Country Living...Stinkers & Clunkers

OH, Country Living, I DO love you... however, these last two issues have me scratching my head a bit.

I thought the covers were awfully similar...down to the font color. I mean, look at them side by side.

Feb 2012 and March 2012 side by side

White kitchens (again.... I like white kitchens but it seems ALL the featured kitchens are white lately), distressed wood,  Turquoise typeset..... I had these side by side on my coffee table, and for a second I thought I had two of the same exact issue.


This could be the same house, yes?

And, OK, this idea is ree-dunkulous, sorry.....

And the cost is TWENTY dollars EACH? C'mon, better to get a regular ole' taper candle and jam it in there.

I dunno, it looks silly to me...

And THIS... wallpaper....

 made to look old and DIRTY... really????

This ugly old wall can be yours.. for 2,000.00 per room :)

If I saw this on the wall I'd think the place needed a deep disinfecting steam-clean and then a paint job.

Plus, the cost is....... wait for it........... TWO HUNDRED AND NINETY NINE DOLLARS PER ROLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Are you KIDDING? Hey, if anyone wants this look, I'll send my kids over to have dinner at your house.

OK, and One More...

sorry..for the life of me couldn't figure out why Blogger is turning my pics sideways!

Rag rugs cost $2.99 at Ikea. I guess I could do a knockoff of this, but frankly, I don't really like it.

Price? $$$ 1735.00. Say What????

Are home design magazines running out of fresh ideas?

I cancelled my beloved House Beautiful this year because I just could not stomach another featured gray/greige home. I remember one of them even had a greige-colored CAT to match the decor. How do those people stay awake in their houses? Honestly. The monotone look is so boring to me.
I miss Domino, at least those rooms had personality and originality. I find my best ideas, more and more, are from the terrific blogs I follow!

What do YOU think?

Make it a Great Day
Thanks for letting me rant:)
Ann

Why You Really REALLY Need to Take Word Verify Off Your Blog

OK, people. I always try to comment on as many blogs as I can. When I go to blog parties, and click on a link, even if the post wasn't what I thought it would be, I always, always make a friendly comment. (OK, I confess, if it already has a millionteen comments, sometimes I won't. But if you've got like 2 comments, or NO comments, I always do.)

But.

People, word verification is obnoxious. It's a pain. I see it after I type in my comment and wince. Audibly. I fight the urge to just go away.  I usually don't because I feel bad-- I keep thinking you don't know that you can really blog without captcha and word verify. Thus, this post.


My heart just sinks when I see one of these. Ugh


Without further ado, here's
Why You Really REALLY Need to Take Word Verify Off Your Blog

1.  It is an obstacle to getting more comments on your posts.

2. People (Ok, me) with vision problems have to do it 2 or 3 times to get it right.

3. Most people give up after the first fail.(Ok, me again)

4. It doesn't keep creeps and meanies from commenting.

5. If creeps or meanies DO comment, you can just delete the offending comment.

6. The spam goes away after awhile--just keep deleting them. And report as spam.

7. You can moderate without captcha/word verify. Just have the comments sent to your email.

8. It only reduces auto-generated spam.

Of course, these are just my completely uneducated opinions, and observations in my experience. Read this informative post on this most enjoyable blog I discovered today, Pieceful Peg. The commments are especially informative.

Hope this helps.

Make it a Great Day!
Ann

House Hunters...is it just me?

courtesy of pietown.com

Like many, I enjoy watching House Hunters on HGTV. But sometimes it can be incredibly annoying.


Is it just me, but do some of those couples seem incredibly naive? Maybe the producers make them clueless on purpose?


For example, they walk in and the first thing they comment on is the light fixture. I mean, seriously, what house hunter is looking at the light fixture first? Another thing they love to say is: "Oh, I love/hate that paint color" Like the color on the walls is going to make or break the sale. Huh? If you don't already know that painting is going to be part of your future, please don't be looking to buy a house!!

House in who knows...

What the same budget buys in California

And, my favorite of all time: They are somewhere ( definitely NOT California ) with a budget of $240,000 and they find a 6 bedroom, 3 bath, with a pool, 4500 square foot house on an acre for $213,000 and start picking it apart. Seriously???? I'd be in heaven, people!
And don't get me started on the International version of the show!(That may be another post)


Just sayin'........................


