Good luck, Lavender! I helped my Mom move from a large house to a small apartment last year, and watching her get rid of a LOT of stuff inspired me to do the same at my house (oh, and I had to make room for some things she gave me...) A lot of what I got rid of was junk. Keeping a cage, because my boys loved their pet rats, and maybe we'll get another one some day? Nope, we can buy a new cage if that happens (fat chance). I have cabinets in the laundry room that were black holes. I emptied them completely - and found quarts of paint that were decades old. Those walls have been painted over twice since then! Cleaning out those cabinets gave me space for things I need to keep - and now there's room to find those things! I'm sure you've heard all the tricks for purging closets, like put all the hangers in backwards, then turn it around when you use it. After X months, anything still on a backwards hanger goes out the door. Anything that doesn't fit is gone. And if you get rid of an outfit that had shoes to go with it - the shoes can go too. I completely agree with Lucille - if you give things to family or friends, or donate them where you know they will be used, it's a lot easier to part with things. And getting things out of the house (like in the back seat of the car, to go to Goodwill) helps too. Boxes from liquor stores make great packing boxes - sturdy, but not too big. Have you posted in the "organizing the home" forum? There is a nice bunch of cheerleaders over there who will help you celebrate your accomplishments (and sympathize with procrastination). Ann

I read it, and I did find it very helpful in terms of understanding what seperates good lighting from bad. It doesn't have any sort of charts that will tell you how many of what sort of lamp it takes to achieve a certain level of light, but it's an excellent introduction. There's an organization in Seattle called the Lighting Design Lab, and they have a great collection of articles on their website: http://www.lightingdesignlab.com/articles/toc.htm

To me, it looks like J. Talaipe - or J. Talaire. It does look like a Bob Ross painting, which IMO is a compliment. I can’t tell you how many nights I’ve passed time watching Bob Ross’s goofy paint shows at 3 am. I love the way he always made it look so easy.

Which url are you on? It sounds like they may be phasing out the gardenweb one. I’ve only been able to use the Houzz url for months now. Does this work for you? https://www.houzz.com/discussions/home-decorating-conversations If it does, you may have to set it as your new bookmark.