stevedenver

The advice about infestations and unwanted visitors is excellent and should be heeded. My upholsterer has a semi tractor trailer on the side of his workshop. After a piece is stripped, he gives it a thorough bug spray, wraps it in plastic, and sticks it in the trailer for the couple of months it takes him to get to the piece. Winter cold or summer heat do the trick.

The author mentions vintage chairs. I learned the true value when I purchased my first wing-back style chairs only to find out a couple of years later that the legs were screwed on -- for ease of packing and transportation -- and had come loose and left the chairs unsteady. Older chairs feature legs that are part of the frame.

The author didn't mention termites, which is a big problem where I live in New Orleans. I personally got drywood termites, the kind that eat furniture or infest homes in hot climates, in my last rental apartment. The house was infested, and when I moved into my first home I bought, I brought them with the furniture. Thankfully, it takes a long time for them to go from furniture to your house, and in that time someone pointed out the telltale signs of kicked out trails of dust around the furniture. We threw the pieces out I didn't want anymore and had my heirloom pieces fumigated. The ones I threw out were immediately picked up off the side of the road and taken away by people unaware the pieces had termites. They were gone before I had a chance to make a sign saying they were infested!

I've got a classic pair of wingbacks that my parents bought in Baltimore in 1958. When they split my mom got one and my dad the other. After he passed, I got his still in the original velvet. Moms had been reupholstered in the early 80's. Now I have hers too, and can tell the difference in the quality of the upholstery too. The original is heavier, thicker and the welting smoother. So its not only the frame construction that isnt as good as it used to be... Im doing slips for them as I cant afford to reupholster them. Older is better in my book! But love the modern fabric on the old couch, so cool!

Reading a lot of the complaints makes me think: "Who are these people" freaking out about wrinkles on a cushion, anxiety about color, hyperventilating?

FIND AN AWESOME UPHOLSTERER whose work makes you swoon. Trust their expertise and experience.

All my major pieces of furniture are 50s-70s solid pieces (Henredon, Baker, Herman Miller, Dunbar) that I've had recovered. The hardwood frames are superior to most new furnishings on the market. Then there are springs, padding, cushions, welting, fabric that are better than anything I could find new on showroom floors. The finished pieces are one-of-a-kind.

Friends can't believe I wait 4-6 months for a chair or headboard. Then when they see it, they realize it's totally my taste and brilliantly crafted.

Every time I order a new piece of furniture, I agonize until it arrives. I have been amazingly successful with choosing furniture in size and color even though I was sure I made a mistake each time. By the way, I love my Ekornes family room furniture. Mine has wood trim and goes beautifully with some Shaker pieces I have. My husband chose a curved black sofa with magnolias on it for our living room. I loved the print but wanted a solid. The sofa was too big for the living room, technically; however, it beckons me from the corner of the room where it rests in front of a tryptic mirror to soften the corner. I found the same Waverly fabric at Penney's for curtains so it feels balanced. Two years ago I had an antique chair recovered. I waited 25 years to be able to do it; it cost over $1000 to do it. The bold pattern/color I really wanted was discontinued so I chose a more subtle stripe. I was disappointed at first, but now I see that amongst my bold furnishings and wall color…it was just right! My quirky choices reflect me. I love them.

IGMeredith..... your "amoeba" couch looks comfy as heck. just get an ivory toned throw blanket to toss on and be done with it. It will be the focal point of many a good natured joke when friends come to dinner. : )

The house has an orderly ease, it's not cluttered with stuff and looks like it can be picked up in a flash and messes aren't a traumatic event. I gravitate to smaller spaces, but appreciate all the light and air in this house. A friend of mine remarked that she knows I have lots of art and objects, but only put out a couple of things at a time. I had read in a catalog that "open space is the new elegance," and it became true in my home. It applies here, too.

I don't understand the comments advising the homeowners to ignore any negative (as some reviewers perceive it) commentary. What a dreary world it would be if we all gushed and cooed. By placing her work on a public forum, Ms. Pattee has invited opinions, and I doubt is so thin-skinned as to ignore them. My own daughter is a published author, and was told years ago that if she believed the good reviews, she also had to consider the negative ones. A few uninformed negatives may be set aside, but when a good percentage of reviewers are bothered by the same thing, it's time to weigh those opinions and learn from them (Ms. Pattee herself seems to be struggling with what to do with that mantle). I also think there is some confusion in this forum about minimalist decor versus color. You can have both. I am inspired by the muted colors in my 500 sq. ft. cottage, Ms. Pattee is inspired by a monochrome palette, and dear Lucy obviously craves explosions of Kaffe color. Are we not allowed to express or share this?

@SIOUXXIE---

Would gladly invite anyone who does not believe in "Mud Colored" to come here right about---now----and have a look at the sea of---mud---that stretches from seemingly the North Pole to about 75 miles South of MY house!

