When it comes to decorating, one of my secret weapons to a perfect room, lies within the power of the price tag. Nope, it's not about buying things on sale, I mean I am a huge proponent of sale shopping, but that's not what I'm talking about.
I'm talking about leaving it on.
Wait, what? Leaving the price tag on?
Yup.
For how long?
A long time.
Well, at least as long as the store's return policy period. And maybe then some.
My kids constantly make fun of me, because almost every decor accessory in our house, has a price tag on it. You can pick up just about any dish, figurine or pillow around here and the tag is on. They say it's like living in a giant garage sale.
Why, you ask? What's behind this madness? Well, some of it's laziness. I mean after a while they should come off, but initially is all about removing the pressure to decide if my purchase is a keeper. Where I live, no tag means no return, even if you have the receipt.
I'm not indecisive by nature, but what looks great in the store, may not in my home. Or it may not function well, despite my thoughts to the contrary in the Homegoods aisle. I need to see my purchase in context and, especially in my new simplifying stage, I want to know if it's truly a necessity. Well, a decorating necessity.
What? It's a thing.
See this pretty pitcher that I featured awhile ago? It sits in my bedroom. I liked it on the shelf in the store and at home in the kitchen. It was all good for the first week, it was the new kid on the block and sat prominently on my counter.
However, what would happen in week two, if I found myself moving it out of the way all the time, because it was in my prep space or I needed to tuck it away and the cupboards were full? Hmmm. Maybe it wasn't for me after all. Maybe it would need to go back.
Good thing it still has the price tag on it.
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| I obviously kept it. |
How about these faux posies? I truly detest fake flowers in a vase, but these were so pretty in the store, so real looking and so white. They even look amazing in my black and white Instagram shot...
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| I kept these, too. |
...but what if I came to my senses in twenty eight days and remembered how much I hate the dust that collects on these pretties, hmmm?
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| Yes, the tags are on the birds. |
I have to really, really like a frame to buy one with a sticker on the glass. How can I get the full effect of the accessory and make a proper decision with a bright piece of paper destroying my aesthetic?
You see, if I keep the tag on, the pressure to decide if I really like an item, really want an item, really need an item goes away. I get the initial thrill of bringing my new treasure home, but I can take my time cultivating a look. I may love something in the store, but once home, it may not fit. Or it may, but I might need a bit of time to make that decision. If I rip the tag off, my window of opportunity is gone.
By leaving it on for a good long time, well, like I said, as long as the store return period allows anyway, I get the chance to live with my accessories.
Take this wreath, for example, it's made of dainty wooden flowers. By the way, much better than faux, just saying. Anyway, I wasn't sure if it was the right look or material for a steamy bathroom. I hung it up on an existing hook and left it there. I fell in love with it and it held up well, so I kept it.
It's been there for about two years.
And so has that price tag.
Ugh. Garage sale.
I hate when the kids are right.
Are you a tag ripper?
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Ummm, no. I keep the receipt. If a description is needed, I write it on the back. The ONLY exception is Vera Bradley...I take the tag off, but keep it in a separate envelope. Receipts are really all you need. Free yourself of those tags! :)
ReplyDeleteOh Vera Bradley, my favorite. I have a hipster in literally every color and pathetically enough, I keep the tag in the zippered compartment until I decide to wear it...and sometimes, even a little bit after. Clearly, I have a problem.
DeleteI too do the same thing with certain items if I'm not too sure if I will like it or how it will look in my house. You never know if you will change your mind if you like it or not! I agree with you.
ReplyDeleteExactly, Julie! I couldn't have said it better myself, you never know if you will change your mind!
DeleteHaha! This is hilarious Kim. I say if it works keep doing it. Personally I rarely shop and when I do it's online and I spend lots of time thinking about it because of the high cost of shipping so I rarely return anything. You have a beautiful home and I think it's great you have a method of keeping it looking simple.
ReplyDeleteI know, I’m a bit crazy! I actually never realized just how many price tags were peppered around the house, until I started photographing things today. I may need to get the scissors out and start cutting. I will start with that wreath in the bathroom. Two years? Yikes! ;)
DeleteWell I save receipts forever and they count for returning.
