Six months or so ago I discovered a small rip in my quilt. I started thinking about the pros and cons of getting new bedding. Six months may seem like a long time to mull over a new blanket, but as you may have read elsewhere on this blog I’ve been on a Stuff Boycott. I’ve been purging large amounts of my stuff, only occasionally replacing it. For every five pieces of clothing I’ve gotten rid of, I’ve probably bought one replacement. So new bedding posed some interesting questions.

First, did I really need a new quilt? One small tear hardly seemed like enough to warrant a whole bedding overhaul. Second, what kind of comforter did I want and how much money was I willing to spend? Did it need to be “green”? Third, was this something I could wait on and ask for for Christmas, or was I going to be picky about it? 

Part of me was also holding out in the hopes that I would buy a house, and would replace lots of things like my bed, my couches, etc. As I roamed the stores this holiday season looking for Christmas gifts I was, however, taunted by the bedding sections of department stores and my local TJ Maxx. Down comforters were practically leaping off the shelves into my arms. But I had decided long ago that I wanted to pick out exactly what I wanted, not leave this up to someone else, so I left “new comforter” off my Christmas list.

But the post-Christmas sales have enticed me to finally take the plunge and give my bed — and to some extent, my couch — a makeover.  A 50-60% off sale at Kohl’s got me a new duvet, and 100% cotton down-comforter. A trip to TJ Maxx got me two new pillows for my bed, and a set of new throw pillows for my couch (the old ones are looking pretty ragged, and one was recently thrown up on by my cat, and I have sentimental reasons for preserving them so they’ll be moving to my office).

As you may have heard, however, the east coast was recently blanketed by a snowstorm. There is at least a foot of snow outside of my house, and after driving home in the snow on Sunday — which I did so I could find the driveway and shovel it once before it got too bad — I wanted nothing more than to have my new bed all set up. Alas, I ordered the comforter and duvet online and it hasn’t arrived yet. I was left with my old quilt, a cup of tea, and my pesky cat to keep my warm.

Maybe, if I’m lucky, I’ll have it all together to kick off the new year with a new bed.