Kandyce78's Profile

I used to work in a thrift store, and 75% of what people donate is completely unsellable garbage, 90% of clothing donations would make most sane people shudder. That said, we did have things in place to recycle unusable clothing and large appliances. Remember, old mattresses are against the law to resell (though we did give those away to the needy) and car seats are considered one-use items and also cannot be resold. I would love to purchase more of my clothes from thrift stores, but plus-size clothing is hard to find second hand.

I often look at my bookshelves after reading this site and wonder what an interior decorator would say about the two 6 foot tall bookshelves that dominate our living area and are filled with mostly paperbacks. They would probably want me to get rid of them or turn them around or color coordinate them, because they aren't that visually appealing. But when I'm bored and looking for something to read, I want to go to my sci-fi shelf or my classics shelf, or my children's book shelf and find what I feel like. Books are my entertainment, my friends and companions. I have read some of the paperbacks on my shelves at least a dozen times (and the living room isn't alone, we have books in every room in the house), and I will read them again and again, because books are for reading, not for looking nice or impressing people. Books are what my husband and I love. There are a million things I have too much of, things I need to purge, and certainly a few unloved books here and there, but as far as I am concerned, I have too few books, certainly not too many.

I am Gen X and I garden, but I don't spend much money on it. This year, I spent $60 on my garden. I only have a small raised bed and a handful of pots and I'm only interested in growing edibles right now (okay, okay, I have a lily plant). We rent, and are going to have to tear out our lovely raised bed with soil that makes me proud this fall before we move in the spring. I think the real question in the garden industry should be is how do we capitalize on what Gen X and Y are interested in, container gardening, affordable, easy to care for plants, a little bit of the urban farmer thought, and a little nostalgia (someday, when I have a home, I will plant a peony bush). I must be honest, I garden mainly for nostalgia (I grew up on a farm and we had a half-acre garden and an orchard), and the elusive perfect tomato. I'm not good at gardening, and since I fail a lot, I don't want to sink a lot of money into a venture that doesn't have a fabulous outcome, veggie wise. But my spring salads and fresh thyme always make my kitchen a little happier.

I answer my parents phone when I'm at their home. Every other place on the planet, I absolutely do not answer the phone. I simply hate answering phones, so I avoid it at all costs.

Shipping containers frequently become housing for troops while on deployment. I think anyone who has had to live in one of these in the desert with no insulation would shy away from living in one at home, no matter how nicely appointed.

As soon as I get home, I am barefoot. But I wear Five Fingers 80% of the time I leave the house, so there's that. I hatehatehate having my toes scrunched together and I have boat feet (11 WW), so shoes and I have a problematic relationship.

One of the things I enjoy about Apartment Therapy is that every day I see a new idea or technique. That said, I do also like some of the negative comments. If the paint you used is truly toxic, I would like to keep that in consideration if I think of doing a similar project, also if the paint does leach into the floor, I'd like to know that also. Sometimes I see a DIY project that I think is ugly, and seeing a comment that says so lets me know that my taste is shared with others. I believe in being kind, but posts that aren't all sunshine and rainbows are learning opportunities. We present ourselves in a very whitewashed way online, and it is helpful for your readers to have potential negatives listed.

I'm excited and bummed that rustic farmhouse is becoming so popular. Excited because it's totally my style. Bummed because I'm afraid that when I get my house together it will look like a dated trend.

That would be awesome, except for when my husband and I will be separated we will be separated by around 12 time zones, so we will be sleeping on opposite schedules of each other.

He won me over at MacGyver.