mginwa's Profile

I used Airbnb in Paris last month and it was amazing. Hostel prices but infinitely more safe and comfortable. Awesome.

I don't get it. Why on earth would someone send a pregnancy announcement? Are they just angling for gifts or something? Seems tasteless--call whoever it's important to tell, and then put it on Facebook. Sheesh.

I completely agree--personally, I would make everything else white and try to calm down that pink and black as much as possible. Plain white shower curtain, white towels, crisp white paint, everything. I would go with chrome knobs and fixtures, keep the place free from clutter, and let it all become peaceful. I had the EXACT same color tile in an apartment once upon a time, and the combo of white and pink and black was really great, I honestly thought so.

Re-tiling nicely will be expensive for a rental, re-tiling or painting the tile cheaply will likely be ghetto and I can't imagine your landlord will be thrilled. Nice beats cheap every time, so get the nicest everything else you can and counterbalance the tile.

Hi, siobhan, it's a good question, actually. When I bought my TV my computer nerd brother sent me a complicated math formula to figure out the right size based on my room size and sofa position. I don't remember what it was, but the basic idea is that you need the right ratio of screen size to space. Too big and it won't be comfortable to watch, too small and you are effectively downgrading the resolution. There's a wikipedia article about optimum HDTV viewing distance: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optimum_HDTV_viewing_distance

I first experienced this when I got a wii years ago and tried to play it on my 21" TV. Even when I was standing 2 feet away it was just too small--I couldn't react in time to what was taking place. Playing video games is all about absorbing a bunch of visual detail very quickly and reacting very quickly, so you want to make sure you can see well. Even if you just like watching tv shows and movies, having a better picture experience will make it so much more engaging--shows are being shot for extremely high quality televisions now, so if you don't have the resolution you are literally missing out on the details. There's no one right size tv, only the right size tv for a given room and lifestyle. Ultimately, it's all about how far the seating is from the screen and what your lifestyle priorities are.

It's like a spaceship! I have never seen anything like it before! How cool!
That house must take a looooot of windex to keep clean :)

Thanks for the DC CSA suggestions, EebIsMe and nishdc!

Totally agree with the above ideas.

It can be super frustrating to wait and take your time in decorating, but its worth it for a couple reasons. First, it gives you time to really consider your purchases. If you still want it a couple months after you saw it in the store, you're more likely to still like it after you've lived with it for a few years. Give yourself a chance to see if you can outdo yourself and find something even better! This is particularly important with upholstered pieces, which are usually best bought new (bedbugs!) Second, almost everything goes on sale at some point, even at expensive stores like Design Within Reach. If you wait, you can wait for that point, which is nice--then you got the thing you know you love at a discount :)

And you don't want your room to look like you just bought everything on the same page of the catalog, even if you do buy a lot of stuff at the same store.

I buy small quantities, but I try to get good prices. Sometimes that means using the bulk bins at Whole Foods to buy the right quantity of things, so I don't have to store a bunch of something that will take months to eat. I've pretty much stopped using paper towels and I've totally stopped using paper napkins--I don't have a place to store them, so I've switched to cloth. Fortunately, I have a washing machine. I do get larger quantities of TP from Amazon, mostly because they don't sell smaller quantities!

What a fabulous space, and I love the minimalism--lets you really focus on the amazing windows and view. I really love the way the space is laid out.

I see a teeny dog on the sofa in the hallway picture with the mirrored console table--I've been looking for one just like that! :)