fallentree's Profile

When I was little, my parents used to tell me bedtime stories about myself. They all started off the same way, telling me my full name, my address, phone number, and the names of my parents (not just "mom" and "dad"), as well as the names and phone number of my uncle and aunt who lived nearby. ... and then we would get into the actual adventure of the story.

To this day (30 years later), I still remember my first address and phone number by heart, including postal code. It was by far the best and easiest way to have memorized all that contact information. It didn't have the context of "if you get lost", it was just a part of me, and easily recalled in any situation.

I think one of the reasons why you're underwhelmed with the tile is that the reflective surface of the stainless steel is still showing you the beige-brown of the original back-splash. Put the tile up.

If you're still not convinced of the look, then change the hardware on the cabinets. ... and I might go a shade or two lighter on them paint-wise, to be honest. The dark cabinets make the tiles recede and the pink stand out more.

But, really and truly, what's going to make the difference in your kitchen is what ELSE you put in there. If it stands alone as-is, it'll always be unexciting to you. Find some fun accessories that work well with your colours. Play up the grey and stainless. Put a collection of blue glass or ceramic containers on an open shelf or in an under-used corner. Give the space some life.

The kitchen will never be perfect. What rental kitchen is, though? Make the changes you can, accept what you can't change, and then adapt it to your life. ... and fill it with the recipes and memories you're learning and making while in this new country.

All I can think about is how COLD it would be in winter time. ... and how it'd collect snow and rain and be an entirely puddle-filled un-sit-able feature after a while.

Great to look at (really great, I love the detail), but not to sit in.

I'm in 580 square feet right now, and other than storage issues, it's alright. I was happier splitting 700 plus a large storage space (and room to hang all my laundry to dry). ... but I also think I'd be much happier not in an apartment, period. As much as apartments are more eco-friendly, I am tired of my neighbour's cigarette smoke seeping in under the door or down the exhaust fan in the bathroom.

Plus I want a yard, and space (the ultimate luxury, as it was already put) to do what I want to do: grow things, be outside, hang my laundry to dry, nap in the sun on the lawn... A person can dream, I suppose.

Fire-retardant is easy enough to find. While working for a students' union, every poster, banner or other large paper object hung in a public space had to be sprayed with fire-retardant prior to hanging.

It's absolutely imperative to do, what with the fact that heat, smoke and sparks all rise and a lot of lights (particularly halogens) give off large amounts of heat. The last thing you'd want is to have a stupid kitchen mistake burn down your ceiling.

You have a beautiful home. Thanks for sharing!

Despite agreeing with the majority of comments here, I do have one thing to say: what's the point of having something that's "practical" if I am not *allowed* to use it for practical purposes? Yes, things look cluttered, but nothing says home like a wall of hooks covered in winter jackets.

There is a certain level of ridiculousness in suggesting (even in "sidestepping practicality") that one would hang wall hooks (albeit aesthetically interesting ones) for any purpose other than to burden them with the trappings of every day life.

How about furoshiki folding? Just a square of fabric and you're good to go. Plus it's totally reusable.

This page has some neat ways to wrap too: http://www.env.go.jp/en/focus/attach/060403-5.html

I see you mention the idea, but not how to do it in some of the previous articles. Furoshiki is an eco-friendly and unique option, and resources abound on the internet.

@ anitalusi, DO NOT turn off your water main if you have a hot water heater that you cannot turn off. Have you ever burned a pot (i.e. boiled water until it all evaporated and then forgot to turn the stove off so the pot burns?). Imagine a really really big pot, sitting somewhere in the middle of your house, and no one around to remember to turn the heat down. I'd much rather have some soggy belongings and busted-up walls from a burst pipe than a burned-down home.

I would LOVE to do this all the time, but money IS a challenge. As wonderful as it would be to buy sustainable everything (and as much as that would be good for me - the eco-nerd to do), it's definitely a budgetary challenge.

So instead, I try to buy used, or take cast-offs from friends and family. The majority of my furniture, and a good deal of everything else has come from the homes of friends and family as they have outgrown or moved on from them. As a result, my couch and chairs are older than me, and hold marvellous memories of my childhood. My dishes, too, are older than me, and remind me of countless feasts at the no longer existing family cabin.

Not everything is like that, however, but I'm doing my conscious best to stick to that rule of sustainability or second-hand. After all, the 3-R's are reduce, reuse and recycle. Sustainability comes in at least a few different modes.