ReplyDeleteI hope you tuck the tag out of view . . .
Just save the receipt and you'll be safe!
Yes, I hide them away, for sure! ; ) If I could get rid of that tag I would, but where I live the stores will not take back an item without the tag attached…and don’t get started on receipts! I have too many of those, too! Maybe I should just stop shopping!
DeleteNope, I'm like you, I like to keep the tags on too, but I rarely end up returning them anyway, or forget to! LOL!
ReplyDeleteI forget sometimes, too, Vel!
DeleteI knew I liked you for a reason. I do the same exact thing. I'm not afraid to return something either so if I have any doubts, back it goes. My family calls me queen of the returns. Hey who wants to waste money on something that's going to get hidden in a closet after 2 weeks? Nope, not me. I think we'll be besties for life (in my mind anyway) ;))
ReplyDeleteHaha! Kindred spirits and besties, for sure!
DeleteWhen we moved two years ago I noticed while packing a few things that they still had a price tag on it. LOL I was kind of mortified to be honest. Still, I do sometimes leave tags on intentionally if I am wary of whether or not I am truly going to love the item. Oops.... I see one across the room right now. LOL
ReplyDeleteI should be mortified about the amount of tags in my home! I honestly didn’t realize there were that many hanging around until I started looking for them! Yikes.
DeleteI bet if your kids and my kids got together they'd have some great stories! LOL
ReplyDeleteI can only imagine, Susan. ;)
DeleteFun post.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you liked it Lorri, I hope you got a chuckle out of it!
DeleteYou're cracking me up! I leave the tag on glass things a lot of times because they are so hard to get off. I'll confess that if I find a great bargain, like your white pitcher, it wouldn't enter my mind to take it back. It would go in my cabinet for someday...and then probably never be seen again! You are smart.
ReplyDeleteHa! I'm glad I could make you chuckle this morning, Stacey!
DeleteHi Kim,
ReplyDeleteI have to agree with Stacey you crack me up too!!!!! I leave the tags a lot of times on the dishes because they are hard to get off but if you have the receipt you are good! My problem is I don't like to return things! You are smart to leave the tags on because that way if you lose the receipt you can still return the item.
Have a great Saturday. Great and fun post today.
Kris
I’m glad you laughed, Kris! I’m happy when people get the tongue in cheek aspects of my posts! I really do need to get rid of some of those tags though, when the kids said yard sale, they weren’t kidding!
DeleteI hear you on the point that what looks great in the store may not be so impressive once home. I usually move things around from space to space, room to room or just bring it up to the lake. The worse things I've done is tear off tags on clothes only to find I hate them. I'm learning!
ReplyDeleteJane x
My kids do that with their clothes, Jane, and it drives me nuts! I have donated more new stuff because of that. Grrr. I guess apples do fall far away from their tag clutching trees sometimes! ;-)
DeleteKindred spirits! You know that I do the same thing.... :-)
ReplyDeleteOf course you do!! We were totally separated at birth! :)
DeleteI do the same thing without consciously doing it! I do leave tags on clothes especially, and household items until I like it enough to keep. Or I cut them off and just keep them with the receipt. Most places will still take it back. You don't do that with food, do you??!! :-)
ReplyDeleteHaha, no! Food doesn’t last very long around here. I have teenagers! ;)
DeleteIt never occurs to me to return something unless it's defective. It would feel like "renting" rather than "buying"...and I don't think retail stores are in that business.
ReplyDeleteTruth be told, Donetta, I am not a big shopper, so I don’t buy that much, but when I do, if it’s not right, it goes back for sure. Thanks for the visit and weighing in!
DeleteI appreciate your gracious response to my comment, which was somewhat critical...and I also appreciate that you left a sweet comment on my blog! This tells me a lot about you, Kim...thank you. You are indeed a lovely lady!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much Donetta, what a lovely comment to receive. I really do believe that everyone is entitled to their own opinion and as a writer, I am happy when people share them with me. It’s the exchange of ideas that really excites me most about blogging! I hope you have a wonderful weekend, your warm words have just made mine! :)
DeleteHi Kim! :)
ReplyDeleteI loved this post and your honesty! :)
I too leave tags on because I am visual, I have to try things out in my home before I know if I love them.
