The trouble with human nature is our free will and ability to always look out for our own interests. We want to do things because they suit us at any given point in time.

Love is a double-edged sword - we often end up losing the rights we feel we must have. When the relationship is going my way itÂs good  when he asserts his self-proclaimed ÂauthorityÂ, itÂs not so good.

I most likely will remain single and living alone  IÂd like it when we were Âgetting along and seeing eye-to-eye, but IÂd also have to be able to send him home when he got a case of ÂCRAPPY AttitudeÂ!

This is what I'm doing to spruce up my "home"... I pick them up tomorrow evening.

{{gwi:1590348}}

{{gwi:1590350}}

you wild woman you!!! wouldja look at the color of those!!!! I'll bet if you had a husband he'd NEVER allow such a bold fabulous color! those are great!!!!

gabriele, I would love to see pictures of your slate front porch, funky cool tiled bedroom stairs, and sunroom!

mimi boo, your sofa and chair are beautiful! What color walls, accessories, etc., are you using with this beautiful red?

I live in a bland apartment so I'm trying to add my own color. I can't change the carpeting nor paint... I'll try to take a before and after picture.

mimi - i lived in the same apartment for 7 years, I know how you feel. I did finally paint the walls in all the rooms, didnt get my deposit back, but i didnt care. I also had a long balcony where I cad a planter garden every summer.....you just have to do what you can to make your space your "home"

eloise - i'll try to figure out how to post pics like mimi did after i get home from work tonight.

OK mimi_boo, you've just sprung a leak!! What a way to show your independence!! I like, I like!!

ok...going to attempt to add two pics...of bedroom steps and of slate porch. If they do not show up in this post then try clicking on these two urls

http://www.gabrielecreative.com/pictures/PORCHFINISHED.jpg
http://www.gabrielecreative.com/pictures/bedroomsteps.jpg

{{gwi:2065020}}
{{gwi:2065021}}

Oh that is beautiful! Gabriele, you do such great work; I love the design on your steps, and to me, it is very modern looking as opposed to funky. Great looking porch as well. Thanks for sharing.

Thank you! it was fun!

Great job - really gorgeous!

Gabriele - you're making me miss being out west Kid!! I've visited so often and each time I fall in love with the colors. Your work is so meticulous - that is really gorgeous!! Thanks for sharing.

gng

Very nice tile work Gabriele....I installed tile years ago, but never anything like those steps.

I just got this crazy idea...I wonder how much it would cost to take out my old old window over my kitchen sink and put in a little bay window....If Im going to do it, now would be the time before I tile the backsplash.....hmmmmm! :-)
guess I have to do some pricing around. If I'm real lucky, maybe i can find what i need at the habit. When you're on a budget, you have to get creative with money!

I'm looking for a bay window at habit too. I've never been to the one near me, or even used them. Hopefully they will have something. My budget is SHOT with this kitchen so I'm having to be creative too. I do have two solid wood doors that I'm willing to donate. Maybe that will make a difference.

Send pics when you finish.

gnee - you're redoing your kitchen too? To what degree? Minor or MAJOR!

Ask for one on craigslist or freecycle - I see them often in our area for free or cheap.

Wow, I am so impressed..
Linda

OK Linda, I see I'm not the only idiot posting here this early in the AM!! Good Saturday morning to ya!

Gabriele - sorry I'm just answering your question but this week happended to be the open for all the last minute decisions, problems, headaches, and now joys, with finishing up the kitchen. I didn't plan on a redo at all, but I guess I would call it a mid-range job. I kept the old cabinets which were entirely too good to tear out. Then I started out with new flooring to replace that 60s gold laminated flooring and chocolate brown shag carpeting - glad that's gone! Then one-by-one, I had to add new appliances, which turned into a new countertop, which turned into more new appliances, which turned into other stuff. My neighbor is a genious when it comes to carpentry and building things. He finished the crown molding and chair rail yesterday. Now he's really trying to convince me to take out the cabinet over the cooktop and add an archway into the family room. I will probably do that since I'm having trouble finding a suitable hood/fan. If I take the cabinet out I can get a new one that won't be harvest gold and silver!!! If I don't do that, they are going to paint the one I have. Funny thing - my cabinets are so dated but as I said, they were too good to toss. But now that the granite is in, they look like they were part of the remodel. In fact, another neighbor - who is the new electrician (another long story I won't go into but it's a nightmare), stopped by to check out something. He was shocked that the cabinets were here before - they blend in so nicely with the granite. So, in a nutshell, it's turning into a MAJOR job, but only little by little. I stress little haere because as more gets done/added, the "littler" the funds become - LOL.

