gretchenalexis's Profile

my daughter passed away shortly after birth, and i am slowly amassing a collection of things that remind me of her. it is indeed so important to be surrounded by things that remind you of love. right now, it is as simple as a piece of art that we bought for her while i was pregnant, a postcard from another grieving mother, and some art that a family friend made after her passing with us in mind. it is not a shrine, and it will constantly change, but it is helping me process my grief. from talking to other grieving parents i've met, i think many do something similar. my husband and i also keep a few select items that remind us of our grandparents who have all passed away - furniture, decorative items, and clothing/accessories.

i agree with englishdaffodil...start w/ removing the green carpet and then see how you (your mom) feels about the room from there. unless the flooring under the carpet is in terrible shape, that actually sounds a lot easier than painting all that paneling.

i love this post b/c i constantly have this debate with myself. i'm glad i'm not alone in this internal debate. sometimes i feel like the weird one b/c so many people seem to want the totally open concept kitchen/dining/living room, but i want to preserve the character of my house (and storage, etc).

i have a tiny, tiny galley kitchen (standard dc rowhouse kitchen). actually, it's not even a galley. it's narrow like a galley but it's not wide enough to have full depth cabinets on either side of the kitchen. it has enough storage space, but is tricky for more than one person to be in there at the same time (my husband and i both like to cook in the kitchen). whenever we look at what we can do to make the space more efficient and fix the slightly crappy remodel the previous owners gave it, there first suggestion anybody has is to knock down the wall to open the space up to the dining room. but - our dining room is also very narrow, so the only extra kitchen footprint we can gain is the 6" or so in the wall. i'm also big on the whole "retaining the character of the house" thing, and i don't love the idea of seeing the whole kitchen from the dining room...i want the formal dining room. i have been toying with the idea of knocking down the wall and doing some sort of passthrough that helps maintain storage and a traditional look (a la http://www.southernliving.com/home-garden/idea-houses/southern-living-dahlonega-georgia-idea-house-00400000050744/page3.html ) but i just don't know...and...is it worth the price, esp if it's a load bearing wall?

@levelor - i followed a similar strategy, decorating with our 3 cats in mind - ease of cleaning is key. for flooring, we have hardwood floors and not much in the way of area rugs (but those are flat weave and easy to clean). for our couch, we have the andre couch from room & board in the charcoal grey micro-velvet. the cats don't like to pick at the fabric too much, and the color/fabric hides their fur beautifully (we have one brown cat, one black cat, and one orange fluffy cat). it also cleans up really easily. depending on the dog/cat, leather can work, but i've seen their little claws ruin pricey leather furniture and that's not fun.

if you're definitely getting carpet, maybe also get a roomba with the scheduling feature and have it run once a day while you're at work.

i like the look of our kitchen stuff, it's all organized, etc...but we have three cats and their hair gets everywhere, so no. no open shelving for me. that is why we have glass doors on two cabinets. i get the open and airy look, our nice stuff is on display...but it's protected from dust/cat hair and the ugly stuff is hidden. best of both worlds.

i am not a scotch person. despite my scottish ancestry, i find that it just burns as it's going down (in a way that bourbon does not, for me at least). that being said, i recently tried glenmorangie signet and it was amazing. as it should be for $150/bottle. so...i would say that another way to ease into scotch is the really really nice stuff :)

mine are hidden behind cookbooks on a bookshelf (old record shelf) in my dining room. not too inconvenient, but when i need a vase i have to pull out cookbooks until i find the one i want.

fantastic! alex and wendy's have a *gorgeous* home - so meticulously restored and beautifully decorated. i've been wanting them to have an AT house tour for years and am so happy that it's finally happened :)

i love it. it's simple and sweet and personal. what more do you need for a first birthday party?

i also have the counter-depth 10 cubic foot LG fridge. it's fantastic for a small space (and 2 people), but nowhere near the 18 cubic foot size that Bethany is looking for. i would recommend searching aj madison - it's really easy to sort by your criteria (cubic feet, width, depth, etc). i think lg and fisher and paykel make some fridges like the ones you're looking for (but not cheap).