That's funny about your kids bugging you about the tags...I give my mother-in-law a hard time because she still has the plastic on her lamp shades from 1970! ;) See, you're not that bad!
Hope you're having a great weekend!
Kimberley! Oh my goodness, the memories that just came flooding back...my mom had plastic on the furniture for YEARS! We literally had an intervention to make her take the off!! :)
DeleteGreat idea. I take mine off too fast and then have huge regrets.
ReplyDeleteI have made that mistake too, for sure, I think that now my pendulum may have swung a little too far in the other direction, though! ;)
DeleteThis is funny / interesting.....I'd have never thought of it until reading about it, as in returning it after a few days after one changed one's mind!
ReplyDeleteIt's that Depression Era mother voice whispering in my ear that gets me every time...do you really need this? Thanks mom! ;)
DeleteYou're so funny and we're so alike!! I do the same, because I might want to return it. I usually live with it for a week though and if it's not my thing, back to the store it goes. I'm a big online shopper, so it make returning stuff a little trickier.
ReplyDeleteOnline shopping is tricky! Unless it’s a store that has actual retail locations where I can return my purchase, I have to be very, very sure, before I click!!
DeleteKim, I found this very funny...until I realized I do the same thing with clothes--until I wear them! Since I mostly buy clearance and off season, that could be awhile ;) Very often what I like in the dressing room, I don't like when I get home! This comes in handy with zippered pillows too. Sometimes I need to "live" with a pillow a bit and it is really nice when you can zip the tag right inside!
ReplyDeleteThings do look different in the dressing room, don't they? Why is that? Some days I look better, others ugh, please get me out of there!! ;) Either way, yes, the tag stays on until I am home and certain!
DeleteKim, this is definitely something that you and I ... don't have in common. Well, maybe on clothes, but not decor items. I can't wait to get home and rip off those tags! Once in a great while, if I get it home and it doesn't work for what I had pictured, it goes even better in a different place with other pieces I hadn't originally thought of. My budget never allows huge buys, so maybe I just don't worry about it so much. I'm like your kids, all the tags would drive me nuts :)
ReplyDeleteCheryl, how could this be? We are so alike!! I’m just teasing. You are definitely more decisive than I and certainly more creative, moving things about and repurposing. I am glad you commented, it’s fun to hear everyone’s decorating tips!
DeleteAhhhhh... Yes. I take 'em off. :-)
ReplyDeleteBut if it works for you, to leave them on, then that's the cool thing, for you to do!
To each her own, say I. :-)
Monday morning hugs,
Tessa
To each his own...words to live by! :) Thanks Tessa!
DeleteThe only thing I ever left tags on were my stuffed animals as a kid. It wasn't because I was going to return them though. It was usually because it showed their name and the date when it was made and I thought it was their birthday. Didn't everyone give their stuffed animals birthday parties when they were 5? lol It drove my mom crazy.
ReplyDeleteOther than that, I take the tags off immediately, because I know I'll never return it. I'm horrible about that.
xo,
rue
Oh my gosh, I did that!! My kids did that, too. I loved that and remember the parties, wouldn’t it be nice to go back for just one day and have tea with your old fuzzy friends? I guess that’s what grandchildren are for, huh? Just now yet, please! ;)
DeleteThis is so great and true...I never remove the tags from things that stick to the bottom is or back. Sometimes not for years. So strange, but I just feel better that way. Have a great day!
ReplyDeleteAlexis @ www.chemistrycachet.com
It takes the pressure off for sure, Alexis! :)
DeleteAh, you never worked in retail, did you?
ReplyDeleteHaha! Michele, I hear you and I did! For years, while I was getting my teaching master’s I was a store manager for Esprit and The Children’s Place. I’ve also worked at Pottery Barn, Coach and Filene’s Basement. I remember those days when people used to return so much that we didn’t make our numbers for the day. Are you a retail girl?
