How's this for design inspiration? Just got back from 2 weeks in the Mediterranean and Rome, and was blown away by the beauty of Santorini. Makes me want to redecorate the entire house in blue and white. But with the economy, decorating's on hold 'til I pay off a couple things from the home theater project.
So for now I'll just bring out the red and green.
I'll be posting more videos from the cruise here.
First, the bad news: It looks like the geniuses in the U.S. Congress may postpone the digital TV transition.
To celebrate the digital transition, I've given the blog a facelift - a photo of DH's ManSpace with his 42" Vizio 1080p LCD, perfectly hung on the wall (by him!) It's technoclutter for some women, or worse. But it's ART for geeks like me!
If you're thinking about a future cruise or you'd like to take a "digital" winter vacation, click here. Be sure to click "watch in high quality" just below the video window on the right. You'll get a DVD quality picture on most newer YT videos!
HURRICANE UPDATE... I'm midway between Daytona Beach and St. Augustine, and it's bright and sunny here! Thank you all for your expressions of concern. So far, so good!
Thanks HGTV.com! And thanks to PattyLH and Jeanette (AKA jfell, of the current top-rated space on RMS) for letting me know! You have to click the thumbnail "small kitchen" to bring up the larger "Help for Small Kitchens" image. Cool.
I love watching the Weather Channel reporters get blown around during hurricanes. A sure predictor that you'll be safe is if Jim Cantore shows up in your town. He's never in a really dangerous area (they send the women there). He's in Naples now, so they may be breathing a sigh of relief. I'm not.
Want to "hide" a big screen TV in a traditional room? Here's a brief video of our great room's DIY media wall, as featured in HGTV Ideas magazine's summer issue.
We did it ourselves with a purchased mantel, a fireplace DVD, and our 50" Samsung DLP TV. Complete how-to info is here.
This is NOT one of my favorite spaces. I know it's not the worst ever, but I really don't like my master bathroom. I don't know what happened. Maybe I blacked out or something when I was making the selections with the builder.
I don't drink, so it wasn't a drunken stupor. Whatever. The fact is my master bath doesn't go with the rest of my house.
The only thing I like about it is the Mirror TV (how-to is here) over the tub. I see HGTV from everywhere but the shower. Cool.
So anyway, I'm floating this out there in case Angelo Surmelis of Rate My Space - the TV show - happens to drop in here.
My friend Patty votes the maximum number of times for every Dream Home and assorted HGTV sweepstakes. She says, "Why not? Somebody's gotta win." And she's right. So here goes!
Yup, that's me and DH Jim on Oprah's Soap Opera Addicts show (1990). My 9 minutes of TV fame. Or, should I say ...infamy?
When I started my small window treatment biz in 1989, I did the sewing myself in my basement while listening to Oprah and soaps all day long - that caused the addiction, which I explained on the show.
One day, Oprah advertised during a commercial break that she was looking for soap addicts whose husbands thought they were nuts, or some such thing. I actually thought I was calling in for tickets to the show... as in "sit in the audience"...
Surprise! Sally, the nice producer, interviewed me on the phone and called back 90 minutes later to say that I was the biggest soap addict they'd ever encountered and they wanted me on the show... but with the big caveat that Jim had to be on too. It wasn't easy, but she convinced him in a private phone call, revealing the big surprise that would be sprung on me on the air.
A year or so after the show, my business had become successful enough that I hired a workroom. I didn't do much sewing after that, just made pillows and upholstered headboards occasionally. So I stopped watching Oprah and soaps altogether. Haven't seen a soap since, but I'd guess not much has changed on any of the eight I watched regularly in the intervening 18 years.
It was only when we were getting ready to sell our house in 2004 that I discovered HGTV. Just one look...that's all it took...to get me hooked.
UPDATE: Just found out some sad news: Another World, R.I.P 1999
Welcome to my kitchen! It was recently featured as an inspiration room on HGTV's new Rate My Space TV show. Specifically, the old pine hutch we use in place of cabinets.
I've posted a detailed how-to on how I refinished the hutch here. If you're in the Christmas spirit already, here's how I decorate the kitchen.
If you enjoyed the video tour, please sign in to Rate My Space and rate my kitchen. Don't worry, you won't get any spam or unwanted emails from HGTV!
My favorite is the 32” LCD on the lanai. But where is it, you ask?
In the mirror, of course!See my DIY Mirror TV in action in this 33 second video (apologies, Favre fans):
On the lanai, it's the perfect solution for a big flat panel outside in the salty sea air (700 yards from the ocean). It also provides some security because when the TV's off, it looks like just a big mirror. Only downside - you can't watch it in bright daylight, but we use it for viewing in the evening anyway.Now I have to get busy and finish off the fireplace and wall. Any ideas?
