Thanks crunchpa, I'm laughing because the only daylily I have is Hyperion. It never occurred to me how they would look in mass like that. I have one lonely one that I just moved that I'm waiting for it to get a little bigger. My garden is pretty much full and not a lot of space left, so I'm not dividing a lot except I'm hoping to divide a lot of shade plants, ferns, heucheras, and epimedium in the fall for a few areas that need a bit more. I also try to plant enough to keep the weeds down, but my garden is so dry from so many surrounding trees that it makes a big difference to have mulch down. Yesterday in my travels, I thought of this thread as I passed gas stations and supermarket parking lots with daylilies of the ditch variety with ugly orange blooms sticking out of yellow ugly foliage. AWFUL! Definitely not the well cared for, hybrid varieties that I'm sure are in many of your gardens. And a single row of daylilies with nothing else, all the same color, along the front of a pretty wall, hiding most of the wall along about a 300 ft span in front of a new housing unit.

Tinker - I really respect your willingness to keep as much of the home as you could. It is absolutely beautiful and exactly the style I would choose as well. We're just finishing picking fixtures for our new addition and fell in love with that style of schoolhouse fixture you put in the kitchen. I love your kitchen! That would be a dream space for me. And the laundry - oh, the laundry! In theory, I agree with totsuka. I think that the bar has been raised in this country, and many people are putting upgrades in their kitchens and baths that aren't necessary. It would be silly to put granite countertops in our modest bungalow, but I think some home buyers expect it. HGTV or whatever has made us think that somehow cooking on certain surfaces is mandatory. I was struck when I lived in England how dingy that carpet often was and how home dwellers didn't seem to notice. I appreciate that sense that if it works it's okay even if it isn't current. Maybe I misread the aesthetic there, but I had the sense they had lower expectations, at least in my circles. Not everything had to be perfect, and people were used to living in older spaces. But having said that, what you did is extraordinary. And if you have the money, I think home improvement is one of the most satisfactory ways to spend your money, especially if you are committed to restoring rather than renovating.

Early, quiet morning here and as I read, it takes me right back to the feeling of chaos that seemed to prevail during our remodel. Whole house really -- as of today there is not a room that will not have been "touched" in some way, not including the three level addition that had to be situated just so to "save" two beloved trees on our property. My GC just kept shaking his head at that one -- they are right next to the house and whenever the guys were working they would jokingly say -"Lord, don't throw anything out the windows, you know, you might hit a tree." We began in July, estimated finish date was Nov. -- last install went in 2 DAYS AGO! I spent yesterday madly unpacking boxes, just b/c I wanted to see our stuff again! While we had a fabulous GC, it did not lessen the pressure of making the "right" decision every single day for something. I was here most of the time and saw it all in minute detail, then my beloved DH would come home from work and say, "So, what DID they do today?" and expected a re-hash of each and every thing, wanted an updated timeline on a daily basis, wanted me to enlighten him on what "process" I used for each decision, etc. I finally said, "Look, you and I have talked this to death, I know what is important to you and you are just going to have to TRUST that it will happen." I was so exhausted at the end of every day that it was like re-living it all over again. He finally got it, and I tried hard to give him the Reader's Digest condensed version on a regular basis. I eventually convinced him we were going to be on the "holiday" schedule -- nope, not hosting Thanksgiving dinner at our house; there will be no Christmas office celebration here - unless they don't mind unzipping the plastic wall to view our Charlie Brown tree in the roped off corner of the family room; New Year's is out; Valentine's will be an intimate affair; St. Patty's Day will have to be celebrated next year; April's Fools' - yep we can do that, b/c there have been definite times during this that I have been a complete fool -- embrace it, just don't expect there to be any furniture to sit on; Easter Brunch for the relatives - nope, not happening; Mother's Day - not too sure about that, but we CAN celebrate the fact that the Port-A-Potty has been loaded up and carted away, the dumpster vacated the premises the next day, and the plastic storage POD that has graced our front yard since October has been emptied and removed! All furniture is piled in the front room, but at least it is IN THE HOUSE! A parent of a teammate on my son's lacrosse team asked me last week -- "We had such a great time at that picnic/party at your house at the end of the season last year -- do you think we could do that again?" "Um, let's see," she thinks to herself, "last game May 9th and you would like to do it that afternoon and....have families and sibs of everyone included - hhmm, back yard/field is currently a sea of red clay, boxes and furniture stacked to the ceiling to unpack/organize, but.....bathrooms work, kitchen is functional --- Oh, why not -- let's do it!" Nothing like a deadline to work toward, right? Hang in there -- it is so hard to see the forest for the trees when you are in the midst, but, it is not eternal damnation, although I know it feels that way at times! Hug your husband, partner, kids, pet, neighbor, grocery clerk, mailman -- whoever is willing to lend you a shoulder for a bit. This will eventually end and you will live in it and love in it and cry in it some more and have your life back to "normal".......

It's a sickness. When my sister was here recently, I opened up the closet and she said quite a few bad words in exclamation. But she doesn't quilt. And it doesn't dawn on her pea brain that every time she drops an "I need another quilt" hint that I can't afford to rush out to the LQS to buy expensive new fabric. That goes for all the others who think the same way. Why does a man have a garage full of tools and gadgets that he "might need someday"? Why does a foodie have a kitchen full of gadgets and pots and pans still in the boxes?? And yes, I have stuff that I look at and wonder "why??" but I'm not getting rid of it. When I was working it was nothing to go out every week and drag home 5 to 10 yards of fabric. Now that I'm not working I'm so glad I did.