ccatx's Profile

@DavidAlex: Thanks for the laugh - I've had a pretty depressing day & that felt great.

I make two very thorough lists: one of things to do (like pulling out suitcases, writing out pet care instructions & doing laundry a few days in advance) and another of things to take. Then I pack everything the day before.

I have recently started leaving travel items in my suitcase so I'm sure I'll have them. I'm most proud of the chip clips I now travel with to close those hotel curtains that have an uncloseable gap that lets the blinding sun in in the morning. We also have bike travel cases and I've now got lists stored inside the bike boxes, telling me what to pack in each box to optimize the space & weight distribution.

I had a shower with cracking and stained, awful, moldy grout. I tried cleaning. The bleach-soaked cotton balls worked OK in the corners but were no help on the walls. I gave up and hired a company called Grout Works to come fully repair, clean and seal my shower grout and it looks amazing. They have locations in cities around the US, so see whether there is one near you.

Seriously, their before & after photos are legit. And their prices are totally reasonable for the amount of work it took to remove the awful old broken grout, regrout it, and seal it (2-3 guys for the better part of 1 day).

@taherold: it sounds like some posters are not reading the second paragraph of the post after the big picture.

The magnetic curtain rod is what I'd use. They're cool! I saw them at Lowe's and wished I had a place to use one.

So far your colors seem like basic pastels and light neutrals, so my first reaction is that you need some contrast. Dark wood or charcoal grey would do it. These might seen counter to your soft beachy scheme, but they'll help bring focus into what it otherwise a sea of shades that blend & blur into each other.

Also, decide what kind of beach look you are going for - tropical like Tommy Bahamas or Hawaiian or weather-worn & white-washed like Nantucket or crisp Mediterranean Greek Islands beaches or something else... there are lots of ways to work a beach theme. Search in Google Images for "beach decor" "vintage beach decor" or "modern beach decor" and you'll get inspirational picture. I found these from houzz.com: http://www.houzz.com/photos/mediterranean/beach-decor-/ls=4

is it just me or do austin prices seem out of sync with the rest of everywhere?

FINALLY a Before & After where NOBODY could ever possibly say they liked the 'before' better. Well done!

a swing arm curtain rod would be cool. it opens and closes like a door, but is easier to hang. you could even put one on the outside of the doorway and one on the inside so people in either room can close their side for privacy.

I love the couch, chairs & the colors you already have, especially the green & blue with the dark wood table, which adds some important contrast. You have a lot of great potential with these pieces and this space!

Here are a few thoughts I had:
- if you like the art, just group it closer and hang it a little lower above the couch, possibly put the pictures into frames with wider edges since the frames seem a little thin for the size of the pieces. if you don't like the art or just want to change it up, a wide painting of red/orange fall trees with dark trunks would look great in that space. Or you can do that thing where people hang 3 inexpensive full length mirrors sideways, perhaps staggering them to put pictures, smaller mirrors, or little shelves with vases on the sides.

- replace the baby blue wallpaper on the Murphy bed with a bold white & green (to match the chair) or yellow (to complement the green chair); a big white & green chevron or quatrefoil pattern could work if that's interesting to you; to me, that blue paper does not match the blue in the sofa and will not match the walls if you paint them blue.

- straighten/organize the books on the book case and/or hang a curtain rod across the top of the shelf and put up a curtain to hide them. Those make the space look busy & cluttered. Would be great if all of the books would fit in the taller case (can you rehome some of them so they all fit?) and then put a curtain on the front of that. Then you could lighten up the smaller bookshelves, with paint or maybe even put lighting in it, and put just some framed photos, a stack of your picture books and a few storage baskets on those shelves.

- that lamp next to the couch makes me sad; I'd love to see lamps at either end of the couch or something, anything more interesting to light the space.

- as for the walls, I like the gossamer blue from your photos, though you may decide you only want it on one or two of the walls

- I'd go for color and/or pattern in the area rug. A darker rug can ground a space in a nice way, but you don't want something that blends in too much with your table. If you don't do a big pattern on the Murphy bed, a rug pattern with white & dark browns would look good; or deep orange and white would be a fun way to bring in a bold color (and it's easy to change if you decide you don't like it!).

Good luck & please come back with "after" pictures!

I love this post too. Such thought-provoking ideas about what makes a house a real home that nurtures & refreshes us. It made me think of two more contributions:

1. Meet a few friendly neighbors nearby. For me that was an unexpected benefit of participating in our neighborhood watch - I met about 25 of the families on my street. And there are some really awesome people on our street! Nothing feels more homey that driving or walking down the street and waving to neighbors & friends along the way.

2. Learn a little about the history of your neighborhood or part of town. It will enhance your connection to the place where you are living so much of your life & making memories. Whether it's through talking to older neighbors, just walking around looking at the architecture, or reading historical information about the land development, it's fun to learn. I found out that our neighborhood was part of a project to first implement residential indoor air conditioning in our city, so the homes have different, sometimes kind of experimental AC systems dating back to the early days of central AC. I think that is pretty interesting!