*** CORRECTION*** This is why random amateurs like me shouldn't give out arcane light bulb specifications over the internet, pretending like i know what i'm talking about.... The two GE bulbs I linked to in my last posts are "high output" 110 watt bulbs, type F96T12HO, rather than standard-brightness 75 watt bulbs, type F96T12. They will fit your fixture, but you'll probably have to change the ballast out as well as the light bulb tubes. The ballast would have to be designed for two high output F96T12HO bulbs, not F96T12. It's possible you already have a ballast designed for the 110 watt high-output bulbs, but they are less common. However, I don't know without looking at your fixture which type it is. You can find out by looking at the labelling on your current light bulbs - it should be at one end of each bulb (hopefully at least one of the two bulbs will have the print facing downward or sideways so it's visible). It should have some reference to the wattage (usually 60, 75, or 110) or to F96T12 or F96T12HO. The ballast is usually located underneath a metal cover between the two bulbs. In some fixtures, it is uncovered. It's a small metal box, about 9" long with wires sticking out from both ends: You may want to change to an HO ballast if you want it to be brighter, but otherwise it's easier (and cheaper) to keep the existing ballast. Here's two bulbs that are standard (not high-output) 75 watt tubes, from Philips and GE. The Philips is slightly brighter, but otherwise the quality and color (90 CRI, 5000K respectively) are the same as the high-output bulb in the first link (I don't think I'd go with the 6500K bulb in the second link - too cool/blue, kind of like overcast sky). F96T12 75 watt - Philips 423871 F96T12 C50 Supreme ALTO F96T12 75 watt - GE C50 Watt-Miser Hopefully you can find a local vendor for these, or you can order them from Amazon or an online lighting vendor, but I don't know how 8 foot glass tubes are transported without them breaking all the time.

Late night ramblings: Oh, good grief! Did I never show you the 95.5% finished work? Yes, you know it's not 100%! MrHunzi still hasn't put in the counter and the sink for the coffee bar. He has a good excuse, by the time we were ready to do it, the stupid virus was upon us and we couldn't invite his work buddy over to help, and then the next shiny object took over... the BIG RENO - The BIG RENO is all the super necessary and completely unsexy stuff we've put off doing for a decade or two or three. So far, we have spent 3 yrs sucking all the 100yr old insulation out of the attic, spray foaming the roof deck, upgrading the electrical panel, burying the service lines, trenched and burying the roof runoff system, fixing a bit of masonry, cleaning up a few thousand feet of wiring, installing a 1100sqft of plywood flooring in the attic during the height of the pandemic (I could have floored it in gold bullion and had it be cheaper), putting in a pulldown sliding attic staircase, tearing out a few tons of lath and plaster (3.25tons to be precise) from the upper and lower halls, cleaning and adding meeting rail locks/latches to 16 huge double-hung windows and installing interior storm windows to tighten up the envelope, and pouring a concrete utility pad for the reason we've been doing all this work - getting HVAC installed in this 140yr Shrine To Our Lady of Perpetual Renovation! (cue angelic singing). Yes folks, in a few weeks' time, the window air units will be no more! (Well, except for the converted side porch office, that's a whole other problem for another time.) And we're getting a whole house generator to boot, because, go big or go home. Anyway, I promise as soon as all the piles of stuff that have nowhere to go right now are gone, I'll take some lovely photos and show y'all the BabeCave. I'm about to reopen it to clients after all the hot mess of 2020/2021 is done. (I am about to have a breakdown over this part of the reno- the absolute CHAOS of everything everywhere. This is the part that breaks a lot of DIYers, and I know we'll get through it, but it's tempting to say eff it and start over with something that's "turn-key". With all the other projects we've done, 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, LR, DR, Library, they have been easy to compartmentalize and keep the mess to that location. Y'all! There is no part of the house that isn't getting touched and there is no refuge from piles of tools, stuff that has been moved out of the way for something and has nowhere to go, oh and there are literally 17 giant bales of insulation stacked in my dining room and it's 2 weeks till Thanksgiving. No turkeys will be sacrificing their lives for us this year! Oh, only 5 of those bales have immediate use after the ducts go in, 4 more are holding for when we do the bathroom because MrHunzi is worried we might damage them somehow when demoing that ceiling if we put them up now, and the rest...there was somehow a mad rounding-up error on how much was required, so yay, I'm going to have the privilege of dragging them down into the basement, putting it up in the boiler room ceiling, and crawling up into the 2ft high crawlspace ledges and scootching around on my back to insulating them with Rockwool, because waste not, want not, and I have 8 bales to spare.) It's all good - the goal in this house is always to stuff every possible accessible space with Rockwool because fire is the one thing that is super scary in an old house like this - if you've ever tossed a stick of lath into a fire and watched it go WOOSH and contemplated, my whole house is made of that stuff, you too would be willing to backcrawl in dirty, dead mouse filled crawlspace ledges with the goal of not making your house fireproof, but to at least buying you an extra minute or two to make it out. And this is the one time that MrHunzi gets off easy - he can't work in quarters that tight, and while I'm no skinny mini, I can, so yay for that. But I know it will get better. As soon as the ductwork (and insulation for the hall) is installed, I'm planning to call in my fabulous assistant and we are going to organize and PURGE like mad, then I'm going to call in the Stanley steamer guys to clean every floor in the house, and beg my housekeeper to come back to work. I'd really like to do it now before the contractors descend on us right after T-Day because I'm actually horrified to ask anyone to come work in this house in this condition - I'm not sure they won't think we're hoarders. Isn't there a DIY show on TV like this right now? Where the DIY got out of control and the homeowners are a full hot mess and need to be rescued? I feel like someone could nominate us for that show. We are currently the poster children of why not to live in the renovation. Contractors will take photos to scare their future clients out of ever attempting DIY with tales of our woe. Oh and for extra fun, Thanksgiving weekend, the Mini-Mes are coming to stay with Nana for several weeks, because it's not chaotic enough without throwing two small children, 4yr (girl) & 8mon (boy), into the mix between Thanksgiving and Christmas. I think I was fine until I realized there will be a point while the HVAC guys (arriving Monday after thanksgiving) are working here for 2 weeks where I will need to remove ALL THE FURNITURE from the nursery and ROLL UP THE CARPET, so we can put the ductwork in for the DR below, while I have infants/preschoolers who need to sleep in that room because the other guest room is 6ft deep in all the crap from every other place and will have the nursery room furniture piled in there to boot. Everyone be sure to say your prayers and light your candles to Our Lady of Perpetual Renovation for us. We're going to need them! ;-) Once the HVAC is done, a brief interlude for celebrating Christmas, and the purge and cleaning have commenced, it's drywall, paint, add more fancy applied moldings on a huge staircase wall, and we'll pour a concrete driveway big enough to land a 747 (well, maybe not quite that big but at least a 7/11 parking lot) and that will probably mushroom into more landscaping. And then maybe by this time next year, we can declare victory. For five minutes at least. And then, we'll see if there's anything left in the tank to work on that truly evil old converted porch/office reno - that thing is going to mushroom like a nuclear cloud. And then there will only be some minor drywalling, install a window and pocket doors for the dining room, the 2nd-floor bath (only bathroom on the 2nd floor shared by 3 bedrooms so making it master-bath nice is the plan), and the kitchen to do, you know, nothing major.... But I promise - photos soon.

