mmaves's Profile

@Azelle - It should work - a dark ceiling with lighter walls usually serves to bring the feeling of the height of the room down. I would go with a single pattern or color for the full height of the draperies to emphasize vertical length (vs. going with a 2 or 3 color block pattern - any interruption of the eye will serve to help the room feel shorter.) I would also play with color - try something brighter or lighter than your ceiling tone - if the color blends with your ceiling, the two pieces would melt together, again, bringing the height down. If you're hesitant about 3 drastically different colors (of wall, curtain, ceiling) you could also find a color/tone similar to the wall, but play with textures - silk, linen, a poly blend with bit of pattern or shine - to give you the same vertical height illusion, but may recede into the walls a bit.

Love it! I recently purchased a desk with a flip-up section in the back to "hide cord" clutter - which I quickly discovered only works for access if I never need to use the rear 8" of desk space. I will definitely be trying this out - maybe with less expensive photo boxes from Michael's until I know the solution will work for me...unlike the $150.00 desk investment...Thanks for the inspiration!

The image of the low bookcase blocking the door might just be a trick of the camera - in the picture above, it looks like the corner against the wall abuts to the trim, but doesn't come past it. In that case, the low door would make a 90 degree swing and clear it ok....

Do not paint the woodwork.

In regards to decluttering, while islands are functional, islands against the wall instead of the center of the kitchen (and pegboards) scream "NOT ENOUGH STORAGE". I would put the island in storage or the basement, along with any of the counter top appliances you aren't using every day. Out of sight, rather than taking up the breakfast bar counter space or showing overflowing items from under the island.

If you have an dedicated dining room or dining space, I'd lose the old breakfast bar and replace with a piece of furniture like a curio or credenza. Rather than a piece of open shelving that shows you're trying to "squeeze in" storage, it shows that "there is actually space large enough for furniture!", and it's easy for a homeowner to either mentally insert their own piece or picture the empty space from removing it.

If you're redoing the counter top by the sink - I might extend the length of counter a bit. You could invest in some installed, pull out garbage/recycling cans, or just leave a space to tuck existing bins out of the way of traffic. But leave some empty space at the end of the counter (it looks like the island is kind of squeezed in) for a nicer visual impact. The key to making smaller spaces work is leaving some negative/unfilled space instead of overfilling.

@Anna (Atlanta) - I just started openly weeping in my office. I could never recover from such folly, you'd just have to ship me to the looney bin now...

Scored an 11, but I have a terrible computer monitor - every chip looked muddy :( Will try again someday on something pretty... I'm 31 and a female

You got my vote on the bike storage alone!!! Sooooooooooo jealous you have the space for sweet bike rack like that! The rest of your pics are great too!

Oops - editing above:

http://www.cityofchicago.org/city/en/depts/
doe/supp_info/chicago_green_
homeremodelingseries.html

http://www.cityofchicago.org/city/en/depts/
doe/supp_info/chicago_green_
homesprogramoverview.html

Learn from obstacles. I brought home potted basil and cilantro from the farmers market last summer, and transplanted them into clay pots for my sunny window. Turns out transplanting was not suitable for the cilantrao, or at least with my skills, as I managed to drown it within a week. I re-started my cilantro from seed while my basil flourished, and within 5 weeks, had a great cilantro crop, and came home one day to find it crawling with white flies, which infested my basil. I ended up tossing both plants in frustration. Just starting over from seed now in larger pots with more root space, and marigolds to help repel the white flies should they try to come back. I'm no expert yet, but I figure a few more cycles of mistakes are yet to come :-)

I'm a 90% cloth/10% paper towel girl. The hardest part for me was the growing stack of "dirty" rags & towels and concerns over pest control - my laundry hamper is in my bedroom, and I didn't want to bring food particles into the living spaces in worry of enticing critters. I mounted a reusable canvas grocery bag onto the back door - it allows me me to pre-dry the towels and rags in the sink, and get them out of the way quickly so I'm not overusing the towels and spreading germs & bacteria. Also - if they go into the bag slightly damp - I know they'll eventually air dry, as opposed to going moldy (had past issues with that when my dirty rag basket was under the sink.)