mandabear's Profile

I love how the house tells you something about the person that lives there. Too many houses have technically good decor, but it lacks personality. Congrats Kathleen and Chet- glad to see someone representing Columbus so well! :)

~Amanda

I love the colors in your house! So cheerful but not headache-inducing in its brightness. And that lamp in your living room is gorgeous.

I understand wanting your favorite room to be larger. My bedroom is ridiculously large considering the teeniness of my livingroom/kitchen (yeah, I don't even have a real kitchen) but I love having a nice bedroom to "escape" to. You have a pick a home that has what makes *you* happy.

The furniture arrangement does put me off a bit. I understand not being able to get rid of stuff and buy new (trust me, I can't afford any new furniture, not even Ikea) but rearranging can do wonders. I just know that I personally couldn't handle a couch right next to the bed, and it does look a little funky. Maybe you could try setting off a "sleeping nook" with some white gauzy fabric like universal mod said, or one of my friends scrapped the couch alltogether and just put pillows horizontally on her bed so it acts like a couch and that opened up a TON of room. Just a thought.

In the end, it's what makes you comfortable and happy. Your place is very sweet.

PS: to those who said she had too much clutter on her bathroom shelving area, take a look at how well she's grouped/arranged it. And you know what? Putting away everything you use for pictures is silly. To me, it doesn't look like clutter, it just looks like someone LIVES there. Because, you know, someone does. And some spaces are small enough that it's not practical to tuck everything away.

~Amanda

Hey- maybe this is facetious and all, but I know a lot of people without dishwashers who would love this sort of thing. What I really want is for this to translate into cutlery, so I don't have to dry every blipping fork and spoon by hand.

~Amanda
onehappypanda.blogspot.com

PS: is it bad that I actually like the $15 Fado better than the more expensive lamps?

~Amanda
onehappypanda.blogspot.com

firecracker- does anyone honestly believe that the "such and such flower is bad luck" things are true? Tell your sister to get what she likes, I've never heard any anti-daffodil etiquette and I think they would be adorable at a wedding.

I'm inspired to go hunt down some daffodils now. I usually don't have the money for fresh flowers, but I think I could shell out a few for some sweet daffodils arranged in a simple glass jar.

~Amanda
onehappypanda.blogspot.com

I wash jeans when they're stretched out, dirty, or smell. And that is SO not every time I wear them. Most of the time I just wear jeans at the office or class anyway, so why should I go to the laundromat every week to wash them? That's just wasteful.

Sciencegeek- you don't need to kill bacteria unless it's harmful bacteria. Most bacteria on your jeans won't be- people REALLY need to get over the thing where they think all bacteria needs to die at all costs, most bacteria won't bother you at all. The only bad thing bacteria on your jeans will do is make it smell, hence the vodka. :) Just a little friendly advice from one science geek to another.

~Amanda

This is probably one of my favorite apartment tours so far. I live in a very small space, so this really speaks to me. I love how they have utilized their space so well, without being too utilitarian. There is still room enough for all their pretty little things, and yet it looks completely uncluttered. Gorgeous!

~Amanda
onehappypanda.blogspot.com

I am no paint expert but a friend of mine paired a similar eggplant color with dark brown in another room and I really liked the effect. I think it sort of depends on your furnishings and what style you are going for though.

~Amanda
http://onehappypanda.blogspot.com

I love this idea. I have a bunch of picture frames lying around that I could fill up with inspirational magazine clippings and display them. I'd been wanting to make an inspiration board but balked at the idea of it becoming cluttered up. Thanks for the idea!

~Amanda
http://onehappypanda.blogspot.com

Real Simple may be "common sense" but yet I still know people who use way too much shampoo, soap,etc. I like the magazine. And I like these tips, although I do most of them. And a landline is totally unnecessary for me- my cell phone still works in a power outage, and I don't get tons of annoying sales calls on it.

~Amanda