Have you addressed the noise issue with the management? If by housework, you mean that your upstairs neighbor is coming home at 11 pm and starting to vacuum, I think you have cause for a noise complaint. Especially if all the units have marble floors. Is there anything in your lease about noise or quiet hours or needing to have area rugs down to lessen the noise? Bring this to the attention of the neighbors and the management. I can't blame the management for not working with you on breaking your lease when all you have done to remedy the situation is to talk to the neighbors one time. So here's what I'd do. First, I'd start documenting the noise. Every day. Every time. Jot it down in a notebook or on your computer. "11 am Saturday. Vacuuming. Can't hear TV set on volume 80." "Midnight. Thursday. Woken up by neighbor's footsteps as he returned home. Kept awake by vacuuming and dishwasher." Second, I'd go back to the neighbors. Of course they don't realize they are making so much noise. Tell them that you and your kids are being woken up by the noise--be specific as to time and type of noise--and ask them nicely to deal with this. It doesn't matter to you what they do--put down area rugs, change their housekeeping schedule--but between the hours of, say, 9 pm and 7 am, you would appreciate their efforts to reduce the noise traveling into your unit. Document this and all conversations with them and their responses. They have little choice as to their working hours, but they can try to reduce the noise. And they can certainly limit housework to more standard hours, like during the day when most people are awake. Third, go to management. Show them your log of at least one week's noise disturbances. Ask them what they are going to do. Ask them what else you can do. Be proactive. Continue to give management weekly updates on the noise situation. They need to know that it is a constant, ongoing problem. If you complain once and never again, they are going to think the problem is solved. Fourth. If nothing else works, could they move you to a different unit, preferably one on the top floor? Fifth. If that fails, you have the option to break the lease. Yes, you will have to pay the rent until the unit is re-rented. You signed a contract. You have to honor the contract. Breaking the lease is a last resort. You have to try all your other options first.

I assume since you are attempting to an "authentic" kitchen that you will be closing up that passthrough? And getting rid of your refrigerator? And your granite? And your range vent? And only using your one single light fixture? Because that is all "authentic" to the period that the home was built--IF the home was one that would have been electrified at all, that is. Many homes were still on gas if they were urban or candles or lanterns if they were rural, right up until the mid 1930's when the REC made it their mission to bring electricity into the country homes. Yes, my point is that you're being inconsistent and arbitrary about which modern conveniences you are picking and choosing from to allow into your kitchen to achieve a "correct" look. A lot of things have changed for the better in 100 years and lighting design is certainly one of them! In a small room the size of your kitchen, all that would have been in the home originally would have been a single central light fixture. (And not one as ornate as that in a working room like a kitchen.) That's it. One light fixture. You would not have had 6 other fixtures in that room! It's too small, and that would have been much too expensive for a modest home. You recognize that being correct and choosing one fixture does not provide enough light, but you're unwilling to take the next logical step of working with a modern lighting design. This is one of those places that you can pick to be "correct" and suffer with bad lighting, or you can look at using modern lighting design to achieve less eyestrain and a pleasing visual look. The lighting plan that I gave you will give you enough light to do the work you need to do in the kitchen. You don't care for it, that's fine. But you are operating of some incorrect assumptions on your part when it comes to lighting your home. Please do ask the hundreds of people on here who use chandeliers/pendants over their kitchen islands whether or not they have any tall family members bump their heads on them. Not one will say yes, because not one is placed in the traffic aisle. They are placed over the work surface. Stand at your counter edge and bend forward. Your head goes down it does not remain at 6' and glide across the counter. A pendant over a work surface will work, and well. Or a down light. I stand by my statement that two semi flush lights can provide general room lighting and that adding more similar in function lights at the same level in the ceiling will do nothing to give your good lighting for working in your kitchen. It will give you glare and overkill. Ceiling lighting is not task lighting in a kitchen. You will either suffer from not enough light on your work surfaces, or you will install task lighting such as under cabinet lighting and/or pendants and downlights directly over your work surfaces. Perhaps you should consult with a paid professional lighting designer.

I did tell grandma that her and her hubbys involvement means the world to the kids and that we are so happy that they are so involved. I told her what wonderful grandparents we think they are and how much we appreciate all they do for the kids. Grandma told me that she is just ashamed and in disbelief of how her dd turned out. She says her heart aches for the kids and she keeps telling her dd that once the kids are grown you can never get back the chance to make those childhood memories. She says her dd shuts down and refuses to admit fault. Its always someone elses fault or someone is lying, etc. (Just like when she claimed to bring the kids to the waterpark and had not even seen them in months!) The real heart warming part was when grandma said that she is greatful that the children have such a loving and caring person as me in their lives. It made me feel good to hear that, especially coming from someone on the "opposite side" if you will. That had to be hard for her to say so it meant a lot. One of bm's other relatives is still close to dh and I have become close to the relatives wife. She kinda knows all that is going on and she told me the other day that she considers me the only mom the kids have and said they are so much better off with us then they would be with their bm!

Your carpet is very neutral and about the same color as hardwood floors would be. Just consider the floor background and ignore - your vibrant furnishings will be the eye catchers. The owls are adorable, but what about a dark blue buffalo check instead of black and white to coordinate with it?this is serena and lily, but there are lots of places with different blues this is grandin road