kastani's Profile

I really love it when people follow up with the "after" of their good questions posts. I my opinion this should be part of the process every time!

As for Melissa's question - I agree with other posters that trying (more) different light bulbs is probably the cheapest option. This should eventually work, unless the the cover on your light fixture has a yellow hue (it would have been helpful to show it in the pics).

As for the painting option - I might consider extending the upper cabinet colour to the walls (you might find that you only dislike the cabinet colour when its with the green). Otherwise - I think a grey-beige might work, if you go with a cool grey you'll likely run into trouble finding a shade that goes with your floors.

Best of luck!

I think the best way to decorate a room is to find one distinctive piece that is timeless and amazing - be it a print or other artwork/ duvetcover/ rug /pillow and then build a colour palette from that item.

I think Mysterious is a nice colour.. and if she's not afriad i'd say she should go for it. Its an "almost neutral" so should be easy to match. I just painted 3 out of 4 walls in my bedroom "paramount" by Behr, its similarly dark, but with more of a dark teal undertone. I'm painting the 4th wall (opposite the bed) a shade of white but haven't made the final selection yet. I'm happy with my decision not to do the classic dark feature wall.

"Downpipe" by Farrow and Ball is another highly recommended dark greyish colour which can be (pretty much) colour matched to a less expensive brand.

If she takes the plunge with dark walls I'd suggest keeping the shutters or drapery in a lighter colour (white/cream/griege) to make sure that it doesn't get too dark in there. I'd also suggest no curtains, only shutters/blinds on the smaller windows unless privacy is an issue.

Good luck!

In every apartment that I've lived in that had shared laundry, I was most definitely in the "till I run out of undies" camp. Now that I have a washer/dryer in my condo I actually tend to use the washer, which is stacked in our storage room, as my laundry hamper. Whatever goes in first dictates whether it will be a light or dark load, the other stuff goes into a real hamper that sits beside it. Keeping dirty laundry out of the bedroom is great. When the washer is full, on it goes! I still haven't figured out a great folding and putting away system though - "mount clean laundry" often grows in our second bedroom for longer than either me or my bf would like.

I discovered the beauty of the steamer last year.. it is the BEST THING EVER- especially for anyone who has to wear professional clothes for work. No more ironing for me!

Perhaps its just me, but while I can appreciate snake skin patterns- used sparringly- in fashion, I really don't think it translates well (ie, its tacky, in a "Housewives of.." way) in home decor applications.

Maybe you're just annoyed that you signed a six month lease for a place you wish you could stay in for longer?

I once had a 4 month rental following a breakup/move out. I actually loved that basement apartment even though it was a hodge podge of mix-matched furniture, had a broken oven for half the time, and a bedroom with a window that was covered by the front deck. Maybe it was because I knew my life was heading in the right direction? (My next move was across the country for law school)

As I see it, its all a question of attitude - after all, we're here for a good time, not a long time.. right?

For those of us in Canada, I love the patterns and fabrics available through Toronto based Tonic Living (http://www.tonicliving.com/).

So sad it's already sold out (and such a small production). My BF would DIE for this - and it's the type of poster that, if mounted, would look so awesome in our place.

Re: when to re-affix your outlet plates post-painting

When you paint you will (hopefully) have removed the faceplates on your outlets and switches. My advice is to be sure that the wall has cured (usually 24-36 hours, but check the label) before screwing the plates back on. I recently learned this the hard way when we painted, then put the ugly almond colour plates on after the paint "felt dry", then had some paint peel/get stuck to the plate when we got around to re-wiring and replacing the outlets and plates with nice bright white ones. So annoying!