alyrae's Profile

I went back and forth about the "gallows" lamp and ultimately decided my cats would destroy it. Urban Nest is a great store.

I think covering a TV like this is like covering the stove in your kitchen: its one of the main reasons that the room even exists, so own it.

There are better ways to make a large tv unobtrusive, like placing it so that it can't be seen from the room entry, organizing your furniture into conversational groupings that don't focus on the television, etc. But this actually draws more attention to it, and not in a good way.

The afghan at the top left of the photo? Pretty sure that's the one I bought the other week.

Brownstone's is a great place to dig around for treasure.

I really can't hate that room more. It manages to be both bland and have too much hot pink at the same time - something I thought was impossible.

Oh, lots of things!
1. Containers with plants on the ground.
2. An outdoor runner going up the stairs
3. Paint the door
4. House numbers

I always hated red brick, until I saw John and Sherry's house at This Young House: http://www.thisyounghouse.com/

They've done some super-cute stuff to their exterior. My advice is to power-wash the bricks and so some other outside stuff and if you still aren't digging it - then paint the bricks.

You actually shouldn't shave your legs in the shower anyway - it's a real waste of water.

I feel about this the same way I felt about those commercials for the razors with the shaving cream built in. Shaving is not that complicated - razor, cream and leg. We don't need fancy accoutrement to help with it.

Putting together my six-foot dining table, and arranging a system of levers to get it right side up is probably my proudest single-DIY moment.

First of all, the winters in Chicago aren't that long. Second, Lincoln Park is also gorgeous in the fall and spring, and even in winter you can go to ZooLights. Third, I lived in Logan Square for five years and it is a pain in the butt to get from the West Side to the Lakefront in summertime. Traffic is ridiculous and the east-west buses run so late that they can't even put them on the CTA BusTracker.

So, if they really want to enjoy the Lakefront, I recommend taking the place in Lincoln Park.

For me personally, access to Rapid Transit is always my first consideration, since I don't have a car or a bike. I look for a management company that has great references. And then I look for a well-balanced area - is there a cafe and a dry cleaner? Will my guests be able to park? What's the street noise like.