DeleteI am the queen of returning! The queen. I normally take the price tags off if it's from a store that has an easy return policy, otherwise, yeah, I keep that baby on for the duration of the return policy deadline! ;) xoxo Jen
ReplyDeleteOh Jen, if only you lived closer we could shop and return, together!! :)
DeleteI mostly buy décor stuff in garage sales or thrift stores, so tags are not too much of a problem :^)
ReplyDeleteWhere I get into trouble is with clothing tags. I can't STAND a tag to touch me, so I take them all off/out....gone!!!
Then I find a problem with the item :^( You guessed it...off to the donation bin. I AM getting MUCH better though...but it's hard to teach an old dog new tricks!!
Blessings to you,
J
My kids ditch the tags often and then decide that they do not like things without ever wearing them out of the house. The donation people love me, too!! ;-)
DeleteI really enjoyed this post! LOL I never take tags off of clothes until I wear them. :) That lets me know that it fits and has been worn before. :) AND...it will also let me know that I have not worn something so I wouldn't duplicate the event with the same outfit
ReplyDeleteThanks for joining Cooking and Crafting with J & J!
I do the same with clothes, Jess. I have to be sure before I cut! ;-)
DeleteGreat post, Kim. Smart girl and I can totally relate about indecision. However, as of late I haven't bought much retail. Lots and lots of thrift store stuff where I do occasionally find price tags on the bottom of the item. I like it because it reminds me what a great deal I got. Hugs, Nancy
ReplyDeleteI just bought a wooden rooster for a few bucks at a yard sale, Nancy, and it still has the $18.00 price tag on the back. Ha! I get it!! :)
DeleteHi,
ReplyDeleteGreat post and idea. I take mine off, but I save the receipt.
Carla
My state is so funny, no tag, no return! Hence, my garage sale look! ;)
DeleteI am not much of a shopper. Sometimes I walk through the home goods stores and think of how cute everything looks....but I just don't enjoy buying things that i don't really need.
ReplyDeleteI should say that I like the idea of bringing something home, doing a little photo shoot and then returning it in perfect condition.
ReplyDeleteA true artist! ;)
DeleteLol! Kim, you make me laugh! You are just like my friend, Ann. At Christmas time she still had the tag on a lot of her ornaments hanging on the tree. Deciding whether or not she would keep them. Nothing wrong with that, but I am just the opposite. The minute I get something home, off comes the tag. I rarely return things, but luckily when I have needed to it didn't matter. A lot of stores have a record now even without your receipt. I bought a cover for our bbq for Fathers Day. I was sure it was the right size, so I threw everything away. Well, it was too small. It was pricey so I decided to see if they would take it back. Sure enough, with my credit card that I had paid with they could see what I paid and refunded me with no questions. Of course, I turned around and bought the next size that did fit. Thanks for sharing with SYC.
ReplyDeletehugs,
Jann
I would like to meet, Ann! We could share our propensity for decorating indecision! ;)
DeleteHmm. The person I know never returns anything, but is indecisive, so maybe that's why they keep the tags, in contrast to your reason for context. xoxo Su
ReplyDeleteI'm indecisive, too, Su! ;) But it's funny, even when I'm sure it's staying, I can't cut the cord...I mean tag!
DeleteIf your truly not that sure about buying something maybe you shouldn’t buy it at all. Buyers remorse. You need to set your mind free from anxiety of constantly looking at it trying to decide if you like it or not. Renew the mind with Bible reading and all of this worry will melt away and you will be free in your mind so the next time you go to purchase something you will definitely know if you to or not because you’ll have the Holy Spirit’s guidance.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment, Justine, I always appreciate when people take the time to share their thoughts and ideas with me. I wrote this post back in 2105 and it's partly truth and partly satire. I try not to take decor all that seriously, but I will say that in the past few years, I've shopped less and when I do buy, unless the quality is poor, I keep what I purchase and since most of it comes in the mail, there are no tags to remove! I hope you'll visit again!
Delete