OY VE!!!Q&A Tuesday---Betsy answers it all!!! (sort of)

Today is the third installment of the answer part of OY VEY!!! Q&A!!! TUESDAY.

We will (I will) start with the first question, as that's a really good place to start.......

But first, a pretty picture for the blog rolls.......

Just a note, before I get to the questions.....
Once again, blogger is messing up the spacing of my lines of text. So if you're wondering why I have designed it this way.....I DIDN'T!!!!!

Question #1

Starr @ The Kiefer Cottage has left a new comment on your post "OY VEY!!! Q&A!!! Tuesday": 

My linky is number 1. 

We are in the midst of a quasi-kitchen-makeover. We will not be knocking down walls, re-doing any electrical/lighting, nor replacing any cabinets at this time. 

But we are dying for some color recommendations. The room is a cave (2 small north facing windows), and it's many different shades of wood. We are having to paint over the wallpaper because I tried to remove some, and the plaster came with it. We have already painted a portion of the walls with white primer. I like the idea of doing at least two colors (one on the wallpaper, one on the paneling), but I don't want anything too soft or boring...unless you tell me I should just do white and be happy about it since this room is just too dark to handle anything else.

We're also going to paint the cabinets as well as the fireplace, so any feedback would be great. Thanks! --Starr 

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Painting the cabinets white is going to make a HUGE difference!!!!!

If you save up some money, changing the handles 

and knobs would be nice too.

You can't go wrong with a simple bin pull and knob like these.......

As for painting the fireplace, use a semigloss paint in the same color white as the cabinets.

Give the black metal a really good cleaning to create a nice sharp contrast to the white.

HOWEVER!!!!!!!

As for the paneling being a different color than the walls.....

I would pull the paneling off, save up some money, and then do an applied wood treatment like I did for my niece, Miriam. Like this.....

If that's more than you want to tackle, paint the fake wood paneling white, and choose a light color that works with your scheme on the top.

As for suggesting a color.....

How the hell can I do that, if I don't know what else  you are working around?????

I mean, there are a gagillion color choices out there!!!!

OK, now that I got that off my chest, let's see if I could be a little more helpful.

Decide what color family you like, go to the paint store and choose several colors in slightly different tints (darknesses... is there such a word?)

Buy the smallest size paint samples they will sell you,

then try them out on your wall. 

That's as helpful as I can be without going to your house, and I'm not leaving to go anywhere!!!!

Question #2

Hey I just joined your blog via email. Will you be injecting your answers for questions here in your comment section ( which is great then can read others answers) or will it be by you sending email back to them? Also I know shades of Oranges are in for 2012 what are the other top colors?
Thanks

Erika

Princess_Erika_am_I[at}yahoo{dot}com

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Well, obviously, I am not injecting my answers in 

the comment section, or emailing them back.....

But answering them in this blog post. (I am such 

a smart alack!!)

As to the top colors for 2012.......

I don't follow trends, I SET THEM!!!!!!!

Seriously, though, I don't give a rats behind about color 

trends. PICK WHAT MAKES YOU HAPPY!!!!!

You are decorating your HOME people, not a @#$ 

display!!!!!!!!!!

Question #3

Thanks for answering questions. I wouldn't know where to go to ask anyone else. 

We will be moving in the next two years and I am getting this house ready to sell. In the master bath we have a 5 ft. counter with one sink on one end but plumbing for a second on the other end. I would rather have the counter space. 

Should we install the second sink or leave that for new owners? I know people like two sinks but for the life of me I don't know why.

PeggieFeb 1, 2012 07:51 AM

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As long as the real estate agent makes it clear to prospective buyers that there is plumbing for a second sink, I wouldn't spend the money on something that the next owner may not want. It is a simple enough project for  the new owners to add, and shouldn't be enough to spoil a sale.

After all, not everyone is a couple these days ('cuz I'm not), and the second sink in my master bath is a pain in my derriere. It's one more sink that needs to be cleaned, and the counter space that it takes up could be used to house more useless accessories.

