I went in JC Penney for the first time in a long time a few weeks ago. I was looking for clothes and was pleasantly surprised with the changes in what they were carrying -- esp. in plus sizes. There was still what I call the bingo/casino collection, but there were more stylish choices and also active/workout wear. And the prices were great. I've never been one to collect and manage coupons very well (cut them out and forget them, or even put them in my purse then forget them, they expire on me, etc.) so the one-price thing is fine for me. I thought the store redesign looked like they were trying to become the Target of department stores (letting Sears be the Wal-Mart of department stores). But the iPhone/iPod-based checkout system seemed a little to Apple Store for Penney's, KWIM? There must be a corporate connection there somewhere. Back to home goods. I took a spin through tat department and it was indeed very, very sparse. I only looked at lamps and pillows, but there were a lot of empty shelves and everything was on clearance. So I guess the back half of the store is about to get the same treatment the front half of the store already got.

My kids are now 27, 24 and 21. They gave me lip in their teens also. IT IS THEIR JOB. They are starting to exert their independence. It is the parent's job to teach them how to exert (is that the word? I hope it is the right one, you know what I mean) it RESPECTFULLY, and they will not know if you do not teach them. GO TO YOUR ROOM, or whatever is fine, but more needs to go with it. My most proud day as a parent was when my then teenaged daughter, in the middle of a power struggle with me said "I don't like you very much right now". Not I HATE YOU, not other words that I'm sure she wanted to say, but "I don't like you very much right now". How respectful can you get? It meant that I was doing something right! Did she cause me grief at other times? OH YES (She was our wild child!). But we did survive. I now have 3 very wonderful adult children. (and Mother's curse works, my wild child has one of her own--HAHA), all who respect us and we respect them! I need to add, we had our moments too..the son walking away in the middle of my rant, and me following a 6'2" "boy" shaking my finger while yelling...I think the neighbors peed their pants, it loses some of the effect when he's taller than Mom. The grounding until their 30 (and then having to back off), and other--not so good moments, but we survived the teen years (and I have the gray hairs to prove it!!) Vickey-MN

Hi becca, I too am one who hates hunting camo. That being said, I come from a family of men who love to hunt. We also bleed purple and gold (LSU) so I combined the two feels to give him a true Louisiana boys room with a gentleman's touch while not being trendy. Again not sure if your talking Mossy Oak or Desert Storm, but this what I did in my son's room in our old home. I painted the room BM Woodstock Tan (a deep sort of brown). I bought a duvet and had a cover made from an army green colored cordouroy (sp) with wooden buttons for the enclosure (also had a sham made). I used RL leopard sheets on the bed with the Mossy Oak camo panels on the windows. What I didn't account for when making the duvet cover was the weight of the cordouroy (it is really heavy) nice in the winter, but I take it off in the summer and just use the white duvet. It lightens things up a bit (can get dirty if not careful). Also, I swap out the camo panels in the summer for white ones as well. The other camo accent that I had in that room was a portrait of him in camo with his gun from my father sitting on an old shotgun shell box. His furniture is different from that you will have as his is all antique from my grandmother's, but I am sure this can be retrofitted to match your furniture. The great thing about these colors is that they are pretty neutral so accent colors stand out well. Like the purple and gold LSU newsprints that I have matted in purple in his room and other LSU paraphanalia. Red also looks good against these colors. All of these colors and patterns may sound a bit busy, but used properly they compliment each other really well. We have since moved from this home, but I continue to use variations of this since it is something that works well with all ages and can grow with them. Hope this helps, I will try to find and attach a picture if I can. Shannon

shellfish: Oh, lovely room. That is right up my alley as well! I'm so envious of your space! I like the idea of the white coverlet which I may add in winter below the duvet. DD and I are still looking through the samples though lean towards a more saturated color like boxerpup's DS's room, then a lighter shade for the ceiling. Hope to narrow it down to a few paint samples to test on the walls. DD has little patience with me as I wanted to show her the inspiration pics. I'd rather she just pick a look she likes and let me narrow down the paint colors to 2-3 that match the one in a picture. That has always been my difficulty in doing her room--she just focuses on one aspect, the bedding, WTs or paint and not how they all look together in her room, with her floor and lighting. Unfortunately, there is not much that can be done in terms of room layout at present and it's not possible to remove just the head and footboard. It's a captain's storage bed with four drawers which she uses for her clothes. In another year my DS will most likely go away to college then I think I will let her move into his room which is a smidge larger and then we can do something similar to paintergirl's rendition. In which case I'll be repainting both rooms in a year's time. If it wasn't so hideous right now, I'd just wait another year, but she and I both hate it and the bedding and WTs can simply move to the other room when the time comes. I lvoe the paint color in the living room photo above and think DD would agree to that since it's so vivid. That B&W accents really seem to mitigate the intense shade as I'd hoped it would. Does anyone know what color that is?