It’s “Tis-the-Season” time, and that means two things: gift buying, and entertaining, both of which usually mean shopping, something that can be a bit of an exercise in stress if you’re a socially-awkward person like myself.
I can easily craft a menu to feed fifty, but being as I’m a female married to a tech-geek person even more socially awkward than I am, I also unfortunately inherit the things that I have no especial gift at, like shopping for everything (clothes for both of my boys included) and making a home look pretty with decor.
Read: more pleasing to look at than four walls and a couch.
So you’re probably unsurprised that I think online shopping is the cat’s meow, because anything that means I can avoid a crowd is OK by me. I was an early adopter in the days when it was pretty much books and CDs only. But there were some things that I didn’t get around to adopting online shopping in, because being a socially-awkward visual-type person means I often like to see before I buy: clothes, decorations, and that sort of thing.
Clothes is probably not uncommon, but even in brick and mortar stores, I always had trouble seeing a lamp or rug by itself and envisioning it as part of a working experience.
Then Shop.ca invited me to come check out the Apartment Takeover with 800 SQ FT. INCIDENTALLY, if you’ve ever thought idly about joining the tiny house movement, this may also be up your alley.
At the heart of 800 SQ FT. is Nike Onile, a lovely woman who I had a chance to meet there. She specializes in decorating small spaces, and specializes is indeed the word. While I’ve been out of the apartment life for the better part of ten years, I have to admit my attempts at decorating even a larger space pale in comparison. Nike’s choices were chic and gracious both. Despite the small size of the apartment, she managed to fill the space with personality and life without filling the space, if you get my meaning, right down to the perfume and shoes found in the closet.
In a world where it’s easy to accumulate too much, she managed to have a clean, comfortable, well-organized space stocked completely with stuff that was purchasable online at Shop.ca, and I got to be one of the few people who got a chance to check it out in person. The photos are amazing, but as a person versed in the magic of the frame, I found it impressive to see it’s actually just as perfect beheld by the eye.
And it wasn’t all just eye-candy. Not only did I get to see beautiful things in action in a way that made sense to a visual person like me, I got a chance to see some really cool gadgets, too – ones that not only seemed like they might be perfect for him, but ones I started to covet myself. Okay, mostly I’m talking about the Bang & Olufsen BeoPlay A2 wireless portable speaker, a device the size of a medium-sized paperback book that not only had clear sound but managed to put out a surprising amount of bass when sitting unobtrusively in a bookshelf cube.
I can’t decide whether this should be Merry Christmas to him, or whether he’s on his own… I covet this little speaker thing that sounds like it is made out of awesome. (Yes, my husband and I actually have quite a bit in common; we are both nerds).
But in all, it was a great experience. I enjoyed meeting the people behind Shop.ca and being able to see and touch the items that would be available online: great, high quality items, tastefully curated into a lovely home experience. And I think I’ll be back there, shopping for Christmas.
