Ikea Nesting Instinct

I have tended over the last decade to fight against the Ikea Nesting Instinct.  It's not that I explicitly wanted to live in a messy or spartan environment, but I was intentionally keeping fixed expenses low in order to save money while having the budget for things like cars and planes.

Of course we were saving money on the chance that we might some day afford our own place in Santa Barbara.  Some day is now, and now we are... nesting.  We own a couch again.  We bought a television again.  (Our last one was a big, heavy CRT that was actually kinda state of the art for the time!)

Beyond the fact that we were living in small places, I've also had something of a rough relationship with interior design.  I don't like things that don't have uses.  No decorative fake plants.  No chotchkes, or souvenir drawers or anything that can collect dust without earning its keep.  I like horizontal surfaces to be free of any and all clutter.

On the other hand, some pieces DO earn their keep.  A table has obvious merit.  It keeps food off of the ground.  In some cultures, that's not a big deal but with the regular dog population in our house, elevated eating is awesome.

So we got a table.  We also got a television (pictured below over the mantle).  It's been about 3 years since we've had a TV and 9 years since we've purchased one.  I tried not to act like this guy in the time between.  I'm not sure if I succeeded.

Some assembly required, batteries not included, &c.

Look at that - we're pretty much master carpenters at this point

The dogs were interested but had given up by this point

Success!

We also got coordinated curtains and sheet set.  We'd had a Cal King for a while but never had a comforter to fit.  We just used several small blankets to provide coverage.  The matching curtains were perhaps superfluous, but as The Dude says, they "really tie the room together."

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