parhelia's Profile

I would take those tiles in a heartbeat!

Is it really the tiles that are an eyesore, or is it perhaps the plastic fake marble countertop? If there is any likelihood of remodeling, I would start there. With a new countertop and a nice sink and faucet, plus a new shower curtain and bath rug to cover some of the floor (which doesn't look as pretty) in one of the suggested schemes above would probably go a looooong way to making this bathroom more pleasing to you.

If all else fails, just try to tell yourself it's "funky," and decorate with whatever oddball kitsch comes to mind. It's just a bathroom--it's a small room and you can get away with doing something wild and crazy in there.

Well, your husband grew up with these folks, so I would ask him: is this behavior the norm for them? As in, would they find ways to send you guys "cute" stuff whether he was a fireman or not? If they're like me and my mom, they just like to shop for people. It means they're thinking of you and they like you--they see this stuff while they're out and it reminds them of you and your husband.

The fact that they buy all this stuff indicates that they are NOT minimalists. You and your husband are. They probably don't understand your taste and might even be intimidated by it. Perhaps they think you haven't decorated and so you need some "stuff" to fill up the empty spaces and make your house more homey--or at least their understanding of it.

Maybe it would be a good idea to let the kids play with the stuff. If they're toys, you assume they're meant to be played with. Why not? If the in-laws get upset that something is broken, you can try to offset that by saying, "The kids were so sad they broke that; they had so much FUN playing with it." It might actually be a good idea to try to redirect the in-laws into giving you actual toys for the kids instead.

But maybe you should try to redirect their giving in another way. Tell them you love that they think of you, and you appreciate their thoughtfulness. But you two are very happy and don't really need these things. Could you encourage them to start a college fund for your kids instead? Or maybe a rainy day fund? If your in-laws feel it's important to spend money on you, ask them to put a couple of dollars in an envelope every time they see something they want to buy you, and then you can all spend the money doing something the kids will enjoy. Then the focus is on spending time together, not on buying stuff.

If you don't get a handle on the stuff coming into your house now, you'll eventually end up with lots of cheap crap for the pre-teens and you KNOW you don't want to see all the crap they merchandise for pre-teens!!!

I've done this. It was really frustrating to use, especially if you wanted something from the middle of the chain. And don't hang anything heavy on anything but the first link, or you won't be able to lift the end of the chain to enable you to unhook anything!

I thought it was a great idea at first, but hated it after a week. Then I did like raven, and created a double-rod system. Couldn't be happier with it.

Can you really get through a TSA search with vacuum-packed bags in a suitcase? I did this once. It was just my undies in a baggie. I sure as heck wanted to KNOW if someone had been pawing through my underwear, because that's just creepy. Sure enough, the baggie hadn't just been opened, it had clearly been rifled through.

I don't know if my search person was just a pervo, or if it had anything to do with my flight heading into NYC the week after the blackout.

I would just worry that somebody would decide to search that bag, and then they wouldn't be able to get it all back in your suitcase. What happens then?

I admit I'm susceptible to trends, but generally only the ones that are stuff I'd like anyway. I like to think of it as my tastes expanding as I'm exposed to new ideas.

But there are some things that could be the trendiest thing in the world, and I will hate them. 90 percent of brass anything makes me gag. Period. I'll scrounge the dump for old chrome hardware before I'll ever have brass hardware in my kitchen or bathroom!!! If brass is coming back, you can take my share!

I have to laugh when folks here turn their noses up at Ikea. Be glad you're not fourth-generation middle-American. I'm only a 3-hour drive from Dallas, but I'd hazard a guess that most people in this area haven't even heard of Ikea, much less the individual designers who are so popular at AT. Out here, we're the Walmart generation. Some of us are fine with that, and some of us are not. If we're lucky, we can be the Target generation. Until you've run the risk of being slapped with one of those labels, you have NO IDEA how awesome Ikea is.

I would seriously consider doing both. If it's cost-prohibitive to do both now, I would do the window first and plan to do the door as money allows.

In the meantime, you could consider some inexpensive temporary screening options for the door that could be used during the day at times when someone is around and security is less of an issue.

If you're seriously in need of ventilation, you might look into getting a door that has the side-light ventilation panels. Those are made to only open a few inches, when they span from floor to ceiling, they're very helpful. This could require putting in a wider door. It all depends on your budget.

You guys are cracking me up. Mostly because I'm sitting here cringing at all the stories of cooked iceberg lettuce! But I'm glad someone likes it. :-) I had no idea the white leaves had been "prized." They're the part I hate the most because of the watery, slightly bitter flavor. I don't do well with bitter flavors.

Though I admit, there's nothing like cold, shredded, crunchy iceberg lettuce as a foil to Mexican food. Nothing else really works.

A resurgence of shoulder pads I can handle. A resurgence of hideous '80s wallpaper I cannot.

She climbed the wisdom tree, of course!

LOVE it!