artfemme11's Profile

Fantastic.

Puke. Will it next trend in bathrooms ? Because then poor renters will be very au courant and so will my elderly parents. I hate the whole concept of "trends", which is nothing more than marketing to get sheeple to replace what they already have with something else...over and over again. It has nothing to do with design. In fact I remember bookmarking something from Apartment Therapy not that long ago about how to PAINT your brass fixtures bronze to get rid of the hideousness. To me this kitchen screams Jersey Shore, or at best Miami Beach. Brass, if at all, looks best in an antique kitchen where it might have been used originally. otherwise...Puke.

Metallic bronze spray paint from Krylon does a remarkable job of replicating the finish on these lamps, is surprisingly hardy, and adheres to just about anything. I've even seen it used to spray paint existing bathroom fixtures (even shower trim and faucet) for a cash-strapped DIY upgrade in a bathroom. These lamps are lovely, but considering that you'd probably need two, one for each side of the bed, KA-ching. Find something similar at IKEA or Target and paint it.

Any suggestions for house-to-house ? I've always practiced yoohoo's techniques and they are usually successful. However, I have new neighbors who've moved into the house next door with a large back yard that I'm sure they thought would be perfect for their HUGE Tibetan mastiff. I work at home, as does the husband next door. His loud barking dog doesn't seem to bother him, but my office is adjacent to the backyard and it's driving me nuts and is intrusive when I'm trying to talk on the phone. Not to mention that open-window-season is approaching.

They seem to be really nice people and they make an effort to rein the dog in by going outside and calling to the dog to stop, and if he persists (which he always does) they make him go inside....but frankly their calling to the dog is just as loud and almost as annoying as he is. I've introduced myself to them, I've been friendly over the fence , and I've talked to them several times about the barking. I told them I knew it would take the dog a little while to "settle in", I even offered to come over and let the dog become familiar with me, since he barks whenever I make a move outside, or open or shut my gate. They said "Oh, we'd love to have you come over sometime"....but it's been 7 months now and if anything its gotten worse because now all the other dogs in the neighborhood bark back at him....including an outdoor lab across the alley who rarely barked before. I'm in a bark sandwich.

I called animal control and they recommended that my neighbors get a citronella collar for the dog as a deterrent. It triggers a Pavlovian response, in that it puffs scent whenever the dog barks, the dog doesn't like it, and then gets the idea he shouldn't bark when he's in the back yard. Certainly I think that my neighbors talking to the dog every time he barks is a form of positive reinforcement, since they NEVER use an angry tone. I've asked them twice now to consider getting one of these collars. The husband said "I'll look into it." The wife (who works outside the home) said "I'll talk to my husband about it." And in the meantime months have gone by and the dog just gets louder and more assertive.

At what point do I go ahead and report them to animal control ? We have laws against this kind of barking in our town. Houses are close together and animal control will come out and talk to them after the first complaint. If they get 3 complaints, the dog will be removed and I would really hate to be responsible for that. I LIKE dogs. But my peace of mind and quite enjoyment of my house has been destroyed. On the other hand, these people are there for good and I don't want to have a bad relationship with them. HELP !

Those photos of the sofas from Anthropologie, posted above, were what I visualized when first looking at the piece, or mohair, and the button back would add a lot of textural interest to that flat back. You can find chairs from the 30s and 40s for a dime a dozen with a similar feel to do up in bold. I could see the sofa in the bold fabric if you were going to paint the frame in bright white or a color for that trendy look.......but I think you'd regret it later, the wood has such a patina. And frankly, if that Greek key fabric is one of the choices, I think it's gawdawful for this piece, especially if the wood is left "as-is." Great find !

RE : photo #4...That beautiful Moroccan wedding blanket *looks* nice on the floor, however a few scrapes of those chairs if someone were to actually EAT there and that blanket is toast. Meant for the bed, thrown over a couch... form follows function. Wrong material, wrong place.

That said, I love pink walls. My favorite white is an obsolete one you can still have blended, and is faintly pink...Ralph Lauren "Sneaker White"...with just a few drops of terra cotta and one of lamp black per gallon. Organic and lovely, goes with everything and so flattering to the skin.

My eyes ! MY EYES !!!!! (bleeds all over couch) pffffffft.

Flat metal caps exist ( some hinged to allow the cap to open and close...I like the bronze ones) that fit into a drilled hole and allow wires to be threaded through. If you ARE going to alter the pieces to allow for wiring, I suggest using those. That way, should you later decide to sell them or use them as bookcases again, the alteration will look a whole lot better than just a hole in the wood. And I would not permanently join the tops, just set something....stone or Caesarstone would be nice....to span the top. I think the bookcases are really beautiful, such nice proportions and a nice warm glow. Lucky you.

Finally something that doesn't look "all the same" ! Great job, so unique. What did you use for your silver/pewter ceiling in your dining room ? I've been going round and round about silvering my similarly rounded (and stepped) contiguous ceilings in my small living room and dining room, looked at various options and metal leaf can't be "it." Needs to be a paint. Would be grateful for the tip !

My pantry in my rental is just about my favorite space in the whole house...must have been built by someone who loved to cook, as the kitchen is the largest room of all and was added on to the back of the little 1930's stucco box. The pantry is 42"X32" and has shelves on all 3 sides...4 and1/2 " on the sides and 10 and 1/2 " in the back, perfect sizes...leaving enough room to keep the recycling can in there and still have just enough room to walk in or place a stool to get up to the highest shelves where I store extra jars and containers and lightbulbs etc.. It was kind of dingy, so I wrapped all the shelves (top and bottom) with granite contact paper. Looks so good, and easy to wipe clean. And then I added 6 of the wooden Ikea spice racks to the back of the door. It's just perfect, makes cooking so easy...clear square glass jars for flours and the like, separate shelves for baking goods, for oils and vinegars, for soups and canned goods,for jars of olives and preserves... flat stackable plastic bins to hold boxes and bags of pastas and noodles, etc., even a shelf for wine. There's still enough space under the shelves at the bottom to store emergency water, a collapsable cooler, a lantern flashlight, and serving trays for outdoors. I LOVE it, can grab just what I need in an instant, so worth the time invested in return for daily time saved.

In my old loft, I built a pantry myself and it was great too. Not a lot of room, so I measured everything and placed the shelves accordingly. I made the swing-out door a shallow box as well, just wide enough for large soup cans, oils and vinegars, and spices, and put dowels across the shelves to hold things in place when the door was opened. Very functional.

So while this pantry looks cute, I wouldn't trade it for mine and think there's too much wasted space, Even in a panty this shallow, she could have put shelves on all 3 sides and a rack on the door and gained a lot of shelf space.