eljayw's Profile

When I moved last I went through my books and got rid of the ones I was sure I'd never read again and meant nothing to me personally. There's no point in lugging those around, and culling them every now and then is a good idea. You don't need to keep every book you've ever owned, although it took me overflowing my bookshelves to accept that. The winnowing, however, still left me with hundreds of books. I currently live in a fairly large loft space, and am using a 5x5 Expedit as a room divider. It's full from both sides, and I still have a few books in boxes. It was a bit of a puzzle, too, making everything fit by balancing the deeper books on one side with paperbacks on the other while still distributing the weight evenly to reduce the chances of the whole thing toppling over.

Anyway, I think you should use this opportunity to evaluate your books, but keep the ones you want to keep. I kept two boxes next to each other when I was packing, one to move and one to sell. Label each clearly, and head to the used book store after each packing session. And try not to buy too many new books while you're there. ;)

Check out this fabulous sofa in Minneapolis:

http://minneapolis.craigslist.org/hnp/fud/2740930809.html

I so wish I had a place for it, but alas, it's not even in my future remodeling plans. Hope someone gets it who'll love it!

I also have the Strut in watermelon, and also have tons of tiny scratches and one small chip. I'm planning on trying a polishing compound to get out the scratches, but there's only so many times you can do that, and I don't want to damage the finish further, so I've been hesitatant.

I still love it, though.

I love the black marble oval version, but it's too wide for my space so I went with a blu dot strut in watermelon instead. I love it, but I still sigh every time I see one at the Room & Board outlet.

Beautiful.

Those of you who don't use fabris softener and don't have a problem with static, where do you live? I use a (green) detergent with fabric softener built in, and in the winter in MN sometimes the clothes are still clinging to each other when I take them out of the dryer. Climate makes a big difference!

I sleep hot, and am comfortable in low temps in general, but I live in Minnesota, in a loft with huge windows and high ceilings, and am a cheapskate. So I keep my thermostat set very low, and have an electric blanket on my bed. I turn it on 30 - 60 minutes before bedtime, and then turn it off when I go to bed. It takes the chill off the sheets and makes it so I don't lose body heat warming up the bed.

My boyfriend, on the other hand, is always cold at temps I find comfortable, so when he stays over he turns his side up to high to warm up the bed and then turns it down halfway at bedtime. That's the beauty of two dials -- you can each be happy.

Thanks!

If you're artistic, I'd try what retroseksualdotcom suggests above but paint on wood grain by hand in a dark stain before restaining the entire piece. The chunk on the back is pretty big, so it would be difficult to get it looking right, but the one on the seat should be pretty easy to do with a fine brush and a steady hand. And if you don't like it, sand again and don't worry about it.

Ah well. Thanks anyway!