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Display Name: Loora
Member Since: 4/20/09
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Latest Comments...

JANE JONES gave the best advice ever, I think. I'll get the best material possible for the floor (you walk on it !), the hardware and the sink/bath/shower '(but your average white ceramic isn't expensive). However, I think that this article makes an excellent point: without compromising the quality, you can get much cheaper items when you know where to look ! Which I don't, most of the time...


5 Places To Skimp On Your Bathroom Reno
5/23/12 9:15 AM

Woah, looks like the 70's are back !


The Latest from Jonathan Adler:
Reform Temple Screen, Glass Mengerie, Muse Planter & More ICFF 2012

5/22/12 2:36 PM

The layout is so much better... it really looks like a kitchen now !

I'm not a huge fan of white-on-white-on-white, because I feel cold and unwelcome at 7 AM, but if that's your thing, well, you've done it perfectly ! I love how the kitchen is decorated without being overstuffed. I'd take off the "Eat" sign though, I feel like it's everywhere these days, and the rest of your decor is so much more original (love the three prints on the last photo).


Before & After: Ashley & Greg's Kitchen Remodel
7th House on the Left

5/22/12 4:54 AM

I love your taste ! However, you have a bit too much stuff for me. Take the living room sofas: how many pillows do you need ?? I'd be afraid to sit there. Why not rotating them, since each of them is beautiful ? You'd see them more and take some weight off the room. Same goes for the kitchen: how do you cook with so much on the counters ?

However, the colors, the textures and the feeling in general is amazing. I'd love to hang out there ! Can I steal your bathroom ?


Shelley & Reed's Creative Cottage House Tour
5/22/12 4:43 AM

I also thought I was about to read some tips about photographing a place, maybe in the prospect of selling it ? Disappointed.


10 Tips from Photographer Bruce Wolf Super Photo Magic School
5/19/12 3:51 PM

Another nursery that I love... there seem to be so much of them lately, I have a thousand possible color scheme/themes for my future daughter... and she's supposed to be born in a few days. Hum. I may be a little late. But I'm still adding your photos to my inspiration file !

Since Maureen made a very good and professional point, there's a question I've been asking to myself for a while now. I've been doing some (superficial) research as to the rate of SIDS in France (where I live) and in the USA. It seems like we have a lower rate here, and yet, I got no information whatsoever on the subject when my son was born. Oh, sorry "have him sleep on his back, no cover or pillow" was the exact extend of it. I used fabric bumpers like everyone; we put a small plush rabbit at the foot of the bed. I don't think I'm doing things differently from everyone else here.
So, I wonder why the SIDS rates are so different, since we care a thousand times less about sleep safety than you Americans do. Do we measure the same things on both sides of the Atlantic when we talk about SIDS ? Are crib bumpers made differently ? I really don't get it. If plush toys and bumpers are a major cause for SIDS, we should have a much higher rate, at least comparable to that of the USA.
I just don't get it, I'm sure there's an explanation, but it eludes me totally. Any idea ?


Jack's Merry Menagerie My Room
5/19/12 5:54 AM

Seems like the article is creating a confusion between "using technology as a baby-sitter or a crutch" and "using technology to do other things". I'm living far away from my family, and yes, my son and I use Skype to stay in touch. Technically, we are together in front of a screen for maybe 10-20 minutes a day, but he talks to his great-grand-parents who are too old to leave their home, to his grand-parents, or to his aunt who lives across the Atlantic ocean. He gets to see their faces, and, trust me, it's made a HUGE difference when we go to visit them. You can't imagine how happy his great-grand-parents were when they saw him in person, and he recognized them and called them by their names.

On the other hand, he's never used my phone while we go grocery shopping, to the doctor or to the restaurant. We know he can sit quietly for an about hour and a half, and take care not to go to restaurants where eating will take longer than that. When my husband and I want to talk together, we ask him to go and play quietly for a while... a work still in progress, but isn't education endless patience ?

