Darzy

Thanks, I happen to really love the console, and thinking of getting the longer version. Most likely going to use it for the TV and leave the area behind the couch empty for now...at least until we figure out what we are going to use that space for.

I like your console too but it will be difficult to hide the ugly cords and "stuff" you need with the tv. I'd consider something modern, with legs with some storage. Something like this? It also depends on your cocktail table choice. Is your heart set on the leather ottoman "coffee table"?

Under or over "gunk" will find it's place. Under mount sink looks far better and is an easy vote for me. Under mount. Period. :)

we probably see about 1 in 1000 people install a top mount sink.

Under mounted for sure. Much easier to keep clean and looks higher end.

Your new counter looks great. I'd suggest Behr's Swiss Coffee (off white) walls. Plus, more contemporary cabinet hardware will update your space beautifully. Nice choice!

I think a dark granite would have looked better with your cabinet color, but it still looks good! (: What color are you thinking on painting? i think a light grey would look good! Also i think a colorful backsplash could really make the place look amazing! (:

if you can paint the back of the breakfast bar and that well up to the timber cupboard corner that would be great as it is looking like two different areas at the moment.....this will bring the kitchen into it's own area...so...a warm colour... Just personal choice but I would not go grey... I would also change the cupboard hardware just a simple chrome handle and I think that the colour on this bathroom wall would look great...But I think painting the bench is a must... Hope you get it the way you want...

This view....and maybe George Clooney, :)

Anything with water, mountains, or open fields.

I will take almost any *view* as long as I acutally *wake* up;))

I think it's a cool idea. IF...it works with your overall design aesthetics.

Love it! BUt be warned - i did see one on nexthipstertrend.com

Like this?

What a nice classical yet contemporary interior. I love the wallpaper.

I always prefer a darker grey.

drughigs...duplicate posts complicates the matter and you won't get good advice. Can you delete all but one?

Entertainment center are important part of home. you can easily decorate media set and decorative items in the entertainment center see durable and stylish entertainment center designs http://www.theclassyhome.com/comersus_listItems.asp?idCategory=243&Furniture;=Entertainment+Centers

Photo

I vote black satin or eggshell finish paint.

It doesn't look right because all of your art is too small scale, hung too high and all mismatched. But, don't sweat it! Hang them in a nice collage above your sofa, starting 6" above the sofa back in a nice arrangement and make your art a feature - including the scones and art lighting. Inspiration...

Will a stove with a double oven work for your cooking lifestyle? You can get slide in stoves with a double oven. Then, you can keep your pantry. Everyone loves a pantry. :)

Don't see how you can cook without lots of supplies. I would keep the pantry.

A pantry is a useful feature that benefits everyone when it's time to sell the house.

Kudos! Looks fab.

Very nice transformation.

So far, so GREAT!

Stone brings texture and depth which offer a great opportunity to introduce light and shadow - grazing or by uplighting.

You know what? as a kitchen bath designer I'm done with the accent trim. And now I'm concerned glass tiles are a time warp. Lately I'm been looking at Walker Zanger for current trends. While I realize they are national, I tend to trust them.

Damn...I really wanted to fit in 3 seats.

Do you think I should go back to my 3-seated peninsula layout with the fridge on the sink wall?

I'd make the peninsula longer and do a four seat one. Then, no dinette table in the space. If you have a dining space elsewhere.

When I was much younger with a better back, we camped in a tent at Bass Lake it was fabulous. Today 30 years later, a nice cabin with a great bed on the lake calls to me. Anytime you can get away from the daily interruptions is a fantastic day whether you are tenting, RVing or staying in a cabin. Happy vacation to everyone!

I've been backpacking / camping for over 20 years and nearly all of it with a small tent. I loved every minute of it. One summer it was particularly wet & we rented a small cabin instead. I don't think it's really camping but it was awesome. I asked my husband if he missed camping (with our tent) & his reply was, "F$!# Camping!" It still cracks me up. But you don't appreciate the other things without having put in some tent-time. I loved those days but as I get older, comforts make me so happy. However, after seeing those awesome RV makeovers, I'm hankering for an Airstream!

I loved our motorhome. I could pack during the week, buy a few groceries on Thursday night, and walk out the door 30 minutes after I got home on Friday night in flip-flops and cut-offs. Loved it!

