The idea for this post came from an Andy Warhol book. An odd, funky, artsy book about how Andy Warhol liked to hoard things. Actually, only one of the chapters was on Andy. The other chapters focused on other famous people and one weird, fascinating fact about each one. It was an offbeat book that instantly appealed to my offbeat sense of humor and style. But maybe I should start at the beginning.
I’ve always bought books on Amazon. Out of convenience, mostly, because it’s easy and fast. And despite knowing that there are independent bookstores near me that I could be supporting instead. I’ve always felt a teeny bit guilty about it, but it didn’t stop me. At least not until the other day.
The boy and I were out running errands and we took a trip to downtown Sykesville. We made a few stops – the running store, the chocolate and wine store (genius combination, by the way), and a small home accessories shop. And we went to the bookstore.
Despite the convenience, Amazon isn’t really a site for general browsing. You need to know what you want before you can start shopping, even within a category (try searching for just “books” and you know what I mean). But when I walked into the local bookstore that day in Sykesville, the first thing that caught my eye was a table at the front with a display of books, including, you guessed it, the Andy Warhol book. I picked it up. I held it. I read the back, leafed through it, picked several random spots to read. And because it appealed to me, I bought it. It was something that I would never have stumbled across on Amazon. And if I had limited my book purchases to Amazon, or hadn’t considered walking into the local bookstore that day, I would never have found this book.
In a way, home improvements are a lot like my book shopping experience. There are a lot of magazines and websites that have tons of ideas (I can spend an afternoon on Pinterest or Houzz and not even realize that four hours has gone by). The problem is that it’s easy to get overwhelmed or not have any idea what to search for. And that’s where you sometimes need the local connection – the individual with the skills and expertise to ask the right questions, steer you in the right direction, and come up with ideas or a plan. Or maybe even to just grab your attention and get you started, just like actually seeing and touching my Andy Warhol book did for me.
So if you’re thinking about a project or are just kicking around ideas, and have gotten overwhelmed in Pinterest, or Houzz, or even your local Lowes or Home Goods, give us a call. We’d be happy to provide advice, guidance, and most importantly, the personal expertise and skill. In the meantime, I’ll be enjoying my Andy Warhol book and planning more trips to my local stores.
