What ONE thing do you LOVE that your spouse / partner does at home?
Emily H
9 years ago
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Mark
9 years agoJillian - Interior design student
8 years agoRelated Discussions
Kitchen question: One thing you love and one thing you'd change
Comments (52)Finally remodeled the kitchen in our 50s California ranch style house. Waited 18 years but it was worth the wait. Room is about 12 x 12, U shaped but the fourth wall has the fridge and some pantry space. BEST THING: repainting the original cabinets (creamy white, Benjamin Moore Pottery Barn Mascarpone) and hardware (that old black colonial stuff) to save $$ for top notch appliances. I replaced my old cheap wall oven & fridges in kitchen and laundry with a 48" Sub Zero. It is quiet and it is so flat -- I gained a wider walkway through my kitchen. Even though the fridge is smaller than the two fridges that it replaces, I can fit everything in there that I need (though now I understand the popularity of the "drink station" fridge!) I replaced my 42" avocado green cooktop with the La Cornue Cornufe 43" in Provence Blue with brass trim. I did not want to give up double ovens, but the usual Viking / Wolf etc. 48" would require me to give up too much cabinet space, plus I never liked the huge oven and tiny oven combo and cramming 8 burners into the space where I used to have four plus a big griddle (that I used to plop things down, mainly). Now I have 5 burners so I have room for big pots and handles. I was really nervous about having two smaller ovens. However, you get the half sheet pans from Williams Sonoma and they act as racks. The fitted roasting pans that come with the stove work fine. I roasted a big five bone prime rib in there. I use my ovens so much more now than I ever did before, especially for meats. That stove is a thing of beauty and a real show stopper in the kitchen. LOVE the blue. So YES, the appliances make all the difference. ALSO LOVE having everything look kind of old -- we have Carlisle wide plank hard wood in rustic white oak (knotholes and marks); we have Barroca soapstone with some white veining; my cabinets are not pristine but they fit with the overall look. Patina galore even with new things! GO CHEAP with the faucets and just get chrome. With everything else stainless, it's nice to have something more glittery on the countertop. We have chrome in every room with plumbing and all of the rooms "match" even though we have faucets from different manufacturers. Accidental benefit: We hid the trash can in a pull out inside one of the low cabinets. We just attached the door face to the pullout mechanism. Well, one of my undercounter cutting boards slides out perfectly so that I can chop and then sweep the trash directly into the trash can. Sweet! By getting the new fridge, I gained more countertop space to the right of the fridge. I was able to have a built in shelf made for my microwave to get it up off the counter. We converted one of the broom closets in the laundry room into a tiny little bar. We used a remnant from our countertops for the counter; we spaced shelves for wine and soda storage. My husband routered out a few leftover strips of the hardwood to make wine glass racks on the top of the cabinet. It's kind of cute. What I'd change? I don't dislike my Kitchen Aid dishwasher, but for some reason it is hard to load small things like pyrex bowls, small cereal bowls, etc. It is great for tons of plates and glasses. However, I like to cook and I use a ton of those little custard cups for prep. I store leftovers in 1c, 2c, 3c, bowls and they never seem to fit right. I did not get the dispenser on the Sub Zero because I think it will stay cleaner and also the dispenser takes up room inside. However, I do miss crushed ice more than I thought I would. I always dreamed I'd have a fancy backsplash behind the stove. However, this stove is so beautiful that I do not want to upstage it. I will just hang a pot rail behind it like you see so often in the ads for the stove. Also I did lose storage space -- we moved a hanging cabinet over the countertop peninsula. I lost my baking rack storage when I hid the trash can. I lost my pots and pans storage when I replaced my cooktop with the drop in stove. I have been getting rid of old things and making room for new things but I am still moving items around to figure out where they should go....See MoreNever, ever do these two things with your spouse
Comments (31)It is physically painful for me to watch dh try to paint. I can't bear to even think about it. Imagine a man who has good bearing and sense (I said he has them, not that he always uses them) suddenly going slack-jawed, slumped, one hand in a pocket (it drives me crazy to see someone with hand/s in a pocket) and smearing a paint brush over, and over, and over, the same area until it's a sticky, lumpy mess. He makes a simple task so much work. I love to paint. I spend hours on prep; removing everything (nails, electrical plates, lighting fixtures). I clean, and Swiffer, and tape. I put down plastic sheets and tape them to the floor. I set up my paint station with everything I could possible need laid out on the stand like surgical instruments. Then the next day I begin the painting. I use primer; I cut in, and do the "W" with the roller, apply thin coats, and am through in no time at all. I'll brag; I'm a damn fine painter. It's just that I go slowly and spend far more time with prep and staging than I do in the actual applying of the paint. He wants to grab a can of paint and start smearing. I am the painter in the house. He will, after I've done all the prep, sometimes help with the roller parts, but I have to keep reminding him to not go over the area that already has paint. He can't "see" how it pulls up. So, I do the painting or hire a helper. The one lady that does the best work, even better than mine, is 72. Watching her paint is like seeing poetry. I love her to death. I do the fetch and carry for her, clean her brushes, fix her lunch, and learn at the feet of the master! So, never, ever try to paint with a husband. God made Man; then he made Woman. He made them attractive to one another. Then he sat back and had a good, long chuckle....See MoreWhat would your home look like if your spouse had to decorate?
Comments (52)Tannantok, you're describing my DH's place when I met him! He also had a beer can collection growing on his back patio. He owned virtually no dishes (eating out of the pan was the norm). When you walked in the door you were greeted by a picture of a big haired blonde wearing suspenders and not much more. Laminated to a piece of charred wood. Given to him by his mother. Current decorating would be blankets tacked up to the windows, but he'd also have 1000 watt lights all over the place. I tell him the sun would not provide enough light for him. Clothing would adorn all the lamp shades (if he used lamp shades at all...probably adorn the curtain rods. Bathtowels would be the floor mats. Steak knives would pin up things to the walls, and EVERY wall would have something pinned to it. He'd have a ginormous sofa with blankies and his dogs. No pillows, except for what was on the floor. And every cupboard would be doorless and the drawers self closing....See MoreDo you ever "manage" your spouse?
Comments (29)Hello Beverly Hills Isn't That the way it is? In any relationship or discussion a good, healthy dose of common sense can make things work. Common sense allows for discussion of a matter with both, or all three sides contributing beneficial input. Taking things to an extreme can mess up any relationship or discussion. In any relationship there is a healthy give and take. No husband or wife is always right or sees everything that can be done to make a marriage work. Two personalities brought together requires give and take for the relationship/marriage to develop to it's full potential. this may require some "management" where one is weak and the other is stronger. You apparently are stronger in a given area(s) than your husband and have to "carry him along" to make your marriage work at it's best. To carry it too far would be unhealthy manipulation, taking advantage of him to his hurt, Someone earlier mentioned feminism. In some ways feminism has been beneficial to society in general and marriage in particular. But taken to the extreme feminism creates a combativeness and contention. In a good sense women's role in the home and in society has been recognized and elevated.. Taken too far it has husbands and wives fighting instead of being supportive of each other; creates manipulation instead of a healthy tension or maybe management in an area where it is needed. Well, maybe I'm getting too wordy and besides I'm running out of time....See MoreTania Summers
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