Question #4

Hey Betsy,
I'm Cindy from Cindysfracturedfairytale... I tried to enter a photo for your advice, and i am clearly tooo freakin stupid to do it right, because i'm not sure if i cropped the photo the right way!!!!!!!!!!
Anyway, i'll attach another photo of my mantel, it's an inset gas fireplace, and believe me i'd love to have a real fireplace, but i don't,  and the way the wall is,  everything always looks just wrong or off center, and i'm kind of a symmetry person...   the photo i sent had candlesticks and these new crystal sconce thingys that i was deciding if i liked  and just set up there with the candlesticks to see how they looked, except you can see that i don't have 4 matching shades either... geeeesh! , so ADHD....  anyway, I guess what i'm looking for is balance , or something... you can see how the wall is and then the stairs and the mantel, it's just a little wonky no matter what i do... and don't EVEN look at the pile of crap that i put on the stairs to carry up!
 I am quite a fan of the way you write on your blog, it's is perfectly, wonderfully irreverent... !

Cindy 

    Syndi of Beachnut LaneFeb 1, 2012 11:30 AM

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OK, there is a really easy solution to this problem.....

YOU NEED TO MOVE!!!!

Welllll.....that wasn't really so helpful was it? 

This is a difficult situation, and the builder should be taken out back and shot.

I would take the white plates down.

I would take the large mirror down.

THEN.....I would do a big arrangement on the wall that used to hold the mirror, using the white plates and lots of smaller pictures. I would have it go from under the beam to around the height of the black part of the bottom of the fireplace. Pretty much filling the wall with hung stuff. This will create enough visual weight to balance the fireplace.

I commend you for adding the height of the candlesticks on the mantel, it helps with the lack of a back wall on the left side. I like the crystal scone thingies, maybe take off the second candlestick on the left.

However, I would move the pretty picture somewhere else, and find something that can be hung centered over the mantel. You need a more vertical narrow shape there, that is really what is throwing the symmetry off.

Question #5


I hate my fireplace. From the design to the color, its just plain ugly. It is 26 feet tall and juts out like
 a boats' bow into my living room. My husband suggested embracing its 'boatness' and putting a figurehead on the front! Hmm, no. It also has a big black pole in the middle, I suppose it is holding up all the bricks, so I know I am stuck with it. So, what is there to do? I am seeking your opinion. I know that I want mantels, one on each side. I also would love to redo the surface with river rocks or  faux stone, but we just cannot afford it right now. The question I am struggling with: Should I paint my fireplace??? Its a scary thing. I have heard for years that you should never paint a fireplace because the paint is so hard to remove. I have been looking around for pictures of painted fireplaces, and I still have not made a decision. So, if this was your ugly fireplace, what would YOU do?

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Definitely go ahead and paint it!!!!!!

As for being afraid that one should never paint a

fireplace, because the paint would be hard to

remove......Good!!!!!

Covering this brick permanently would only be a

kindness. It's begging for some paint

.  

I mean, how would you like to go through life

looking like that??????? 

Question #6

Amy @MaisonDecor has left a new comment on your post "OY VEY!!! Q&A!!! Tuesday": 

Hi Betsy~ I do have Bloggers Back!! Ouch! Hubby got me a special support for my leopard chair in my office so I can continue fighting the good fight! I will be back with a question about how to decorate a piano!!! My piano in the living room~first I have to find a post showing it, then I want to ask what you would do on or around the area of the piano so it doesn't feel like it is off in a different zone. You ARE cool!! ANd you will have tons more followers than me quicker than you can imagine, sadly. 

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Welllllllll.........

I think that adding that green chair has really helped in 

incorporating the piano area into the rest of the living 

room. By including a place to sit by the piano,

it now relates to the conversation area around the sofa.

I also really like the height of the spray of flowers in 

tin flower can. However.....you're not getting off scott 

free. I would keep the number of small accessories

on top of the piano to a minimum. Lots of little stuff 

floating around a big black top ain't pretty. How

about a pile of coffee table books to the right

of the flowers????? with just a couple of pictures in

frames?????

But it's definitely better than when I came to visit in 

the summer!!!!!

Now, I'm sorta starting to freak out, 'cuz there are so many more questions, and I just don't have the time to get to them. I will try to answer some more with each post in the next few days. Maybe the way to do that is answer one with each post. I don't know, I am just figuring this out as I go along!!!!

Betsy

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Redesigning My Florida Pool

I'm a big fat liar!!!!

You just can't trust me!!!!

I replied to some readers asking to see more pictures of a yellow kitchen I did in Vermont, that I would be blogging about that soon.

BUT.....

 Today I want to start sharing with the class some of my exploits in renovating my home in Florida.

I love my house, I love my house, I love my house.

But it was really ugly when I bought it. 

The floor plan was GREAT!!

But the cosmetic aspects were UUUGGGHHH!!

So, I did what I always do and threw a whole bunch of money at it, hoping it would get better.

