to beautify every inch of your home or not to beautify every inch of your home, that is the question

As I said the other day, I had to buy containers (what else?) at The Container Store (where else?) to store all of our pasta, grains and assorted other foodstuffs. As I was in a shopping mood, still triggered by our visit to Foster's homeware in Philly, I wandered over a few aisles and found this clear plastic pebble-like sink mat by InterDesign, a favorite houseware brand of mine. My first instincts were, "Yes, I do want to create that faux Zen feeling in my sink!" and "Yes I do deserve to look at something lovely while I do the dishes, to brighten up an otherwise mundane, seemingly never-ending task. Seemingly, ha. It is never-ending."

And then my second instincts said, as they can do in their doubting, practical, undermining any spontaneous pleasure sort of way, "But wait, is this sink mat just going to create extra work for myself? Will this mat be working for me, or will I be working for this mat, cleaning it in addition to the stack of dishes? Will I become obsessed with making the clear pebbles sparkle? That can happen you know."

Luckily my first instincts won out, and I plunked down the $9.99 at the register, and strolled down Lex on my merry way to the E train on 53rd, swinging my bag filled with joy, containers, and a brand new pebble sink mat to brighten up my mundane existence. Doesn't that just tug at your 'nesting' heartstrings? Well it should.

The InterDesign Pebble Sink Mat, in situ