Quirky, Functional or Fancy-Schmancy?

You never want to exit an establishment’s restroom and think, “Yikes and yuck!” Some businesses understand the value of providing a completely positive experience and some don’t. In all fairness to businesses, an unexpected spike in customer activity or one sloppy patron is all it takes to ruin a restroom visit.

The kids at our house rate public restrooms. According to their system, the highest rated ones usually include several touchless features. If the restroom contains automatic-everything, including a door that pushes out so you can avoid touching the handle, well, that room could easily rate an eight or higher. Of course, tasteful décor and cleanliness boost ratings, too. Some establishments put as much thought into designing the restroom as they put into the rest of the facility. Take a peek at a few award-winners:

Who ever thought a restroom could win a contest? Restrooms like the one in the Shoji Tabuchi Theater in Branson, MO don’t come cheap, perhaps it’s too lavish for your style. If restrooms reflected personalities, which type of restroom would reflect you—quirky and unusual, functional and utilitarian, or extravagant and fancy-schmancy? Why?   

Pillow Talk

Pillows—mounds of them certainly make a bed look more comfy.   I wandered through our house and found that we have over twenty pillows, and that’s just in the bedrooms.  Is that too many?  Whose idea was it to decorate a bed with rows of pillows, anyway? Did interior designers and pillow manufacturers conspire to make a fortune with the pillows-on-the-bed trend?  Some people really get into it and, at some point, it changes from simple decoration to a collection.  Mountains of pillows taking over the bed remind me of the Beanie Babies phenomenon.  Did you own any? There are adults who were crazy about them.  You knew it because those colorful, animal-shaped bean bags filled up their dining room china cabinets and graced their fireplace mantels.  The serious collectors had beanie faces staring out of the living room window like greeters welcoming you into the house.   

Alas, I digress. That’s a post for another time.  Let’s get back to the bedroom.  In the evening, our decorative pillows are neatly stacked into a nearby pile and come morning, they’re lovingly rearranged on our bed—day after day after day.  I don’t think my husband sees the point of this routine, but he humors me.

Check out this video of someone else who has pillow questions:

Whew! This makes our twenty-three pillows seem like nothing!  By the way, is that lady snooping? She sounds like she’s using her I’m-not-supposed-to-be-doing-this voice.  Then again, the boy’s room was picture-perfect, maybe he tidied up just for us.  That boy had a bunch of pillows! 

More than seven pillows on a bed seems excessive, until you consider my theory.  Maybe pillows are our attempt to have a personal sanctuary by creating a comforting environment that whispers security.  In a culture overflowing with busy schedules, a shaky economy and sky-rocketing unemployment, a mountain of pillows on a bed says, “You’re all right and everything is under control.”  If multiple bed pillows aren’t your thing, what offers you peace and a sense of contentment?  Is it your favorite lounge chair, a heaping portion of mac and cheese, a hug from someone special, or is it something else?