My own personal experience with two reclining chairs purchased a few months ago, that look nearly identical in appearance, a Taylor King and a Sherrill (their Motioncraft line) the Taylor King is the superior product. The Sherrill is already faltering in the cushion, is harder to push back, the fabric is bagging on the outside back from reclining, then when raised to chair position, it remains loose in a curving arc from the top of the chair to the base of chair. The fabric is creased on the inside back cushion because the fill flattens when leaned against, causing the fabric to fold over on itself and crease. The nailheads do not line up on the foot rest with the nailheads on the leg as they do on the TK chair. The Sherrill chair, in an entry level fabric, was $1800 on sale, plus tax, delivery. The Taylor King chair was $2400 for leather, included tax, but additional delivery and $140 for a warranty. I wish I had bought the warranty for the Sherrill chair too but it irked me at the time to have to purchase insurance on an expensive chair. Why move up to better quality if it's still expected to fail and it's on you to fork over $200 for a warranty to protect yourself? The stores are forced to do this so they can stay in business having to buy China made products and frankly products made anywhere including the USA that do not hold up. This is not your mama's country anymore. But I digress, frankly, both chairs are hideously expensive. We previously bought two chairs in the $500 range, marked down from $800 (recliners) trying to save that extra 1 to 2K on the high end lines but it was wasted money. After a few months the fabric is literally coming apart with threads dangling and if I slightly move the chair from side to side it actually wobbles. In this range they are mostly imports and the usual junk expected from years of disappointing buying experiences. Everything is likely imported materials, cushions, filling, fabric, thread, etc., the pile is assembled here then marked made in the USA, sad.

Quite an accomplishment, Lady!! And Daisy, the stairs are awesome - I know it was a lot of work, but the results are amazing. I have pretty much finished the bathroom. We put in the floor, painted, put in a new counter and light fixture. I painted the bedroom and am now working on the WT. I picked out what I wanted, did all of the measuring and calculating and went off to JoAnn's last night with my Presidents' Day coupon. I need 10yards of the moire for the bedroom -- they had 9-1/4. Grr. They called another JoAnn's that is actually closer to me and they said they had 38 yds. I went there to find out they didn't - this store is in liquidation. It has only been open less than two years. NOW HERE IS THE KICKER -- I didn't buy the bathroom fabric as I knew they had it at the second JoAnn's and figured I would buy everything there. It was 50% off at the first store, plus 10% coupon. At the store in liquidation, it was 30% off, you had to buy a minimum of 5 yds. and the 10% coupon was no good. Some liquidation sale!!! So bottom line, it was too late to go to another store, I didn't buy anything - and now I am sure all of the 50% off sales are gone for a while. Real bummer! I am so ready to finish!! Hopefully some day soon.

Hi there! Congrats on your first house. The patio is a really nice area and you can make it into great usable space. I agree with Jan on painting the downspout the same color as the house, But then at the bottom, you could change out the spout going across the yard and connect an underground "pipe". They're usually black plastic pieces that have a name I'm sure, but I don't know what! We have them on one side of our home which work perfectly. It would, obviously, call for digging up a small line in the yard, but you can just throw some grass seed down when you are done and it will be back in no time. I was thinking about some kind of trellis as well which would help with privacy. Do you have room in a garage or basement to store a small patio set for the winter. I grew up in upstate NY, so I know your weather well!! Many patio sets have chairs that are stackable or fold up, which may be easier. Or you could just get a few comfy chairs (weather resistant)with a small matching table. Then you could bring the cushions in and if you weren't opposed, you could cover the pieces and leave them there for the winter, if you don't have storage space. Here's one idea: Here is a link that might be useful: patio set

Love your new lampshade shape - nicely balances the lamps, and also is a bit more elegant look. If you tried the couch the other way and it didn't look right, then this is where it should stay. I would just like to see you try switching the round table on the end of the couch, and the rectangular one. I think it might be a nicer balance to have the round tables between the two sets of seating, and the rectangular table sitting at the end of the couch. I think it seems a bit off to me to have the two round tables in closer proximity to one another, and I think the rectangular table would sit a little more compactly at the end of the couch. Glad that you and your family like the new set-up. Great brainstorming here from everyone, and great input at your end, too! I think a soft green on the walls would be nice, and I could also see a rich but lighter shade of a grey-blue in there. Enjoy your 'new' space! Please come back and let us see how it comes out with the new pillows, art and wall color! It is so fun to see the end result.