3.25.2010

Help needed: shell game

Lovely readers, I need your help! I know most of you don't have time to comment on here regularly, but if you could take a second and give me a simple "option 1," "option 2" or "you're a crackhead - I say neither," that would be so appreciated!

Here's the conundrum:

I absolutely love Sherry and John from Young House Love, and am so impressed with how they've renovated their 50-year-old house - not to mention their awesome design skills on a budget. Ever since I saw this photo of their kitchen (below), I've been totally into their clam-shell-as-fruit-bowl. See it peeking out from the counter on the right-hand corner?


Here's a close-up:

Pretty cute, right?

I don't need a fruit bowl (we already have a tiered thing-y [that's the technical term for it] that we use for fruit), but I love this clam shell dish nonetheless and am sure I could find a home for it somewhere. I even saw the exact same one on Cougar Town last night as a mail bowl in the front hall (crap, did I just admit that I was watching that show?).

So my question is this: I have a few options for buying this seashell bowl, but can't decide which way to go. I need your help!

Enter option 1:

This is the exact clam shell from Sherry and John's house. It's from Z Gallerie (here) and costs $49.95. It's made of resin and it's 12" x 20". Don't mind all the filler-junk (bark, ephemera, etc.) shown in the above photo - just think about how cute it looked in the Young-House-Love-ers house.

Option 2:
Okay, admittedly, this one probably looks pretty gross because it's set up with ice and actual oysters in it. Ew.

Here's a close-up in case all the crap on the table above is too distracting:

This one is from Pottery Barn (here) and was originally $139 (woah there), but is currently on sale for $99.99. Before you freak out over the exorbitant price tag for a knock-off crustacean, consider that I have an $82 credit to PB (that I haven't found anything else pertinent to use on), so that makes this shell only $18 for me. Just got a whole lot better looking, right? This one is sand cast of aluminum with a polished finish and is food safe (I'm not sure the Z Gallerie one is).

Option 3: neither. Why buy a giant shell for the home without a solid use in mind first?

So whaddya think? Option 1 - the Z Gallerie shell at 50 bucks; Option 2 - the PB shell at 12 bucks (with my credit); or Option 3 - neither, and I am pyscho for being that into shells...?

Looking forward to hearing back from you on this or any what-is-sure-to-be-entertaining commentary on my thought process and shell obsession. :) Thanks for any help!

8 comments:

  1. this is a hard one. personally i'm thinking 3 but that's just me.. but if you love it, why not? i think the first one is better looking but if it's not food safe then the metal one is more versatile. and you'd use that credit.

    oh, i'm no help... sorry!

    if you're not absolutely certain then i'd say wait a while. there'll be another seasonal sale before you know it, or an even cheaper knock-off. :)

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  2. I like option 1 the best because it's more pure white but with white counters it may look washed out. Option 2 looks better with white suroundings.

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  3. I like the first one MUCH better! It seems more like something you could have miraculously found yourself, and the silver one is a bit more like something you'd find a drag queen wearing as a hat. But I love that white one!!

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  4. I agree #1 is the best bet - but, I'm not really a shell person.

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  5. Oh yah def like the white shell better than the fake silver. But it is 18 vs. 45. Toss up...

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  6. I like #2. Sorry folks, it will cost her 18 dollars. Or maybe #3 and don't waste the money on a giant shell.

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  7. You know I'd never spend money on that crap. But my house also still looks like I'm in college, so...... if you wanna get one, I'd go with #1. :)

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