SFW1983's Profile

No. We must also remember that not everyone shares the same aspirations. I recall several arguments with a friend who is a much more ambitious cook than I am. I am happy to make a good meal with wholesome ingredients. But I rarely par boil, pre sautee, or do anything that will leave me in the kitchen for longer than 20 minutes. Even if it brought my meals to higher culinary levels. Yes, I still love you dear friend, but no, I will not brine, marinade, and debone the chicken. Ever.

I would be wary of setting goals that are too high. Like churning your own butter and making your on pasta sauce, the intentions are good, but the amount of blood, sweat and tears will have you running back to that box of Hamburger Helper. Also, a good, natural pasta sauce or jam will have the same ingredients you can use at home, as canning is a great way to conserve fresh ingredients.
I suggest you take a "semi homemade approach", buying only at natural food stores. Frozen veggies are as good and sometimes better than fresh, or you can plan a vegetable rich meal around a rotisserie chicken. Buy pre-made mixes of organic veggies. Trader Joe's has frozen organic brown rice and natural turkey meatballs. The key is balance. A favorite soup at my home is made with fresh vegetables (buy MANY, dice, and use part in the soup. Store the rest on the freezer in ziploc bags for easy future soups), a few frozen natural meatballs, and stock.
Another stand-by is a faux risotto with TJ's frozen brown rice and whatever vegetable is in season. Make brown rice in microwave, and toss with seasonal veggies in the pan with a tiny bit of olive oil and parmesan. Let stand for a half hour to absorb tastes. you can also use this recipe with pasta or quinoa.
They key is knowing where to cut corners, where not to.
Lastly, the photo is a bad choice. Nothing but the beans are very healthy.

I have mixed feelings about professional organizers. On one hand, it is a symptom of our over consuming society that there is a need for them at all. I don't even know if they exist outside the US. On the other hand, a lot of people have serious issues hoarding and accumulation too much stuff. My husband's family is that way, grandparents, parents, children, they all accumulate things most of us would throw away. Their homes are full of clutter and it clearly affects their life. But even if they asked for help, it would be hard for someone in the family to go through each room and tell them that 95% of its contents are garbage, old, useless, broken, ugly, or redundant. An outsider trained to do this would do a much better job. And they may help get to the root of the problem, and avoid further accumulation and purchase of useless objects, saving money in the long run.

I'm sitting at work mentally filling my outbox with clutter. Does that count?

I find it very telling that a whole generation (mine) of women have grown up to worship the closet as a room where a girl goes to be in the company of her precious bags and shoes. I find it spiritually emptying. Yes, clothes are fun. But they are meant to be worn, during life. That thing that happens when we are not sitting in a zebra print ottoman admiring the latest Jimmy Choo acquisition. Makes me think of Scrooge spending all his time with his gold coins. Not to mention what it says about our society as a whole that closets are so big entire rooms are devoted to them.

Super helpful tip: Hangars are for planes. Hangers are for clothes. They also fit in most closets, which most hangars cannot do.

https://www.jossandmain.com/Bridget-Moynahan%3A-Curator-for-a-Cause~E1824.html

Not exactly but between Ikea & R+B...

Agreed on the Ikea. Personally I doubt I could tell the difference, except for the legs (you can easily tweak those). Ikea stuff lasts a long time. And chances are, you will get tired of the sectional before you get your money'd worth.
To truly test if it's a classic, imagine how long you'd keep a 4k, or 2k, sofa to truly get its worth. 10 years? 15? 20? Then go backwards and find design books from said years ago (2002, 1997, 1992) and tell me if you find anything that looks similar and looks good in context. If the answer is yes, and you can afford it, consider it an investment and go for it. If you think it's classic but can't afford the original, get the Ikea, or better yet, find the Ikea used in your area. It's bound to last just as long.

"If IKEA made dog food I would buy it and serve it to my family, that is how much I love IKEA." --> That made my day. I could not have said it better myself.
Every year, around this time when my birthday is mere days away, my boyfriend asks "What do you want to do for your birthday?". My reply is always "IKEA!!!!!!!!!".
I just don't get IKEA snobs. People snub IKEA usually when their budget allows more choice. The majority of us have three choices: IKEA (and even then it's not THAT affordable, not like a $500 couch isn't still $500 from our salaries), thrifted/used, town dump. Excuse me if the chair al Jonathan Adler is better constructed/smells better/made in the USA/comes with a celebrity endorsement. Ektorp is good enough for me!

MH330 right on point. Most of us cannot name a designer every time we see an item. We like what it looks like, and look for that or a similar item to fit our budget.
For the record, I don't buy knockoff handbags, simply because the quality is crappy. I do, however, buy at second hand stores, and vintage stores leather items that probably are a copy of something else a designer did sometime, which I am not aware of (like my argentine leather Balenciaga-ish bag).
ARCHDARLING, I find it a little preposterous of you to talk about entitlement here. Do you suggest some of us "deserve" some items while other don't? No one is screaming i NEED THAT $6000 STOOL NoW! How is it entitlement to like the way an item looks, find that there are a zillion of them in different stores, and choose one? i for one did not even know that or who this Eames duderino is until recently. I suppose my Ikea chair that kinda looks like an Eames chair makes me (and hundreds of AT readers) a terrible wannabe undeserving of the delicate genius that is MCM.