My opinion is to leave 'well enough alone.' The plant looks fine, the leaf loss is normal. If you are careful with your watering, the mix should be okay. Just don't over-water. Your plant doesn't look sun-burned so leave it in the bright light. Use your judgment, if you think the leaves are getting burned, move it back a bit. The greyish growth is a root which is normal for this orchid. Just remember how these plants grow naturally - clinging to tree trunks, getting rained on and drying out quickly. Their roots are adapted to be in the air, not soil. If it sits in water, it will rot. When the flowers finish, it is up to you what to do. You can cut the spike off and let the plant grow new leaves over the summer (that is what I do)and then it will send a new spike in the Fall. If the old spike remains green, you might get a few more flowers, but it won't look as nice as a new spike. Please check the FAQ's on the main page of this forum for more info. These are tough plants and can take beginner treatment. You will be fine. My sincere condolences on your loss, Jane

I tried to quickly scan through. I don't know if someone made this suggestion yet. Can you put doors on your cabinets? We had open shelves on either side of our fireplace. I had my husband make doors for them. He made frames and covered the inside of the frame with cane. (we had to since they hold our tv components and I was afraid that they would melt down if no air got to them.) But, you can get tons of different sized cabinet doors at the restore or something similar. With the ones my husband made, I just painted them and put them up with regular old hinges. They look pretty good. I was going with a more natural/coastal theme. So, they work well in here. Oh! I was thinking. If you have odd sizes (like we do) you could just have lowes cut you new doors out of that mdf and paint them. Just don't get really super thick mdf. It paints like a dream with a roller and you could get the odd sized cabs covered. Melamine doors if you don't want to paint. But... you don't have to do all of your shelves. Maybe just the bottom half. It will break up some of the visual clutter. And, you can hide actual clutter (like we do!) which is really the main thing. :) Kim

First, do you own or rent the condo -- are there any rules prohibiting you from painting any part of it? If renting, do you really want to make permanent costly changes even if you're permitted to do so? The gray doors and trim actually go well with your black countertop and furnishings and don't clash w/the brown sofa. If you paint any trim, you'll probably need to paint all the trim ... and probably the doors, too. This would be expensive to have done professionally and any mistakes could cause a renter to lose their deposit. Consider leaving the trim and doors as is and, if permitted by whatever condo rules with which you must abide, repaint the walls instead. If you do decide to paint the trim white, Benjamin Moore makes a stark, true decorator's white -- likely a better choice than the off whites, many of which can have a pink or yellow hue to them. The kitchen walls -- backsplash and over the overhead cabinets, are a distinctly separate space than the rest of the condo. White subway tile backsplash is worth considering but is more costly than painting -- something to consider, especially if you're renting. With bold black countertops, you might consider painting all the kitchen walls your favorite bold bright color. Then you could paint your dining table the same color, or perhaps just the top that color and the rest of the table black (as many of your furnishings are). Behind your stovetop on the wall between it and the hood, you should probably add a panel designed for that space -- easily cleanable and flame resistant. Stainless steel would be best -- the white over metal ones can more readily show scratches and/or stains. In such a small living room area, a rug is optional -- the seating area is pretty well defined. It wouldn't hurt to walk through a few stores and see what's available in a size the same width as your sofa and long enough to extend from beneath the front legs of your sofa to beneath the front of the furnishings opposite the sofa. Wouldn't want a room sized rug -- even if it didn't interfere with opening the door, extending it beyond the sofa into the traffic area from front door to kitchen/dining area would be counterproductive to the purpose of an area rug for a living room.-- to define a sitting space. With little seating, a single throw pillow with your favorite colors would suffice. Plain, then -- metal (think document frames) for art would work with what you have or you could choose something without a frame -- perhaps pressed metal art. I googled pressed metal wall art trees images https://www.google.com/search?biw=1366&bih=650&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=0I1QWumOII2-zgKtnozgCQ&q=images+pressed+metal+wall+art+trees&oq=images+pressed+metal+wall+art+trees&gs_l=psy-ab.3...6401.7143.0.7285.6.6.0.0.0.0.45.259.6.6.0....0...1c.1.64.psy-ab..0.0.0....0.5INBPx3xz0c You could replace trees w/any object or subject that reflects your interest to see what might be available. What interest you? Mountains? Beach? Hunting? Biking? Wildlife? Music? Then, if you decide that metal art is something that interests you, change "images" to "shopping" to begin your search in earnest. Modern wall shelving, including but not limited to box shelving, can be both decorative and useful. Update us -- let us know what you decide to do and post pics.

Hello friends. I am afraid I need your help once again! We have finally settled on a new sofa, accent chairs and the place we are getting all of this from has agreed to also throw in a rug for us if I happen to like one from their suppliers. I fell in love with a rug they have as well as accent pillows I think will match well. We have also decided on the color of the accent chairs and the model of the sofa. My issue : I CANNOT decide on a sofa color!!! Everyone is telling me to do light grey but I am afraid it won't go with the rug I like. I am swayed towards a white sofa (it is more off white, I will post a picture of the swatch bellow) in order to flow with my chairs and everything else. I had spoken to the designer who did our plan and she said I can go with a white sofa no problem. Everyone is saying do light grey. I know I can pick another rug but I am SO In love with the one I have chosen and I think it will make the space... Can anyone advise me on what to do? I do like a light grey sofa but I also really like the colors in the rug...We have to order this week in order to make it in time for Christmas and I am very undecided. You have all been so helpful and if you aren't utterly sick of me, I would appreciate the advice! Here is the link to the sofa we have chosen: https://mikazahome.ca/product/sevan/ We will get the 89 inch modification sofa with a 9 inch arm on one side (you can see example in the photos) and a 5 inch on the other end. Legs will be like in the second photo on the side. Here is a swatch of the white that we had chosen (ignore the leather, it is the material swatch next to it). Photo of the accent chair: Photo of the rug: Accent pillows: We are also hesitating for the accent chairs - there is another chair we like but it is not as much of a good quality as the one above. I will insert a photo here - feel free to let me know which one would be better. In other words, which chairs? Which color sofa? Do I go with light gray sofa and change the rug or go with off white sofa? Thank you!