For the fences, plant whatever nice vines you can get ahold of. Morning glories are a great place to start. For year round cover ivy works well, but it does take over. A clematis here and there gro...

I'm planning to do the same thing with some compact floor-seating cushions that are sold in a shop near me. They'll provide a back to my single bed futon, and in a pinch when my friends want to sit...

Bright colors. Blue would be great. Red would be overwhelming, but would go with the cabinets. Not orange, and yellow would be difficult. Green and purple would also be a bit difficult to pull off.

You open it if you need it. It's a gift. The host should really already have one bottle open, and when that bottle runs out--unless you're specially pairing the wine and food, and the gift wine wil...

Well--are the pencils good quality? How good?

Get shades that are sheer enough to let light in, but dense enough that you can't see through in a clear way. Dress all the windows with these shades. For the lower windows you'll be able to lift t...

That is an ugly fireplace. You could put a shelf over it, and then hang attractive fabric off the shelf and to the sides.

My curtains are somewhere in between sheer and solid. They let in the light, but I know that at night, no one can see anything distinct. That's the best of both worlds, to me.

I'm ready to believe that MSG is not as bad as it's reputed to be... but I have had the experience of eating (almost always at Thai restaurants) and saying "Wow, this is so incredibly delicious!" a...

All too often parents either don't know how to cook or don't teach. My family was more in the latter group--although my mom did teach me a number of useful basic techniques. I also learned just by ...

I adore a good nectarine too... but for some reason, my sources here just have crappy ones that are small and tasteless. Which means I might some day have reason to cook nectarines rather than eat ...

My thrifty concern is less with the economic crisis and more with our regular old finances. I still eat organics especially for produce. I'm making more things from scratch--at least y...

I kind of need to be able to reach the cabinets above the fridge--at least one of the two, which holds our snack & pasta area. So we don't keep much above the fridge--there's an ever present bottle...

I said no. Technically our rice cooker has a nonstick bowl, but I would have gotten a regular bowl if one had been available... it doesn't worry me though, since the rice cooker doesn't see the kin...

And then put the stuffiness back in ;) It is pretty though.

PS Don't trust the cats, no matter how they behave. Like I said, it's one thing with a bigger parrot. With a cockatiel, forget it.

You have to be realistic. The danger is not just at first when you guys move in together--it is every single day that the cats and birds live together. Cats can cohabitate safely with large parrots...

We had bedbugs once--never again, if I can help it.

I'm trying to find a yummy, reasonably healthy savory oatmeal recipe.

If I lived in that apt, I would do whatever it took to get a smaller tv. Sure, a giant flatscreen will look better than a giant big black one, but a smaller tv of any kind will look best.