How Creating the Salvaged Spool Ottoman Cured My Impulsive Buying

Whenever I find myself in a Marshalls, HomeGoods, Target, or any other touted discount spot, I often see women looking at, or purchasing a single chair or ottoman. I want to run and grab it and throw it back on the shelf, ‘Noooooooo…’

Let’s assess. The fabric used, for good reason, is very sellable. Neutral, trendy, and a mediocre upholstery job, at best. Now, I’m not out to knock manufactured upholstery quality, but it truly is less than well done. I often wonder why a woman will quickly put a $95.00-$125 ottoman into her cart, but won’t purchase a well made, unique ottoman created by a professional upholsterer. I’m making tons of generalizations here, but you get the gist.

I think it comes down to a few things. First of all, I’ve been there. I was a part time stay at home mom who had a home based business. I used to stroll the aisles at any number of stores off and on, mostly for a short break and under the guise of needing to get something. Well, since I was already there, why not just take a look around the entire store. That’s when those impulsive furniture or clothes purchase decisions were made. It wasn’t out of need. It wasn’t well thought out. It wasn’t even very smart. It was just that I was hungry for that ‘hit’ that impulsive purchase provided me. It was for the feeling I knew was coming right after I put the item in my cart. If it was a home furnishing, the feeling was gone the minute I loaded it into my car. The clothes high lasted a little bit longer.

With years of distance from this kind of spending behavior, I now can now see much more clearly what motivated that behavior.  I bought stuff to get a feeling. If I JUST had that new rug, then my house would be better and I would feel ok about that room. And the feel, comfort, coziness of a room carried (and frankly, still does carry) lots of meaning for me. Ridiculous, right? Of course it is. The truth is we humans mostly buy the feeling we want to feel. In my case, I liked to feel the feeling that I could afford this purchase if I wanted it, I could make my home even more comfortable for my family, and I would be applauded for creating a cozy sanctuary for them. (Obviously, this was my need, not theirs.)

Back to the feelings we get from obtaining and possessing–just look at hoarders, impulsive buying gone haywire. The psychology of obtaining and holding onto stuff is fascinating and has to be addressed in another post. I need to gather more information.

This topic is more about what I’ve learned along my road of  ‘self work’, as they call it in the self-help and therapy circles. I’ve never had a problem with hoarding because I have a bigger issue with clutter. However, I did, and still do, make occasional impulsive purchases. While not enough to cause any real problems, the immediate gratification aspect of impulsive buying instead of planned, considered purchases is what needed to be examined. I had been trying to work on my own impulsivity in a number of areas. It’s an ongoing process. One thing I started doing was to turn 180 degrees the other direction when I found myself wanting something I didn’t really need. After resisting the impulse and regaining my calm, I decided to make something. It doesn’t really matter what I make, but the process is the key. Shifting from ‘I want…’ to ‘Let me figure out how I can create…,’ simply and instantly shifts my mindset. An entirely different set of thoughts fill my mind. Process, problem solving, innovation, creativity quickly replace longing, want, emptiness, and comparison. Frankly, it’s like a miracle cure for incessant wanting. It takes a little work and effort to create a regular maker practice. It really can be anything. Cooking and gardening rank right up there with making. It’s natural, healthy, creative, productive, and satisfying. Best of all, there are no bad side effects.

Why the ottoman picture? Decades ago, I was in a footstool/ottoman collecting state of mind. Whenever I found unusually made  pieces, I would do my best to obtain them for my collection. One day, I realized that I no longer vetted my purchases based on the one-of-a-kindness I found so attractive, but if it was simply an ottoman, I would get it. Looking around, my beautifully curated, eclectic collection had been adulterated by a few mass produced, cheaply made, bland pieces I could have found at any chain store around the country.  What had happened? I became focused on the feeling of obtaining it, rather than the feeling of it being special, unique, well made, a piece that was worth the effort. The clouds parted. I saw clearly.

That’s when the Salvaged Spool Ottoman was invented. I went out to my garage and grabbed one of the wooden wire spools I had salvaged from the electrical department at Lowes and set out to create my own ottoman design. It would keep my mind and hands busy, creative and productive. Within this process, my entire being was engaged in making something instead of wanting something. The leg choice, the fabric choice, the detail choice–all an expression of my own ideas coming to life. That process filled me up. And that was it. Making replaced wanting for me. It’s still doing the trick.