Thank you Darzy... I appreciate all of your help. I think my first step is to take the vent hood mess down & get can lights. Then I can get the crown molding & ceiling painted. After that I think possibly getting a contractor to add to the top & side of my cabinets... Maybe some glass doors on some & have someone re-stain the cabinets so they're not so goldish orange. I think a white quartz with maybe a little gray - maybe not? Counter top And a white subway tile for the back splash would update it??? What do you think? The good part is that I am in no hurry. I want yo make sure I make the right decisions. I could possibly re-do the island and have it painted so that I have a little variation. So... That's what I'm thinking after all the comments and help. I really appreciate all the help and suggestions. I cannot say that enough. :)

We loved our old 1911 house so much it was like a member of the family.

"Everything costs three times as much and takes three times longer than you expected."

Remember that and you are set.

If you buy an old house then you should think about a) what is good, what do I want to keep and b) what do I want to renovate?

If you renovate everything then you bought the wrong house. Part of an old house is keeping what makes it special. Example: replacing all the windows is probably a sign that you bought the wrong house. Same goes for ripping out walls.

A lot of people are scared of old houses because they expect the worst. Just because it looks bad, doesn't mean it is. Scratching the surface can bring out true beauty and not just problems. Make sure you talk to more than one contractor, some just don't understand some subject material as well as others.

A good rule of thumbs is that if you can refurbish it then you should probably not replace it.

Another big fear of people buying old houses is that they will have "work and projects" forever (a few mention this above). This is just wrong, but you do need to fix the problems before you move in! If you buy and old house and did not budget and plan for renovations then you should only blame yourself and not the house.

Some things _need_ to be updated, best you do right at the start. Electrical systems should be up-to-date unless you want to have it burn down someday. Plumbing and heating is another major factor as well as insulation. You will probably want to redo a bathroom. For these things you need to make holes in walls and floors, so its best to do this before you move in!

You will also need to do some work on the surfaces (floors, walls, plaster). Do that next and calculate that _every_ surface will need to be touched (be it refurbished or replaced).

Darzy's rule (above) that you should budget +10% and then double it is about right (time and money). If you plan 40,000 for renovations then make sure you can afford 80,000. It might not come to that but some thing is bound to crop up.

The height is fine. Hang the prints equal distance from each other. So, the same distance between the top and bottom print is the same distance from the vertical 2 prints. Here is a sample, even though these are hung much closer together. I'd move the right two vertical prints closer to the left two (the same distance apart as from the bottom and top print).

And I always like the distance between all of them to rather match the size of the frames being used.

Agree with Above comments! Looks like a fun room.

Lookin' good!

I love the size and the color and the sisal. Good choice!

The size looks good to me. Nice color and texture. Great addition to the room. Nicely done!

First be brave....toss everything you don't love - give away as much as you can, including the drapes. Arrange things you need handy on the bookcase shelves with baskets and a few décor items. Woven shades would neaten up the space. Hopefully you could get a nice upholstered desk chair with some color and pattern. Garden City, New York://www.houzz.com/phot12th Street Project://www.houzz.com/photos/2411358/Garden-City-New-York-traditional-home-office-other-metro/2411358/Garden-City-New-York-traditional-home-office-other-metro

With the least amount of cash and effort, I'd suggest a new area rug, toss pillows and add an accent color. With the burgundy, how about a fresh aqua or bluish?? I'd suggest eliminating the chair on the wall by the sofa and put the matching chair there. Then, a smaller scale accent chair floating in it's place. Reupholster (it's easy) the dining chairs to include your new accent color. A longer, narrow console/cabinet for the television is in order. :)
Here is a sample of your colors, with blue or aqua color added...

Town and Country
Transitional Blue 8'x10' Rectangle Sea Blue-Sea Blue Area Rug

What did you have in mind? New furniture? New color scheme? Tweaking? Working mostly with what you have?

Working mostly with what we have plus or minus a little if it's a great idea. Maybe we have too much big stuff or it's not placed right etc.

I do think you have too much "stuff" and you don't really have a nice traffic flow for comfort. I'd rather not see a book case block the stairs. How many do you need to seat on a daily basis?

Hi everyone! UPDATE: I did a temporary re-tile :) !

I don't hate or love it. I'm not a big fan of faux finishes on walls though. A solid color green that complements the wall color would be my suggestion.

That doesn't look like Macadamia in the picture. I have SW Macadamia in a bedroom with lots of blue and cream and my walls are way more of a warm, golden khaki tan, not pink at all.

