Herman, It appears you are trying to sell stuff. I think that is a no-no here unless you have paid for an advertisement. Also, people here might be a little miffed when they send you their prize cuttings that you turn around and try to make money off it. Food for thought...

I joined my cousins last night for a lovely Prime Rib Roast, with mashed taters, roasted parsnips and onions and brussel sprouts! and of course, Gravy - yummy!! Apple pie with cheese for dessert. Did our Christmas gift exchange before dinner - got lots of fun stuff for my garden. We watched Ron James, a Canadian comic, had us tearing up we were laughing so hard. Very Canadian, most Americans don't get him as he is quite topical, though Sarah Palin did not escape unscathed! Then I came home to stoke the fire - stupid front door had blown open a crack!! Arrgghhh!! Watched George Strombolopolos to Midnight, and celebrated with his audience. He had Sarah Palin on the show as a guest - interesting interview. It was just getting warm mid am today - I added a Hudson Bay wool blanket to my bed and was just fine. Today, I will be treated to a full turkey dinner, with all the trimmings, with old friends. I will bungie the damned door closed just in case. It was a bad year for doors here last year, and apparrently this one isn't fixed yet!! Happy New Year to one and all. May 2009 find you right where you want to be!!! Nancy.

foodonastump...I read, re-read and read a third time the entire post, paying particular attention to the third paragraph. And no, I can see nothing that deserved responses such as I read. It seems to me that a mention of another forum and how much one appreciates the posters who contribute to it can not be taken as negative by anyone other than someone who is looking for a reason to be offended. It may be that you have a negative history with dcarch that I am unaware of, in which case I wonder why you bother to involve yourself in the topic begun by someone with whom you have experienced such unpleasantness? I'm sure it was not your intention to ruin the topic for everyone else, but that is turning out to be the result. I don't know who upset whom in some past topic thread, and I don't care. I am interested, though, in the idea of people making fun things out of throw away stuff. The soda bottle pots crack-ah-me-up! Gotta try some. One can only use so many hummingbird feeders. Oh boy, just what I need is another project.

This is my one big reno and I have been waiting what seems like forever to get my teeth into a design project. As a real estate agent for 20 years, I have walked through other people's houses every day and seen how they did things and had strong opinions. I love how some rooms came out and more often, can improve just about everything if they'd only let me at it (at least in my mind, I can). As much as I like nice looking shoes, I'd have to say, I like tile so much more. I will be sad when my tile choosing is 100% complete. I still need to choose the border for my kitchen floor and there is a chance will need to re-choose part of my backsplash if the color cannot be made right. I don't want to be timid nor copy anyone, yet I am often inspired and hope to pay homage in different elements but in my own way. I am going classic in a lot of patterns and materials, but hope it looks fresh at the same time. I see some people here who do things like I can really appreciate, yet in the real world, in our area, it is a ton of travertine, old world stones, burgundy walls, crown moldings and all done in a predictable way. People here seem to put in the effort to not have a cookie cutter kitchen even when using popular choices. I can't tell you how disappointing it is to walk into a million dollar home and plus, and see so little creativity or style other than looking nice but generic. It is funny, but I will see a well done kitchen and think that the person must be a fellow GWer because the difference in end result is noticeable. Steff - the lavender with black backsplash was the first element I knew I wanted with absolute certainty. I had seen the combo in a older home years ago and it stuck in my heart and mind. The liner tile is my twist on it, but the lavender is key to the plan. I have searched high and low to get the right color purple and it is amazing how every other color in the spectrum is easy to find, but the one I want. Even my dh really likes it and I think it will be the part that is most likely to make me smile when I walk in. Sparklekitty - I am being bold but containing it to doing a faux rug in our den rather than the whole room. This way the pattern is featured without overwhelming everything else. I am doing the basketweave in the bathroom in a similar way but for a different reason. In that case, I think the border will highlight the pattern more and make it more special, than to just see it go behind the toilet and under the baseboard heat. It doesn't hurt that the surrounding "field" tile for the bathroom floor will also be much cheaper than the rug (although the expense of the border probably cancels that out and then some, lol). Luckily, the bathroom floor is small since it is a 5 x 5.5' half bath in our master, so not much floor overall. I really tried to find the rope border I am going with, but a web search did not bring it up. I am linking to a website that had some beautiful pix, none the less. Someone painted a tumbling block/Hermes pattern on a wood floor and some of the others photos are stunning. If our den had a wood floor, I might try it, but it will be newly constructed, so would not put wood in only to paint it... Here is a link that might be useful: pretty pictures for fun or inspiration