Thea Harrison

With a blog post title like that, perhaps you might be looking for me to make a big announcement about an engagement (no), or a title of a new book sale (no).

Instead, today I’m writing about creating my new living space.  It is an interesting experience to get rid of all one’s possessions, which is what I did two years ago in order to room with family and pursue writing full time.  Another interesting experience is setting up house again from scratch.  For the last couple of months I’ve been hunting clearance sales and carefully piecing my place together, trying to balance a strict budget with the need to develop a pleasing living/work environment.  Some of it has been fun, but I’m not really a shopper so often it has felt like chore I needed to get through.

Then I found this and lost my mind:

I loved this piece so much, I had to buy it.  Thankfully it wasn’t too expensive–it’s a piece of furniture carried by Hobby Lobby, and I managed to get it for $113 and change.  The book ends are drawers:

In fact, I love this piece so very much, I had to order a second one for the other side of the couch.  It will come into my local store next Friday, and I can’t wait to go pick it up.  After all, when am I ever going to be able to match such a quirky piece again?  Probably never.

So while I am setting up my new home and focusing–most of the time–on sensible items on a budget, these two pieces I bought for sheer love.  I’m calling them my housewarming present to myself.

What sort of thing have you discovered that made you lose your mind?