Roo, I think you're right, we'll probably do birdhouses. Might as well do them now while the weather is nice.

MP, what is your friend's budget? Does she have one?

Roo, I looked at your ideabook for your lounge. I think you and Judy like the silvery blues, no?

i have no clue about the budget! her hub makes good money, but they havent spent it on interior decor.
thanks roo for pics

No bobbi, I like really clear, clean blues. The only reason I went for the more aqua shade was the fact I couldn't get lounge fabric in the blue I wanted.

Dave - are you awake yet? You have an ally on the marble issue.

Good morning everyone. I wonder what I was dreaming about last night, I sure woke up with a case of the 'gleeps' this morning... But it's a beautiful, blue sky Alberta day today, so.... I have a conference call at 10 and then maybe I'll get myself together and go buy myself a piece of granite, and stop in at HomeSense to see what's new. Enjoy your day, whatever your plans are :)

Roo, did you see the dilemma from Oz, the one with the old house and the toilet outside? It's getting about a million responses!

Morning kimdee! Go buy a piece of granite? Must be nice to be RICH!!!

Nah. It's just a topper for the little ledge in my powder room, about 36" x 4", to replace the awful painted mdf they put there. About $100 for a remnant that matches my other countertops. A little DIY project to keep my mind occupied on more productive things.

Roo, here's the link: https://www.houzz.com/discussions/old-kitchen-and-bathroom-but-very-limited-budget-dsvw-vd~435364

No I didn't bobbi - do you have the link. Just love the old fashioned dunny, generally complete with spiders, and a choko vine growing over it.

BTW a news item tonight, a lady got up this morning and went to her kitchen and found a 3.8m snake in her cupboard. The snake didn't mind when she reached in for her coffee cup - said she can't do a thing or think straight before her coffee. Would have been one morning I would happily have gone without.

I posted the link above :))

MP, good thoughts sent your Dad's way. Your friend's cabinets look like a pickled oak. I am not a fan of the yellow or terra cotta. I like the idea of choosing a neutral paint color that almost matches the cabinet color something like this photo... pare things down so that the bluish gray counter and backsplash don't look so heinous.

Thanks, Bobbi, we crossed. Time for bed I think, you know how we were talking this morning about lacking patience when tired, well I let fly at people wanting everything now and not learning to make do.

I thought I was going mad, just got a batch of emails, starting with Astraea's first comment here. Took me ages to notice that.

Me too and STK's also.

Yeah, Kutchie's isn't here. Got mp's video as well.

well, i continue calling my phone...hoping that someone will be walking by an open freezer thingy in the grocery store and hear a ding dong sound with birds chirping in the background! That was one of the problems this morning...the birds were chirping very loudly outside and I couldn't tell if it was my phone or not!!! what are the chances of me losing my phone this time of year when they are ALL chirping merrily...just like my ring tone.

dad's out of surgery, in recovery room, doing great! just talked to him! Told him I was going to bring him a big stuffed animal!!! NOT!!! Nothing that he can take home to the hoarder house! Only edibles!!! :)

It was bonanza day at Home Goods. Must have been a huge delivery this week. I got two white framed yellow and white Moroccan prints; two yellow and white pillows; two grey washed tall baskets I will use upside down for coffee tables; and a yellow and white Moroccan print small dhurrie rug for the bathroom. Cottage is almost staged. Have to find the accent chairs I got on the Target website to show you.

http://www.target.com/p/hayden-armless-chair-menswear-plaid-straw/-/A-14182230#?lnk=sc_qi_detailbutton

ez, i could have continued my shopping, but as Astraea said our Spring sprung a leak and the temp dropped into the 30's with a cold, freeing rain. I was so cold I had to come home. But I did get to beef up the cottage with pops of yellow and did find the sexy Moroccan rug to warm up the space. :>)

love it judyg!!!!!!!!!!!

ez...i would slipcover them too, but she's not all about that honey....i have to work with her taste too! ;)
I have already rearranged the poor woman's furniture and told her to paint her front door black! lol!!
that's not what she really asked me to do. She did send me a text that night and told me she loved me though....so I guess I didn't offend her too badly! Now to do away with the gold walls. I think that's the main prob here!!! wish me luck!!

heck I even got the recliner out of the den....i thought that may lead to a fight. but no...she was totally cool with it!

jude, i love those chairs..I want some bermuda shorts made out of that fabric!

@judyg, who can step out of Homegoods without finding a treasure? Love the chair.

OMG, are we talking about designing today, I had a recipe I was going to share. 8-)

I had no luck at HomeOutfitters (HomeGoods) today... BUT I went to the granite yard! So many choices in so many beautiful stones! I'm glad my builder didn't send me down there because I'd probably still be there trying to decide! AND.. the owner gave me a tour and showed me the big machine they use to cut the granite, all computerized, and how it polishes the stone, etc. Really cool!

Is it weird that this was so exciting to me?

Actually that was a joke, I grew up in Detroit btw

kimdee that is NOT weird at all! I would have loved it too, trust me.

Kimdee - I share your excitement about a visit to a fabrication shop. I don't care what the facility makes or whether it is a volume product or one of a kind, I love factories and workshops! I've been in various faciities, but my favorite was probably a visit to a fiberglass insulation factory.