I can't even begin to tell you how humbling this is right now. I owe a pretty big Thank You right now. I NEVER thought I could do this, or even would attempt to try this. I had plenty of help and the blessings that came my way were a huge part of it. But, I can actually say, "I dun good!"

gng

No gng, Linda isn't the only one posting early in the AM! I woke up at 2:50 AM (no reason), got up a little after 3 AM and have been web surfing since, lol! I'm ready to get off the computer now and maybe have a real breakfast as I had coffee and a banana earlier.

gng, take deep breaths, and we will wait on pictures of your beautiful kitchen.

Hope all are doing well and have a fantastic weekend.

I know I posted pictures of my new furniture earlier in this post, but here's a before and after... hope you don't mind.

{{gwi:1588285}}

{{gwi:1588286}}

you hope we dont "MIND"? I dont know about the others but I LOVE seeing pics!! I started on this website over in the gardenjunk forum where the women (and some men who love to garden and funktyfy their yards) post pics all the time.

Anyway, dont you just feel like a million buchs with your new furniture? It just looks awesome. When I saw teh old room I thought, gee, I hope she isnt getting rid of that nice chair and ottoman, that would go nicely wiht the new furniture....and sure enough, you kept it.
The room and furniture look very very nice!

gnee - here's the story of my kitchen. I bought this house 2.5 years ago as a repo. I fell i love with the house because it was a quaint little place and finally the first one I saw in my budget that didnt need more work than this little girl could handle....mind you, it needed alot of cosmetics, but i'll go straight to the kitchen since that is the topic. The cabinets had to go first, they were absolutely disgusting. I couldnt clean them good enough to get all the years of cooking grease to come off. I had enough money left to have my friend tear out the uppers and I replaced them with some really nice, and affordable hickory cabinets from lowes. They were not special order or anything, I had to work with the sized they had in stock but my angels are really good to me and each and everyone of them fit like a glove. The reason I chose hickory is because I dont like the drab predictable wood grain of oak, even though they were about 20 bucks cheaper per cabinet, they were also unfinished whereas teh hickory was finished, anyway, the rest of my furniture is a knotty pine rustico from mexico and the hickory matched it really well. The hickory had some awesome wood grain...I like wood with charactor! OK, so I got new uppers but that left the grosteque lowers which had missing doors and the drawers were so crooked and didnt open and close smoothly that I removed the drawers and the wood things that divided them and just made an open cabinet to store plastice etc. I bought $1/yard material at walmart and made curtains that fell infront of the hidious lower cabinets. IT was not the most glamorous but it would do until tax return time. When tax return time came, I got back enough money to buy the lowers. For those of you who dont know this, lowers are much more expensive! uuugh! So I had my friend come back and together we tore out the lowers, ripped out the FIVE layers of flooring. There were three layers of linolium tile and then a thin subfloor over those three layers so that they could set ceramic tiles over that The ceramic tiles were white with black grout and lots of them were broken. We ripped it all out, then set the lovely new cabinets but unfortunately for time and money and my indecision as to how I wanted the countertops to be, I chose to put the formica counter back on temporarily. BTW, first thing I had to do before I could even use the sink after I moved in was to get a new sink, disposable and faucet which I found at the habitat. My dad gave me enough money as a house warming to buy the most expensive cabinet which was the drawer set, and my mom bought the beautiful italian rustic terra cotta looking tiles for my floor...but the floor did not get tiled for awhile....I had life suddenly get in the way of my kitchen! So now, these last two weeks I have decided it is time to finish my kitchen. A few months ago I decided on a look for the counter so I asked my BF to tear out the formica and set some backer board and I tiled, and am working on cutting a million 2x2 tiles from various free scraps to form the backsplash...but i think I already mentioned that in the beginning of this thread. Anyway, I've tied the floor into the counter and the counter and floor into the backsplash. As I mentioned before, I'm also texturising the walls and repainting. Today I'll hunt around for that bay window and see what I come up with.
I'm blessed in so many ways with this house...but I'm also lucky it is a small kitchen, only 8 x 12, and that is counting the 2" for the counter space. So, I would say mine was pretty major too...little by little, and yes, I done good too!! :-)

gnee, when you're finished...or when I'm finished, whichever comes first, lets start a new thread and call it "kitchen pics" and we'll share our hard work! (before and afters?)

