The Hellhole

Sunday, November 06, 2011

Where the heck do people buy bathroom ensembles, should they find themselves in need of one? I know it's possible, I've seen them - not just in magazines, but in some of my friends' houses. Our front bathroom is near enough to completion that it was time to start thinking about towel bars and towels and mats and stuff so we went shopping today. We got some hardware, then went to four different stores (Macy's, JC Penney, Anna's Linens, Bed Bath & Beyond) for the finishing touches, only to find that each place had a hefty assortment of some, and occasionally most, but in no cases all of the stuff I needed all in the same color.

I don't think what I wanted was particularly unusual. I wanted a bath-mat, toilet lid cover, shower curtain and at least two towels all in the same solid color. I want too much, it seems. (Rocky Horror moment: "I ask for NOTHING!" "And you shall receive it - in abundance!") - but really, are those items that autre, and is it that unusual to want them to be the same color? Alan wanted burgundy accessories and I had in mind that dusky purple that is popular right now, but any of several other colors would have worked for us and for the bathroom; however, none of the stores had all of the (four! count 'em, FOUR!) things I wanted in any one color, whether choice one, choice mildly acceptable, choice hideous or otherwise.

It is similar to my problem in buying bathroom hardware - if you need a shower head, you need faucets, and is it really - REALLY?!? - that odd to want them to match? What the hell.

Ultimately, I bought burgundy at Penney's: bath-mat, toilet lid cover and towels. We bought a clear shower curtain liner at Bed, Bath and Beyond but still do not have an actual shower curtain. I shall endeavor to order one online, but while I'm sure they are out there, I won't be able to color-match using my monitor, and mismatched colors will distress me. I'm like that.

I'm not so much p.o.'d at this point as puzzled. Is what I want that unusual? Do people not try to color-coordinate things any more? Why is it apparently impossible to buy a set of things that actually match???

3 Comments:

  • Bath mats have been the bane of my existence. I have about 6, but none of them, none, match any of my towel sets. A couple come close, a yellow, a blue, even a gray, but they aren't a match to the towels. When we were in SF I had only one set of towels due to storage space, a gray set that matched the gray leaves on the shower curtain (I hate shower curtains), and I had a bath mat that was sort of the same color. I used that particular set of towels because it was so neutral and did go with the mat and curtain, but I like to change out towels each week with different colors. Now that we are back in Fresno, I can do that. Heck, I even have two bathrooms in which to do it. But, thank God, no shower curtains here.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 9:54 AM  

  • You should start a business called Matching Sets and help other people in need. :-) I agree, though, it does seem obvious that all those things would come as a set - from somebody, somewhere.

    By Blogger Anonymous Me, at 6:53 PM  

  • You are probably going to have to get a (gasp!) printed shower curtain with your burgundy in...that way, if it isn't an exact match, it won't really show that much....sigh
    Nancy had a good idea!

    mom

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 11:47 AM  

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