Hi, I think the green is a great colour, but all alone it pulls focus too much because all the action is in one small area and the wall doesn't really relate to anything else. Personally, I'm not a big fan of "feature" walls. I would suggest taking a light tone of the same green and painting the other walls to incorporate and anchor it, and adding some blue/green,neutral curtains in a largish pattern, and add other accessories (no more on the mantle though!). The warm tones of the timber mirror work really well to soften the look, but if possible, I'd get a larger one to go there and use the small one elsewhere. Very rough idea attached.

Our dinner parties are more like BBQs with friends outside enjoying a cold drink around a table and then around a fire once it cools off enough to light the outdoor pot! :) Everyone is different and doesn't mean they are more or less connected with their people then others. ITs about what works for people and what the hosts and guests enjoy and to respect those differences. :)

@ Darzy. I agree with the express/impress comment 100%! In day to day normal conversation I just say I do "IT" support if anyone were to ask. It's just easier. In the instance above, I felt the need to back up my claims on the issue with some actual "meat" & documentation to support it.

Makaloco, I believe the difference between then and now is "big data" or "big brother." When I was a child nobody marketed directly to children except possibly sugary cereals during weekend cartoons. Toys and other items for children were primarily marketed to the parents since they were the ones making financial decisions to purchase the items. In general "children" were seen as a group and not as two groups one of boys and one of girls. Now many marketing companies market directly at the gender and age group regardless of whether or not they think those people will be the ones spending the money. They know that if little Suzy or Charlie throws a big enough tantrum the parents will buy the items. Stores and marketing agencies collect information about what people browse online, what they buy in the stores, and are able to build trends and other info based on that. Additionally companies found that if they marketed different colors to the genders, then they would potentially sell TWO different toys of the same type to a family with two children instead of just one, one for the boy and one for the girl, or one of each color so the kids won't fight over which one belongs to who.

Okay, first of all I Love Pink! hehe I think it depends on the child really. I know that it's hard if your child has yet to form opinions or colour preferences. My best suggestion is to just make it fun and colourful - I'm sure most kids would like that!! But like I said, I do love pink. I'm a guy and as a little boy I desperately wanted a pink bedroom, which my parents never let me have :( Instead, I had this clown theme. I know, sounds nightmarish, but I didn't mind because it was really colourful and fun. But did I ever want that pink room. *sigh* :)

This has absolutely nothing to do with whether or not to paint your daughter's room pink. Btw, I think it is fine for a 2yr old. I saw this ad on the internet and while the subject matter is NOT for a 2yr old, it can be viewed by us women as a positive thing for young girls in general and I thought I would share it with you.

Gads, why do we have to have colors forced down our throats because we're female? The barrage of cynical advertising not so subtly tells us we have to be "feminine" and "masculine," but only in ways that they decide are so. It's maddening. My very virile (Italian) husband wears pink shirts all the time and thinks nothing of it, because here in Italy, it's not super-associated with girls. It's just another color. I wish it were possible to raise kids more gender-neutral these days, so girls could get as much opportunity as boys, and not feel forced by societal pressures to have to look a certain way or act a certain way to be accepted - - and feel that they have the world open to them in opportunities! I look forward to a world where the first comment you make about a woman (versus a man) is NOT about how she LOOKS but about something wonderful that she IS. http://www.goldieblox.com http://www.lettoysbetoys.org.uk/why-it-matters/

As the former occupant of a pink bedroom - which was my idea at the time - let me say:

Until she has an opinion, paint the room whatever color you desire. When she has an opinion, work with that.

We need to drop the "should". "Should" is not a word that goes with color palettes. Pick the color you want, or that you think would be lovely, and if she decides one day that she wants something else - pink or otherwise - go with that. Rooms need to be painted now and then anyway; it's not really a big deal what colors you choose.

I was thinking the same as gypsyrose and checked to see if the Command will stick to brick and the website says no. Darn. I wonder if your guy (if it's okay) can drill into the mortar instead? That way, if you change the art, I think it would be easier (and less apparent) to patch the grout than fill a hole in the brick.

Well, our post crossed! lol

The other day when Debbie asked about accessorizing the mantle, I too, thought the same, nothing. Let the Dancer have all the attention.

Cute Donna...but once you've done the light/blow out once you've done the job. :) Did you get a shorter candle as Carolyn suggested? I agree a shorter white pillar candle is a better size for the proportions of the holder. I'm so happy you love the room and are proud to "show it off"! As you should be. :) It is a beautiful room.

Thank you Carolyn and sending a big hug to you(:(:(:

Hugs right back at you, Donna!