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Display Name: PhyllisC
Member Since: 7/15/10
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While I Love Bon Ami and Barkeeper's Friend, have you tried Cascade dishwashing powder sprinkled on a damp sponge to clean marks on dishware? That's my go-to solution for marks on Corning Ware and Pyrex dishware. It works with minimal effort. Most of my corning ware was purchased at garage sales and thrift stores after learning that one shouldn't use plastic ware in microwave cooking. These pieces could be bought for a song since they were so scuffed up. A scrub with Cascade powder and they looked like new.


Out Darn Scratch: Cleaning Marks Off Dinnerware
2/9/12 8:28 AM

What is a grey water safe detergent? Is this something you make or can it be purchased?


Tips and Tricks: The Art of Doing Laundry
9/22/11 12:14 AM

Any ideas on what to put on those white concrete block walls BESIDES posters of movie stars? Does anyone know if hanging fabric with fabric starch works?

Love the Lack stack shelves, btw. Storage is always an issue and these look great and really clever to put them in a corner.


Dorm Style: Scandinavian Modern
8/9/11 7:59 PM

My daughter (moving into the dorms this fall) has a good friend who just spent $260 on a bedding set. That's not counting the mattress cover needed to guard against bed bugs (boy have things changed!) and a mattress pad. In her defense, the set is really cute and she bought it with money earned working all summer. At least most of the stuff shown above can be used in apartments once a student moves out of the dorms. The XL twin sheets and comforter? I don't think it fits anything but a dorm bed.


Dorm Style: Moroccan Inspiration
8/9/11 7:46 PM

I have seen very vibrant warm blues and even a very cold yellow so I too was hoping for something beyond an intro to the color wheel. Fortunately, I have learned a lot of what I missed getting in college from some artist friends. Here is some of what I've had the good fortune to learn. It's still not the color boards (all those gradations of colors in small squares) I saw the interior design students working on in college, but it's a start.

Artists often use a sophisticated palette of warm and cool shades of each primary color. A few examples, using art store pigments, are Cadmium Medium Red (warm) vs. Alizarin Red (cool) and Ultramarine blue (cool) vs. Cerelean blue (warm). You also have to consider the light source. If you have a warm light source (tungsten light), use cool shadows. If you have a cool light source (noon day sun), use warm shadows. Another rule to remember is that no color really has a temperature until compared with another color. It's all about light and context. So how does this translate into great interior design? You mentioned not mixing warms (ROY) with cools (GBV), but that seems so simplistic. Is that true for a warm red and a cool red? Can they work together or should we avoid those combos too?


Week 2: Warm and Cool Colors
The Color Cure

8/8/11 9:26 PM

Over the years I've learned that the early birds want to buy everything cheap cheap cheap. Resist. Personally, I think if I wanted to give it away, I would donate it to a good cause, not to someone who plans to resell it for profit. Yes, you do want to get rid of stuff, but less ruthless hagglers will come along later in the day. Have friends act as "watchers." Even at greatly reduced prices, I've seen people switch price tags and steal stuff. Plus people are more likely to stop and shop if they feel like a sale is popular. It appeals to a competitive spirit I guess. Keep an eye especially on families with lots of kids. Sadly, they are the worse. Whether the kids are a distraction or the perps, stuff will disappear or get broken without being paid for.


Money in Your Pocket: Tips for Hosting a Garage Sale
7/20/11 4:01 PM

You can also clean your dishwasher using a couple packets of lemon flavored unsweetened kool-aid. Make sure to use the kind that you need to add sugar to if you were making it to drink and check the label for citric acid. It's probably the cheapest and easiest way to find citric acid. Pour several packets into the soap dispenser cups and run on the hottest, longest cycle (no dishes of course) to clean hard water gunk off the interior of your washer. If you check the label of most dishwasher cleaners, the main ingredient is citric acid.

A borax solution of some sort was used to rinse the eyes of newborn babies back in the fifties. Not sure when they stopped that...but thank goodness they did. Borax powder makes a great pesticide, especially for cockroaches. Put it in one of those red ketchup squirt bottles and squeeze it into cracks and crevices.


How to Use Your Dishwasher to Save Money
7/14/11 9:19 AM

So, when and where do we find the answer?