loved this side table! But again, how do I stay cohesive with the design style? All these wood finishes throw me off not sure how to mix furniture pieces or style without making it too busy... Also my friend suggested that these tables are so low.. My couch is lower but what size do I want to go with? Lastly... I haven't chosen a rug yet but been looking.. Might find a more ombre stipled looking neutral one is what I'm thinking... Maybe in cream and beige tones... But I don't know what size yet. Not sure if it should be the length of my whole couch, or if it should exclude the area that the ottomon/chaise section will be. I see this done either way... But not sure and don't know if maybe I could get a second small rug for under kitchen table to increase the emphasis on seperate kitchen/living space... Is that too busy? Ahh! Sorry for These long posts but this has all been hugely helpful and I am really appreciative of the feedback and good advice! Also will be purchasing two accent chairs that will double as additional kitchen table chairs when needed, not sure about the placement of the chairs and if they should be all on same living room rug?! Thanks ladies!

I don't drink coffee, and so I do not need a "caffeine fix" in the morning. Sometimes I will drink one cup of tea in the morning, but sometimes I forget, and it seems not to matter. I would hate to be addicted to caffeine. I think the Mormons got this one right. Here's what I do have on my counters in L.A.: Kitchenaide stand mixer Vitamix blender Toaster oven (I make toast in it, so no need for a separate toaster) Foodsaver Duxtop portable induction burner I bought the portable induction burner to find out whether I like induction cooking - I don't. But I do store my Fagor pressure cooker on it because that is the only pan that I like to use with induction, partly because the burner has a timer and turns itself off. In addition, I have an IKEA kitchen cart that holds my Avantco meat slicer (which is quite heavy). There is no room for anything else on top of the cart, and the cart is 33½" high, which is a better height than my counters, which are 36½" high. In my Cathedral City kitchen (which is way smaller), I have a lot more appliances because I have nowhere else to store them: Cuisinart meat slicer (which I use mainly for bread) Foodsaver (behind the meat slicer) Chef's Choice knife sharpener (I use whetstones in L.A.) Oster Blender (makes better smoothies/shakes than the more expensive Vitamix) Medium size food processor (forget the brand) Toaster oven I would prefer to store the food processor in a cabinet, and it's not that heavy, unlike the one I have in L.A., which I store in the kitchen cart below the meat slicer. I would also prefer to store the knife sharpener somewhere else, but at least it does not take up much space. I use the blender almost every day, and so it needs to stay out. Here's a sketch of the kitchen, done by the cabinet company, showing preliminary replacement cabinets: This will give you an idea of how small it is.