iheartmytho's Profile

I inherited my parent's wedding dishes, when I moved out. My mom had wanted to upgrade to a nicer set of dishes. I wouldn't necessarily call these inherited dishes formal china. But they're a good set of casual dining plates. They have been through several moves, without breaking, plus they can be put in the oven, microwave, and dishwasher. I have since gotten my own set of Fiestware, but I can't seem to get rid of my parent's wedding dishes. I still use them as back up plates.

I'm in between, as I'm also one of those people who is always cold. Anything below 76 degrees has me feeling a bit chilly. I do live in the South and I do find having the AC on in the summer an essential. The warm temperatures don't bug me much - it's the humidity and mugginess, that actually gets to me. And the AC helps with that.

Another benefit of using AC is that it does control the temperature and the humidity somewhat within the house, and that helps in regards to the longevity of things like clothing, paper documents, wood furniture, etc. There are reasons why you would want a temperature and humidity controlled storage unit.

The crown molding is a bit yucky in my opinion, but I think the stepped shelves are an interesting architectural element. I'd say maybe use them to display some large-ish art pieces or put some potted plants on there.

Pretty much every thing in my living room. My house has a family room, and that's where we hang out the most to watch TV. The only time the living room gets used is when I have company over.

I had some neighbors rent goats to help clear out their jungle back yard. That's the only thing I'd recommend using the goats for, clearing out bramble, especially if it's difficult stuff to remove like removing all types of ivy (including the poisonous kind!), pricker bushes, kudzu, etc.

Check to see if there is a native plant society in your area. The one near me, has regular outings where they go to construction sites (with permission of course!) before they are bulldozed, to save any native plant species. Not only are native plants more likely to survive, they're more than likely not invasive either.

@ElaneB - Concrete may not be greener in some regards. The process to make cement, the glue to hold the rocks and sand together, isn't the most eco-friendly of processes. To make the portland cement, limestone has to be quarried and processed. To turn the limestone into cement, takes lots of heat. There's also a large release of carbon dioxide while making cement too. The cement industry produces about 5% of global man-made carbon dioxide emissions. I'm sure concrete countertops only utilize a very, very small portion of total cement production worldwide - but just something to consider.

The previous owners of my MCM house had installed white granite countertops in the kitchen. When I first saw the house, I thought the countertops were marble, but later found out that they were granite. Apparently, the previous owners had to special order the white granite as most of the stone places that deal in granite countertops don't carry white granite.

As for the durability of the white granite, it seems to be OK. I haven't noticed any stains yet, but the granite is sealed and if I spill anything on it, I clean it up ASAP. But the color is gorgeous and it really lightens ups the kitchen.

I've always wanted to do this on the roof of my carport for my mid-century modern split level home. I think a bed of grass or some sort of succulent would be awesome.

There's currently gravel on this portion of the roof now - so I'm not sure if the roof could support the weight of plant life. But my even bigger concern is would be the wood timbers that make up the car port roof. I'd be afraid having wet soil up there would cause the wood to want to rot.

As someone who used to work in the concrete industry, I definitely know the pros and cons of concrete.

In regards to the staining issue, many people want to use a 'food grade' sealer such as beeswax. That's great and all, but you have to re-apply the beeswax every few months depending on wear and tear. And honestly, I don't know of many people who are willing to do that type of up keep. But in reality, most people will NOT have food in direct contact with their countertops. Usually there's some sort of cutting board or whatever involved. In that case, you don't have to bother with food grade sealers that don't protect as much. And you can use a more industrial sealer, that will prevent stains.

But one of the advantages of concrete, is that they can easily be customized to fit your kitchen - color, size, shapes, etc.