Being a residential designer is wonderful for the most part, but just like any job, it has its good days and bad.  I consider a “bad” day one where I end up spending all day looking for a certain piece and then end up leaving the showrooms empty-handed. (well, empty-handed of tear sheets at least)

Of course interior design has a lot to do with talent, but I also think that it has a lot to do with luck.  I may have the perfect size/shape/color/pattern/texture of an object in my mind, but alas, not one showroom’s inventory will seem to want to agree with my vision!  I usually end up being a bit of a perfectionist on my projects and refuse to give up looking for the perfect piece until I find it.  But the funny thing is, six months after the project ends, I will randomly stumble upon that perfect object- funny how it works that way?

{House Beautiful}

So why do I bring this up now?  Well, I have been looking for a very particular large scale, wall-hung mirror for a client’s dining room for the past three weeks.  I’m not talking about casually browsing stores.  I’m referring to the kind of search where you obsess over it constantly- stalking every store’s catalog, internet site, and showroom for this object (often checking multiple times a week just to make sure that perfect piece didn’t arrive while you were sleeping the night before).  The never-ending search where you start to put social engagements and other work second to the quest for this object.  Any spare time is spent looking for it and even a trip to get gas in your car, ends up turning into a “let me just run in next door to see if they have something…”

{House Beautiful}

It would be fine if we had the time to wait for a custom mirror or for new inventory to come in, but my client needed the mirror for a party on the 16th and as noon rolled around today, the hope of finding it in time was not looking good.  By this point, I had given up on finding the perfect sized mirror before Saturday night, so was willing to compromise for something a tad smaller, a mirror that could at least be a “stand-in” for the party.

Enter- Home Goods.  I randomly made my bi-monthly stop at Home Goods today and guess what I found?  A mirror!  And not just any mirror- a mirror for $150!  One that would work perfectly for the time being and not only that, it looks EXACTLY like the Mosaic Mirror currently on Horchow’s website that I’ve always loved (but is currently back-ordered until March and retails for $450)

{Home Goods Mirror}

{Horchow Mosaic Mirror}

Who would have thought that the best mirror we’ve seen thus far would be from Home Goods of all places! I guess you just never know.  All’s well that ends well, I suppose, and if my client ends up loving it, hey, you never know, we just might keep it as more than a party prop!