Can You Tell Which Chair Costs More Than a New Car?
Design Quiz

7/11/11 8:48 AM

If I remember correctly from watching the American Roadshow, American antiques are more valuable than their european counterparts, so I'm guessing 'A'.


Can You Tell Which Chair Costs More Than a New Car?
Design Quiz

6/30/11 11:06 PM

I can see why functional concerns could be an issue for older folks, but not so sure why the aesthetics of design would be any different. It seems to me that once past the child/teen stage of life, aesthetics becomes more an issue of personal taste and what you wish to spend your money on than on your age.

Palmetto, be sure to check out the work at the Center for Universal Design (North Carolina State's School of Design). These architects have been working on many of the issues you may have concerns about for over 30 years now. With retirement communities popping up all over the country it makes sense to design homes with future accessibility in mind. Even the smallest step can be formidible to someone with an impairment. Whole sections of a home can become no longer usable.


Design is the New Food
Chapter 7: Ten Things You Need to Know about Apartment Therapy

6/27/11 8:37 PM

Having a house with similar issues and identical avocado green double oven, I like your approach, especially the cabinets. One word to the wise however: our oven died after a few years and we found it was impossible to find another double oven that width. A previous poster was astute in saying you could have installed a cooktop & oven combo and turned the double oven space into a pantry. We designed our remodel to work with the green, then regretted it when the oven died. The matching cooktop fan hood died not too long after the oven. Maybe 30-40 years is their lifespan? Now our kitchen doesn't look as good without the vintage appliances. Love our cabinet depth refrigerator though. I'm not sure I'll ever go back to the monsters that stick out into the room no matter where I live.


Before & After Remodel: Keeping the Best of the Past
6/22/11 8:26 PM

I always state in my CL ads: "If you see this ad, this (item) is still available. Ad will be deleted when item is sold". Even so, I get emails asking if the item is still available. I get these responses 5 minutes after the ad posts so I suspect the responder is a spammer not a legitimate buyer. Still, I have to take a deep breath and resist the urge to sarcastically respond with, "If you saw the ad, it is still available". Thanks for the tip to ask for a phone number and best time to call. Sounds like a better approach.

I hate when an item is already listed at a garage sale price (10-25% of new) and especially if the price is stated as FIRM, yet a potential buyer will ask, sight unseen, if I will take some really low ball price. Come see it first, and if it isn't as described in the ad, then ask if the price is negotiable. And don't insult me. If I want to give something away, I'll donate it to charity or give it to a friend. Otherwise, firm is firm, and don't waste my time if you aren't serious about buying my listing.


Craigslist Buying and Selling Etiquette
6/21/11 6:53 PM

We have had acrylic (corian) countertops for 12 years now. They still look great and I'm mystified by the comment that they are easily damaged. I have yet to have a burn mark on them (unlike previous experiences with formica and butcher block countertops). You do have to be careful to use a cutting board or you will get cut marks. I love how easy they are to keep clean, never need sealing, have no unsanitary grout seams. Having said that, if I ever purchase a new countertop again, I will only consider a product that is made from natural and/or recycled materials and can be recycled when time to remodel again. Acrylic countertops don't meet such a standard.


Ultimate Guide to Choosing Countertops: Pros & Cons
6/7/11 9:30 PM

Teacher's putty can be found at teacher supply stores, big box stores (Target, Walmart, etc.) and even some grocery stores on the school/office supply aisle. I haven't had that much luck with it unless it was a poster or sheet of paper I was tacking up. I prefer the removable 3M adhesive strips for heavier stuff. These can be found at the same stores mentioned above plus home improvement stores. I agree about the tape comments - leaves a residue that requires sanding and priming before repainting - not landlord friendly.


Home Projects for Renters: Reversible Wall Decor
2/24/11 8:35 AM

As someone with gluten intolerance the difference means I can eat one (corn) dish but not another (flour). As a Texan these are staples of our diet. Rolling enchiladas are a challenge with the corn, but if you make sure they are warmed and very slightly moistened first, it goes easier. Thank God for corn tortillas. It's been hard enough giving up pita bread.

Yes, we know it should be corn flour vs wheat flour, but don't you have better things to get your panties in a bunch about?


