I am involved in a very large IPE deck project in which we have already installed about 50,000 board feet of IPE on 50 new decks and we are about to install another 50,000 board feet. The project is at Lake Tahoe, CA which is at 6,000 ft. altitude and has big sun in the summer and a fair amount of snow in the winter. My question: we have been quite disappointed with the several stains that we have tried over the last two years. They seem to last six months or so. Any suggestions on a process which could give us a good look and maybe last one to two years? All suggestions are welcome. Thanks.

I’m following this post because I have the same issue with my living room — dark brown couch and very dark floors — brown overkill! Can I ask for more specific advice, if possible? Should my rug be mostly ivory, with tan accents? Or will the tan color bring in more “brown?” Should I paint the brown wooden top on my fireplace white to eliminate some of the brown in the room? BELOW: View from my entry foyer looking at living room. What can I place behind couch? The couch reclines, so it can’t be a sofa table. BELOW: 1. What color sideboard can I place under TV? 2. See room with yellow arrow. I have 3 swivel barrel chairs for that room (ivory color); must the rug in that room match the living room rug?

Help me with ideas on what kind of accent chairs to buy. Fabric or leather ? And what colors can I mix and match ?

I am confident in the seed mix since it comes from a respectable organic brand. And I think my soil should be good because I did grow spinach there before and it grew without problems. But this is my first time adding compost to the soil, I guess that could expose it to bacteria and fungi. It has been incredibly cold these past couple of weeks for May. Ranging between -2 and 9 degrees Celsius here in Canada (about 25 and 45F), and it has snowed a few days. So that could be a possibility. Your lettuce looks amazing, I do love the variations in colours. The buttercrunch's markings look very much like the ones on my lettuce. If you have had the markings before and had no issues eating it I'm guessing it's safe to eat.