sas95, If you look at the Kohler color timeline, the 1950s have a color called Spruce Green and another color called Argent. Your bath seems to have a cross between the two, so it is effective kswl, I guess the style has been around a while, but I know someone who bought a house built in 2011 that has bathrooms just like that. It's not something that I would do in a house of this sort, but it is the sort of "new" bathroom I see a lot around here. Variation a) is white subway tile, and variation b) is something tan or brown. This is in the ceiling above the three year old bathroom, btw, and why I am gutting. Fan connected to nothing. Wiring all over including some splices not even in boxes. Out of frame to the left, a soda bottle. My carpenter tells me this sort of thing is Extremely common here because most renovation is completely without permits.

weedyacres, I think actual damage is less common, but happens. The removal of hardscape and landscape items have been reported (wasn't it in GW about the paved walkway being removed?), and other cases where the new owners found multiple holes in the ground where trees and shrubs had been dug up. Some have reported missing or switched appliances, light fixtures and other items that should have remained per the contract. Other annoyances abound, such as leaving items behind for the owner to clear out (hazardous waste products, large/heavy items requiring special disposal pick-up, etc.) discovering they painted around the furniture rather than behind it (another GWer's post), and damage hidden by furniture or rugs. In one local case, the previous owner's son refused to leave and it took a drawn out, and expensive, legal battle to remove him. It is bad enough having to deal with some of these issues when you become aware of them at a vacant house walkthrough. In our case, multiple cans of hazardous waste and multiple bulky items were left for us to take care of, but we were under time constraints and had to close rather than force the owners to remove the junk. I hate to imagine what they would have thought to get away with leaving if it had been had been after closing!

I'm not sure I'll be much help on this subject since I'm just now decluttering and reorganizing my home. Here's a few little things I'm doing: Since I don't have a regular pantry (I'm going to make one somewhere, someday--lol) I keep all breakfast items in one drawer, like instant oatmeal, grits, hot chocolate, etc. So, I know in a glance what I need and don't buy extras. I just tear off the top of the pkg. and set the whole thing in the drawer. I also keep my ironing supplies on one drawer---irons, spray starch, etc. I actually had to buy a second iron because I couldn't find the first one---before I organized! I took all on my junky paper and cut it into note size, put it in my desk drawer. If I have pretty junky mail, or envelopes, I cut them up to use as gift tags or small note cards. I hate frying bacon, so I bake it now on a rack. It's healthier and I don't have to spend so much time at the stove. I actually baked a pkg. this morning, used it all at once---now, we have bacon for tomorrow. I don't have very many closets, so I'm using decorative tins and hatboxes (I went thru a hatbox-making phase a few years back) for storage of sewing and craft supplies, and anything else that I can't find a place for!!! LOL These things hold a lot, so I may not have to buy any shelves. In my foyer area, I have a narrow table with a mirrow above it. I just cleaned out that drawer in the table----I have a place for car keys (his & hers), gloves, hairbrush, and glasses. Since I wash my hands a zillion times a day, I keep either an old dish detergent bottle or shampoo bottle with soap, water (*and now hand lotion or baby oil mixed in) under the sink to wash hands with. I just saw a Dr. on Tv say that if you wash your hands too much and they're dried out, germs can enter your body thru the cracked dry skin EASIER!! They were talking about the flu viruses. He actually said that rubbing your hands back and forth, creating friction, would kill germs on your hands!! Rub your hands, rub your hands!!!!!!

A lot of people reserve a block of rooms at a convenient hotel. You can usually get a good group rate that way, and then everyone is staying at the same place, which makes it easier to share rides and is also fun. In our community, often close friends host a hospitality area at the hotel, too. So you may prefer doing that and including reservation info instead of just a list of local hotels. But I have not seen that sent with a save the date card, just with the invitations to out of towners or, less often, sent to them separately around the same time as the invitations. Ditto info about local attractions; I see that in hospitality bags awaiting guests at the hotel -- I don't recall getting it in the mail in advance. Whether it is a good idea to sort of be suggesting that your invitees plan their vacations around the wedding depends upon your guests. Will they feel that it is pushy? Or that they will have to explain it to you if they choose not to make a whole week out of it, or want to come for longer but do something different? Many people only get one short vacation per year. Will any of your relatives feel that others will press to make it into a family vacation they don't want? Probably not, but in a few families that could be an issue. Of course, if you live someplace like Hawaii or the Outer Banks, I for one would certainly consider making a week out of it! But then, I could probably find tourist info myself.