My driveway is mud; my lawn is mud because most of the driveway was plowed onto it during the wretched winter; my neighbors are stuck in their HOUSE due to a sea of mud and water; my bathroom is now mud colored as we have two doors into it---one to get from the back entry and one from the front. Kids and other muddy people and paws are encouraged to enter that way but even with an indoor mat; an outdoor mat AND indoor/outdoor carpeting between the door and the bathroom----there is STILL mud. You can't mop it as it turns from sticky mud to liquid mud so you have to wait til it dries and then sweep it up. This in some way explains WHY we have had THREE bathroom floors and TWO back hall floors since moving in.

Sometimes you can't even GET to that back door and then the trail of mud is from the front door--no hall; no mud room; directly into the living room!---to the bathroom where the boot tray lives. If you are lucky they take the boots OFF but try doing this while juggling a toddler; groceries; fending off three dogs who want to go OUT the same door---into the---

Mud.

The most common decorating mistake I see, especially in expansive suburban homes, is FEAR OF COLOR, Some of the rooms are so unwieldy in scale, I understand why they aren't painted, but EVERYTHING WHITE is a huge cop-out unless someone knows how to decorate with color.

The second is SCALE: Apartments or condos choked with overstuffed roll-arm furniture and a giant TV, or houses with a few small pieces that look lost; or small bedrooms with king-size sleigh beds or 4-poster monsters: it's baffling.

Another is missing elements: coffee table, sofa, reading chair, proper desk for people who work from home. I don't understand what holds people back from adopting a "good" solution until the perfect one arises. Asking your guests to put their drinks on the floor is just not acceptable when someone has lived in the same space for three years.

Then the lighting: I despise overhead lighting, but it exists for cleaning purposes, or finding an earring or contact lens. But when I'm entertaining or relaxing or working from home, I have task lighting at each area and everything has dimmers. When I bought my place I didn't realize the previous owners left an LED track system in the living room which is dimmable and color adjustable using a remote control.

I say a big Amen Sister, to No7 and I'd add 'white' to that list too. I remember how shocked my mates were when I announced I was doing my kitchen cabinets in bright orange. I loved that kitchen and it was something you'd never forget. It always got loads of complements. When we decided to move, Our house later sold for more than the asking price and in 36hrs!

Well of course the whole point of these kind of articles is to wind everyone up. From the number of responses I would say it was very successful.

Love this kitchen, from the vintage stove to the blue cabinets. The blue looks like it could remain from 40-60 years ago. The brass fittings look so much fresher than "everything stainless" in so many of today's kitchens. I especially appreciate that this was done "within a budget." I so often see kitchens that would require me to sell my place in order to have enough money to redo the kitchen.

Wonderful!! Would love to know where the cute little sconces came from.

Jason that is a very clever tip.

Something I have found useful in the kitchen is Mr. Clean's Magic Eraser. Wash the grease off with a grease solvent then use this on any stains. But I don't do much frying, and when I do, (searing) my stove top is in my island with a downdraft fan, so I just have to clean the stove top and the grease filter. Oh, by the way, I use a spatter guard (a device like a small tennis racquet with fine mesh you place over the pan) that works well.

That litter box cabinet is BRILLIANT!

The Murphy Bed sofa is okay, but I rented a place that had one with a desk. When the bed was lowered, the desk portion had a mechanism that stayed level and lowered to the floor. My monitor was too large to remain upright, so I would simply lay it on its back on a towel and it cleared the bottom of the bed by several inches. Here are a couple of iterations (much better looking than the oak version in the rental). I could also see the bottom of a Murphy bed functioning as a projection screen for computer or TV.

Saw this in a kitchen showroom. There are also versions where the racks can be rotated for easier viewing, then straightened before pushing to conceal.

Cost plus desk

If you're searching for Mannequin parts, contact department stores and find out who is in charge of visual merchandising. Mannequins are expensive, but are easily damaged (broken fingers, damaged finish); they also go out of style and are stored carelessly. The most creatively posed mannequins I've seen were for swimwear.

Love fore outside lighting

Going to do

I love those New York apartments and wish there was a similar housing solution for those of us who are neither refugees nor millionaires.

What the world needs now !

the ideas stunned me!!!!

I like this idea. I love the color black and feels it can work great with the right amount of color, maybe I will try this.

You can also commission someone (like me) to create truly unique custom furniture pieces with furniture reupholstered with canvas.

So much of the furniture I've acquired from the 1950s-1970s is superior in construction and wood used for the frame. Recovering it isn't that much more expensive than buying better-quality new furniture, and the results as far as quality and aesthetics are always more satisfying.

I didn't like sectionals like most of the designs above, because they eat up visual space. Then I found a Mid-Century set that is incredibly lean and versatile. The corner piece is separate, so the two flanks can be arranged as one long piece, or as shown. It cost less than $800 to have it recovered in exactly the fabric we wanted with new foam and springs. And the legs are part of the frame, not screwed on.

Measurements are the key

Huge can be fun too !

I really encourage sellers to retain the services of an excellent photographer. So much of house shopping is done online and it's astounding to see home listings with no pictures, or small, fuzzy, under-lit pictures. Even sadder are properties with cluttered rooms in disarray, kitchen sink full of dishes, yards full of weeds and junk. Those just beg for cutthroat offers because the seller looks uninformed and the realtor seems unconcerned.

