toothlesspoodle's Profile

I like entertaining, but at the same time, I can't remember having a party where I didn't feel frazzled and pulled in every direction making sure everything flowed smoothly. I love the idea of hiring someone to help. I just wish I could do this without coming across as kind of pretentious. Not sure about it, but I love the thought of having people over and being able to just enjoy their company without having to fuss the whole time!

I just painted our hallway in "Cracked Pepper" by Behr and I could not love it more! It is black with kind of a grey undertone. The bottom half of the walls have white wainscoting and we have a gallery wall of pictures with all white frames and I just love all the contrast going on. My husband was shocked when he got home to find the walls painted black, but after a few minutes confessed that he absolutely loved the look. He admitted that if I had suggested black walls to him ahead of time he would have thought I was crazy.

OMG. Rural and Rueful, your comment has had me howling with laughter! That comment seriously belongs in the AT Comment Hall of Fame!!!

"I have always found Ina Garten disturbing in some deep way that I couldn't pinpoint. It finally dawned on me that she's very much like a cat, always on the verge of licking herself. I dislike cats. I really, really dislike cats."

So. Funny.

Sorry, the flag used as a curtain, touching the floor is disrespectful. To each his own, I guess.

Wow!

You would be amazed at how quickly you can grow a hedge. I planted one between our house and our neighbor's house (and unsightly garbage cans that she never puts away) and in less than two years, that hedge is now five feet tall!! I'm thrilled. I planted Pittisporum Variegated Mock Orange and it is such a pretty hedge. An even faster hedge is Photinia. Honestly there are lots of types of plants that will grow very quickly into a lovely tall hedge. The key is watering very well in the first year to establish the roots. After that, hedges don't need much water and they are great for privacy.

For our window air conditioner unit, we measured that block of open space, had a piece of plywood cut to size, and painted the outward facing side of the plywood to match the house color and the inside to match the room color. My hope was that it would not add to the ugliness factor of the air conditioner.

I couldn't agree more with what others have said regarding landscaping. We have done this in a previous home and in our current home. When we have had spaces on the front of our house facade that felt empty or blank, where another window might be well suited, we have stuck a short tree in that spot and it cured the entire problem. One of our houses was urban and didn't even have a front yard, but we got an 7 foot tall potted tree and placed it in front of the blank space and it was amazing how well it balanced the front of the house! If you planted a Japanese Maple or some sort of low-growing tree in front of that space, I think you'd be very pleased with the results.

We did the exact same thing in our master bedroom with 8' tall ceilings. I searched for the perfect shade of white for the walls and trim, then painted our ceiling a gorgeous shade of pale blue. My husband and I find it so cheerful and inviting. I feel like the ceiling definitely recedes and the blue ceiling just feels like you're looking up at a lovely clear blue sky! :-)

Search on Pinterest and Google images. You will find some lovely inspiration rooms.

We researched the heck out of DIY concrete countertops last year. Making them was our summer project and we could not be more pleased with our countertops. Everyone who sees them is astonished that we made them ourselves.

When you DIY concrete countertops, the price per square foot obviously goes way down. They are quite a bit of work to make and we had to get help lifting them onto the cabinets, but in the end, we are so happy to have them. We sealed them well and have no stains. If I were paying the price per square foot quoted above, I may not choose concrete, but as a DIY option, they are definitely worth the work and expense.