I had one for several years that grew like crazy, apparently because I planted it right next to a primary downspout. I knew (and still know) little to nothing about growing roses, just dumb luck! We get plenty of rain in SW Washington state, so this girl was rarely thirsty, and thus I usually had to prune quite a bit at least every year if not twice. :) I had to move recently, and she was so deeply rooted that I had to leave her behind. :( I've been surprised & disappointed at how difficult it seems to be to find another at any price. :( Fortunately, the new tenant has offered to let me come back for her, guess I just gotta find someone willing to dig deep enough. :P

Mary_lu, the bookcases are indeed built in. I thought about painting them - or even just painting the inside portions - but I am so hesitant to paint that old wood! I think for now I will concentrate on bringing in ironstone pieces and just generally tweaking the books and decor displayed there. Something I just realized last night is that I'm displaying a lot of sentimental items there - photos of babies who are actually big ol' kids now, little stuffed animals and books from my childhood ... and while those things are very special to me, I feel they're not quite conveying the overall look I'm envisioning, because they're not cohesive (if that makes sense). But how does a person pack them away? That will be hard to do! ;-) Oakley, I do like your suggestion to paint the fireplace a creamy white. I can envision that more easily than I can doing it in green - plus, I think you're right that it would brighten the room better than the green would. I know what you mean about the impact folded, stacked quilts have in a room! I used to have an old hutch that I displayed quilts in (it's long gone now though). I want to keep the quilts that I'm currently displaying on quilt racks though, since my Grannie made one and her mother made the other, and I'd be just devastated if one of the cats decided to do something "naughty" on them. I might look for some old cutter quilts though to fold and display somewhere in the room. My wheels keep turning! I think I can turn this into a much cuter, cozier space. I feel like I've been neglecting the upstairs while I focused on painting downstairs these past few months.

"A smaller home to me is one where there isn't room to "float" the furniture away from the walls. I wondered, Ellendi, if your friend with the 3000sq ft house was having difficulty with downsizing because she could not stand having furniture near the walls and not having vast open spaciousness around her. I think that we small homers sometimes get the opposite problem. We rearrange things and find an open space, and before you know it, we have something sitting in that open space!" Very interesting thought Nancy, I think this is what I do. might answer why I have so much crammed into our house.Maybe why I like a smaller house. And yet our house is not all that small at 1375SQ FT. Right now I am sitting in the middle of a HUGE mess. I have the sewing /guest /office room unloaded into the living room dinning room and laundry room with a little spill over into my studio. This is only a 13 by 9 foot room I had to clear and yet it takes up so much space in all the other rooms. Course I do have that other room space to put it in but it is very uncomfortable feeling now for me. Too closed in cluttered. And yet all that furniture back into it's space does not feel too cluttered for me. hummmmmmmmm We do have a love seat floating in our living room. It is a long room and I use the love seat to make a kind of entrance way at the side door. Also gives me added wall space. As I sit here with a 4 foot painted white china cabinet from sewing room in living room I am really liking the look of the white against the very soft greenpainted walls. Dang it all. That gun cabinet might be good oak but I am getting very close to painting it white. It is a great big dark piece of furniture. Also paint the secretary white and I think it would make this room look so light and airy which is the look I really like. I think it's dark oak days are numbered. LOL Chris

"I have to say that some of your responses to the granites I've posted are not what I expected. I have never said anything negative about anyone's choice of countertop, yet many of you don't mind judging my taste." I was thinking the same thing Donna. BTW, I think the blue in Azul Bahia is lapis lazuli, so your granite does share some of the same ingredients as that beautiful lapis slab you posted.