I'm a big fan of my Chemex pour-over. There are for sure some downsides. Most notably, it's not a push a button and leave sort of deal. Due to this, though, you control the water temperature, and pour, because it's your own hand doing it. It also uses proprietary filters that aren't the easiest to get. I live in downtown Boston and have found a few places within walking distance that carry them. But it's not a matter of going to your local supermarket and grabbing them off the shelf. Coffee geeks also will note often that said proprietary filters impart a "papery" taste into the coffee. I do a rinse with about a cup of hot water and then dump it down the drain before I add my grounds and that takes care of any sort of taste. The final plus? I think it looks beautiful sitting on my counter :)

Thank you all so much. I did have fun watching it's transformation. Now if I can just convince myself to paint something for over the fireplace for my dear hubby. He'd be happy with some of my photography, but I'd like to either sketch or paint something. dd50, I was surprised at how much it held too. That's pretty much the reason it's not all color coded. I went through the containers of fabric in the basement bringing up what I thought it would hold and each time I was shocked at how little room it took once refolded to fit the depth of the shelves. Claire, your comment made me think of an old TV show that the guy at the end often said "I love it when a plan comes together". I can hear the theme song in my head, but can't hold the name of it in my head long enough to remember it. Just pops in and right out again. Eight is all that stays and I'm not even sure if that's part of the name. We'll just call it a Dori moment. (the blue fish from Finding Elmo, NO, there I did it again. Finding Nemo!) bronwynsmom, I have an old secretary to fix up too. I bought it off Craigslist for only ten dollars. It has a terrible paint job on it. I'm thinking of using beadboard anaglypta with trim around it to add some character. It's in the Sunroom just sitting there waiting to look pretty. I was hoping to use it for my computer, but my flat monitor is too tall. :( MaryLiz, I'm so happy you told me it was *you* applauding. The kitties and I have been looking all over the house wondering where it was coming from! They'll be so happy to hear I figured it out. You know how curious kitties are... As for anaglypta, it's a textured-paintable wallpaper. If you have a Lowes they have quite a variety, even in beadboard, which we purchased to do the ceiling in the Sunroom with. Maria, if I wouldn't have been in such a hurry to get sewing I'd have added extra shelves. Though when picking a fabric other than the top one I slide my left hand under the fabric above what I want raising it just enough so I can easily pull out the one I want without making a mess of them all. To replace a piece of fabric I do pretty much the same thing. I shop like that too so I'm always getting offered jobs. HA! Anyway, I'm glad I didn't add shelves then because reading your comment got me thinking and I realized I could add vertical dividers between the top and second shelves so I can sort the colors of remnants that way. I'll still add at least one more shelf somewhere though. talley_sue_nyc, you are right I have heard of the laminate strips. Though I have never used them, they are a great product. We added triple bead trim to shelf fronts in our closet redo. The lam would have been more cost effective, I'm sure, but never gave it a thought. I'm glad you mentioned it because I keep forgetting to try it. I see you are a Martha fan too. Even my hubby admitted that he didn't mind watching her show. Not that he'd make a habit, mind you. But he did mention how pleasent she is to listen to whether you're interested in what she's talking about or not. The fabric in rolls came that way. They are called remnants. Usually from the end of a bolt or possibly from the middle if there's a flaw. They are always marked lower than they'd be if cut from the bolt. You can find just about any fabric a fabric store sells on a remnant at one time or another. As for standing there looking at the fabric, I've so done that. Sometimes when I walk by this cabinet I open it to take a peek. I love fabric and worked in three different fabric stores over a period of a little over a decade and have fabric "collections" from each of them and then some! I'll have to see if I still have a picture of when my dear hubby bought me four shelving units and sixteen-fifty six quart clear containers to store what fabric I had at the time in. And that was just a fraction of how much I have now. The cabinet only holds such a teeny bit of the total. I love going through my fabric now and then. Some bring tears since I'd purchased it shortly before my Mom passed away suddenly. I'd plans for making a few outfits for her and some nightgowns. But I cherrish the memories of picking out what I knew she'd like too. mustangs, is your name about horses or the cars? My daughter went to a friends family farm in Cali over the fourth and had to call me because she got to ride a "REAL mustang Mom!". She drives one too, but this was even a bigger thrill. I really don't have too much trouble keeping my fabric neat. I'm rather obsessive about it. And to me this isn't really neat because it's not color coded and it's not all the same size. 8^O Well, now that I've written my first book, I think I'll go relax for a bit. Tootles! ~Becky A Team! That's the name of the show! I was hearing "A" not eight. That's what was throwing me.

We have made to order Levelor cellular shades from Home Depot in our bedrooms and bathroom. They're the blackout kind and cordless. After about 18 months, one of the shades broke. It's being repaired/replaced by Levelor now. They seem to be decent quality for the most part and go up/down okay. Initially, they ordered the non blackout kind and sent them for installation. They did replace them with the correct kind but we got to live with the standard one for a few weeks. There was a significant difference in the amount of light between the two. You can still see light around the edges so are more like room darkening than blackout, in my opinion.

Rueben mentions crooked cuts. For me, the answer is a T-square, which you can buy where they sell art supplies. The 36" long T-square is the most useful. I just line the "T" part up with the side of the paper, and draw my square line with a sharpie. I just put new cabinets during the remodel of my family home. I got molded (?) glass panels with a striking bamboo design in the upper cabinets. I saw light coming through one cabinet door before they were installed and thought the glass was even more beautiful with light behind it. I had low profile, strip LED lights installed in the top of each cabinet. But when I p ut the supplied wood shelves in, the shelves below were very dark. So I ordered some 3/8" thick plexiglas cut to size. I bought the clear shelf liner with the little grooves. Since it is clear, the light goes right through the shelves and the cabinets and glass look beautiful. I used the rubbery mesh liner for the bottom shelves. I'm having trouble, too. They bunch up and get out of place when I move anything. That's why I got onto this thread--to see if there's a good way to hold the stuff in place.