I don't agree with KFARLEY that parenting is a 24-7 activity; I'd go crazy if I didn't get some "me" and some "me and my husband" time. I even need "me and my cat" time ! But when my husband and I go to dance class, I hire a nephew as a baby-sitter, and there's no app used. It's another family time with a different person. I also don't understand the part on not taking long airplane trips: isn't the travelling experience worth an few hours of cartoons and playing with an app ? I took my then-15 months old son across the Atlantic, and he came back a different person; but yes, both of the 12 hours flight were punctuated by playing on my iPhone and watching cartoons.

On the other hand, I couldn't agree more on your other remarks especially:
"there are times when they cry or meltdown like all kids. But handing them an iPad in that situation, in my mind, is robbing them of the experience of learning how to regulate their behavior and responses internally."
Amen to that ! But the temptation is sometimes very hard to resist...


The Popularity of Phones and Tablets as Babysitters
5/18/12 6:24 AM

Wow. After living in pine pieces of furnitures for a looooong time, I thought I'd never ever love them again. And yet... your room is amazing. It may be the color palette you chose, but it's making me reconsider all those things I thought I hated. This color scheme would be perfect for a beach house ! (saving some of your photos for inspiration, thanks !)


A Serene Room in Waiting My Room
5/18/12 6:03 AM

Why not go directly to the channels you are interested in ? I never browse the "main" channel because I don't care about technology or that "porn" article, but I like the family channel and go there directly.

About the article. If the point is to show beautiful plates, well done. If it's to make children eat... not so much. I'm French, I'm supposed to know everything about making children eat veggies (please take that remark with the highest mark possible on the irony and self-depreciation scale). I know my son would eat the carrots and snub the raw broccoli.

I totally agree with Charlie26: get them involved in preparing decent food, even simple recipes. Washing veggies, cutting them (if age-appropriate), helping with the cooking... that's fun too. I'm also not sure about the positive impact of playing with food to such an extend. Eating should be a pleasure as much as possible, but a pleasure related to the food itself, the taste, the smell and the presentation, not related to drawing, which is a whole other category in itself. Then again, maybe it's just me. Playing with food is encouraged in our house (I'm the first culprit), but it means associating ingredients together (how about some coconut milk and saffron with your risotto ?). My son loves grating the nutmeg so much, we even tried it once in strawberry yoghurt (trust me, don't). But that was fun.


DIY Kids' Plate Oh Happy Day
5/18/12 5:51 AM

Thank you all for your answers ! I can't come to a party empty-handed, so I'll think of a small gift and prepare for lots of fun. I can't help thinking how much work such a party requires from the child's parents, to entertain both parents and children, AND make it look so pretty with so much diy. It's you guys who should put the super-heroe capes on !

Oh, I forgot to say so on my first comment, but the photo with the two children is amazing. They have fun, it shows, and the colors are gorgeous.


Best Kids Parties: Favorite Things My Party
5/17/12 4:00 PM

I love the backsplash ! Cement tiles are all the rage here in France, and I don't think they'll ever look dated. Some are really old design, and I love them a lot. The soft grey and white colors are a great twist on the traditional strong color.

I also love the gold hardware. Call me crazy, but I think gold is coming back in a big way, and I don't think it clashes with the stainless appliances. But then again, that's just me.

And I'm off to see if you can import those fantastic microwaves. Seriously, I've never seen one like that in France. Integrated over the stove, under cabinets ? Huge capacity ? I need one !


The World's Ugliest Condo: The Big Reveal Renovation Before & After
5/17/12 3:47 PM

Also with Sillyputty on this. Seriously, 5 minutes during spring or winter cleaning, white vinegar, a rag, and you're done.


Homekeeping Tip: Keep The Tops Of Your Cabinets Clean with a Kitchen Staple
5/17/12 11:08 AM

Love your "theme" !! That must have been wild fun for the kids ! A caped child feeding animals with his friends... that's the most fun my own 2-years old could ever dream of !!

