pammyfay's Profile

The fabric pattern is of trees? I thought it was pasta on forks!

What else is great about City Museum, other than interesting exhibits of stuff dug up in the city, the little-kids train ride, a huge slide, lots of running and jumping space for kids (and kids-at-heart) and more? It's the home of CIRCUS HARMONY! Young kids doing AMAZING acrobatic/juggling/contortion feats, learning cooperation, coexistence, persistence. Weekly shows. They are absolutely incredible, and I would be writing that even if my nephew was not a performer with the group! (It's a nonprofit, so I do not think this constitutes an ad!). But it's a great feature of the really great City Museum.

(But someday I really want to get a Ted Drewes!)

Good idea, L.Tor. (But I would have to remember to take it out when I'm in line at the car wash -- wouldn't want one of the workers thinking it was his special "tip"!)

Can anybody tell me the name of the round succulents on the left side of the photo?

Modern Fan Company would be my first stop, because the fans there have that minimal, sleek look. Also remember that many times, a fan that has a light on it in the position your photo shows -- meaning straight down, not those combinations of 4 or 5 "tulip" lights that flare out -- will also come with a solid cover if you don't want to use the light. Both of my Minkas came with optional solid covers (but I like the bit of overhead light).

I currently have an even mix of acrylic and glass.
I should say "I had."

Remember that earthquake that spread north (and west and ...) out of Virginia? It shook my townhouse violently. In the top loft level, I have 2 picture rails, and on them I had leaned some glass-framed art against the walls.

Disaster area after the quake. All of that glass -- I just couldn't bear it. I kept the door to the loft closed for a week.

One mat for a small framed newspaper was damaged by a shard of glass. Just a few inches difference and the newspaper would've been toast.

If I decide to reframe some of the work -- and this is a good time for me to reevaluate whether I want to or whether it's time for "new" -- it will be with acrylic. I'm also looking around the house for other framed art I have and evaluating whether I want to switch other pieces to acrylic. Not just to protect the art, but also to protect the small dog who "co-owns" the place.

(Other, larger glass-framed pieces hanging on the wall in the loft and in lower levels of the house were just fine, tho; just tilted.)

What's the chance another earthquake will roll through? I don't even want to think about that.

If you can see any hardware -- like end brackets in the #4 position photos -- it's really not a "floating" shelf, which has no visible means of support.

But I have a variety in a few places in the house to take advantage of wall space instead of having yet another bookcase.

A pair of glass shelves with the metal "clip" ends, like the Container Store version above (but less expensive from Lowe's), in the "office" space; 2 staggered aluminum rail shelves from Exposures in the kitchen, to hang art against, over a little sideboard; and 2 staggered Davis ledges (which are actually quite deep) from Crate & Barrel over the dining room sideboard to lean framed art against. If I had to buy again, I'd buy the Exposures ones, even tho it does have back brackets that you have to arrange your art a bit to conceal.

Word of warning: Between Lack shelves and the latest Davis ledges I've installed over the years, I've never found one that didn't require 4 hands to install.

(I've gotten rid of all my Lack shelves -- I could never install them without a slight tilt down, and I had to boost them with some shims. I had them in black, which is great if you don't mind dusting them frequently. Black is a dust magnet.)

To Sherri: The Lacks may be too deep for paperbacks--unless you want 2 rows of books. A floating shelf that's only as deep as a row of books would give you a cleaner, less bulky look.

An elevated glass top. For the later, because you really don't want to drill anything into the wood dresser's top, I'd buy 4 glass blocks (the big-box home improvement stores have them) for the corners of the dresser, top them with a small beadline of silicone and put either a piece of glass atop it or look for an inexpensive piece of butcher block or a wood that is a close match to the dresser (Ikea would be my first stop for that).

I'd think that putting them on just 2 blades would throw the fan's balance off. Beyond that, if you have a fan that's a little nicer than the cheapie utilitarian fans, they'd be noticeable and ugly. My fan's over the bed, so just before I change the sheets, I just step up on the mattress and wipe the blades down.

I was about to also recommend finding a stencil, but unless you find a very large one that gives you a lot of the arches -- I'm talking about something the size of an open newspaper -- you are going to have problems making sure everything is perfectly straight. Check for wallpaper instead. Whether you're doing the entire room or just an accent wall, you'll still be doing it yourself, saving yourself labor costs but still getting that "I did it!" rush.