Unlike my friends, I love spending hours in furniture stores.
My parents were real estate agents and took me furniture shopping almost weekly so they could find pieces for staging homes ready for sale.
I used to explore the beds, couches, and lazy boys while making dreams in my head about one day owning some of the luxury items sold in these stores. Although I had a decent setup in my room at the time, complete with a loveseat and a stereo system—it still didn’t stop me from dreaming about owning some of the luxury furniture pieces, including leather office chairs and real fur rugs. However, I became much more minimalistic with my tastes as I grew older. My first long term relationship was with a graphic designer who was heavily invested in the minimalistic aesthetic and it rubbed off on me. I stopped going to furniture stores and stopped buying flamboyant clothing as well. However, things might be different now that I’m married to someone who has completely different tastes. For example, my wife was telling me recently about our friend’s new hobby using rebar tie wire to make pieces of furniture. He made custom porch railing in the front and back of his house and he hasn’t stopped getting compliments on it since. This motivated him to make even more items using his favorite type 304 stainless steel rebar tie wire. Recently he forged a coffee table that has a frame made completely out of rebar tie wire. The surface is a large piece of glass he bought from a local glass dealer.