joey_brill's Profile

We were once asked to leave the Henry Ford Museum because of my mother's cutting kleptomania.

Her trip to the UK yielded some of the most boring photos and some of the prettiest flowers.

Her excuse was that people don't 'own' plants and plants grow best when you acknowledge that truth.

I'd go with any basic dark metal hanging chandelier with normal sized sockets for five uplights.

You pack away the shades and purchase plastic shades. They make them in a bunch of different colors and shapes. They're cheap and you can throw them in that dishwasher (upper deck).

Regarding those wall lamps on either side of the fireplace: I've never seen that before. Those lamps are in the most logical and useful of places. I can't get over it. When I had a fireplace, I had to move floor lamps around - very shiny brass floor lamps.

I'm drooling over the Welsh cabinet, that breakfront in the corner, the federalist mirror, and those landscapes over the fireplace.

Is the living room celery green? Whatever color, it plays very well with your wood tones, the Chinese red and the accents. The dark blue with the gilt wall stuff reminds me of lapis.

Light-wise, you've placed that chandelier at the perfect height. Mama from Real Estalker has been teaching us all the proper height of lights and yours' would pass with flying colors.

This rocks. Your flat looks like it belongs to someone who does his/her best thinking while re-arranging furniture.

Demand for antique taxidermy has shot up. It is a love it or hate it category. Most items that I see have survived banishment to basements or garages because of changing tastes or poor workmanship.

Part of the appeal - to me - is that these trophies have outlasted their slayers.

Another great part of the display is that I now hang party hats & shit off another man's symbol of virility.

Salvage stores and Salvation Army; call ahead for retro refrigerators; they check to make sure they work.

The Studio model from Big Chill fits perfectly and helps with my very low kitchen ceiling. Two people do not need a wall of fridge, so I think paying a little extra money for something I can move anywhere (it only weighs about 300 pounds) was worth it. I've had it for three years and it's worry free.

They make wireless outlet switches. You plug the pendant lamp into one of those and use a remote to control your lighting. Kits come for as many as three outlets, so you can control different areas from your bed.

This is the second house I've had where the living room is not wired for any overhead lights.

I did it once for friends who'd gutted and remodeled a mid-century house in Winnetka, Illinois.

I couldn't find an overhead light to save my life. Every control panel set temp, music, and mood lighting.

The dogs were great, but my commute to Chicago was hell.

Your mother-in-law would be sleeping on the floor with a trundle bed. If your father-in-law had to get up lat at night, he'd undoubtedly step on his wife's head.

1. Take the money and send them to a good hotel so they are comfortable and everyone gets some downtime.

2. Give them your bed for their visit and purchase twin sofa beds for your office. They look like chairs and are nearly as uncomfortable as a trundle bed.http://www.crateandbarrel.com/family.aspx?c=8110&f=31243

In my tiny studio, I found I could throw one piece of resistance equipment in the center of the room - as long as it looked cool and had wheels.

I bought one of the more popular machines from a used sports equipment store and paid very little. Web sites provided exercise programs and eBay provided accessories.

Because it was in the middle of the room, I used it as soon as I got home from work. Between supersets I'd start dinner, clean the place up and get ready to go back out.

My advice would be:

1. Don't enter into a payment plan for fitness. Never finance discomfort and sweat.

2. Be a snob and recycle. Nordic Tracks, fitness machines, and ellipticals are given to every guy as soon as he hits 60. They are all eventually donated to Goodwill. Try them out and buy used.

3. Bribes. Get up early and watch brain-rotting tv. An old tv with DVD player can give you enough of your favorite series to provide 45 minutes of cardio.

4. Have cleaning supplies handy. That bowflex gets ripe.

5. If you do sets, try to set up your machines near the laundry. It's amazing how neatly I fold laundry when I'm faced with another circuit.

The backsplash is adorable. The cooktop with barstool seating makes me think there is a very tired cook.

The before pictures at link show that this is a clutter prone person (Lladro head at 11o'clock!) so I wouldn't worry about the place getting a lived in appearance.

Am I the first to spy the cowhide rug? I think it qualifies as our Midwest equivalent of the zebra stripe rug plague that has hit Domino and Dwell.