My brother is the mechanical engineer with the fascination for the machines themselves; I'm an industrial engineer so I'm fascinated by the processes and the running of an operation. I like the challenges of getting the materials, plans, programs working together and I like to think about how to make the processes better - quicker, cheaper, more reliable etc. I drive my business partner crazy - he doesn't want to think about how to do something better, he would rather not spend any time experimenting while I'm always looking for knowledge I can apply to another project.

I get my satisfaction later when I hear him describe to someone else how "Linda showed me this really slick way of ..." or "did you know that you can ..." He tells me I think too much but I reply that I wouldn't have to think so much if he would just do a bit more thinking!

I don't know if anyone has a Big Lots near them...but they ran this ad this week which was a pretty good dealio I thought. I even thought about you, judyg.....for staging purposes. a cheaper version of the outdoor wicker couch and ottoman thing including cushions. $600 I think?

MP, cabinet idea for your friend, note the backsplash and counter! [houzz=]

Linda - I'm a mechanical engineer .. or at least I have an underutilized degree in mechanical engineering (as well as an MBA). I loved going on job interviews, where I got a tour of a plant! Went to Proctor & Gamble where they made Ivory soap, Betty Crocker cake mix & Crisco, went to an IBM plant where they printed checks. It's all fascinating!!

I love factories too....it is amazing. I even loved this place that i used to do freelance work for about 8 years ago. Really fun place. A company called Roylco that built another plant here in sc. They are from canada. they make educational things for schools, etc. So they do their own printing, die cutting, plastics, even dyed macaroni...you can walk through the back part where everything is going on and there are huge boxes of all purple macaroni, then all blue, all green....plastic buttons, paper masks, cool printed papers...
I had the privilege of designing/putting together a line of craft products for high end children's boutiques. It was fun, even though I don't consider myself "crafty". I would go there when I wanted and had a huge table in front of me with plastic rubbermaid type holders filled with all kinds of things that they make there. I could create whatever I wanted and had access to anything in the factory in the back. If I wanted leopard paper, or plastic rings, I could go grab them. It was a lot of fun.

oh guys, I have to go in a sec....not sure if i'll chat later or not tonight. I do have internet again though! yippee! thank goodness for that, because now i have no phone! lol
Love to all and have a great weekend if I don't talk to you this weekend. The weather is going to be marvy and i am going to suck it all in!!!!!!!!

i'm going to the new habitat store tomorrow for sure! gotta check to see what's new, if anything. and I will be going to the church of homey as well!!

Oh good! I left there with the biggest smile, it was probably the best part of my week. I probably would have hung out and watched for the rest of the afternoon if he'd have let me. This Old House is a favourite for me too, eztia, I love learning how things are made and watching Norm and his team build stuff and do it with such precision. I used to love The New Yankee Workshop too, I wish it was still on.

Have a great weekend, mpoulson!

Here is a Nancy: a fight over plants.
https://www.houzz.com/discussions/how-to-disguise-tall-fence-dsvw-vd~433086

mp, thanks. Glad you like it all. Need a thumbs up. In CP's den I have a men's plaid fabric on the windows in reds…bamboo rods. Very happy with it. Your phone? No?

Morning all, actually it has just hit afternoon, so I'll just say G'day. Another magic autumn day here again.

Bobbi, I love that suggestion for mp's friend's kitchen, could be the perfect answer.

Judy - that plant fight sure got ridiculous so of course I had to throw a spanner in the works . I know this poster is in the UK, but do you guys have building codes over there regarding fences? There is no way I would have that built on my boundary - I'm having enough trouble with pine trees that are closing me in and taking all my lovely winter sun as well as killing my garden and lawn off every winter.

Nothing much doing here - about to go food shopping.

judyg - I didn't read thru all the posts in the fence discussion, but I came at it from a totally different angle, as soon as I read that the fence is 9' high! Around here, there are zoning codes for fence height .. especially a solid one, that has no structural function (i.e. retaining wall). Even around a pool, fencing is limited to 6' I think, because it begins to negatively affect air flow & view on neighboring properties. Wonder if anyone will care .. I read that the guy who posted owned the fence!

Astraea the height of the fence and the legality of it was the point I raised, but the guy just didn't seem to get it. He obviously isn't into landscaping by the state of the lawn, but it looks to me like that fence is impacting on sun and light and nothing is growing there anyway. Seems to be they are accommodating the neighbours more than themselves. Said my bit, they have to live with it.

I left a comment too, recommending STK's paintball gun: https://www.houzz.com/discussions/how-to-disguise-tall-fence-dsvw-vd~433086

Having been on my former town's Zoning Board of Adjustment, I can't tell you how many homeowners do things, without checking the codes first .. then when they're told they're in violation & need to remove/replace something, they expect sympathy for all the money they spent on whatever it is that violates the code. After a while, my sympathy was used up .. ask first, plan second!

Goes on everywhere Astraea and then they take it to the local papers or news channels to get them to take up their cause - which the idiots do.

Astraea..... that takes all the fun out of it though......

I remember the town engineer mentioning that one new homeowner built a bridge across the stream that ran thru the back of their property, so they could use the land on the other side (it was their property). Who did they check with, before buying the property, spending the money designing & building this little bridge .. their realtor! Duh; realtor's motivation is to make the sale go thru; the small print probably says that they're not experts on zoning codes, land use, or anything else like that!

Good grief!!! I just got notification of judy's post from TWO days ago, that has to be a record!

Was it worth the wait? hehehe

judy, it was 14 hours ago - my memory is lucky to get to 14 minutes!