Wow - you all are making me feel like I have a lot more Valentines this morning! Red hit the name on the head, I realized. I buy things 'within a certain parameter', and that is why they work. I can swap things out from room to room, and they take on a new light when they are moved. I guess it says that I have 'flow', since I am able to do that. :-) Cooperbailey, my mother jokingly calls me house 'the museum', as I do enjoy old things so much. anele has almost discovered my secret business name! My 3 dogs DO participate in the production of anything I sew. When I used to lay fabric on the floor in here, you could count on 3 dog butts quickly gathering and weighting it down while I tried to match patterns, etc. And that was the previous generation of my 3 other Brittanys. Now that I cut on the kitchen island, all these can do is lay on the fabric as it drapes onto the floor from my lap as I sew, and believe me, they do. Among friends and family, I said I'd call it 'Dog Bottom Decor'! My 3 Dogs Designs is a MUCH nicer image. Here is the front window this AM. I had to close the blinds to take a picture against the light outside. Since you all know that I am of the 'more is more' school, this is the front of my 10x25 living room, with my wonderful Romweber entertainment center purchased years ago on sale. I took a quick inventory this AM, and of all the 'stuff' in the room, that piece, 2 chairs and 3 lamps and 2 art pieces are the ONLY pieces not bought on CL, eBay or a local consignment shop. I can't resist showing you the sweet toddler picture of my late Dad, who passed away 3 years ago today. My mother gave it to me recently, and I looked around and set it on the Chinoiserie desk, never dreaming that I'd soon make drapery panels that would compliment his outfit!

Good morning, everyone! allison, The 1/2 bath might be considered a 'folly' down there! I do have a small area around it somewhat finished, but the rest of it will always be a spot to work on my many hobbies, like furniture refinishing, messy crafty stuff, you-name-it. I also have a doggie door in the opposite 'working' side of the cellar, that goes to a former garage under my office, which I made that into a wood working 'shop' years ago. Another doggie door in the shop takes them out to their fenced in area of the yard. The cellar and the shop are valuable real estate to me, just as they are. I do have 3 windows and a door with glass in that 'living' part of the cellar, as well as a wood stove, and an armoire with a TV it in. It's cozy in the winter with the stove, and cool in the summer and the couch down there is great for naps! These pics are of my former LR sofa down there and a 'reading' nook with big chair. Not much decorating has taken place yet! The door you see on the right in this pic is to the 1/2 bath. This is the reading nook which faces the wood stove. Being a dog lover, I got this original oil painting of a Springer from eBay for $21.49! His eyes are a perfect match to the Behr 'Cork' paint color. And this is Ikat fabric called Casbah, that I got at 1/2 price at Ballard Designs. I might make sill length panels for the 1/2 bath for fall and winter from it. The way it goes with that paisley wallpaper is the stuff that (my) dreams are made of. I'm happy to see so many paisley lovers here, as I have always been one, and I LOVE to mix patterns in a room, even a small one like this. I'm glad that others are inspired by my 're-cycled' bathroom! I'd never have done it if there hadn't been a rough one down there to start; but I just replaced that with one that even I'll use. No more storing tires and hoses in this one.

Brutuses, Usually I'll go out and look for 'Bouillotte lamp' or 'candlestick lamp'. This one was truly an accident, as it had that description of 'Elegant Solid Brass Base dual bulb Table Lamp w/ Shade'. I may have been looking for something else that day (I forget!) and saw that the seller had a nice item, and then clicked on View Sellers Other Items. I do that often when I find one nice item that a seller has. And, I ask questions! If the shipping seems too high, which it often is now due to eBay's calculator that they have sellers 's use, I'll question it. Most often the seller writes back lamenting that shipping calculator, and gives me a much lower correct fee. In cases like that, perhaps others have seen a high shipping fee and decided not to bid, and I luck out because I questioned it. I do a quick check of my Craigslist at least once a day, and the same with eBay. Some of my best finds are due to the seller using a description like this one, which didn't have key words in it. It was too vague to show up in a specific search - 'brass' and 'lamp' were the only words I might have hit on with some of my searches.

Ah, the Toilet on the Green! When we did a teardown I wanted to save two Kohler quiet-fill toilets. Nice to drive up to the new construction and see these sitting on our front lawn, 'naked' of their seats. Our contractor didn't understand why I'd want him to move them out of sight. (I was foolish to save these; the 'innards' had to be rebuilt, and they are water hogs.)