What changes/improvements would you make to this space?
katrina s
2 months ago
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Gray Space Interior Design
2 months agolast modified: 2 months agokatrina s thanked Gray Space Interior DesignRelated Discussions
Any changes you would make next year?
Comments (11)lily51, A separate bed for squash is a great idea! They are vegetables that are taking over my garden. I may just combine two of my beds next year and have squash, cukes, and pumpkin in those. I did a lot of things not quite right this year (and am learning from them :) but one thing I did that was good is the path filler - I used pea gravel over the black weedblock fabric. It has been great. No dirt comes in on your shoes, not a single weed has gotten through on the walk, and it looks really nice - and it was pretty cheap getting it by the tubful (shovel yourself) at the local masonry. If you want to see a picture - there is another poster on this forum whose garden I saw and it made me want to use pea gravel. She posted photos here under the "post pictures of your garden please" post earlier this summer. I saw it and I made up my mind. Good luck!...See MoreWhy Would One Make Home Improvements?
Comments (49)A county should be required to justify its current level of taxation. Some posters here have accurately stated that taxes (or other form of revenue) are required to achieve a certain level of civilization. Folks have also voiced support for funding the education of our next generation. While I agree with those positions as basic truths, I don't believe the basic truth of them can be extrapolated out beyond some point where the county is using the revenue for things that don't provide a cost-worthy benefit to those who are taxed. The reason I want to make this note is because I think we have passed that point in many areas. While my area is very much lower in taxes than some, my cost of living and salary base is also lower so it may be much more comparable than it would appear on the surface. At some basic level, taxation is needed to pay for county drainage, maintenance of county streets, and the local school district (if, a big if in my very single-non-parent case, one assumes general tax revenue should pay for elementary education). Is it OK to increase county taxes to pay for limo-style school buses? Most would say that's extravagant and goes well beyond what's reasonable or needed. I would argue that the same goes for requiring the local taxpayers to pay for educating the four (even five or six) kids lots of families choose to put through school. At some point, parents should be responsible for the costs of raising their own children. My parents scrimped and saved so one parent could be a full time parent and home-schooler while the other worked to fund the household....four of us kids. Seeing that worked, I would personally argue that it does not take taxation to fund a local school district in order to have a good education for our kids. Now, with home school groups who can share different areas of expertise and teaching abilities, it's even easier now to properly educate kids outside of the public school system. I see tax funds wasted in my county to build a generally mocked amphitheater that is seldom used, wasted on horribly planned intersections, wasted on consulting for pet projects for which there is no general consensus, and wasted on huge school improvement projects that don't improve the quality of the kid's educations. It's disheartening to see the profit I should be able to realize through renovating and enlarging my home be eaten up each time I mail a check to the county and even worse to know I get no benefit from over half that check. See, it's been three weeks since I got my tax statement and I'm still mad :>)...See Morewhat low cost changes would you to make to this fireplace?
Comments (5)Okay I guess I’m the overboard queen. (Too much). I put an upper mantel above the fireplace mantel. It’s the vertical wood on the wall. You could use art work or a sculpture would look beautiful. I promised my husband we would use his beloved copper ship. Perhaps something tall on either end to balance out. In our case it was either above the fireplace in the bedroom or over the bed. I didn’t want the “good ship lollipop” to fall on me in the middle of the night. Your fireplace is lovely I’m sure what ever you decide will look great....See MoreWhat would you change to make the exterior more interesting/appealing?
Comments (14)Here are some suggestions... 1. Situate the door so that it faces the driveway, remove the deck on the right side and replace the existing door with a matching window. 2. Build a small porch over the door, and change the siding underneath the porch and to the left side to be millwork and/or board and batten. The change-up in siding is for visual interest. Make the stone steps and floor extend to the left beyond the porch. 3. Add windows to the side of the house facing the driveway. Make sure they are large enough. Black windows would look nice with a mostly white house...kind of gives it a modern farmhouse feel. Make sure the millwork around the windows is generous and matches the style of the house. The four in the back of the upper storey line up on the leading side of the three on the first storey. The windows to the right follow suit, but in reverse. The matched off-numbered windows add architectural interest. 4. Add larger windows to the right upper storey of the house. 5. Landscape. Define where the driveway stops and the sidewalk to the door starts. Add a stone planter...it complements the brick. Build a boulder retaining wall to help manage the hill to the left of the driveway. Add greenery to soften the amount of pavement. Replace the driveway with pavers and pea gravel. Of course these are all suggestions, and this could be accomplished over time to spread the spend. It could look like this......See Morekatrina s
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