And if you ARE one of those lucky ducks to have a huge house, yard, and pool under 300K, I'm soooo jealous, OK? People, you got it good! Enjoy!

Make it a Great Day!

Ann

Amazing Find!

Just look at this gorgeous guy I discovered struttin' his stuff all over the neighborhood!

I was having a frustrating day, and lo and behold, there he was in all his glory as I walked past. Went right up to him, he didn't seem to mind, in fact he turned around and showed me a 360 degree view... just beautiful.


There were some pea-hens hanging around, I am sure this is why he was so gloriously on display. I told him, if I were a pea-hen, I'd date him!

On a design note, look at the glorious colors! Design inspiration is all around you.

Make it a Great Day!

Ann

Fashion Bashing

I just received my new Kohl's circular. Now you all know I love me some Kohl's. But, please, somebody up there at HQ needs to have a little talk with Ms. Wang...umm, Vera, can you please design something us Kohl's-shoppin' gals would actually wear without looking like a crazy bag lady? Seriously......

Here's what I found today:

I mean, like I said, some pieces individually are ok. But the pants are those "jeggings" first of all, and then to add insult to injury, they're patched in pleather and spandex....omg...  ewwwwww! The last time, and the only time, I wore "patched" was in 5th grade when I wore these: ONCE. ONCE because the seaming on the inside was making my legs itchy all day..hahaha!!

Sorry, Vera, I'm just not "feelin' it".

That being said, I do like Vera Wang's wedding gowns most of the time. And I have a Vera Wang shirt and wallet that I like just fine, purchased at Kohl's last year.

Does it seem like she got the Kohl's contract, and now is just handing a piece of paper to her 3 year old and telling her to draw a funny dress for mommy?... and then she turns it into her assistant to make it "real".

(Here's what my kids came up with....)

Here's what some kooky designers passed off a "fashion" recently:

Make it a Great Day!
Ann

UGLY furniture on Craigslist

I saw this post from the Nester....

and This from Rooms to Inspire...

and was inspired by a blogger out there who finds great CL items in your town and posts them... dern it I forgot where I saw her(if you know what I am talking about please tell me!!)

So, I am looking for a matching set of chairs for my LR and thought I'd give my CL another try. Mind you, L.A. area is just HUGE...there's like 40 different "sections" of L.A.... so you'd think I'd find one pair of good  chairs to makeover?To be fair, I did find these: on CL for 20 bucks, and even tho I'd have rather spent 3 bucks, it was an ok price, for L.A. anyway....

Here's what turned up this morning while I was scrolling thru listings...now, you tell me are these not the FUGLIEST pieces of furniture, like, ever? I mean, is there ANYTHING to be done with these? And most of them were in the $100-$200.00 range!!

Enjoy.....

1.

I wouldn't have taken this off the curb! Crikey..lookit the ARMS on this thing...

Maybe reupholster it in green fabric with a frayed denim skirt and call it "The Incredible Hulkess"?

2.

And this lovely.....from a bygone era, yesteryear, the bad ole' days....

How on earth could you reupholster all those tucks? and its sooo loooowwwwww to the ground.... Cue up: "Low-Riii-Da...rides a little lower...dat dat da da da dat da..." I think they want 200 bucks for the pair...better hurry!

3.

Oh, Lordy, look at this gem:

 I don't know about you, but I can smell cat pee from just lookin' at the picture!! UGH!!!! And its HUGE! You'd need a moving van to tote it away. They wanted a lot of moola for this monster, too...am I missing something? Is it a rare antique from 1994?

4.

Oh, and this.... at this point in a couch's life, shouldn't you be calling the curbside trash pick-up? I mean, c'mon... and they want A HUNDY for it!! Right, $100.00!!!!

Disgusting, isn't it?

5.

Oh, and my favorite... I know, I know, they are not that bad....but I am sooo over the fake-craftsman-Stickley thing..and whats with the light wood? Isn't "real" Stickley in darker oak? and a recliner? Did they even invent a recliner in 1909? These are everywhere lately and people seem to think they are worth a lotta money....

What on earth could you do with these to make 'em work?

I mean, could you reupholster these in one of those William Morris fabrics, maybe if you had a craftsman cottage? I guess soo....umm, I'm saying, no.

So sorry if you own any of these chairs' lookalikes. Hey, send my some beauts from your local CL and we'll have a laugh or two!!

Linking to SNS#28
Frugalicious Friday
Frugal Friday

Ann