put on my goals list to get done. You know my whole goals for 2011, thing. {Throat clearing} Please don't remind me that it's the end of July and 2011 is rolling on by......


The room itself has been on the back burner for years, I piddle in there from time to time, a project HERE, a project THERE, but finalized? Nope. Which is why it made it onto the goals list in the first place. Get.it.done.Michelle.


Thanks to the wonder that is Pinterest, I have been pinning all sorts of inspiration pictures (wanna see? Click HERE). I am a big fan of Tommy Smythe's work so it was no surprise that I loved this room he did. This is a guest room in his home, I think I read that somewhere, you can correct me if I'm wrong....


I love the grass cloth walls, the mix of furnishings (and wood tones), the super big lamps, the touch of orange, cause you know I love orange, and the pillow with the pom-pom fringe. Yes, the pillow. I zeroed right in on it. Floral without being too girly, perfect colors, I needed black, orange and browns too, and who doesn't love pom-poms? To me, it is the perfect pillow oh, and Justin liked it too. I fell deeply in love with the fabric and I went to town tracking it down.










This is opposite the bed...











I did tons of googling, tons of reading, finally found out it was from Schumacher. So I spend a good healthy chunk of my life searching on their website for the fabric Tommy used. I couldn't find it anywhere. All I needed was a name, for crying out loud. Nothing. Out of desperation, I emailed Kirsten. I didn't think Tommy would answer my email(s). :) Thank the Lord she recognized it and sent me the link (thank you Kirsten!). I couldn't believe it, finally, my search was over. I promptly sat down, slapped my hands together, warmed them up, giggled a little, getting ready to write an email to Schumacher. I had it all planned out: I needed to inquire about the cost of the fabric and if I could pre-order.....I've got a doctors appointment in St. Louis in August and they have a showroom there, I thought I could just pick it up then. I was on the ball with this and really excited! This fabric was going to be the thread that tied everything in the room together for me. We are talking pom-poms here people! I was on top of the proverbial fabric world!




Well, I'm not a very patient girl when it comes to these sorts of things. I had emailed Schumacher over the weekend and I just didn't want to wait for a reply......I started thinking, since I have the name, color and sku number now, maybe I could find a source online and just have it shipped to me and won't have to wait till the middle of August.... man, I'm smart.




Just look at it, isn't it beautiful?







So I googled the name and color, got hits right away. Bingo! Click on first link.





I'm excited! I'm so....Wait a minute.





That says $151.20. Blink. Blink. Blink.



That can't be per yard, can it? Blink.



That can't be right, let me read the description.



Yes, here we go....100% Linen, Yes. 58" wide, nice. Unit of measure? Yard.



Yes. That's per yard.



Oh.




I was heart broken. I just hung my head and cried. The PMS wasn't helping, but I still think I would have cried either way.



Reality check. There goes my champagne taste on a beer budget again! All that work for nothing. I definitely got my hopes up a little too high and came crashing down. I'm pretty much over it now.... Although I whined to my MIL and even called my sister to share the news of the "fabric that got away". So what have I learned? Keep your options open!! :) I have found some other Tommy-esque fabric and even some coordinating....all in my price range and budget, but I'll never forget my first love. :) Oh, and Shumacher if you're reading, don't bother answering my email, I got my answer.




So do you have any stories about something you just loved, but it got away? Do share.








Images via Pinterest







6 comments:

  1. Oh, I'm sorry about the fabric, especially after your hard work to track it down. My latest thing I loved that I cant *afford* is photographs of my kids. I found a wonderful photographer, and I was going to choke it up and pay the $100 sitting fee to get amazing pictures. Then--I found her price per print was $25 (for an 8 x 10). Let's see, that's 6 kids times three SETS of pics (for the grandparents, of course)...and I was quickly beyond broke! I may go back to Target...

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  2. I love that picture of your admired bedroom! I especially love the pom pom fringe on your dream fabric pillow! Have you seen Sarah 101? Their first episode, it was Tommy's idea to use the same black pom pom fringe on the curtains. It was absolutely stunning! So sorry to hear of the cost of your fabric... I'm sure your replacement will be just as good or not better!

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  3. In the 70's we had that kind of wallpaper and our cats sure loved it!

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  4. When I saw that it was Schumacher I knew it was going to be expensive...Schumacher is used at the White house :) I am sure you will find something just as good. Following you on Pinterest now..addicting isn't it?

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  5. Korrie, I have a photographer friend that offers a price on just a disk of the pictures (so you can print yourself)....I wonder if your photographer does that.

    Emily, thanks. I've got to see if they have Sarah 101 online, I don't have cable! :)

    Stephanie, I do love pinterest! Thanks for following along. I have even been able to "shop around" especially for fabrics. It's convenient too!

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  6. I can truly understand how you feel. True story....the same thing happened to me a few months ago. I kept looking for this gorgeous Trina Turk fabric, finally found it online and it cost a whopping $100+ per yard!! I was heartbroken. One day about a week later I was browsing through my local fabric shop and found the exact fabric for $10 a yard!!! It seems the fabric ream had a slight discoloration going down one side of it. I was able to cut that part away and use it for my project. All I can say is....God is good! So don't give up just yet, you never know.

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Thank You for taking the time to comment! Because of the insane amount of spam comments, I had to stop anonymous comments-sorry for the inconvenience.
Michelle