Difference in feel?

[Olga Meerson]

it has something to do with the verb: many Russian verbs begin to behave like verbs of motion, and even if they are not supposed to, when the expression sounds non-idiomatic, a Russian ear catches on to the logic of the game, also appreciating the novelty and defamiliarizing effect of the newborn expression. Remember our famous discussion of Robert's (and my) difficulty with translating Platonov's "ia umru k tebe"? 

Back to the question at hand. Vybirat' mebel' v kvartiru may sound weird but pokupat' mebel' v kvartiru is comparatively normal, and pokupat' mebel' s gostinuiu or zerkalo v spal'niu is almost OK. The precedent and prototype of the verbs of motion and what they govern makes these expressions not clear-cut idiomatic or non-idiomatic but rather creates a continuum of sorts. It is one of the many mansions providing room for linguistic games, new tropes, and other poetic beauties in the Russian language.
o.m.

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