Plantmaven: a few hours and 2 cans of krylon and you can have a rainbarrel almost any color under the sun. I also use (for clients) a local company that paints their barrels slightly differently. They use a krylon primer but then paint the barrel - exactly matching the house and they make nifty custom risers for the barrels too. This works well for my clients in historic districts or those with HOA's. I wish I could get a nicer riser for mine. Even just the right size cement without mish-mashing a bunch of odd pieces. If they all looked flat and plain I could simply paint them out purple to match! Schoolhouse, there is some way you are supposed to crank (or whatever) the hinges on these gates to tighten them, however I have no tool or knowledge of how to do that (I guess I should google it!!!). The posts stayed up well, it's just the silly hardware.

Jean, you have a lot of pretty ones today. Woman at the Well is lovely, Susan Weber is a beauty, Sabine Bauer, china Bride, these are my favorites...can't get it to one. Lovely blooms. Your favorite will bloom again soon, in the meantime, you have a lot to enjoy. kay

Kasie - Can't believe you didn't grab it girl! Go back when you have time and hubby isn't in a hurry and grab one or two or what the hec maybe even three or four like I did, LOL! I have learned quickly to give my friends who come over the cheap ones from HD or Wallyworld. I like to share the aloha spirit but it starts getting rather costly when your plants aren't big enough to take cuttings from yet and everyone wants the most expensive one you have, lol. Now I give them the 6 dollar ones complete with inflo and they are happy campers...walah, problem solved and I am still sharing, lol...(now I sound like a cheap skate :) Teri - if the cutting is rotting it's more than likely from the bottom so you will want to cut from the bottom until you see good white wood where the cut is. I had to cut some of mine today and although I found white wood there was no latex flowing...don't know if they will make it or not. Is the top squishy, or just the bottom? The really squishy parts need to go, hopefully it is just from the bottom and you can reroot. Karen B. - That's a great find girl and at an excellent price! I have a KW but no inflo yet :( maybe later in the summer. Can you post pics of yours, would love to see it!

I hadn't even thought of the direction that the light is going. That is good to know. I will start looking around. I would love to have overhead but we have an upstairs above this room so I don't think it is possible. Yes I plan to install sconces on the fireplace. I have been having so much fun collection ides for it. Of course, some of my inspiration pictures were on this site, so I am hoping they get restored. We have been waiting to spend money on the room, wanting to be certain that hubby's job is solid. Lots of rumors at his job of closings, and lots of layoffs. So we have waited. However, the longer I wait, the more I think of that I want to do. We have hardwood in the entry and I would LOVE to take out the carpet in the room and match the entry hardwood if that is possible and continue it into this room. Then I could get a pretty rug. We usually take our shoes off at the door but sometimes don't when we're in a hurry. One can use the foyer to go to the kitchen, or cut through this room. So it sees alot of foot traffic, and the dog loves to roll around on it. Arranging the furniture around the vision in my head has been difficult to say the least. I like things to be symetrical and would like the couch directly below the window. However, that doesn't make for nice conversation. We've had it there before. What I hope will work is to scooch the piano down to the end of the wall - where the doorway is, and squeeze a chair in that corner, have another chair in the other corner, then have the sofa under the window, but not centered under it. It makes that end heavy but I want a nice conversation set up. The piano really can't go anywhere else. I've thought of putting the sofa facing the fireplace to come, but I think it is too big. I could scoot it closer to the fireplace and angle a chair beside it, that may work. Not sure. If someone has another idea, I'm all ears ( and eyes). So glad you don't think bedroom when you see the drapes. They do look brighter. I have another set of panels. Perhaps I should double up and hang them too for fullness?