I have a question for you Americans. I'm French, living in the northern France, and I have some American friends with kids about the same age as mine. I wonder: are parents automatically invited to birthday parties ? Here we "drop" the kids at the party and leave, but am I supposed to stay at an American birthday party (I'd love that !) ? If I stay, I'd like to bring something to the birthday boy's mother, who had so much trouble organizing it all for kids and adults: would a nice hostess gift be ok ? Any idea ?

Thank you for helping me figuring out the etiquette of an American birthday ! I love my friends and don't want to offend them just because I'm ignorant of their ways.


Best Kids Parties: Favorite Things My Party
5/17/12 5:44 AM

Wow. Really. Though too whimsical for my own home, I'd hang out there for hours if you'd let me !!

I wonder too about the indoor things brought outside. Do you take everything out when it's sunny ? I know it's California, but still, it's got to be raining once in a while. Where I live, it rains a lot (like, a lot a lot), but I'd love to have a chandelier outside; I just don't want to rush outside and take it down each time it rains. Any suggestion for weatherproofing lights, furnitures and art ?


Leslie's Mid Century Optimism
House Tour

5/17/12 5:29 AM

Go back to APARTMENT therapy and forget the therapy part. Really hating this.


Why Does My Partner Watch Porn?
Answers to all the questions you've ever wanted to ask about your relationships

5/12/12 6:44 AM

I totally agree with your decision to tear own the arch. It obstructed the view, and made the ceiling even lower than they are. Plus, a brick archway isn't an architectural marvel and can be easily replicated.


From Scary to Sublime: A Gorgeous Gut Renovation in Australia
5/10/12 2:30 PM

Another vote for transitioning directly to an adult bed when you live in a small space: you can use the bed as a guest bed, even if it's a one-person bed. Children learn to give their space to guests for a day or two, and they have fun sleeping with their parents (we didn't sleep as well as usual, but that was fun anyway). We found it very useful, since we don't have a guest bedroom and our small house can't accommodate guests in the living room.


The Great Toddler Bed Debate Reader Intelligence Report
5/10/12 2:18 PM

Very touching article ! I enjoyed reading it.

I'm also turning into my mom, but an exaggerated version. My mom loves clean spaces; I'm into minimalism. She hides most things behind doors, I hide everything behind doors (except books, which I love to see, and we differ here). She's very organized, I'm bordering on obsessive organization.
She is the greatest hostess; her house is welcoming and has lots of personality: I try to follow her steps, learn from her experience, and I'm not ashamed to imitate her or ask advice whenever I'm stuck and can't find a solution.

Funnily though, the appearance of our respective houses totally differs; hers is a very japanese-zen mineral house, with a lot of earthy tones, whereas mine has a lot of fun and vibrant colors and whites as neutrals. But if you go just an inch beyond the exterior appearance, both our houses share a very similar view of what makes a house comfortable and functioning.


Turning Into My Mom, One Room at a Time
5/9/12 1:27 PM

How about not faking a clean home office and tidying things up every evening ? It takes 2 minutes to do it, and if someone is coming, the clutter won't amount to much. Plus, you know, people are usually working in their home office, nobody expects it to be magazine-ready...

I'm the laziest person on Earth, and I found it easier to put books and magazines back where they belong directly after I'm finished with them. And if I'm not, well, I'm working and I won't pretend otherwise, so no, I won't fake-clean my desk if I'm working on an article and have my reference books all over the desk, even if the Pope is coming to check on my home office. And if He did, I don't think He'd mind anyway...

I really thought that the list would end with "buy some fresh flowers and display them artistically", "take a quick shower and don't forget to vacuum under the fridge" or "quickly change your computer wallpaper for something with neon and chevrons in it".

"Your over-worked self needs to scramble to make your over-worked home office look magazine-spread-ready in about 15 minutes." Maybe you could clean that stupid way of thinking first ? (I'll bring hot tea, you'll get the cookies ?)


Fake a Clean Home Office in 15 Minutes
5/8/12 4:37 PM

Hi,

Thank you for the link you posted, I was about to ask for your thesis, like Bagelsmom. I'm off to read it !

Your playroom is lovely, I'm really feeling inspired.


A Montessori Playroom for Three My Playroom
5/8/12 3:52 PM