blueophelia's Profile

Suggestion: how about putting that "Check with your landlord before making major changes" caveat into the opening paragraph of this article, instead of leaving it as an implication ("if you're a renter and can't make any permanent changes")?

Especially since some landlords are willing to knock the equivalent amount off the rent for changes they consider an upgrade to the property, making your upgraded hardware or pull-out shelving essentially a freebie.

I'm a little surprised to see that people would consider freezing cheese. Apart from plastic and foil-wrapped processed cheese food items, aren't most cheeses considered a living food, meant to breathe and age in a cool, dark place? Just slice off and chuck any odd bit of mold that moves in and the cheese beneath is fine?

On those tacky spouse-swapping shows, there's always a neat-and-tidy type who tries to give away all the 'new' family's pets, because animals are dirty. Meanwhile, the audience cringes along with the new family, because pets are not just animals, they're FAMILY, and how can anyone not understand that?

For me, the book argument is similar. There's the side that sees books as just another thing in the room, to be arranged in the most aesthetically pleasing way possible, and there's the side that sees books as BOOKS, and doesn't get how someone can organize by color, or use them as glorified plant stands, or intentionally damage them by stripping the spines for a 'rough' look. It's akin to suggesting that one's family only wear clothing that matches the living room color scheme and only sit where it's most aesthetically pleasing with the furniture arrangement, or bringing the toilet into the dining room to better show off the sleek porcelain curves--going way too far and ignoring the purpose of both designing and of the items being used.

If the pro-book side is particularly loud in the comments, it's only because EVERY design blog, EVERY blogger, EVERY girl with a Pinterest, slaps a stack of books on a table underneath some nondescript bit of future thrift store junk and calls it good design, and all we can think is, "But I have to move everything if I want to read!" And clutter with poor functionality is never good design.

I come from a family of overgifters, and I'd like to encourage the grinchiness. Overgifting isn't generosity, it's overcompensation, and making your kids uncomfortable doesn't teach your grandkids gratitude--it teaches them that Grandma doesn't care if she makes the holidays awkward.

Besides, remember that rule about decorating, that if you put all your tchotchkes on the mantle, the special items don't stand out? Flood a kid with presents and you spread the You-ness of the gift-giving around to twenty items. Nothing gets to be special; it's all equally devalued into a Pile o' Stuff. But one thoughtful present, even if it's so wrong ("Wow, this is...quite a sweater..."), shows you really thought about it and weren't just buying crap in hopes that SOMETHING would impress. The one fugly sweater will stand out, while the million-and-one plastic gadgets will be forgotten.