House prices in Florida are so much more affordable than Massachusetts, that I couldn't go as batshit as I did up there. Soooooo, I was somewhat careful in my plan of attack.

I will start with a picture of what it looks like today, because As everybody knows, in blogging the first picture is what gets posted on other sites.

(In case you keep wondering why I have lately been writing "as everybody knows", I am copying Phaedra Parks, from the Real Housewives of Atlanta. I am addicted, addicted, addicted I tell ya. I am a slave to all the Real Housewives shows. EVERY LAST ONE OF THEM!!!!! OY!)

Where was I.....

I keep going off on tangents......

OH, here's a picture of my pool!!!!

Now let me show you what it looked like when I bought this house.

Actually, this is NOT what it looked like. This is after I did some landscaping. But I wanted to show you the same angle as the picture above. 

OK, THIS is what it looked like.

Nice and sterile and BARE!!!!!

That's a raised spa with a waterfall.

There are a several problems with this design.

1.  The sound of water running, makes me need to pee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
2. Since the spa runs into the pool, it didn't really get hot enough.
3. It was too big for the space, making the patio feel too small.
4. IT WAS REALLY, REALLY UGLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sooooooooooooo.....

One night I was sitting by my pool.....

luxuriating in the reality that I was sitting by my pool!

Enjoying a cocktail. (Boy I wished I still liked to drink, I don't anymore, what the hell is the matter with me????)

Anywho, I was sitting by the pool, looking with pure hatred at the raised spa, when I thought to myself...

"Self, I wonder if I can have it made into a planter????"

Next day I got on the horn (that means telephone), and started calling pool companies. 

Sooooooooooooooo...........

I found out that not only could they change it into a planter, but, they could cut the damn thing down to the level of the patio!!!!!

YAY!!!!!!!!

Sooooooooooooooo........

I went to the paver company and found a brick I liked, only it had chamfered edges (edges cut at a bevel). Well, Everybody knows that that ain't such a classy look. So I had the installers flip them over to the flat side, for a more traditional brick paver look.

This replaced the white concrete that the previous owners had put in CUSTOM!!

I REALLY didn't like the blue tiles that ran around the top of the pool, so I put on my investigative hat, and started trolling the Internet. 

I found a company that sold tiles that looked like Mexican tiles. It's hard to find an attractive tile for a pool, because of the extreme conditions to which the tiles are subjected. BUT I FOUND A SOLUTION. I was going to share my resource with you, but they seem to be out of business. In case you can find them, their name is:
Steuben Tile

But they may be just another victim of the Great Recession.

What a bummer.

ANYWAY,

Before I did all this, I had changed the landscaping alongside the screen house. 

OY!!!

I am totally telling this story backwards.

OK, let me start at the beginning.....

The reason I fell in love with the floor plan of my house, is because it forms a U that wraps around the patio that holds the pool. All the rooms, other than the den, open out onto the pool terrace.

Of course, with all the rooms looking out, having a really ugly space wasn't so great. In Florida, a lot of houses have screen rooms attached, so doors and windows can stay open to the outside. It's like a screen porch, only it has a screen roof too.

Soooooo.....

the pool and terrace feel like another room, not so much a side yard. WAY COOL!!!

This makes it even more important to create a pretty space (according to MOI)

(Great, now I sound like Miss Piggy!)

Sooooooo.......

Back to the landscaping......

In my development, we have something called

 "Zero Lot Lines".

This means that the houses are crammed right on top of each other, with my property line ending at my next door neighbors outside wall. To keep us from killing each other, allowing for privacy, there are no windows facing my house. Soooooo, although they are right next to me, I have complete privacy. The wall of my next door neighbors house forms the fourth wall of my outdoor room. I wanted to cover this with lush vegetation. 

So I did.

 First, I had them rip out the bushes.

Then they started bringing in the fishtail palms.

By now, I was jumping up and down, I was soooo excited.

 This is how it looked after they were planted with areca palms set in between the fishtails.

My friends told me that in just a few years, the fishtail palms would be up to the roof of the two story house next door, but being a northerner, I couldn't fathom plants growing that fast. HA!!!

Look at them now!

This is eight years later. I LOVE THEM!!!

I am going to stop here, as this is taking all day to write, and if I don't finish, I will never post it, and you will never get to read it.

(I will continue this next week, as I have a LOT to share!)

DON'T FORGET!!!!

Tuesday is the day I answer the questions!!!!

See ya Tuesday.

