I do raise and lower my shades every day because some are in a closet/dressing area and some are in our master bath. Third floor, but it is still disconcerting to get undressed in front of black wide windows! The fabric has perfect "pleat memory"--I never have to fuss or adjust. I did NOT do continuous loop--I have that on some others and it is slow and annoying. snbtwins, I'm sorry I don't remember the name of the fabric. It is the only oatmeal-colored "linen" Hancock keeps in stock--they usually have two or three rolls on the big roller dowels. The shades look really nice when they're down. I think the trim keeps them from looking like big ugly rectangles. They maintain the pretty "droop" at the bottom when closed. For me, that droop is important and is what makes "soft" Romans look so much different than straight ones. Rebeccamom--you opened with saying you appreciate the honest opinions on this forum, so here ya go: Sometimes ten minutes and a glue gun looks like...ten minutes and a glue gun!! Seriously, your kitchen is waaaay too nice for a craft project on the windows. They look perfectly lovely with no treatment at all. This post was edited by shanghaimom on Thu, Nov 14, 13 at 16:03

gooster -- thanks! I called and talked to Viking about the depth and they basically told me with the water tubing design (and some kind of structure which holds it), that 24" depth is not enough. And I don't really want to push it - the actual body is exactly 24" so the tubing definitely protrudes beyond that. Also, the hinges on the Viking D3 actually already restrict it to less than 180 degrees -- I'll have to get our protractor out to see whether it's 110 degrees! I got excited when I saw that, but then I realized we probably already have those restrictors -- but I will double check. BTW my husband was able to pull out the frig, but we did empty it first. BTW, are your levelers up a lot, or just a little? The installer put ours up quite a bit -- I didn't check the level though - maybe it needed to be up that much. Personally I would just prefer it be directly on the wheels and that's it. Oh well. sjhockeyfan - thanks! I actually can pull the left drawer out far enough to clean it in place, but I cannot remove it w/o pulling the frig out. In fact I just checked and I can physically remove the deli drawer (yeah!). I can pull the left drawer all the way out so that the entire inside is visible, but cannot remove it. The good thing is I can remove the right drawer and then clean under the left drawer if needed. Thanks!

Yes, my husband and possibly another nephew will accompany Uncle to the doctor appointment. Uncle will listen and ultimately ask the "boys" to tell him what to do. Lazygardens expressed the concern: "He'll get some mental clarity from the increased blood flow, but still be unable to get around like he's hoping to. And that might be worse for him than quietly declining and dying with his heart." Mental clarity without regaining physical stamina will likely mean a future move to the nursing home since he can no longer use the restroom or transport himself from wheelchair to bed or chair by himself. And a move to the nursing home is exactly what he does not want. He doesn't even want the physical therapy because it means a 3 block ride and stepping foot in the nursing home where the therapist facility is located. He's fallen enough times trying to move around without assistance that he's lucky he hasn't broken a hip. A couple months ago my husband took him to a VA doctor due to anemia and she suggested 3 things: iron pills, physical therapy and another dietary supplement-like Ensure or other nutritional shake to ward off the weight loss. His response was no, no and no. The doctor joked, "I didn't bring my magic wand to work today - guess that's 3 strikes and I'm out." Ultimately Uncle did agree to the iron pill. He's nearing 87. There are some at that age that still seem so young and agile; however he has reached the tipping point of being so fragile. Uncle hasn't accepted the fact he's dependent upon care and must both ask for it and pay for it, which he can afford but doesn't want to do. He thinks he can figure it out for himself. For example he stopped taking one pill without letting the nurses know (kept it hidden under tongue and later spit it out). Ultimately we found out. And the only reason he talked about it was because we were reviewing the pharmacy pill costs and it was one of the more expensive pills and he mentioned it was silly to be paying for the pills when he wasn't taking them anyway. Oh my.

Thank you! The rocker isn't required...I go back and forth on it, honestly, whether to make a spot for it and keep it or not. I love the styling, but it needs recaned. COVID and forced work from home has definitely created some issues (the filing cabinet and desk) in making it even more cluttered. The easel can be folded into a box and stored. It's a long story, but it was a gift from my husband, but unfortunately not highly useful for watercolor painting (what I dabble in), so I started using it for display so at least it was used at all. The ratan drawer set only holds video game components- which based on how frequently they are used, could be stored in a box in the closet under the stairs just fine. Behind the easel are two dvd storage towers. Again, pretty optional and really need pared down to what we actually want to keep. The shelves next to the freezer are the kid's book and maker space shelves right now...but it's ugly as all get out. I need to sit down and think about what they really need for space, and create it instead of just using those two black bookcases because they are there. But all of those books are kid books, as opposed to the wall shelf which is all adult books. The other big bookshelf is only records for the record player, and a few board games (that we never play. Need to declutter those. The played ones are upstairs by the table.) I agree the decor items don't look that good on the bookshelf...but I don't know what to do with them elswhere in our house. There's really no other place for knickknacks, and honestly that's the extent of our non-Christmas knickknacks. Almost all of the pictures and items have a personal history that is strong enough to keep them.