Shrewd's Profile

I have a couple of moderately nice things, but I find that with the exception of my knives (Wusthof, and a present) I always fall back on the hand-me-downs from my grandfather, some of which are good and some of which... well... aren't. I also love my hardware store cast-iron, but I don't know if that's considered cheap.

I have to say, I haven't been able to bring myself to buy less-than-the-best for a dutch oven. I probably should just find one I like and take the plunge, given that I love borrowing my roommate's but tend to feel guilty about it. And as a few people above have said, better to spend less money on one and have it, then replace it in 5-10 years when funds are available.

If you own, I'm with the build a mantel and replace the marble with dark slate. Think the bottom half of this image: http://www.houzz.com/photos/1481460/Modern-Fireplace-2-modern-fireplaces-chicago But that's MY design aesthetic.

If you really like white brick, they apparently have thin pieces of brick that you can buy and place like tile, but with mortar, so you could literally DIY a simple mantel out of wood, "tile" it with brick, and then paint the whole thing white. I think it would be cool if you did this on the sides, and then topped it with the live-edged mantel that HealeyGirl suggested.

I get freaked out by spending a lot of time in places that smell old. Homes that smell clean and fresh (specifically the sofa or chair I sit in while visiting) still feel modern, even if the design is retro, but places that both smell and look like, well, a grandmother house freak me out. First of all, eww, and second of all I get all kinds of weird heebie-jeebies in places that feel super-outdated. (It's not a design thing, it's an existential thing. Please don't get judgmental.)

I'm also afraid of sleeping in rooms with lots of portraits (ie eyes), or anywhere with too much stuff on the walls (particularly of the collectible variety). I don't mind clutter on the floors, but there's something about over-full walls that makes my really claustrophobic.

Similarly, I live in a residential area with a lot of rental units, but also a lot of long-time resident. One of the houses in the area got literally emptied onto the curb over the course of a week last year, and I would estimate that less than 25% of it actually went to the trash. If it's at least 75% functional, someone in my neighborhood will probably want it.

I'm torn between "Wow, I really think I'd like that wardrobe if I stained it darker" and "There's no way I'd buy that from IKEA when I can probably find it on Craigslist. Or wait 2 years and buy the IKEA wardrobe on Craigslist for half price.

The things I find most irritating are too many pillows, fake animal heads, and basically anything that looks like it got latex poured over it. I also get a little twitchy around rooms that are too matchy (in either style or color). I feel like it's one thing to have a palette that you base your design on, but the quirks are what make things fun and human.

@pianogirl Anything no one in your family will want to use (ie baby clothes) - take a picture of anything that you have special memories of, then pass the rest along or, if they're in REALLY good shape, see if there's a place that sells vintage kids clothing. If there's a specific thing that you can't bear to part with, better one than all of them.
Anything that someone in the family can use, such as the vintage gowns - again, take pictures if you want, but then get them altered for someone else. Sell them if there's no one in the current generation of your family that wants them, and only hold on to a few that have special memories. However well preserved, clothes are meant to be worn. Find someone to love them as much as your mother and aunts did.
Photos - pull ones that you want for a sentimental value, then see (depending on how old they are) if someone else wants them. Accept that sometimes no one will want them, but you don't have the space in your home to save them "just because".
As to the wedding dress and the journals - KEEP THEM! That kind of thing special enough to keep around.

Floors - disguise it. I don't have kids, and what I don't clean won't hurt the cat. Having worked in food service for a few years I will NEVER grout a floor with white. I just don't have the patience to scrub the grout lines white every week and the moment of realization that your dark brown grout was once white is too painful for me to think about having again.
Everywhere else - deal with it. Especially on walls or soft surfaces, since it's harder to catch dirt and splashes by running your hands over it (as opposed to counters, which are easy), I want to be able to see anything gross that's on it. Since I got all-white bedding I've started washing my sheets every other week, which is obscenely frequent for me but I'm finding that I like. (I want to wash them every week, but I'm just a little bit too lazy.)

Looks like the space you're worrying about is the space between your flower bed and his. He may just figure that it's easier to edge his flower bed using the mower, and then extend the line to the curb to make it look even, and not think it's a big deal.
If you have a good relationship with him, mention casually that you've been thinking of doing some landscaping and are going to get a professional survey done so you don't encroach on his land - so he doesn't think you're being underhanded. (If you have a REALLY good relationship, just mention that you're trying to mow your lawn a little less frequently and ask if it's more convenient for you to edge that bed for him.)
If you do decide to go for a divider, make sure that:
1. Whatever you plant or install requires no maintenance on his side and won't shed on his lawn.
2. Whatever you do on that side, you mimic on the other.
Personally, I might opt for a row of low ornamental grasses; alternately, do a straight line along the property line and then curves on your side for a garden that uses herbs as the plants (clumps of thyme and well-pruned basil are actually really pretty, and would match with the aesthetic of your existing beds). Plus, bonus, you can offer them access to your herbs as a way to soothe bruised egos.

@Esotericara - Every charity has an office. Just find one you like and drop off a box of office supplies.

I wouldn't even consider myself borderline hoarder, but I do have a definite tendency to accumulate. My rooms in college tended to have a thin layer of stuff on the floor at all times, more because I didn't bother to put it away than because I didn't have space (although both were true). I finally managed to kick the accumulation urge in my early 20s, and have spent the last 5 years slowly trying to get myself to throw things away or not replace them.

The trick that finally worked for me was to accept that it was never going to happen all at once. I like to hold on to things. I have a hard time letting go of things that once held meaning. I finally accepted last year that if what I had to do was get rid of things one layer at a time, that was okay. Now, I work on it when I'm motivated and just refuse to accumulate useless things in the meantime. I'm still a cluttered person, which is hard because I really prefer to at least have a clear floor (an eye-blink state at the moment), but the volume of stuff is constantly going down.

What's really rough is that my roommate is a minimalist - keeping my clutter off the common areas is a losing battle.