FHB-- I've told you before but I have to say it again because each time I see it, it's looking better and better! : That range and hood combo is simply fabulous! I can't wait to see your entire kitchen! Cleanclassic: Thanks so much for your nice words about my hood. It's one of the best decisions I made about in the whole reno. By all means, do follow up with Sayde for photos of other MA styles, or contact the company directly. They will be happy to send you plenty of photos. Good luck! Boxerpups, follow your dream. You won't regret it!

Jakkom offers some great advice, try to make an adventure out of looking for things you might like in your apt. Get out and do some shopping at some cool places you find out about. Come here and read posts that interest you, you can get some great ideas. When I had my house, I used to keep a little slip of paper in my wallet with a list of some of the kinds of things I needed for the house, so when I was out and about, I would be able to remember if I needed something or not. It's kind of nice to know that while you have a perfectly adequate floor lamp, you're really looking for something the same basic height and size, but way cooler. That's why I started out with hand me downs thinking I could always upgrade piece by piece. In the end, I have found that the quality of the hand me downs has often far exceeded any new things I have seen in the stores, and the price sure was right for the hand me downs! Over time, it has developed into my "look" which I call MCM Grandma! For example, an old lamp that was anachronistic in my house for years and years but I just never found a replacement for, is now super hot again and the young folks who come over think I'm uber hip! OMG Jakkom on the prices for the Milo Baughman stuff, I'm going to have to take a closer look at my chair and find out if it is an original or a knockoff. I know it is of the MCM era, not a repro. It has the original faux naugahyde dirty white vinyl covering. Sadly, it got nicked in two places during my last move. Not sure at this point whether I am going to recover it or sell it. It's very comfortable, despite its lean modern looks. Despite it being comfortable, SO hates it, at least in its dingy white vinyl incarnation, and it doesn't go very well with most of my other stuff, although I pride myself on being "eclectic." We'll see how my furniture culling goes, it may be time to pass this chair on to someone else who will love it properly. I kind of like it, it represents to me the humor of something that was a complete garage sale can't get rid of item a decade ago and now is really hot, and also something of quality and value, albeit "out of date" by casual standards and yet still has intrinsic good/worthy style. "Character" I guess would be the operative word. Oh, BTW Bigeze, that's another way to have fun decorating your place, seeking out things with "character" which I think can be fun. Unless you just want to go out and get everything and have it be done and over with, which I can also relate to and understand. I'm often torn between the two instincts.

I think you like non-fussy, casual, kinda transitional(for whatever it means)..cozy and very livable..and you re not against some mixing and matching-you're not the style purist given all that-i think your chances on making your rental homey for you and your family are not only big-they're grand.. tie the colors together since it's a bit strange they have different color carpets in dining and living(do they? or is my monitor playing mind games with me?), with rugs, pillows since you seem to like them, change the chairs that irritate you to no end for something that you can live with(just store these ones safely), and then go slow, enjoy the process..travel..and bring things that you find while you travel..it'll be fun, and it will be meaningful

My folks moved into a dark, monochrome house and now I live in it. Some of that can be fixed easy. You can paint tile and fireplace surrounds, I have a friend who did both in her home and also painted kitchen cabinets and redid her formica countertops with special paint too. You can also put in larger or more windows, that's one of the things my folks did. Also, paint fixes a multitude of sins. You could decorate that home however you want, and it would lend itself to a cottage vibe very easily. Great yard. But boy oh boy, the home prices in your area!! Edited to add that I love the decorating scheme in the cottage that Localeater posted, but my husband would kill me if I even remotely suggested any of those touches. Talk about monochrome! He would LOVE the color scheme of the house Robo is considering! I think he is secretly a vampire. Although OUTSIDE he is very picky and only happy to be outside when the sun is shining. Edited to add again that the horticulturalist in me sees that the outside of that house could be spiffed up in charming cottage landscaping style relatively easily at a basic level.