Well, there are all sorts of claims out there about long-lived trees. And all sorts of criteria for deciding what form there trees might grow in. There are reports of creosote bushes in the American West living for more than 10,000 years with the bush slowly growing outward from an original bush and forming a ring. One plant? One root system? Well, I will leave all this alone, except to say that for me an old tree should grow from one continuously growing trunk, preferably one trunk that puts on a complete growth ring each year around the entire trunk. If you get my drift, you know which trees this would disqualify. Anyway, all that aside, I am fascinated that Norway spruce is a contender now. As some of you know I have been shamelessly promoting Norway spruce in these forums ever since I joined a couple of years ago. And one of the several misconceptions about NS that have been promulgated in some popular but ridiculously wrong-headed publications is that the tree is inconveniently short-lived. In fact, NS is at least moderately long-lived, with a "norm" under very good conditions of 400 years or so. But now? Wow! Very interesting! --Spruce

My house had all the trim but the doors painted when I moved in. I have one room finished, the MBR, which I did over the summer. The other rooms are in various states of "Genteel Decay". You're lucky to just need to renew your finish. If there are water-stained window sills, you may want to do some heavy sanding before refinishing- it's really nice when they are smooth. As for a pre-shellacking cleaning process, try very fine (3/0) steel wool with windex or Fantastic brand cleaners. they will remove lots of dirt and any waxy yello buildup. (purists may insist that steel wool tends to enable tiny rust stains as the fibers get embedded in the wet wood. They may use bronze wool) The bubbling will probably be broken down during this cleaning. If you actually have "alligatoring" (bubbling squared) you will need to sand with 320 abrasive. The gold-colored sheets from Lowe's or HD do well. The problem is that the subsequent coats of fresh shellac will exacerbate the alligatoring, and this sanding will have to be repeated for a perfect finish. Mostly those of us antique-house-dwellers are used to compromise, and often are satisfied with less than perfection. The whole lot can be stripped, of course. I use the cheapest methylene-chloride type. Formby's is terribly over-priced for this application. I used a light-duty liquid stripper by Parks for the shellac. And many rolls of paper towels. And a charcoal-filtered respirator. And keep a fire extinguisher at hand. Afetr stripping sand with 120, 150, and 220, then shellac. try Rockler's, Highland Hardware, or Woodworker's Warehouse for shellac flakes and solvent. Use a 2"w. natural brush with long, soft, white bristles. Casey

The wall color is BM Huntington white and the trim is Simply White. I think these are all great ideas, the idea of a vertical painting is a good one, I paint all the art myself on old canvases so I just have to find the right peice. The very white painting actually had a lot of soft blues and pinks, it's just totally washed out by the window! re: the layout. I've tried to flip the side of the room the couch is on and it just doesn't look right, the chairs seem out of place on that side of the room. I agree that that I need plants next to the TV instead of the lamp. I put it there to experiment with how to add more vertical height to the room (ceilings are 9'). However, I also need more lights in the room for needlepoint and reading - it's really been hard to figure out how to add them without breaking up the sight line. Brass lamp is from Target. I also agree about the fact he fact that I have too many bins, I needed more storage and went a bit crazy at Target one day. My theory is that once the room is decorated I'll figure out which ones match best and move the rest to other areas of the house. This photo is not perfectly styled or edited, but this is what's behind the couch! I definitely need a different window treatment or nothing at all & the plant needs to be moved (there is good sun there and she's a little sick)

Renee, I look for old sheet music to frame! Found a song with the name of our street in the title, and I picked up some seasonal/holiday music that I change out during the year. So fun! Fori, As for the music "library", I bought an old sheet music cabinet from a neighbor. The condition isn't great, but a word of caution: I think they are intended to hold SHEET music, not books. The shallow drawer bottoms are not solid but slatted, and don't feel super strong. It's cool, but not as easy to use unless you are very organized and know what you keep where. I also have a small metal Bisley 5-drawer unit (from the scratch-and-dent corner at a The Container Store, it's missing the bottom drawer, which leaves an open slot for music) Each drawer has one of those little slots that hold a label, so the jazz goes in one, the video game music printouts in another, etc. and we can find them, and put things away easily. The books are in two large "boxes" beside the piano: one is a sturdy basket, the other used to be a deep kitchen drawer. One sits on the floor under a small table, the basket sits on too of the table, which is just the right size to hold them. The music stands upright and it's easy to flip through. The whole set-up is not that attractive lol! My friend and here husband are both musicians, and they installed cabinetry in the living room for the music. Shelves close together to hold loose paper flat, and shelves spaced for books and binders, as well drawers for metronomes, pens and pencils, instrument tools, etc. The shelves are also attractively labeled to suit their needs; I think it's a removable/movable label. Our piano came after we'd lived here for a couple of years, it is in a corner but it is a great spot! In this living room, only a buffet or console type piece of furniture would work, because it's where you enter the LR from the foyer, so our console piano is perfect.