Curtis's Profile

It's really great. I would never have bet that THAT much grey could be that amazing.

I have to say that when I painted a whole room with a pattern to look like wallpaper, I used matte finish paints in Benjamin Moore's Aura line, and seriously, they really are matte, but they truly are scrub-abble.

I just love it. I like the crisp white along with the dark stain. It's a brilliant right-this-minute combination and a great way to NOT throw out the baby with the bathwater, which is what painting the whole thing might have been. And yes, you can see the mid-century flavor peeking through in a good way. Pat yourself on the back -- a LOT. You did a great job. Well-conceived, well-executed.

Well, the little fella himself and his family are thrilled with it, and he actually IS in daycare at the moment, so it really does feel right. Eventually painting over the other two walls might be a great suggestion when he's older, and if they're in that house that long, they'll probably consider it. Making good use of some of the rest of the paint seemed like a good way to go for now.

- Curtis

The thing about staying with my folks, by the way, is that we always sleep on an antique teester bed that I've always loved, so that's a mattress that I'm a certain kind of used to.

Plus, my mother is such an off-the-hook good cook, AND they welcome my partner so sweetly, visiting them is actually rather ideal.

These days a lot of people use ottomans as coffee tables, and then put a tray on them. I think that's not a bad way to go. Meanwhile, if a living room arrangement had a rug had some kind of focus point in the middle of it, that could bring a little bit of cohesion.

I'm not familiar with Parvez Taj, but if that's what you like, do it, live it, be it.

Because seriously, anything is going to cost at least something, and as my friend Scotty would say, "Buy cheap, buy twice!"

What I'd probably do with this room is either a large canvas, or large fabric on canvas stretchers the same size as that vertical window, and frame them in white and have them next to it. Or at least ONE in the far corner of same wall, and have 2 smaller ones in between it and the window.

Here's why you should DIY it -- because there IS a stencil to do it, and because it you're very careful -- DO BE VERY CAREFUL -- and measure, measure, measure. For instance be careful to center the pattern and work to the edges, and use a level and some painters tape to keep your lines straight, etc.

But truly... a stencil is a great way to have complete control over your colors! If you did wallpaper, you would be at the mercy of the colors they make it in. By the way... if you want to experiment, you could do it on the wall, itself, OR... do it on a sheet of poster paper first.

I think having a piano in one's own home is kind of becoming extinct. I don't think that many parents encourage their children to take piano lessons or become musicians. The ones that do tend to opt for guitar, don't they?

To me, the first thing that must happen is to paint the walls near the HVAC unit the same color as the HVAC unit. That will help it disappear at least a little. Because you can't paint that kind of HVAC unit itself. I've used KVARTAL at Ikea and they're kind of great; very flat and planar and they can overlap and create change the way the window area looks, entirely.