Furniture Shopping

In the afternoon I went to look for some end tables. I meant to buy two after I moved into my house in Kirkland, but never did.

So I went to a large store, and spent an hour prowling the floor. I wish I had my camera with me, because I could have taken pictures of some of the most spectacularly ugly table lamps I've ever seen. Metallic bulbous bases, romanesque naked baby lamps (er... I mean "angelic sculptures"), it was all there.

My furniture tastes run towards the simple and plain. Rectangular. Wood. Straight. Minimal carvings, inlays, or clever patterns. Basically, I like the selection at IKEA! :) Most of the furniture at this store was elaborate - nearly every coffee table and end table had inlaid stone, glass, metal, or elaborately carved legs. After searching the inventory twice, I settled on a set that looked nice to me, which only had a small wood groove pattern. I also found two lamps that were thin and silvery-metallic in color, which would go with the other stuff in my living room. These lamps were $200 a piece!

A salesman had come by twice while I was looking, so after I decided what I wanted, I found him and pointed out the lamps and tables I wanted. He wandered off and got distracted by a couple. I watched him type on the computer and talk to them for at least 15 minutes, and then they all walked off somewhere. At this point, I decided to leave - evidently he was too busy to finish my order. That is a good thing, I didn't need to spend $400 on two lamps anyway!