GingerR's Profile

I would do without a dishwasher before I'd give up a washer/dryer.
Despite the claims of the dishwasher manufacture I pretty much wash the dishes before using the dishwasher. I think the money spent on my own units is worth it. If I didn't have one I think the places that wash and fold by the pound would be my next choice. Laundrymats just aren't that attractive to be hanging around.

Your house can not be too clean. A dirty house just begs the buyer to look a little closer and see what else isn't working right.

Also - don't think you can fool me with the decorating improvements from Home Depot or Pier One. We looked at houses last fall and I swear, I could spot the Home Depot backsplash tiles and the Pier One color scheme the moment I walked into the room.

The spruce-up pillows and new towels were tolerable, but the Home Depot upgrades just made me think about how I was going to tear it out.

If you aren't going to do something really well just show me a clean house painted white that I can move into.

The other side of memorializing with a few cherished items is what to do when and entire household of things descends upon you after the death of a loved one. You want them as part of your household, sometimes it's a huge help to get furniture or china, but there are problems. Desks that don't work with laptops, dishes with not enough place settings, boxes and boxes of photographs. That is a challenge!

We recently bought a house with similarly colored cupboards. The walls are painted a dark accent purple. I think go with a dark color that will compliment the dark cupboards. Clean the cupboards and buff them up a bit so they have a rich deep color. Over time sometimes they get a dull surface. I would not paint the long wall with the windows, just the L-shaped walls that kitchen sits in. It will set that area off from the rest of the room and let you decorate the living area however you choose.

I second and third the suggestion to wash the walls with TSP. You can buy it at the paint store. Paint will streak and not look good if you put it on walls with grease.

Painting cupboards is a LOT of work. You're lucky the landlord has ruled that out!

The GRUNDTAL rail has so many neat add-ons. I put it in my bathroom with the hanging flowerpots. The pots are easy to pull in and out of their rings so things you need to use can be on the counter and then poof -- not seen when put away in their hanger. The rail with the hooks will hang small pictures and their easy to change.

You can't go wrong with measurements of each room, window dimensions, etc....

If you see pictures in magazines/catalogs it's a great place to stash your dream visions.

I love that.

Crutch or not, it's better than things all over the floor.

Are you measuring your portions? It's one thing to guestimate what you're taking in, another to be measuring accurately. When you get into your 50s your metabolism slows and you have to be careful.

Unless you are hooked up to a heart rate monitor and the thing that measures you breath I think it's useless to estimate exercise calories. If you are subtracting those off what you're logging and calling that 1200 calories a day I would suggest that you quit substracting exercise calories from your daily totals. Just focus on what is going into your mouth.

Exercise because you feel better, not to lose weight.

Beyond getting really honest about what you're eating, try shifting your mix to more protein. Carbs attract water. More protein may help you slim down.

My grocery gives a nickle credit for each re-useable bag. Whole Foods will donate a nickle to a charity. Not every retailer does but the bigs ones will.