cdw's Profile

I lived in two houses when I was in grad school where my housemate was the owner and they were both great. I would say the biggest thing about making it work was that they were extremely open with the common areas. My couch, my art, my music, etc. was just as welcome as theirs. In the first case, may landlord had lived in a similar situation when she was in law school and she wanted to provide the same sort of open environment to her renter.

The second place was fun because I was able to contribute to the house in a way that I never would have in a normal renting situation. When I mentioned that the backyard would be great with a patio, I was given the go ahead to put one in with expenses covered.

There are of course a lot of things that factor into a good housemate situation but the above were unique to living with the landlord. I should also note that in both cases the people were just a bit older than me and had similar lifestyles/interests. I would definitely do it all over again - the second one worked out so well I stayed well past grad school and we are still friends.

@Warrior Two Re: Bed frame

I purchased a used unfinished pine platform bed frame off craigslist and then stained the wood to match my dressers. The original legs were too short to allow for the under bed storage I need so a very skilled friend of mine made new ones for me. I think it was originally from a local unfinished wood furniture retailer.

Thanks, Carolyn

Having spent some time on the rail of a sailboat to weigh down the windward side of the boat, I can see another reason while the sailing analogy (or whatever you want to call it) could be used here. If you are in the middle of the boat, you basically can only see what's around you on one side of the boat because the sail blocks your view - just like the blinds.

To that point, I always like to keep a bit of the window visible so I can see how the day is unfolding...

'misunderstood' rather.

I think it looks better after, though perhaps not my first choice in fabric. Redo the bottom cushion with piping (like original) and it will look a lot more finished (it's super easy if you have a zipper foot for your sewing machine).

Definitely the Riverbead design.