anotherjen's Profile

Bring a nightlight.

I'm a 40something with kids in the city. I can't imagine moving to the suburbs.

I can't think of anything to say about this that isn't at the bitchy end of the snarky continuum. Seriously, who has time for this? And if I'm reading about this what does it say about how I value my own time? I'm off to do something productive, thanks for the reminder about how easily I can slip into being so shallow that I might evaporate.

Reflect what light you do have. Put a mirror over the table, and either a mirror or something shiny (i.e. large silver metal tray leaning against the wall) on the counter that faces the window (at backsplash height). Shiny wallpaper or mirror on the back wall of your open cupboard would also reflect available light.

And I know you said you didn't want to put in more lights, but there are several places you could easily add lights that wouldn't be expensive or require any, or much, wiring. Under cupboard lights could go almost anywhere, and they can be wired in or not. You could also easily place table lamps on your counter tops, a low-profile lamp such as Ikea's "ice cube" light would fit nicely next to your radio (google "ikea ice cube lamp glass"). You could also put lights in your open-shelving upper cabinet section very easily, and even without wiring if that is an outlet underneath the cupboard.

It is difficult for me to see exactly what colour your lower cabinets are, but if you could find a yellow that goes well with them that might work as a paint colour for your walls. Yellows are notoriously tricky to get right, but really pop when you do. An intense yellow always looks sunny. I used a Benjamin Moore colour called "Marigold" in a dark hallway once and it was like going from night to day.

Whatever you do, talk to your neighbours first and try and find a solution that suits both parties. I know from some terrible experiences with my neighbours that things could have been solved so much more quickly and easily if they'd just talked to us before they started their high-security fence project.

No handles or drawer pulls? Was that a design choice or have you not found the perfect ones yet?

Agree! An alternative for those of us without front yards, but with backyards that can connect somehow - leave the gate open. Our backyard is on an alley and we often leave the gate and/or garage open while we are back there so that we are open to the alley and neighbours can play and visit and help each other.

Well since I've been told that revealing one's academic credentials in a thread about books is pretentious, well I just have to cite my academic credentials and make a case for why they are not pretentious at all, but really quite relevant. I'm a Dr. I have the dreaded PhD. Ipso facto I have a lot of books. Academic ones, to which I have an entirely different relationship than I do to my novels, cookbooks, diy/craft books, travel books etc.
My academic credentials, and the kind of work those credentials allow me to do, actually have quite a bit to do with how I feel about, use, and shelve my books.

My relationship to my academic books is like that of my own personal reference library, and I do value them in a different way than I do other books. When I buy them I expect to keep them, read and re-read them, and refer to them over the course of my professional lifetime. If I do cull them different standards apply than when I cull other kinds of books. I have a very different idea of what their "usefulness" is than I do with novels (which I tend to read and pass on), cookbooks (which I give a year or two and then take favourites out of), or travel books (which I hold on to for purely sentimental reasons and really should let go of). Academic books serve different purposes than these other kinds of books, and although I may only want to refer to particular ones once a year (or even less, I'll admit it) I wouldn't consider them not useful, and never, ever not 'decorative' enough to keep. For the most part they stay with me, occasionally in multiple editions if updates occur (I know, I know, what a waste of shelf space, what horrid duplication, monstrous really).

My academic books are kept apart from other books, and arranged in topic categories. There's a 'hot' shelf that contains books that are relevant to whatever I'm working on at the moment. This shelf is usually a bit messy as it also contains print-outs of things I'm writing, file folders full of various bits, and whatever else I require for the task at hand (piles of student papers to grade, for instance). As this shelf is a 'working' shelf I have no issue with it being untidy, work and life are not particularly tidy in my experience, and I'm okay with that. There's nothing decorative about it, and I find the mess aesthetically pleasing unto itself.

All this to say that any and every credential, or lack thereof, may influence one's relationship to material objects (immaterial ones too, but that's another post). And I say this as an academic, as well as a book lover!

Our neighbourhood listserv is the first place I go to when I want to sell/donate something. If someone in my neighbourhood can use whatever it is before I donate it, that's where it goes. If I were moving this would be the first place I would post things for either sale or donation.

We also hold a neighbourhood-wide yard sale day in the spring, and if our family has enough stuff to make it worthwhile then we participate. This eliminates the need for us to advertise as individuals, as neighbours take turns putting up our re-usable signs and posting the event on social media.

I haven't yet done craigslist or ebay, although I'm thinking about it for a few items.

I make 30 minute meals 5 nights out of 7, and that includes prep and cooking time. Not new recipes, mind you, and there's sometime prepared food (perogies), and at least one of these days involves leftovers, but generally a hot meal, with all 4 food groups. I prefer to eat this way during the week, it takes the pressure off and then I can cook for longer on the weekend if I want to.