Guest Picks: Welcome to My World!
— Ellen from Nouveau Stitch
This wall color greets me every morning and puts a huge grin on my face. There's nothing more satisfying than making a color choice you can live with for more than a weekend. Farrow & Ball's paint line has some absolutely gorgeous colors. This one will stay my favorite for quite some time. I give it five stars.
I love, love, love this! I had been a Perrier-aholic for over 30 years before this unit came into my life. Now I save on trips to the market by making my own sparkling water and adding a dash of fresh lemon or lime juice for flavor. No artificial sweeteners or high-fructose corn syrup for me. And no waste! I give it five stars.
Hello, lover. This bad boy brings me my morning, grande, skinny cappuccino every morning. Well, perhaps he doesn't serve it to me. I do have to do a bit of the legwork, but without him, I'm lost. And sleepy. All day. I give it five stars.
Fancy brand name. Incredible price. Perfectly toasted toast. I give it five stars.
The jury's still out on this one. I do love it, but the fact that it sprays steam onto my new, pre-finished hardwood floor does make me a tad nervous. I've noticed a bit of floor squeaking this winter that I didn't hear before. For ceramic tile floors, it's fantastic! I do love me some squeaky-clean floors, though, so I'm proceeding with caution. I give it three stars, but just because I'm nervous.
This is perfect for shedding season. In my home, with two long-haired cats, that's 24/7/365. I love that this is cordless and works well on hardwood and carpeted surfaces. It's a terrific bargain that I use constantly. I give it four stars, but only because the collection bin is small and hard to empty.
Perfect for the corner that gets no light, this beauty has served me well. The base is extremely heavy, but it's easy to put together and comes at a great price.I give it five stars.
I have a love-hate relationship with my elliptical. I love that it's a compact size and takes up about half the space that the typical elliptical does. I hate that it works me until I'm a frazzled, dingy mess every single morning. Reluctantly, for all the abuse, it metes out.I give it five stars.
Being a PC gal since forever, I decided to dive in head-first when my laptop's hard drive crashed after just a year of ownership. I have to say, I do love the iMac! The screen has much truer colors than my PC ever even dreamed of. I also appreciate that the peripherals are wireless, and there's no tower to hide. These days the prices of the Mac and PC are much more competitive, and the learning curve on a Mac was pretty much non-existent (contrary to the warning I received from my 30-year-old son whom I taught computer skills to back when we had Prodigy as our ISP). Ha. Take that smarty-pants.I give it five stars.
I couldn't wait for the iPad 2. I gave up my smartphone for my iPad, tuck it in my tote along with a "dumb phone," and am a much happier person. The screen is easy to read and fits perfectly on a small ledge on my elliptical. And the best part is the free Houzz app! I give it five stars.
This fireplace works perfectly for the master bedroom. It adds the warmth I need, along with a shelf for the TV. It's a great bargain and a lot less expensive than adding that masonry fireplace I omitted from the original house plan. I give it four stars because when we have a power outage, it kicks on automatically when the power comes back. Weird.
I have both the headboard and footboard. The delivery was a bit dicey (and expensive), but the bed looks beautiful. I added wood slats because I felt the structure wasn't sturdy enough to support a king-size mattress. No box springs are necessary. I give it three stars due to the delivery hassle, and the quality of the finish is sub-par.
This is that perfect shade of sea foam blue/green that I love. I originally purchased this set for the guest bedroom, but I liked it so much that it has a new home in the master. It's a quilt rather than a comforter, so the lighter weight is perfect for layering. I give it five stars.
These sheets are unbelievable. They aren't wimpy in the least, and they hold up extremely well. Ever since I discovered Vera's sheets, I find that I have frequent dreams of a second honeymoon.I give them five stars.
Have you been mattress shopping lately? Well I have, and I'm here to say that it's practically necessary to have an interpreter along for the transaction. They don't just sell mattresses anymore, they're "sleeping systems" with "memories" and "numbers" and humongous price tags. And forget about the warranties; you have to stand on your head backwards while balancing your mattress on your feet and shoot a picture before you can even think about sending in a warranty claim. I kid you not. I decided to take the Scarlett O'Hara route and think about a new mattress tomorrow. For the interim, I absolutely love this mattress topper. I give it five stars.
When you spend hours on end (quite literally), you need a good chair — a very good chair like this one. It should have a nice high back and a firm cushion, and it should roll easily.I give it five stars.
You know how you agonize, sometimes for days, over purchasing something as tough to buy in the "real world" as a rug online? That was me. I looked for months and months, and one day I finally decided to pull the trigger. This rug is perfect in color, is reasonably priced and was of acceptable quality for the money. I also use the runner in my master bath in front of twin sinks to tie the master bed and bath together. I give it four stars due to uneven threads and shedding.
This photo doesn't do the flooring justice. It is spectacular, but with one small exception. I bought it because it had both dark- and light-stained boards, and I figured that it wouldn't be dated by choosing one finish over another. What I didn't count on was the flooring turning a wonky shade of orange while staying true under pieces of furniture that hadn't been moved. Maybe this is just the way wood flooring works, but I'm not happy. I give it one star because I don't appreciate the color change.
Another rug, another drama. It took me a mere six months to run across this lovely, and I'm so happy I did. The colors are true to my monitor and give exactly the punch I was looking for in the casual dining area. It's easy to care for, too! I give it five stars.Next: I'm Dreaming of a Wide Walk-In
The nights get pretty nippy in Michigan, and there's nothing better than slipping between pre-toasted sheets. When my two-year-old electric blanket passed away, I was forced to replace it rather quickly or jump into a frigid bed. I did my research and learned that electric blankets have a very, very short life expectancy: you can pretty much expect to replace them every year or two. I'll see how long this one lasts. It's a great concept but has overall poor execution, in my humble opinion. I give it three stars, but it's only been two months.
Q