Make it work

I've been watching season 14 of Project Runway with my kids.  One of the contestants, Merline, never stops talking/moving/dancing/singing.  In an early episode, she was repeating Tim Gunn's "Make it work" over and over, like a tic, or a broken record.

Make it work make it work make it work make it work.

I'm having a make it work moment.  I've been in my office for 3 months now, and I FINALLY ordered a desk chair.  (why are practical things so much harder to commit to than impractical ones?)  I knew I essentially wanted a tan leather knock off of an Eames management chair but spent a lot of time deciding between padded or ribbed, real leather or "vegan" leather (which really came down to budget.)  I finally pulled the trigger on the ribbed style, in faux leather.  It came quickly and then sat in a huge box for a week.

I unpacked and assembled it this weekend.  It is not tan.  It is brown.  Which would not be that big of a deal (tan will show more marks from blue jeans etc), except that this particular shade of brown CLASHES WITH MY DESK.  (a table I found on craigslist).

Ugh.  This is the danger of ordering online when the subtlety of the color really matters.

So now, do I disassemble the chair, repackage it, and haul the huge box away, and order a lighter, TANNER tan chair?  I am so not inclined to this solution.

Do I find a textile to fold and drape over the back?

Do I paint the tabletop?  (the base is ivory, the top is currently wood.)

I'm hanging art behind the chair but don't know what it will be yet (apart from a row of white frames with white mats.)  Do I choose something to draw the eye away from the desk-chair combo?

I love the idea that this space be somewhat minimal, without a lot of pieces and layers.  When you do that, in neutrals to boot, everything has to be just right.

This is a VERY easy mistake to make (and a difficult one to avoid when you can't see something in person.  I suppose the tip is, when ordering online, make sure the items you are ordering are in contrast colors to adjacent items.  Less nuance in color = more wiggle room).  Obviously it is my job to avoid or fix such mistakes--but it is much harder to do that for myself, on a weekend, than for my clients, as part of my job.

I can tell you this: I'm sitting in the chair right now and it is comfortable.  The thought of going back to the sagging upholstery of the vintage Milo Baughman chair I have been sitting on for weeks is NOT appealing.

Time to make it work.