Too cool, your bathrooms look like mine. Just amazing. I guess I grew up in the 50's-60's (born in 48) and am sick of those fixtures. First thing I did when we moved here was tear out all the old bathsrooms. But I never touched this one because we didn't use it. I always planned too, but never got to it. Now I see how younger people would find it cute. Your bathrooms are beautifully done. Much better than mine were. The toilet is exactly what was there. Weighed a ton and was a job to remove. Funny part is it survived all those years without any repairs. All the other toilets in the house were replaced and repaired numerous. My other toilets are all Kohlers. That old toilet never had a part replaced and we have really bad well-water. It took a drunk, 300lb man to send it off to toilet heaven. I looked around for vanities and a 55" would have to be a special order and take months. I have the men working in the house and want to get the bathroom done. I would buy a 55" immediately if anyone carried them. They are all 48" or 60". Can't squeeze in a 60. Yes, I live in NY 40 miles north of Manhattan. Jane

Oh my gosh, so many wonderful responses!!! Thank you so much. Well, so far, it's unanimous that I should leave the glass door alone. Perhaps not finding any fabric I liked at the fabric store today was a sign that the glass door is meant to be uncovered. gracie -- I have a collection of thimbles! That will definitely go in there. I also have a few sewing related figurines I can add, too. writersblock -- I have several other baskets besides the one already in there that may work. I'll dig them out. ronbre -- love your idea of adding some trim to the edge of the shelves and covering boxes with fabric or paper. betty -- I'm going to get some of my fabrics out of the boxes its stored in and see how that looks on a shelf. skypathway -- fabric and baskets - always a great combination. I will play around with all these great idea tonight after dinner, see what I come up with and try to post another picture tonight. Thanks again.

I agree with the previous posters. The faux wood garage doors would look nice. I LOVE your front door, very classy! I notice you have 2 large urns you could place on the driveway near the garage doors to add depth and color, I'd use black urns with bright flower colors if you keep the doors, taupe or white if you change them. Same goes for widening your flower area along the driveway and give it some curve. You could add something that stays green in the winter since you get snow in Chicago. Try adding something between your daylilies, every 2nd one put in a shrub that has great fall color and summer flowers to compliment the color of the daylilies : ) You could add a mounded & curved bed to the left (in the open grass space) with a taller flowering tree/shrub and some perennials that flower at different stages. A dogwood or ninebark in the corner near the front window and entrance would look nice since they have nice winter color, great summer green and pretty fall leaves : ) Does the tree at the end corner have flowers, berries or interesting leaves? It seems to have some good height. Do you like clematis? That would look nice on that corner too, both sides. Your house and yard are great! A bit of curves and color is all it should take.

I buy and sell at least a house a year, and have done more. I like to buy places like yours...dated, that others won't make an offer on because they can't see through the skin to the good bones :) So for what it's worth...here's what I'd do to get your house off of my hands :o) Your kitchen is horribly dated, and you know that. So what can you do cheaply to fix it? First, pant the grout black on the floor. Don't do anything else with the floor, just paint the grout. You'll have a high contrast floor that pulls in the black granite. Second..do the granite...it's huge, the fabrication costs aren't the major expense at all there...you have free granite available...take it! Tile right over that backsplash. 4" square tiles are very dated. I'd do white subway's (cheap from home despot) with a grey grout. Then change out all those knobs for black knobs. If that BS is solid, you can easily tile over it, and even do it diy if necessary, but changing the shape there will be a big deal. Then, paint those cabinets. And if it were MY kitchen to sell, I'd not only paint them, I'd trim them out by adding a molding strip to the inside of the existing strip (glue and some pin nails...not hard...I've done it a few times). And I'd paint the cabinets in a heart beat. Their shape and color are frankly horribly dated. Cleaning them up with paint is a big deal. It does NOT Matter what the future buyer does with the kitchen "after you do all that work". What matters is that you catch their eye and sell the danged thing in the first place! This is NOT a cool 1940's kitchen...it's a dated 70s at it's best. (I am currently doing a dated 70's kitchen myself...I will be doing the cabinets in a soft yellow). In yours I'd go for a white that works with the floor tile. You give yourself a crisp black and white theme that way. I don't like the white walls on a tall room like that. After all is said and done, I'd paint either a pretty butter color, or perhaps a soft green...gray would work as well, just paint some color! I am just one person who has an opinion :) But I do buy and sell houses and I drool over houses like yours where the stuff is left as is...because I'm one of a few (and I'd count many of the folks here like me) who can see beyond your "Stuff". But 99% of your prospective buyers...they can't see that. Some elbow work and a few bucks would help a lot here. Get rid of everything in the dining room except a table and chair. Edit to death. Those wires make me crazy, and they'll cost you thousands. I would add a chandelier or I'd buy a cheap oblong or rectangular table and do pot light conversion kits on the current pots. (You can't do that with your current table). If it were me, I'd do that before I'd add a chandelier. I would however change out that fan for a chandelier over the kitchen. Keep to simple black and white lines which will make your floor tile look great (if you paint the grout) verses doing something else that will highlight the out of date features. And change out the appliances. People do notice that. You know that :) I've never used an agent to sell a home, (I do it myself) but I will say....most agents I've run into have no clue what it takes to stage a home for sale. Typically they're failed workers elsewhere who go into real estate for a few years then fail again. (I've worked in real estate...I see this all the time). And then there are the top preformers who are really good...they can be of help, but you still get their opinion most of the time. If you really want to sell..consult a professional stager...not an agent.