my love/hate relationship

i have to say to was a little POed when i opened the new pottery barn kids catalog. there on the glossy pages in front of me was an oval crib just like my daughter's....one that i searched long and hard for, going to another state to b.braithwaite in order to order a "unique" crib. i love my stokke crib and the unusual shape and the fact that only two companies offered oval sheets. i wanted to be slightly different, on the cutting edge b/c after all i am a designer and people expect things. pottery barn is a massive design source for the general public and a leader in design trends. it's even a style that my clients describe themselves as wanting..."the pottery barn look". i continued to flip through the magazine when i arrived to a giraffe propped against the wall...another sigh of disappointment. my husband and i spent hours painting this giraffe (we rented an overhead projector, i had the giraffe bodice printed onto clear projection paper, and we sat there at night and traced and painted it onto the wall). now there is a wooden cut out available... finally, i arrived to the fabric page, there sat all of my designer Hable fabrics now available on upholstery offered through pottery barn. i cannot compete with pottery barn prices and Hable fabric is in the upper $100 a yard w/ a minimum order of 3 yds. huge sigh....

so you are probably wondering what the "love" part is in my relationship w/ pb after all of the hates i just listed....well, i think it is a great source of ideas and they do a really good job of creating a look that appeals to the general public and designers alike. they just make my job a little harder at times when they pounce of something that is usually offered "to the trade" only. but that is my job, to be on the cutting edge and constantly searching for the latest and greatest...