Pictures are an opportunity to perfectly stage a room so that buyers have that picture in their head before they actually walk in the house, regardless of what minor disarray may have occurred just before the showing.

When listing online, post lots of large-sized pictures and photograph everything possible. It helps buyers imagine living there before they actually arrive for a showing.

By now, I'm pretty good at seeing our home through a potential buyer's eyes and then decluttering, depersonalizing, and pumping up the dream factor. Having said that, we've brought in a stager every time and I would continue to do it. They have a professional design eye, as well as a creative approach to solving problems I'd stopped seeing...even if it's just a matter of optimizing how a room looks. I'll happily put my attachment and ego to the side and take every advantage we can get in this competitive market!

my dream houzz

The long "towel bar" pulls are beginning to look dated. Options #3 and #6 look very much like office furniture/filing cabinet pulls.

The "Tube" bars won't look dated for years as this is a long standing "European" kitchen look and yes, probably started by Ikea. As for them looking like towel bars, I wish. I still have those awful plastic things between ceramic tile like holders that again builders still put in. I understand that they needed to be put in tub and shower surrounds but out in the bath they are just ugly.

Beautiful

I've usually chosen paint or stain depending upon the floor. If it's wood, I'll opt for painted cabinets. Tile floors usually get stained cabinets. I'm not a fan of WOOD WOOD WOOD everywhere, especially if the tones are too similar.

Just a comment about wax. It does not protect wood nor maintain the finish. It is the finish that protects the wood, to varying degrees depending upon what the finish is. Wax does not make the finish nor the wood water-, heat-, or light-resistant. Wax can be used as a carrier to add highlight colors such as concentrated water-soluble dyes if the wax is water-based. On polished or burnished surfaces such as French polished furniture, wax is used to cut back the glossy sheen and add some softness to it. Wax actually is the agent that traps dust and dirt in the grain of the wood and gives antique furniture its patina. I made this comment only so that people will know that when someone sells you wax to protect the finish, it is only a sales pitch. Wax is a useful product, don't misunderstand, but it doesn't protect your wood. It is the same with car waxes. Modern acrylic paint jobs are sealed; cars don't even need to be waxed anymore, but stores still sell car wax.

Kitchin

The Cost Plus items are awesome, but easily slip out of one's fingers. Be sure to have both hands free, so fingers can go under the rim when you lift it.

As for all your Heywood Wakefield furniture, eBay is a HOTBED for trading. We listed ours on CraigsList for two months at a fair price and only got cut-rate offers and lots of email spam. Put it on eBay and it went for more than we were asking locally.

Research shipping companies and find out who is 1) Insured and BBB; 2) Will pick up from you, so you don't have to deliver it to their dock; 3) Has online estimating so you can measure and weigh the piece and people can go to a web-link to find out how much shipping to their location will cost.

Really nice reconfiguration without requiring major manipulation of the original structure. I haven't seen wood floors like the kitchen's and even if I'm not a fan of the color scheme, I really like the method. The subway tiles make the kitchen look like this is how it's always been: perfectly suited for the era of the house.

That weird hallway pantry and dividing wall to the dining room begged to be opened up.

Perhaps my favorite design detail is the swing-out stool. A friend is working on a coffeehouse makeover featuring the original diner-style counter. I think this type of stool would be excellent: easy to clean under, swings out of the way or closer to the person you're with, Different sized people can get closer or further away from the knee wall.

Love all of it except that wallpaper in the bedroom, it reminds me of British council housing.

Is it possible to show a before and after plan view of the house? Plan views are a great way to see the flow of how rooms connect to one another. Thanks!!

The new front door remodel was a must - great job!

Mug my
BBQ

We installed engineered wood (Brazilian Cherry) rather than plank wood floors because they were the only wood floors guaranteed over in-floor radiant heating. We have had them for 5 years now and they have held up beautifully and we are very happy with them.

Here's a way to look at spending money on floors. Besides windows and doors, it is probably the single biggest visual element in your home, it sets the mood and ties the house together. This is not an area where you want to skimp! I'd stay away from the box stores and the discounters and find a knowledgeable local individual retailer who does a lot of business in your neighborhood. Also, think about how you live, with kids, dogs, etc. We're doing an entire house in engineered distressed maple with wide 7" planks of varying lengths -- it already looks beat up, so we figure we can't mess it up too much!

I painted the floors in my third house, which was a rental and we continued using it as such. Luckily the salesman at the paint shop recommended GYMNASIUM FLOOR COAT, which is a nylon-based self-leveling product resulting in a durable and forgiving finish -- suitable for a school gymnasium. We painted the floors light gray and sealed them, then mocked-up 10-inch baseboards using 3/4x10-inch MDF and quarter-round on top and against the floor, all painted the same gray as the floor. The result: floors look expansive and rooms look larger.

The floor was 50-years-old and not well cared for, required a lot of filling. We removed some busted built-ins that cut into the floor and patched with similar boards, but didn't feather-in the patches since we planned to replace the floor down the road. Sixteen years later and three sets of tenants with kids and pets, and we haven't had to do a thing.

Hmmm, Okay... painting floors white or off-white - pros and cons?