The overwhelming effect of choice

I hate going to shopping centres. My wife loves it. She can spend hours window shopping, looking at little cute teddy bears, browsing for the latest in dishwashing powders, staring at the shelf with cups on unable to decide which set is going to go best with the cow-print kettle that she brought back from a shopping spree in one of the numerous charity shops that she visited in the UK, and which I then banned into one of the kitchen cupboards never to be brought out again… (I lost that battle in the end. The kettle even moo’s when it’s boiling!)

When I go to the shops, I know what I want. I have adequate research put into it over the internet. I walk in, pick it up, pay for it, and leave. I do not easily stop along the way to look at the new vacuum cleaner that’s out, or a new magazine; I might, however give a glans at the new braai utensils; but what man can resist that? The subscriptions I like to read, I order, and those get dropped off at my post box. Call me boring, but I am not a big fan of wasting time.

And the worst for me is to shop for clothes. I loathe it! I feel uncomfortable standing in the shop looking at the new pink jersey that they want to rub off on me as being ‘manly’. I do not know what would look good on me, I do not want to experiment with it, I do not want to go into little cloakrooms where the smiling attendant/security lady hands me a number that indicates how many pieces of cloth I am carrying into this restricted area in which I must change clothes more times in two minutes than what I usually change in a week.

So I normally walk into one of those dreadful places where all the men look like zombies not really sure what they are doing there themselves, try to look at some clothes, try to remember what size I am, getting overwhelmed, then agitated, and then I leave without buying anything.

And inevitably, the clothes that I do have, wear out, start to look shabby, and start screaming at me to be replaced. But usually I do not adhere to the plight of my garments, and I keep looking shabby.

So on my last birthday my better half decided enough was enough, went to the place that she loves and came back with gifts for me. Clothes!

At first I thought that I have never seen so many new clothes on our bed before. But then I started wearing them, and guess what; I love it! It’s stylish, it’s new, I do not look like a hobo anymore, and – would you believe it – she even says that I look sexy; what a joy to have new clothes.

After a while I decided to try again. I went to the shops, walked into one of the clothing stores, got overwhelmed, and left, knowing that I am not cured. Shopping for clothes is just not for me!

“But,” thought I “I still want to look good, I still want to know what would work on me, I still want to look totally adapt for my profession, I still want to be presentable. So, maybe I should get an image consultant.” I don’t know if there is anyone that supplies that kind of service, but if there is, it would be rather nice.

Then, a couple of weeks later, (I had long ago already forgotten about the ‘image consultant’ thought) I walk into a prospective client’s house. A huge house. A house with so much potential to be exceptional; except for the fact that it isn’t.

This house, with all the potential in the world, is painted in a normal beige colour. Well chosen white couches in the beige living room. A large mirror against the beige ‘feature wall’ (‘feature wall’ between brackets because at the moment it’s just a freestanding beige wall). A lovely glass table in the beige dining room. A nice black TV unit in the beige TV room.

Nothing, not even paintings against the beige walls of the beige passage. A very modern kitchen with beige walls as backdrop. The main bedroom has a very nice king-size bed with beige walls. The beige bathrooms, the beige patio, the beige everything.

If I look at my hands in that house, my skin looks beige. Everything is bland. Nothing exciting, nothing original, nothing that can make any kind of impression. If someone were to want to complement them on their house, the only comment could be: “Wow, your house is kind’a big…” In essence, the place is boring. And a lot of the houses that I see are like that.

When you ask a person why their house looks like that, the answer is that they don’t know what to do, they don’t know who to ask, they don’t have the energy to research their options, they don’t know what they like, and the list goes on and on and on.

This specific client’s answer was: “Well, I’m just too afraid to try something that might not work”. And it is at that instant that I thought of my absolute unwillingness to browse around in a clothing shop.

You see, my reluctance to look for clothes is because I do not know what would look good. I do not know where to start looking if I were to try to find out. I am overwhelmed by the enormous options available. I’m scared to ask questions because I might look like a fool if I ask the wrong ones to anyone that is in the know, or even anyone in general, because mostly all people know more about clothes than me; I think.

I hate to look stupid, so I rather do not wonder into those shops; for fear that I might look at woman’s clothes instead of men’s clothes because I might not know the difference. And I think it is a problem with most of the people who know their house is not in the shape that they want it to be, but does not know where to begin, and as such never start.

And this is where I come in. Like the image consultant that I would like to tell me what would look good on me, both for my professional interactions, as well as my social ones; my company has set itself up to be ‘interior lifestyle consultants’. We know all the products that would suit your style and preference. We have already done the research and have already negotiated with all the suppliers. We know what is modern, what is classic, which products are better than others, what colours goes well with what others, what styles would match your particular tastes, and we are very, very good at it. We also know how overwhelmed you must feel: you see, years ago when I started this business, I also did not know what was available. It too was like a major mountain for me, and I also needed advice.

A nice advantage of my company’s offering is, instead of just giving you advice like the image consultant would do, we offer advice, and make the clothes: we will design and implement the designs. We can cater for all your tastes, simply because we know what it takes to bring it all together, and as such I have all the up-to-date knowhow of which products are better than others.

This puts you in a position whereby you will be able to make informed decisions, because I will inform you. It also puts you in a position to be confident about you choices, and to be proud of the end-result.

This is what I do, and what I love doing. If there’s an image consultant out there you can give me a call. I might need new clothes soon, and I need advice on a new hairstyle!

About the author: Michael Pretorius is an experienced interior designer and owner of Creative Touches interiors. For more information you can visit www.creativetouches.co.za or call him directly on 082-392-3336