Great idea, Maggie! I really like your room decor. It is so crisp and clean. I've never seen a house like that hear in Phoenix. We have pretty much Southwestern or Mediterranean. I am a Christmas decoration junky myself. My village alone sits on a 4x8 piece of plywood with various small tables along side it. I think I need another piece of plywood this year. I do store my tree with the lights attached. It took about a week, working a few hours a day, to carefully wrapping lights around each branch. It then took another two weeks for my hands to recover, lol! It was great storing that way for about 6 years. They are slowly blowing out now and I don't look forward to fixing them. A friend of mine had her tree permanently lit by professionals. Her lights finally started to go, so she threw the whole thing out and bought a Costco prelit tree last year. She SAID she was going to throw that one out and buy a new on every year ($150). I'll have to ask her if she did that. It sure would save on storage space(ha!). I don't really have much need for a safe room. Although I may build myself a wine cellar with a keypad from the inside. It would be called a sanity room ;>D

All of these responses are great, and I think what you need to take away from this is that there's no *one* process, everyone works differently. As someone who does this kind of professionally, I can tell you that not even trained designers work exactly the same way. Two things to remember....1) there are no hard and fast rules (or, there's an exception to every rule); 2) a good house is never done -- seriously. Also, as many of the others posters said, it's usually easier to start small rather than try to do it all at once. That being said, this is how I work....when I meet a new client, I ask TONS of questions. Like: -What do you like -- not only in terms if the room, but in life in general? I always look at the whole house, even if I'm just doing the bathroom, because you can't judge on the basis of one room. - How do you use the room now? How do you want to use the room? - What needs to stay in the room, and what would you like to disappear? - what colors do you like or hate. - What do other members of the family think about the room (esp DH)? _ Are there any special concerns (allergies, physical issues, etc) or special needs (like the bedroom also has to have the home office, for example)? -What time of day do you normally use the room? How many people are usually in it? (and there are a lot more, but you get the idea) Then I measure *everything*, make note of outlets & fixtures, and take pictures of *everything*. Then I start my floorplan and gather ideas for the large furniture pieces. Every job is different for me because every client is different. Some say right from the get-go "I like a cottage look", and others have no idea except that they don't want blue. For some I can start with an existing piece (carpet or artwork) and for others I start with traffic pattern and room use. Last thing I'll say is talk to everyone -- especially here! There are a wealth of talented, creative people on this forum, and I have yet to be disappointed when I've needed input from these folks. Hth, and good luck! Leigh

1. google "decorative plumbing pipes" I got all kinds of hits, or go to a plumbing store that sells free standing or wall mount sinks and ask, they will carry them. 2. yes and no. depends what you are looking for, they come both ways.

I've used AllPosters and Art.com for some Audubon and Winslow Homer prints. TerraPrints has some amazing maps. Mostly, though, I poke around antique and consignment stores. As for HomeGoods, I made my first wall decor purchase there last week. It was a pair of small canvas prints, made in Canada, of birds. I thought they might give a somewhat more contemporary feeling by our fireplace and was pretty pleased with how they looked, until last night. Dh & I were watching "Real Estate Intervention" (recorded) and the stager used these same canvas prints. Ack! It may sound awfully shallow, but the prints came down immediately. Whatever charm they'd held for me was gone.