lesalamb's Profile

Oh, and pedicures are a great reward!

Ok - it seems like you want a bandaid answer .... so here goes. For the kitchen, I agree with the roller shade in the window but would skip the hardware exchange. The straight lines of your chosen hardware will only accentuate the arches in the cabinets and the mix of styles would be disturbing; the quantity of hardware would cost a substantial amount to replace unless you use cheap hardware which defeats the purpose of replacing it; if you do purchase the "good" hardware believing you will reuse it after a complete reno ... think again, there's no guarantee you will have the correct pieces and finding a match in a few years will be tough. As for the countertop - well, I did see a Rustoleum Countertop coating at the HD. for 59 or 69 dollars you can make your countertops look like granite - this may be a quick fix to remove the pink. As for the bath, I saw a shower curtain at West Elm that was a horizontal charcoal and white stripe. Match your wall paint to the charcoal in the shower curtain ... dark charcoal towels and rug (the largest you can find) ... then stop. Really, make it liveable for now ... and save all the money you can for that dream reno down the road ...

I read a ton of ... errmmm ... Women's books ... (Ok - so they're romance novels). I will admit that with all the books being reissued with new covers, I have, upon occasion, purchased a "reissue" of a book I already had. Very frustrating to get home and realize you already own the book. Nook keeps me from duplicating my books .... now if only there was a way to get all the paperbacks I already own ... onto my nook!

I spent almost a year making the decision between the Nook and the Kindle. I wanted the e-reader primarily for reading books while either outside or in other high glare areas (I'm in Florida) and for travel. So I needed e-ink, compact, lightweight, long battery life and wireless. I even waited to see the new Kindle offerings in October before making my decision. After reading and comparing countless reviews, which basically said there wasn't a bad choice ... I eventually chose the Nook Simple Touch for two reasons. 1. The new Kindle touch has a weird grid thing on the front that looked like a sand/grunge trap (while the Nook Simple Touch was smooth allover). and 2. There is a Barnes and Noble store not to far away, so I can go there and "preview" (ie: read or browse), for up to an hour a day. I haven't done it yet, but it seems to mimic the "social" aspect of browsing I used to do for paperbacks. Not terribly scientific ... but that's it! Oh, and I've had the Nook Simple Touch for about two months and Love it!

It looks like you have lots of storage ... but the wrong storage. I think you need to edit out the stuff that doesn't work and find things that do. When I cleaned up my office, I treated it like a kitchen remodel. I took stock of what I had, what I needed to keep, and what I didn't need. Then I found the right storage solutions that worked/fit for me. The best tool I had was a wand scanner - It saved me tons of time converting "stuff" onto the computer. I kept everything really simple with detailed computer files and for the paper stuff, I have a bag (actually one of those permanent grocery bag things I got at a trade show) that I throw all the paperwork into that I will need for tax preparation (the IRS wants the original's for an audit - and at the end of the year I have one bag to go thru and tally up which usually takes me a day, and then it's ready for the accountant. Then everything that was saved goes into a Rubbermaid bin in the garage.). Everything else gets scanned (including those inspirational tear sheets) and put on the computer and I toss or shred the originals. Oh and I got a cute permanent notebook (think hot pink leather cover) that I put all my little jots in ... I'm more comfortable with writing rather than putting it on the computer .... so EVERYTHING that I would have put on a scrap of paper, an envelope, or a sticky note; all the phone numbers, directions, passwords, or random thoughts go in the notebook. It's almost like a stream of consciousness .... Well, that's what works for me. Good luck with your space!

What a great house ... it just seems to need a little inspiration. Ok - two things you already know but I have to say anyway ... the room seems a little awkward with so many doorways/traffic patterns and the furniture's scale is too large as well as the wrong flavor. However, having said that I do have some suggestions. On the bay window - I would get rid of the drapes and inside mount 2" faux wood blinds or a plain white roll up shade if daytime privacy is not an issue. Then I would build a chair height storage bench into the bay and use a collection of fabrics on the seat cushion and pillows. This would give you the softness without adding drapes. On the wall with the doorway leading to the entry (?) Instead of purchasing a sideboard or buffet for the tv - I would do a built in bookcase that wraps the doorway and covers the whole wall, then I would add an articulating wall mount for the tv to create a recessed/built in look within the bookcase. As for the wall with the window with the stain glass..... you said it opened onto a "sunroom" on the front of the house ... why not skip the window treatment on that window and treat the windows on the sunroom .. that way you borrow visual space from the sunroom and stretch the width of the room. Then I would use a large scale 3 dimensional architectural salvage type textural item (think gears, cool boards, interesting fence panel) on the wall to the left of the window. On the right of the window I would use a large single framed print and keep all the small items on the bookcase. As for color - red or dark green seems the obvious choice for the period but I think any color would be great. I would use a natural color with pops of color in the print

A trophy shop can engrave mini "plaques" (like they use on trophy's) with whatever you want ....