T Cakes's Profile

All my fingers and toes are crossed! My grandpa's Eames lounge and ottoman went to my brother, and I've been dreaming of them since.

I certainly hope not - I have different tones of wood throughout my house. I have a mixture of walnut and oak, and I think it works fine. The main thing is that the style is mostly similar - mid-century modern mixed with a few older pieces.

Okay, they're not all condiments, but good things nonetheless.

The best thing we found when we moved to our current mid-century modern house was one of the original built-in cabinets. It was in the garage being used for storage, but once we had it refinished and put new sliding doors on it, we moved it back into its original place in the living room and use it to store LPs, games and other miscellaneous stuff.

Since you're renting, I would echo PI's suggestion for gray walls, and several other people's suggestion that you leave the brick and ceiling alone. Or just leave the walls white and focus on furniture, art and rugs. Painting can be an inexpensive way to reinvigorate the space, but painting ceilings is a definite chore (even without the nooks and crannies of a tin ceiling), and taking the paint off the brick will be a long, chemical-filled process.

I'd definitely want to create a lighting plan for my living room. I'm lucky enough to live in a mid-century modern house with a high, beamed ceiling and a huge (24'x36') living room, but even after 12 years here, I've never been happy with the lighting. I know we need some combination of overhead lights and table/floor lamps, but I still can't figure out how to do it so that it looks nice.

Then if there was any time left, I'd love to get some ideas on a floor plan for my long, narrow master bedroom.

I personally really like the roofline. As others have suggested, lose the shutters, perhaps put in a bigger window - or a series of three long windows.

If you're feeling brave, I would paint the triangular part of the house one color, and the rest another color. The trim could be another shade of the house color. I think going daring with the paint might really make your house "pop".

If you really don't think you can wait until you can re-do the whole thing, then I think this is what I would do:

1. Paint the tile. Personally, I'm pretty sure I couldn't live with that tile for a year! :) Here is some inspiration from AT: http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/before-after-painting-kitchen-119207. Just make sure to get the right products.

2. If you don't have any privacy issues, take down the shade covering the window over the sink/washing machine. If privacy is an issue, then maybe some cute curtains?

3. Take down all the stuff on top of the cupboards over the stove. Put most everything else away. (If these are the previous homeowner's pics, then ignore!)

4. If you don't want to paint the cabinets (they're really not too bad), then maybe just change out the door pulls. You could also take the doors off some of them (like the ones over the microwave) for some open shelving.

5. Personally, I'd leave the floor unless it's in really bad shape. If you painted the backsplash tiles black and white, and used a pattern or single bright color for an accent (red, teal), then the floor will be okay until you renovate. Maybe a large, brightly colored rug that fills more of the floor.

Over the years, I've found the best way to cook rice on an electric stove without over-cooking the bottom is to use two burners. Bring 2 cups water (or broth) to boil on one burner. At the same time, preheat another burner to medium low - #3 on my stove. Add about 1 tsp butter to the boiling water/broth; stir in just a bit over 1 cup white rice (regular, basmati, jasmine). Cover and move to second pre-heated medium-low burner. Set the timer for 13 minutes. Check once after about 3 minutes to make sure it's not simmering too quickly - turn down the heat if necessary. After 13 minutes, turn off the burner, keep the cover on the pan. Use after 5 minutes. I've let it sit up to 20 minutes - the residual heat in the pan and from the electric burner keeps the rice nice and hot.

When we moved into our 1920's bungalow - 20 years ago - our old box spring wouldn't go up the stairs. We went to a mattress factory and discovered the split box - two box springs that fit onto a queen frame (and will go up narrow stairs with a low ceiling). We still have it, and it still gives us incredible support. Until/unless we get a new bed, the split box stays.