Betsy

Linking to:  

At the Picket Fence






 

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My readers can't follow!!!!!!!

Oy Vey!!!!!

The folks who read my blog probably run with scissors,

  and...

ride a bike without a helmet

and...

cross in the middle of the block.....

BECAUSE

they can't  follow instructions!!!!!!!!

I am going to put off choosing the winner of my fabulous

give away, because the only one who entered the contest properly is Amy Chalmers, and I can't really pick her as a winner (and Amy isn't too happy about this) because everyone would think that I was playing favorites.

Sooooooooooooooo............I am extending the time to enter until next Thursday, when I will announce the lucky guy. 

For those of you just tuning in......

this is a give away for some great digital scrapbooking software, called My Memories. 

Check out my blog post to see some of the great things you can do with it.

NOW.....

YOU MUST BE A FOLLOWER TO WIN!!!!!!

Everyone who entered (other than Amy) hadn't signed up as one of my beloved and cherished followers.

This is non-negotiable.....

I am a meany.....

I want more followers and I am going to get me some 

one way or another!!!!!

Lets go over the rules again, if you haven't entered and still want to;

Go visit the digital scrap booking  site: www.MyMemories.com. and 

choose your favorite

 digital paper pack or layout, then comment down below telling me which

 ones you liked.

I will tell who the lucky winner is on Thursday.

Just remember, if you don't win, you can still get a discount by clicking 

on the coupon on 

my sidebar at the right, and enter this code for the 

discount...STMMMS1372

It's best to copy and paste the code for accuracy, at

least that's what My Memories suggests.

Now.....

If you already left a comment on last weeks blog post, 

you just need to become a follower of this blog, no


 grudges held,

no hard feelings, no sore egos, no injured pride, really...everything is JUST fine.

Whew!!!!!

Now, lets get to some decoratin'!!!




Once again, Blogger is messing up the line spacing in 


the middle of one of my posts.
AARRGGGGG!!!!!

Today I am going to finish up the story about the Cape

Cod decorator show

house from 1998. 

There was a little bathroom off the bedroom that I 

wasn't really thrilled to do. 

June and I considered just closing the door to the space  

and ignoring it, but the powers that be (were?)

wanted it decorated too, so we girded our respective 

loans....

(meaning, June let me figure it out)

and tackled the nasty space.

Since this was a showhouse, practicality wasn't a high priority. 

As a matter of fact......

It had no priority at all.

Soooooooooooooo

This is what we ended up with.....

Boston Globe Design Magazine

We took the toilet out!!!!! (plugging up the hole, so no lovely smell of sewer gas should add it's distinctive flavor to the rooms ambiance.)

(Don't worry after the showhouse we had it  re-installed).....

Where was I....

Oh, yeah,....

We took the toilet out to make room for some good decoratin' stuff!!!!

Like a pretty chair!

Because everyone  knows...

Betsy's rule on showhouse decorating:

Chairs photograph better than toilets!!!!!

This is the before shot.....

I posted the finished picture first, so that's what would show up in other blogs, but I really should have posted the before first. 

Because everyone knows....

The before comes before the after!!

the lovely before shot.  PUT DOWN THE TOILET SEAT!

The pictures were hung from vintage looking glass knobs.

( OMG...I've been trying to think of something interesting to hang over my guest bath shower/tub..... This is a senior head slap moment.....I'm going to do this picture treatment!!!! YAY!!!! Seeeee....If I hadn't been writing this blog, I wouldn't have been going over these old pictures, and I NEVER would have remembered doing this!!!!!)

It's a really nice way to frame a print or water color. Use a stiff white board  for a backing, cut it to the finished size you want and paint it the color you want the matt to be. Have a piece of plexie cut the same size. Drill small holes at the four corners. Sandwich the artwork between the two and attach the whole shebang together with the little plastic flowers mirror guys use to attach mirrors to a wall.

like these.....

Then hang the piece with either grosgrain ribbon or a small chain from knobs like these....

Jeesh.....

I'm sharing some really choice stuff with you guys.

Then.....

we had to figure out what to do with the sad little worn out sink...

Sooooooooooo

We did what any seasoned decorator would do....

WE COVERED IT UP AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE!!!

Boston Globe Design Magazine

So that's today's story. 

I didn't get many questions this week, so I will combine last weeks overflow with this weeks new ones for next weeks OY YEY!!! Q&A!!! TUESDAY.

Don't forget to enter the @#$ contest!!!

Betsy

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