How Do YOU Shop??

I love to go shopping! I like to shop for clothes, shoes, make-up, but especially for my home. Today I am going to be talking about shopping for your home. Have you ever thought about your shopping style?

Yes, we all have a shopping style. I use to shop for, and with my clients. I would watch how they shopped, and what they were drawn too in order to get a better feel on how I could direct them in making choices.

I have found that we are all drawn to a particular  feature when shopping for our homes.

• color
• pattern
• texture/patina
• shape/size

I fall into the color category. I almost always shop by color. I am drawn to an object first by color. Let me give you an example that we can all relate too. Pillows!! We all love our pillows, don’t we?

First I will have a general idea of the colors I will be working with in a room. Of course it can change as the  design unfolds according to what is available. The first thing that will always draw me in is the color.

Next I will look at the pattern, texture, and shape or size.

 Years ago I read one of Rachel Ashwell’s books. She talked about how she shops at flea markets. She said she could scan a booth within seconds, and find the items she wanted to purchase. She did this by always looking for her signature soft color palette of creams, whites, pinks, greens, blues. 

We all know when something has a signature Rachel Ashwell look, after all she is  the one that coined the phrase, and the style of, “Shabby Chic.” She also said that she looked for texture as in cashmere sweaters, old blue jeans, which you would see her wear often. Then there is the patina or texture of her chippy white or off white furniture pieces and crystal chandeliers.

I was fascinated by how her mind worked. It made me think about my own shopping techniques. I realized that, I too shop by color. I mentioned in a previous post that when I was a teenager,  my Mom and I would go clothes shopping I would look at items based on a particular color of the day. It could be pink, blue, red, green etc.

We use to wonder what color mood would dictate our shopping day. As the day progressed it became very obvious to us both what was going to be the color of the day.   It was always fun to find out which was the color of the day. It was never forced it always just unfolded as the day went happily along.

On a shopping trip with my friend, Terri, from La Dolfina blog I observed how she shopped. She was unaware of my observations until I made her aware of them. If you have read Terri’s blog at all, you know she is a treasure hunter extraordinaire. She always finds such beauty in the unique.

I had so much fun watching her. She does not shop at a fast pace, but one of deep concentration. I discovered by observing her that she shopped by texture. If a piece stood out as having an interesting texture or patina, she was drawn to it. She would touch it, and I could see she was making up a story line in her mind about how special this piece was.

I told her of my observation, and she thought with a pause, and realized she did indeed shop by texture.

So think about it for awhile, do you shop by………

• color
• pattern
• texture/patina
• size/shape

However you shop I  hope you will always……..

“Enjoy the Process!”

Kathysue