What's the Difference? Flour vs. Corn Tortillas
2/10/11 12:04 PM

Most home improvement/big box stores carry various sizes and colors of plates. I love the new ones with the hidden screws. They look so much neater and are easier to keep clean.


How To Clean a Power Outlet
Home Hacks

2/2/11 1:01 PM

Wow! Love it! Thank you for showing a kitchen reno that doesn't have granite countertops and stainless steel appliances, which are so cliche. Thank you for keeping the integrity and character of the original space. Thank you for not ripping out real wood cabinets. Thank you for a reasonable budget.

As a side note, for those who think this is not a "near zero budget." When I walked into our local home improvement store with a $5000 kitchen reno budget I was laughed at. Yes, the clerk laughed at my budget. I was told that I would need at least three times that much to do a reasonable job. I left with resolve to prove her wrong. I painted my 3/4 inch plywood cabinets, bought all new appliances. a new sink and garbage disposer, replaced the fluorescent lighting with recessed lighting, and even put in new countertops. All within a budget which I thought was bare bones. This is such an inspiration. I love older homes, so next house, the challenge is on.


Before & After: Kitchen Reno on a Near Zero Budget
1/25/11 8:28 PM

I totally agree with you that we tend to buy more expensive mattresses in search of the illusive better night's sleep as we get older. That has been true for my husband and I. We still wish we had kept our 1970's waterbed, discarded during a 1990's "upgrading" moment Why oh why do we fall for such hype?

I also agree that most beds are not comfortable, lasting quality (something that lasts is not good for future sales) and are manufactured with non-recyclable materials. This last point is very important for our health and the earth. Polyurethane foam is not recyclable in most states. It off-gases VOCs and doesn't really decompose. Mattesses are also made with fabrics which are most likely treated with pesticides, stainproofing, and fire-proofing chemicals. This is what we breathe and touch for 6 or more hours a night as we sleep.

Purchasing the expensive bedding doesn't avoid these issues unless the purchase is from an organic manufacturer. Yes, it is possible to buy mattresses made from natural untreated materials such as latex foam, kapok, wool, cotton, hemp, and linen, but they are generally more expensive and most people think they can't afford them. As a furniture reupholsterer, I get this. A cubic inch of polyurethane foam costs a third of what a cubic inch of natural latex foam costs. Sadly, petro-chemical products (like polyurethane foam) are cheap, if you don't count the cost to our health and the environment, and generally easier to obtain.

Another advantage to natural, organic products is that they are sustainable and recyclable. Their manufacture helps support people in remote parts of the world as they raise and harvest the raw materials.

On a side note, my elderly parents bought a temperpedic (sp?) mattress, but prefer the futon that came with their RV. Go figure.


What Is the Right Price for a Bed?
A Year in Bed

9/22/10 3:11 PM

You will definitely have to strip to the frame and rebuild this sofa, but it will be so worth it. Amazing find and even more amazing price. Please don't touch the wood except to repair and revitalize the finish using a product recommended for antiques. Anything more will destroy it's value.

For fabric, check out the fabric selections at Mod Green Pod. I don't know your color scheme, but I think the Clara in cream would look absolutely fantastic. The Aspire in peppercorn would look great too. Grey and yellow are the newest color combo, so you could add some yellow throw pillows. If you are really daring, use yellow welt cord.

I do reupholstery for a living and love to retie springs. I wish I was there to help you.


Upholstery Suggestions for Craigslist Find Sofa?
Good Questions

8/26/10 12:08 AM

As several people have already noted, there are warm and cool shades of every color. For instance, many artists lay out their palette with a warm and cool of each color. Shadows will be painted in cool tones and the lights will be warm, or vice-versa depending on the effect the artist is going for. Color theory is more complicated than saying that one side of the color wheel is warm and the other is cool. For example, Cadmium Red is warm while Alizarin Crimson is cool. Lipstick shades are a perfect example of this. When choosing a red lipstick, pay attention to whether the shade is warm or cool or it will look off.
To complicate matters, lighting and reflections of neighboring colors also affect the way a color is perceived. Maybe there's a photographer reading this list who can speak about lighting. I know that warm lighting works best in a kitchen - it makes both the people and the food look better.


How To Work With Warm & Cool Colors | Apartment Therapy New York
7/16/10 12:34 AM