Moryse Heron's Profile

I know how overwhelming it can feel -- the trick is to try to keep moving forward without worrying that you're missing something or not doing it "right".

Two years ago I did a sort of hybrid cure -- whole house and one room. Mostly because the whole house was in pretty good shape but my office needed a lot of work. I can't say that in Fall 2007 that one type of cure dominated, nor does it seem to me that it's more focused on one room.

To answer krissi: check out page 50. It gives the program overview. Week one focuses on the whole apartment; cleaning and listing repairs. You'll notice that cleaning takes place on weeks 1-7, so don't feel that you have to clean the whole place in one week!

Then page 54 has the details for Week One: make a complete list of repairs, vacuum and mop floors, remove one item, buy fresh flowers, sit in a part of your home that you never sit it.

Keep in mind that the list of repairs is just a starting place. At least, that's how I used it. I didn't complete all the repairs, but I made a thorough list and figured out which ones I should/could do first.

It can be helpful to take some photographs of your space. I find it easier to analyze things when I'm looking at a photo (I can distance myself from the negative feelings). Also, one of the best things about doing the cure as a group is that you can get wonderful feedback. If you can't figure out how to solve a problem, post a picture and ask! It really helped me to get unstuck.

While it seems like such a neat idea, I've never tried it because it's too hard for me to keep lots of seedlings watered. Over-watering and under-watering killed too many of my efforts until I purchased a reusable system with a water reservoir. But I start about 50 plants each year and have to keep the system in the basement (where I don't see it regularly and thus don't catch problems quickly). So my needs are pretty specific.

Even if that weren't the case, for anyone who has origami skills, the price is way too high.

Wow, it looks great!

I've heard a rumor that there's a pile of bricks free for the taking in my city, but I've been reluctant to try this because of the work involved. You've inspired me to reconsider it.

But I'm an old hand at re-using plant materials. I have expanded the garden beds to the front and sides of my house using plants from the back yard. Now, if only furniture and carpeting would increase over time like plants do....

Tomatoes are easy if (1) you have enough direct sunlight and (2) you water them regularly.

(This won't guarantee that you'll get the best possible yield, but you will get some fruit.)

You need at least six hours of direct sunlight to make tomatoes produce well -- sunlight early in the morning (say, before 9am) or late afternoon (say, after 4pm), doesn't count. If you've got that kind of exposure on the balcony, try tomatoes in a pot.

TRUE BLUE:

More than three desks, actually. Two in the office (one for computing, one for writing), one in the kitchen (meal planning and breakfast), an inherited drop-front desk in the "home" office (bill paying), and one in the craft studio. Yeah, I like a good work surface.

lieschenmueller:

The art is reminiscent of several artists, but I bought these pieces at last year's Renegade Craft Fair in Chicago. They are from three sheets 2 the wind .

Yum, peonies are great inside where you can smell the lovely fragrance without breaking your back.

I, too, have difficulty snipping flowers from my garden beds. Having a water-loving cat doesn't help any (I can't use table vases, but have luckily found some wall vases). It seems sacrilegious to cut them.

I just planted four types of flowers in my "vegetable" garden, specifically for cutting. Zinnias, cosmos, sunflowers, and Gomphrena globosa. Let's hope I stick to my plan!

I'll second Royal Upholstery in Racine. They know mid-century modern. My mother has some original Danish Modern chairs that had their cushions recovered locally. Years later, when it was time to recover them again, we came across Royal Upholstery (Hans Hansen Furniture recommended them), and their new cushions made the chairs look so much better! Like the originals, really.

I've had several pieces reupholstered and repaired by them, including a swivel rocker. They do a lot of work for people between Racine and Chicago, so Larry heads down to Illinois at least once a week for pick-ups and deliveries.

I used to use binders, but ultimately failed because the plastic sleeves were just too much hassle. I guess I save more, and some of my magazines pages are too large for sleeves (Martha Stewart's Living, for example), so they'd have to be trimmed down.

Now I just use several 2-pocket folders stored in a magazine holder. (File folders don't work well because odd-size clippings slip out.) Faster and easier, which means it's more likely to get done.

I've had to take a week off from the Cure, and last weekend was out of town, so I'm struggling to get back into the groove. There's so much left to do! Thankfully, there's not much to do in the bathroom, and I started the bedroom early because it made sense to combine rug-cleaning and other tasks. Happily, I came home to a message that my newly-recovered chairs are finally finished!

It was nice to see more pictures up on Flickr. Soon I'll take some photos of my in-progress office, which is minimally functional at the moment. I'm going to need some help with decisions about what art to hang and where to hang it.

callie:

The Jellyfish lamp, though a great piece, doesn't really read "modern" to me. Contemporary, yes. Modern, no. As for the "natural" -- well, yes, it does strongly resemble a jellyfish. But to my mind "natural" doesn't mean representative. It means using natural materials and natural colors.

The Harris Marcus lamp seems a bit too cold (the metal is really the desing focus of the piece) for your "natural" theme, but it is modern with a hint of contemporary. At least, that's how it feels to me. It's a bit too fussy to be strongly modern.

The Lumalight seems to be the best fit for "natural modern". The paper -- natural -- dominates the texture, but the shape is definitely modern.

Without seeing the rest of your space, I'd go with the Lumalight.