Sagaka's Profile

I'm the family photographer in our house, and sometimes I /do/ kind of mind that I'm not really in that many photos. So, we came up with the one-family-photo-a-month solution. Once a month we take a family photo with all four of us. Some of them are taken using the self timer, sometimes I can rope someone into taking it for us. Some of them are pretty boring (the couch has shown up in more than a couple), but I try to take them somewhere interesting if possible (on a holiday, out for a hike, at a landmark, etc.). Some of the photos are definitely last-minute desperation photos; us, on the couch, on the last day of the month, nothing interesting going on. Some of the photographs aren't all that great, although I do my best to make sure to get a shot where everyone's eyes are open. But, creative photography or not, this means that we have a bunch of pictures with all of us together. We've kept this going for over three years now, and it's fun to look back and see the kids growing, and to remember what was happening when the photo was taken (even if it was mundane). It's not a ridiculous outlay of time, and I still get to be that person behind the camera the other 99% of the time, but I know that I'm in front of the lens sometimes, too.

Over the years I've arrived at pretty much the exact same conclusions. To #1 I would suggest also putting away any toys that you either can't bear the thought of: (1) cleaning up after (all of the seemingly hundreds of little plastic cherries in Hi Ho Cherry-o), or (2) play sets with special parts (if Grover were to go missing from the Sesame Street set we would have problems). Alternatively, have parties outside whenever possible (not so possible for the December birthday crowd), which largely negates point #1 entirely. The only other thing I would add is just to know that no matter what you do your house will look like it's been struck by a 3' tall tornado when it's all over; learn to be ok with this, and take it as the sign of a successful toddler party.

There's an interesting anthropology paper in this non-food food-smelling items trend. Think of some of the food items in various trendy spa treatments; champagne, caviar, chocolate, sugar, fruit, etc. Many of these fall into one of two categories: caloric &/or comfort food (chocolate, sugar, cupcakes, butter, etc.), or posh and expensive food (champagne, caviar, etc.). Both categories represent things that people (women, generally) deny themselves; the former in order not to gain weight, and the latter due to expense. Instead, people buy the smell of the food, rather than ingesting it.

Take fresh figs, cut in half, put a little soft goat cheese on each half, drizzle with olive oil, grind a little pepper over the top. If you want, you can put them under the broiler briefly, but not necessary. If you can't get ahold of any figs, this also works well with pitted dates. Or, my favorite way to eat figs: pick off tree, put in mouth, repeat. I /love/ figs!

A kitchen that isn't segregated from the rest of the house is key. Best case scenario would be a kitchen that allows you to talk to and see people in the living room, but as long as it's not way off in a back corner and is eat-in I can work with it. I find cooking much less fun if it has to be a completely isolating experience. Lots of natural light is right up there in importance, too.

I /love/ these! I've been looking for years for vintage (actual vintage or reproduction of vintage) travel posters from Jordan (posters of Petra a bonus). Anyone know any sources?

I covet bathrooms. 2 1/2, to be exact; one for me and the husband, one for the kids/overnight guests, and a powder room for visitors. Currently we have only the one (tiny, in a rental apartment, with lousy storage), and I absolutely hate having to share it with anyone that's not my husband or my sister. I would /so/ love not to have the whole family's soaps/lotions/etc. out in plain view (however neatly) whenever we have visitors. *Sigh*

If you have an extra bedroom, office, what-have-you, that should be enough. Do all of the sanding and tack-clothing outside (or on your balcony) first. Then push all of your furniture to the walls, &/or move out what you can for the duration. Get a very large drop cloth, open the windows, and get down to business. Keep the windows open as long as you can, and the door closed to keep the fumes out of the rest of your apartment as much as possible, maybe even run a box fan set in the window so it's blowing air out rather than drawing it in. It's probably worth while to check the weather forecast first, and don't get started until you see a few consecutive rain-free days predicted. It's not really an ideal set-up, true, but I managed to do a few pieces this way and it worked out pretty well. Good luck!

This doesn't solve the attractive part, but it does help with organization; shelve your books by call no. (use EndNote or some such to help you organize). If you're like me you've spent so much time in school libraries looking in certain subject areas that you probably already know the relevant call nos. off the top of your head (I lived in CC and GN mostly), so you'll be able to find what you're looking for quickly.

As for making it nice-ish looking, I've always liked the look of a wall covered from floor to ceiling with wall-mounted shelves. A little while ago Design Sponge showed a clever way to combine storage and decoration on book shelves that I always thought could be nice against a wall of books (designsponge.com/2012/01/diy-project-artwork-secret-storage-box.html).

Thanks for asking a great question! I'm curious to see what other people suggest, too.

I love this room, especially that sweet little reading corner. Thanks so much for sharing it!

And, not to get all political about it, but there's a teepee in it. And I think that's ok. Please, Apartment Therapy readers, don't bully Michelle. It appears that Sharon from Ziggity Zoom was hounded off the site earlier today for a similar structure.