WOW, what a marvelous difference - you did such a great job, Mary! Thanks for sharing your fun with us - it was fun, right?! LOL

K-J, NOW I can say it was fun. After the granite was in, I looked at it asked myself why I was so stressed about something so easy to do!!

gabriele, you rock, girl!! I need to learn how to do all that stuff you do - tile, especially. Now I have to install a backsplash, but OK, I'm not doing it. My neighbor is doing it - LOL. Your work is just beautiful. I know what you mean about liking your house. My first house was about 960sft with kitchen smaller than yours THAT WAS PINK. The cabinets were painted white metal and I had an owner built cabintet across one wall that was made of plywood. it was HUGE, across a whole wall. I miss that thing!! The knobs were finished finger holes to slide the doors across to access the inside (like closet doors that pass by each other), I really miss that house.

good luck with yours. Yeah, I guess we do need a new thread. Even though we have a Kitchens Forum, this one could be for our enjoyment rather than working through and advice.

Eloise - you should have called me!! I finally got up at 4:30. I'm ready to take a nap though. I think yesterday wore me out but I was too "up" to really relax. Now my head is bobb'n and weav'n like when I fell asleep in class on Wednesday - LOL. Don't forget to take your minerals at night for more restful sleep!!

Gnee, you probably have stated what you are studying in school, but my memory isn't good - what are you going to school to learn?

Not in school but need to be. This was a BORING class for my job. The last time I was in school, I walked in and the professor asked me how long it had been since I had taken a math class!! He told me to get a tutor because I wouldn't be able to pass his class without it. Of course I dropped the darn thing!!

mimi_boo, I was in a furniture store today and thought about you. I saw a sofa that looked just like yours!! I almost looked at it seriously but then I felt guilty that I was being a kopykat!! Just kidding - I love the red but not sure it would fit in my family room.

Does this qualify as home improvement - or my birthday present!!

Please tell me I can't buy this!! LOL,

gng

Barb...your new furniture totally brightened up that room...nice choice!!

When it's your birthday Mary, you can buy whatever your heart desires...at least I do. :)

gng, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! I am wishing you one of the most exciting birthdays ever. I hope family &/or friends will make it very special for you today.

mimi boo, your livingroom looks wonderful. But, will you take the tags off the couch and chair, please, lol! Of course I know you have.

gng, I felt exactly like you did yesterday. I made a back and seat padding (cushion) for my grandbaby's little rocking chair yesterday. When I drove there, the sun was shining so nicely. I told my DD that I was going to seat outside and once the sun hit me, it would make me sleepy and I could take a nap as I was feeling tired around 2 PM from lack of sleep. I went home and laid down to watch tv and had a small cat nap, but that was enough for me to make it the rest of the day.

As Susi Orman would day: "Girlfriend, you are APPROVED!" YES, you may buy it. A girl only gets three or four 'thirty-ninth' birthdays, so treat yourself well!

i think you dont have to justify anything to anyone....get the dang ring and wear it proudly, You deserve it! and happy birthday!

ok, so i'm thinking maybe not for the garden window! My opening is only 27 wide x 33 tall and Home depot sells them for....are you sitting down...$650~

and as for the habitat, well, that was wishful thinking.

BUT...by boyfriend insists he can build me on! hmmm.....I'll let you all know how it goes after it's happened! :-)

Hey Gabriele - have your BF make 2!!

Thanks for the tip on Habitat. I was talking to my electrician today and he may have someone that wants to buy the doors I replaced. I know that HD sells them for at least $1K. I sure hate to give them away.

Thanks all for the Bday greetings. MLK needs to have been born one day earlier this year because I don't feel like going to work tomorrow!! The holiday usually is by bday weekend. This year it's next Monday - bummer for real.