I have given mine away and noone has complained - yet! I use leather thong (thicker than a shoelace), thick hemp and copper wire. I use a good long length of copper wire and wrap it around a pencil to coil the ends so that it looks like vining on a morning glory ... 'tis cute and gives a great look. I also use thick silver-looking wire and do the same thing - usually one of the wire colors matches what I have done.

brutuses - they are called pants stretchers. Still made today. Very useful if you have someone who wants creases in heavy pants or jeans; also just to hang pants up to dry, especially during snow or rain storms. usafarmer - you have my understanding and sympathy. I found the amount of laundry almost unreal when I took care of my aged mother - even after she had to go into the nursing home, *I* still had all her laundry except for the sheets! (for you others - it's about the quantity of laundry as for triplets, only in adult size). She and I both loved the fresh scent of clothes hung outdoors, but let's get real here: There is only one of you and only 60 minutes in each hour. I timed it before facing facts - it took something like 10 minutes to remove a load of sheets and line-hang them compared to 45 seconds to move them from the washer to the dryer. Folding takes the same time regardless of where you stand; but you never get chapped hands from the dryer. Multiple that by 5 loads a day, and you've spent close to an hour doing nothing but hanging stuff up!!! Several baskets for dirty things are a life-saver. Label each basket and train co-residents to use them. I prefer 4 baskets: whites and bleachables; dark stuff including jeans; colored stuff; terry stuff. When a basket is nearly full, it gets dumped right into the washer, from there right into the dryer. Putting away is divided into 2 groups: hang or fold. Stuff to be hung gets hung immediately from the dryer (which also prevents wrinkling) and foldable stuff gets folded right out of the dryer and stacked into sorted piles. Put the hangared things immediately into the proper closet- it takes the same number of minutes whether you lay them across a chair or put them into the closet, so don't go making unnecessary guilt for yourself. The piles of folded stuff are put into the basket, grouped according to owner (his socks, t-shirts, shorts on the bottom; then my undies; etc.) Kids old enough to be potty-trained were taught to put their folded stuff into the proper drawer (label with a picture until they learn to read). I put away everyone else's, again: because it's quicker!!! Maybe you spend a few seconds more on opening the drawer, but look at all the time saved when you aren't stumbling over piles on the floor, lol. There is one more *very* important reason for putting things where they belong: YOU deserve to live in a neat home. You will also find that you feel better and have more energy when you don't have to climb over [or even see] piles of stuff sitting around. BTW, a young neighbor of mine cut down cardboard boxes to fit the kids' drawers. She did indeed fold almost everything wearable right into the appropriate box - I think winter coats were the only things found on hangars. Frankly, I never figured out whether she didn't wash until the box was empty, or spent time unloading and re-loading each box. And, re kids laundry: as soon as they celebrate a double-digit birthday (10), then they are old enough to take complete responsibility for their own clothing, including washing, drying, and putting away. Sorry, I don't go along with letting junior's room get stacked up; it may be his room but it's in your house. Any out-of-place item found on *any* floor, sofa, or chair, goes into the chore bag [an old pillow case a good bag] - and the item can be redeemed in trade for any chore out of the job-jar; while any item left in the bag for more than a month is either given to Salvation Army or put into the trash on collection day. If they don't want it enough to earn it back, then it doesn't need to become clutter in your house. The job-jar starts along with toddling and should be age appropriate, from helping mommy dust chair rungs to a teenager washing X number of windows. The job-jar's point is not to punish, but to enable an earned value on time and effort which can then be traded for a mis-placed belonging out of the bag.

Wow, thanks for all the responses. I am going to have to reread this over very slowly so that I understand everything you all said. To answer some of your questions and comments, it's not too much house for me Gardenspice because I am buying it for cash. Taxes are high in New Jersey. They are $6700. on this house now. I want to make sure I can continue paying the taxes on it when I get older so I don't want to do anything to it that's going to cost me more money in taxes. I understand that taxes go up anyway. But I want to keep them from going up as much as possible. The taxes are one reason I am looking into building an apartment in one of the outbuildings on the property. I'm thinking ahead for old age. I want to keep this house until I die. If I had a tenant, it would help with the taxes. Unless the tax cost of the improvement cancels out any profits I would make on rent. Of course I will look into all the rules and laws I have to follow if I was going to do something like this down the road and I'd never do it without getting proper permits, etc. I wouldn't be able to sleep if I didn't follow the rules! I am also looking into other ways to make some money with this property. Making an apartment was one idea. I've also thought of having weddings and other events there. I'm a bit of an entrepreneur and will do a lot of research. Whatever we do, we will be doing all the work ourselves. As far as what's going on inside the house right now, there are open permits on it now that the code officer told us was transferrable to us so we can complete the work. Nothing is hooked up in this house. The work was in progress and then the owners had to stop. It will take us three weeks to hook it all up. There will be lots more work to do but in three weeks we'll have enough done that we will be able to get the certificate of occupancy to move in. Other than the tax man kind of rushing me off the phone, all the town guys we've spoken to about this property have been very helpful and supportive of us--they want us in there. The house has been empty for a while and I think they're afraid someone's going to buy it and turn it into some kind of halfway house type thing (it's a big old Victorian) and they would rather have a family in there who is going to give it tender loving care. It is in a town with other multiple dwelling buildings, bed & breakfasts, plus it's on five acres. I'm not even sure what I want to do with it and what I can do to it at this point. My goal is taking care of these taxes. Where I live now, on an 11 acre farm in Virginia, my taxes are only $846 a year so this is going to be sticker shock! And this whole thing might be moot if I don't get my farm sold. We lost our buyer two days before closing! Now we're praying the old Victorian is still going to be there when we get a new buyer!

The first thing that strikes me is that your curtain rod is too short which is why you have to push the curtains to the side which kills the vibe in this room. Get longer rods and linen-type curtains that are fairly similar to the wall color which will give the room warmth without looking busy. Please make sure that your area rug is as large as possible because that will make this room look fabulous. Little bitty rugs do not. I would choose an Oriental rug in warm colors because it will hide little accidents, at least until you can address them. I would definitely get a sofa, so great for cuddling with your husband and kids. I would place it in front of the window for good lighting for reading but also because it gives you the best sight lines into other areas of your home. Instead of a coffee table consider a large ottoman with a lid so that you have plenty of storage space. Please don't buy a brown or black leather couch. They look dated and are so difficult to decorate around. Try beige or caramel, with two chairs in contrasting colors, perhaps a nice blue or green, colors that will be in the carpet hopefully. You can also use the carpet colors to choose pillows for your soft furniture. Find some nice pictures to put on the walls, a large green plant, a bookcase or two (books are a must in a room) and side tables for lamps. By now your room will look gorgeous and be pretty well furnished and, most important of all, will be comfortable and fun to be in.