marnea's Profile

Wow. For some reason it never occurred to me to just use incandescents, despite my hatred for CFLs. All 18 bulbs in my smallish apartment were CFLs when I moved in -- I bought more CFLs for two desk lamps, and finally got around to ordering LED bulbs for the desks since that's where we need the best light the most. It seriously never occurred to me to just get some incandescents for where I want the best light (kitchen and bathroom).

Taking shoes off indoors is not a "Canadian" thing. I'm Canadian and while I lived with my mother we only removed our shoes at the door if they were covered in snow or especially wet/muddy. The rest of the time, I removed my shoes in my bedroom whenever I decided to change.

Now that I have my own place, I remove my shoes because they tend to be loud and I try to be mindful of the people who live below us. Otherwise I probably wouldn't remove them until I got to the bedroom.

When guests come over, they tend to automatically remove their shoes but I insist they leave them on. I've seen what my socks look like a mere three hours after I vacuum and mop, and I would hate for my guests to go home and imagine what a slob I am, when I really am not.

If guests want to remove their shoes they're welcome to, but it's completely unnecessary in my home.

And PS, for those of you worried about what you're tracking into your house with shoes -- any immunologist will tell you that germs are good for you. And if you're so worried about them, I can't imagine how you justify ever leaving your home!

Unless you are a collector, I see no reason to not simply do what you'd prefer in order to enjoy living with a piece. Wood is beautiful, but I don't think any object constructed out of it is so precious that it would be "ruined" by paint.

I have an alpaca-shaped, terra cotta ocarina. To play it you have to blow into its ass.

Try LED bulbs. CFLs are actually bad for your health and I personally hate being in a room with them (though our apartment has over 18 of them somehow). I've been wanting to get LED bulbs for a while now but they're expensive -- about $50 a pop. But they will literally last you for the rest of your life. Literally. You will probably be able to pass them down to your children. Try getting one or two for your most-used rooms maybe, if the price is daunting. They come in lots of different temperatures. Try here: http://www.kuuala.com/

Hmm, yeah. Cost of fabric + effort it takes to stretch and prime a canvas properly is way more than buying a readymade canvas. Heck, I've even seen stretched canvas at Dollarama.

Yes, some canvas is expensive. But if you're going to make something decorative, I'm sure you can make do with cheap craft store versions. Just today I saw a set of 5, 3/4-thick, 16x20 stretched and primed canvases for $20 CAD.

I am obsessed with "storage solutions," but one thing I'm starting to notice about my own habits is that I actually have quite enough storage space -- I'm just not using it properly. There are corners of my apartment that I want to fill with small shelves or chairs or what have you... but every time I find myself online window shopping I wonder what I would even put in them. When I really think about it, I need a better system of compartments, but not furnishings to put them on. (I'm learning to love the empty corners.)

EVERYTHING goes with green. Even though people don't normally think so, green is actually a very neutral colour. I had a bedroom painted in a bright yellowy green before (I think it was Benjamin Moore "Bermuda Grass"), and I used so many different accent colours that complemented the walls very well. Everything from orange and red to chocolate brown. As long as you find something in the same 'tone' as the green on your wall, you'll be all set.