eddieb's Profile

Nice job, Monika. I would love to see more of these kinds of features on the sight. Good luck with the tryout.

oh my god. that is a total dream home.

what a brilliant idea

I happened to pop in to the store once when they had a sale and bought the paint for my rental. White for the walls -- no comments -- and grey for the molding. The way the sunshines in these rooms is just spectacular.

You know what would work on the wall behind the couch? Those wall decals that are all over this website these days. Just that one wall.

Nice large space. The problem is you've created only one seating area, around the television. It looks like a frat house. Here are some suggestions.

Put the rug in front of the fireplace, turn the purple couch around, and set the two armchairs on the other corners of the rug. The magazine rack should now go behind the purple couch. Then you'll have a nice cozy and well-defined place to read a book of visit with friends.

Move the piano to the other side of the fireplace. In this alcove you can then install wall standards and brackets for floor to ceiling bookshelves which will add some height, drama, and color to the space. Do not go out and buy boxy finishes bookshelves, which only go up three-quarters of the height. Bookshelves to the ceiling will look really awesome.

Move the dining table parallel to the windows instead of perpindicular and move the buffet to the opposite wall. Do not put anything that will visually cut that long line.

Keep the beige couch where it is. Get rid of that piece next to it and put the white standing lamp there instead.

Can you hang those speakers from the ceiling? Radio Shack has brackets. And paint the wood cabinets on those speakers to blend with the walls.

Finally, take down those curtains! Get shades.

I love how clean and inviting your kitchen is. I think the hints for the color are in the picture and your story about the coffee pot. You can easily go Southern Italian with an earthly yellow, like ocher, that will give the kitchen color and keep it bright and welcoming. Or you can go with the red of the apron and the teapot, maybe slightly washed out so it won't overwhelm. But my first instinct is the ocher. Go Italian.

Replacing those those cabinets and shelves would be like burning money. They're fine and look to be in good shape, too. Sand them and paint them -- but stay away from dark colors or you'll turn a light and bright space into a cave. The walls behind the shelves above the sink and the stove should be painted the same color as the shelves. Inside the lower cabinets install those heavyweight stainless pull out drawers/baskets they sell at places like The Container store to maximize space. The floor also looks to be in good shape. As for the refrigerator, I also would consider one of those under counter refrigerators. I don't understand why everyone in Europe has small refrigerators and our refrigerators seem to get bigger and more wasteful by the decade. Once you get a smaller refrigerator you can install shelves for a pantry above it. Congratulations on your new home.

Actually, some of you got it right. As recently as early in the last century, people didn't wash their clothes as often-- just think about the labor involved then -- so closests were built with vents and even windows to air out clothes. In LA, closet windows in old houses are very common.

Since I first saw a photo of this I thought it was really cool