LittleBearOne's Profile

My husband and I are both vegetarians. We were vegan for a year but didn't particularly enjoy it and didn't feel that we were being that much more eco-friendly, as a lot of the supplements and things we had to buy extra sort of counterbalanced our efforts. While for most people a vegan diet may be more healthy and more environmentally friendly, my health issues just didn't let me stick with it. Our dog is fed a vegetarian diet and has been on this diet since he was a puppy. He is healthy and eats vegetarian dog kibble, broccoli, green beans, and sometimes other veggies or fruit. When we buy treats for him, we find the peanut butter or cheese flavored ones that are not meat-based.

We try to "green" other areas of our lifestyle as well, but sometimes these efforts end up in epic fail - due to my husband's job situation, we are forced to live in a rental. We do try to recycle, use LEDs or CFLs, etc. We also tend to lean toward restaurants that are family-run businesses and use local and/or organic produce. We got rid of our gas-guzzling beast and switched to a more fuel efficient car. We also use central heat sparingly, try to keep a paperless home, use cloths instead of papertowels and hankies instead of tissues, etc.

Nice post! I actually did something similar. I made an entertainment center out of a Besta unit. Although the doors are glass, the closed back and low clearance between shelves made a cooling fan a necessity for the Xbox 360. I used a more powerful 3 speed fan with a 12V power supply. I want to add a switch later to make operating the fan a bit more convenient (right now I just have to plug-in and unplug as needed). I also mounted my power strip inside the unit, cut holes to run the wiring, frosted the glass on the doors, and added Dioder LEDs to the inside of the cabinet.

I really like this. I've always liked the combination of lilac and aqua, although I would have never thought of adding brown to the mix. The rug is a really nice touch too.

I like this, but I think the pink would be disorienting in real life, at least for me.

I don't really think of Ikea as a status symbol. I like it because most of their stuff is practical, affordable, and easy to customize. I think the whole status symbol idea comes into play because some of the items at Ikea look expensive, even though they aren't.

I thought of more things I hate

-Those little fuzzy toilet lid covers
-Hiding your pet - even when my house is neat as a pin, I let my dog keep his toys and things out in the open. Our house says "these people are boring and spend too much on electronics, but at least they love their dog."
-tissue box covers...I mean, come on!
-I agree with the wicker furniture thing, reminds me of the Golden Girls set...eww.
-When parents decorate their kids' rooms in an overly adult manner. Sure, the Hannah Montana comforter and Care Bear wall stickers are tacky, but let them be kids and enjoy it. Or else find a stylish compromise that teaches them good style but uses colors or designs that make them smile.
-Huge kitchens, especially since the people who can afford them are rarely the type to use them
-Small bathrooms. I know lots of people who like to pretend that they never poop, but for those of us who do, we don't want to feel like we're in the closet.
-Matching designer pots and pans sets
-Trying to pass pots, pans, fiestaware, etc. off as decor
-Extravagant and painstakingly organized "craft rooms". You probably spend more time organizing your fabric and color coding your scrapbook paper than you do actually crafting.
-Anything countrified - ducks, chickens, piggies, gingham, horse and cowboy motif, furniture that is supposed to look like a white washed fence, etc.

Very creative! I love this!