Sapphire Home's Profile

You could remove the shelves completely (if they come out) and add a nice big piece of art to the top, then use the bottom for shoe storage or maybe an umbrella stand?
Ooh, or! or! You could take out the shelves and install some hooks for sweaters, umbrellas, or even aprons! All sorts of stuff! Actually, you could still have the art AND the hooks...!!
I wish I had those shelves.

LOL @Herzsprung! I, too, turn in to some kind of crazy, starving Halk!!
It's just awful, but I know about it and try to avoid it. My boyfriend? Oh, man. Talk about Hangry Halk. It's just awful - and after we eat, we can both admit that it happened somehow! It's so embarrassing.

Where do I start?? I guess I'll start with reiterating that I, too, have never had any difficulty finishing a bottle of wine with dinner!
Normally what I'll do is try to find a week where I'm not too terribly busy or stressed, preferably just after payday. I'll commit to cooking every single night - that's a big deal for some people, including me, so sometimes I'll take one whole weekend day to do it. I cooke recipes that are for 4-6 people and then freeze everything except what I eat that very night - in individual tupperwares. Not only does it store well, but I know what I have a craving for and I can plan to take that one out of the freezer in time. Or two - they can function as lunches just as well, which is great.
Also what I've been known to do sometimes is take one day and cook sides for the whole week - that way each night I can just make the main dish (usually grilled, sauteed, or baked protein of some sort!) and throw a salad together and I'm done. I love doing this because I'm much more apt to reheat sides leftovers than I am to reheat the main dish. Also, some sides take FOREVER!

BUT! What has saved me recently is a local business. They only have three locations (in Florida and Virginia) but they have changed my life!! I'm sure that there are other business out there like them:
Dinner Done!
Basically you sign up for a 'kitchen session' and choose how many meals you want (I usually choose 8). You pay for your meals. Last time I did it, it was around $160 for 8 meals - but wait!
You show up for your session and they have a community kitchen with different stations. You go around and prepare your meal (bag pasta, make a sauce, etc.) with all pre-measured ingredients and then you put them in to a container to bake or store them. You can split meals - each meal is good for 4 people, so each meal for me is two dinners and two lunches the next day! Since I can split it in two, I make one each night and I get two meals out of it - GOOD meals! They use fresh, good quality ingredients and they shop just before each session.
Seriously - changed my life. Plus, my freezer is organized to a FAULT now - I love it!!

Oh. My. Goodness. My mother still has this dryer, except the lint catcher is inside instead of on top. SO OLD!!! She refuses to give it up until it breathes its last breath of hot, dry air. Which, knowing my mother, won't ever happen - she'll find a way to keep it alive. She'll appreciate this! hahaha

If the bed fits in to the little alcove, I would definitely move it there. Create spaces, as some others have said: A sleeping space, the sink and 'dressing' space, a study space, a relaxing space. If you can't bring in furniture, having some large comfy floor pillows can still create a pretty fun and comfortable hang-out area instead of a couch, and you can use a cheap rug (thrift store!) to mark off the space. Definitely hang curtains over the curtains! You can attach them to the current curtain rod or as suggested above you can use clothespins. I would leave the desk there, though; I always find it easier to study with lots of natural light.
Good luck, how exciting!

I love this because my kitchen has no pantry, which is where I traditionally keep these items. I'll be checking the dollar stores and Tuesday Mornings to see if I can find one of my own :D

I moved to central Florida from the D.C. area and I miss fall SO MUCH! Here's what I normally do:
Turn the A/C a little colder and put on sweatpants, thick socks, and a flannel shirt. Make a soup or stew (gumbo for me - my grandmother's recipe. Always means fall) and that. Change out the blankets/throws in the living room to something with a sweater-y texture. Decorate with fake colored leaves (I prefer oak) and tiny pumkins (are they pumpkins?).
I try to decorate with the colored leaves just outside my front door also.

Most importantly? I try to spend as much time as I can in my house during the late afternoon/early evening. There's something about the quality of light at that time of day that screams autumn and not Florida. I also try to stay very quiet - when the cold hits I always seem to quiet down a bit and settle in to the house for the long winter. No music or soft music, a book instead of TV. Hot cider.
I also like to 'fall clean' - it makes me feel a change even if it isn't specifically fall. Oh, and scarves! I get out the fashion scarves I've been hiding all sweltering summer long. It's just about cool enough to wear them (at least at night, soon!) and nothing makes me feel like fall more than wearing a scarf.
I bake pumpkin cake (not a fan of the pie) and buy fall scented candles - I can't recommend any because I quickly realized everyone has a different favorite 'fall' smell depending on where they came from, what kind of trees they had, etc.

And without forgetting - HALLOWEEN! I always decorate for Halloween and buy candy early to keep it in a bowl for guests (willpower...it takes a LOT of willpower). Just visiting a Halloween Express makes me feel the changing of the seasons a little bit more. Thanksgiving is also a great time to up the ante - the smell of a traditional meal cooking (even if you're only baking a single turkey breast) can be amazing.

I thought I was the only one who liked to make the bed! My boyfriend can't make a bed to save his life, and all we have is a comforter and a bunch of standard pillows. I mean, come on!

Mind boggling. This just changed my life a little bit.

One of the things I *always* do when I either clean out my fridge or move is to clean all my jars.
Anything with a screw top lid - especially jellies, jams, honey, etc. - can get hard to open very quickly. Usually I use a paper towel or dish rag and hot water to clean the jar itself where the lid screws on, and I soak the lid itself in hot soapy water and rinse/dry it really well before I reunite them. I use a bit of plastic wrap to keep the contents safe and secure while the lids dry.
Make me feel WAY more happy with my fridge! I also use this opportunity to clean off the ketchup and mustard since they get pretty gross eventually also.