cindycindy's Profile

Yeah, I too have that same bentwood table... from Target. $59.99, I believe is what I paid.

The accordian valentine is really cute but... if anyone here makes that themselves, I'd recommend flipping the deer around to face the opposite direction. The comma looks like a poop.

-Remove all evidence of cat. Patch the cat door hole and paint the door either the new wall color like robotropolis suggested, or paint it brown to better match the wood trim (I used to live in a place where all the trim was wood except one doorway that was painted brown to match and it was a pretty effective trick). If you can't seamlessly patch the hole from the cat door, I'd replace the door. If you replace the door, replace it with a wood-toned one. It's that white door's fault that the wood trim looks out of place.

-Properly fix the moldy area.

-Clean like crazy.

-Paint the walls a light warm grey that goes with the flooring.

-If the house is going to be unoccupied, consider getting rid of that stove altogether. You can ask your realtor if this is a good idea. A missing appliance might be less of a turnoff than a nasty one that obviously doesn't fit properly in its space because of the wonky gasline (and it will save you the time and energy it would take to clean that thing).

Travertine bathrooms. Or any beige stone/faux stone tiled bathroom. They just look dingy, and so generically-Home Depot.

And BB&B/TJ Maxx/Hobby Lobby style art.I don't like word art telling me to breathe or dream or love, and I hate those creepy cartoony chef kitchen prints (the ones with the tiny heads and big pear-shaped bodies). But mostly I hate the color palette of that art. The colors are so muddy and unappealing -- browns, gross beiges, dirty oranges, too dark reds -- the "old world Tuscan" palette I guess. This carries over to a lot of the decorative items (throw pillows, etc) sold in those stores and that most non-design-blog-reading people put in their homes.

If there's one thing I've learned from watching Hoarders, it's this: where there are live cats, there are dead cats too.

If there's that many cats spilling over into your yard, then there's probably even more cats in her house. Unvaccinated, unneutered, uncared for. I don't think citrus or a sprinkler is gonna be anything more than putting a tiny bandaid on a giant wound.

And the cat problem is likely only the first wave of suck for you as her neighbor. You could be dealing with overwhelming odors and roach infestations that cross from her property to yours at the very least in the near future. The cats are probably keeping vermin at bay, but if the hoard's filling her backyard that's another issue you'll be dealing with and could end up in your house. Mice/rats/etc can carry all sorts of disease, and depending on what part of the country you live in, they can even carry the plague. The plague! Another thing to seriously worry about is house fire.

Sorry to be so alarmist, but having a hoarding neighbor can be a very dangerous thing for you. I don't think you can afford to not get involved. It's mental illness. It's not going to fix itself, it's only gonna get worse.

Howard's RestoraFinish would be easier than sanding, stripping or painting. It comes in a number of different tints. I usually use the walnut color, which is one of the mid-range colors, and that darkens most wood a shade or two. You could try the dark walnut or ebony, those two are the darkest tints but not always easy to find in stores. The key is to rub it on with 0000 steel wool rather than just a rag.

I've never really got the whole unsanitary thing. What do you all think people are doing with books/magazines in the bathroom that makes it so gross? Because, to my knowledge, it works like this: sit on toilet with reading material, do your business, put said book or magazine back down on shelf, wipe, pull up pants, wash hands, leave bathroom with or without the reading material.

The book never gets touched with dirty hands. So it's more sanitary than the toilet handle or your pants. No one goes through a Silkwood-esque decontamination chamber on their way out of a bathroom. All those pants-touching germs are left free to wreak havoc on the outside world!!

Cake...?

I would add "shop around" -- many sites are dropshippers or at least source from the same manufacturers, and you can find the exact item for sale at many places for as many different prices.

Area rugs are a prime example. Pretty much any rug at HomeDecorators or even Overstock can be found cheaper elsewhere online, often significantly cheaper. And always remember to search for coupon codes for the site you're buying from.

The lamp is (or was, as they don't seem to carry it anymore) from West Elm.