Gee, ya'll are just the cat's meow. Pattycake, dirty martinis are my absolute fav and I love old movies from the thirties. One year on our anniversary we went to the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island, MI and attended a murder mystery weekend set in the 1938. We dressed for the period, and the Grand hotel requires formal dress for he evenings, it was a blast. Slinky and everyone, the snowmen centerpiece is an Avon thingy that folds up to make a gift box with a top on it and it has little twinkle lights, I just added the crushed acrylic glass chunks. Punk, the cobalt glassware was the beginning of my collecting 33 years ago, my mother worked for an elderly lady who owned an antique shop and she gave me pitcher and glasses for my wedding and the collections have progressed from there. The shorter stems on the table were also from that samelady. Lynn, the snowmen centerpiece is sitting on a silver cake plateau. I bought two of them years ago at the DS and use them for everything. The little lamp is electric and I hid the cord under the edge of the charger, I found the lamp in a box of junk at an estate sale for $1.00 and added the shade. Syble

hi all - i'm back. this time finally finishing the backsplash in the kitchen. we tried to save as much of the original tile, to hopefully incorporate into the "new" backsplash. 'ive been told this will be hard since the new tile are made differently. i know i can buy more historical tile, like heritage ceramics - not sure of costs - so that i can integrate the old with the new, or at least try. otherwise, i've been told it would be hard to do otherwise since the sizing would be slightly off. another thought would be to do something different on the new part of the kitchen. still subway tile, but maybe a different color or type of material. thoughts? have you guys seen any pics of two colors in a kitchen? thanks!!

Purplepansies Blue Louise--I love the combination of the copper brown and the blue. Florantha Starry Night--Good job finding swirly tile. I tried this exercise, but was stumped searching for swirly tile. I love the dark blue drapes. Purplepansies Approaching Thunder Storm--Oooh, I love the artwork! You did a great job of capturing the colors and the mood of the painting. I love the magma supreme granite. Honorbiltkit Vuillard--Also a beautiful painting, full of interesting details and patterns. You captured the color of the rug in the painting, and the painting you chose for your design does a great job of mimicking the painting in the painting. If that makes any sense. Palimpsest Vuillard--You also did a great job of capturing the colors of the painting, playing up the neutrals a bit compared to Honorbiltkit. The floor--is it Marmoleum?--mimics the colors of the rug. Style-wise, the table is unexpected, but I really like it in the design. Pricklypearcactus Lanadscape with Butterflies--I like the interplay of colors in your kitchen just as much as in the original painting. I just want to say how very much I've enjoyed this thread. I liked the artwork, I liked the kitchens, and I liked all the creative thinking that went into putting them together.

One of my friends just got a divorce and moved into her own house. She was so excited about picking up a whole set of matching waterfall bedroom furniture at a flea market. I must admit, I was sketpical -- my experience with waterfall has been a lot like everyone elses here, it seems - old lady-ish, chenille, the whole bit. She moved it into her bedroom (a blank white box in a newly constructed townhome) and kept the accessories sleek and minimal -- she has a simple satin-y coverlet, some solid colored floor length drapes, and that's about it. Since there's nothing else to distract your eye (unlike some of those wallpaper patterns in the ads above - eeks!), the furniture has really become the focal point in the room. You really notice the lines and the beautiful inlays and hardware. Her lamps and dresser accessories lean toward vintage glamor -- a vintage dresser, silver hand mirror, crystal perfume bottle -- she even has some vintage makeup containers from the 40s that she's scattered here and there on the vanity. The room is vintage without being dated, glamorous without being over the top, and basically very much suits a midlife woman moving on with the rest of her life instead of screaming "granny furniture". Like I said, I was skeptical, but I'm a convert.....just keep the lines simple and let the furniture do the talking.