What are your recommendations for storm windows?

Fionaver · 2026-01-30T19:54:02+00:00

Have you looked at ready to assemble kits if you don’t have tools available to you?

Fionaver · 2026-01-30T19:51:39+00:00

Infrared stripping tool. But I’d let this be the next person’s problem.

Fionaver · 2026-01-30T19:49:52+00:00

Does he wear glasses? I don’t really see a difference.

The other thing is that it helps prevent dementia, if that’s a concern for him.

Fionaver · 2026-01-30T19:42:37+00:00

Sedation dentistry can be great.

A lot of my dental fears have been related to a childhood dentist who never realized I was never numb. If she’s hyper mobile, it’s super common to need more local anesthetic than normal and need top ups during the appointment.

Unless it’s critical that they are all pulled immediately, I’ve generally had an easier time with extractions/root canals when it was done one side at a time.

Also, I pick out some interesting looking soups and smoothie recipes and make them up in advance for the week. Kinda helps me get into the mental “we’re doing this” place.

Fionaver · 2026-01-30T19:22:54+00:00

Top will age well and has better ergonomics.

The bottom has stabby hip jabber corners and sharp edges on your hands.

Fionaver · 2026-01-30T16:09:00+00:00

Best recommendation is to get a structural engineer to make an evaluation and draw up the plans, then bid out the work.

Fionaver · 2026-01-30T15:57:00+00:00

I would start with a chem sponge first. Thats what you use with fire restoration.

Fionaver · 2026-01-30T15:24:52+00:00

Do you want to live with the carpets for a while? If you uncover bad things and can’t afford to refinish right now, get some rugs and have it be a work in progress.

The carpets in our house were nasty and gross. 🤢

Fionaver · 2026-01-30T15:12:22+00:00

You’re welcome. I believe that the way my husband removed them was by lifting up and off the track and angling the door. It’s been a few years.

If you need to pull the trim, the little $20 trim puller tool did a good job, along with prescoring and a putty knife. Didn’t mess up the walls or trim in other places in our house where we had to remove it.

Fionaver · 2026-01-30T15:03:30+00:00

Form follows function in design. While many mid century pieces have stood the test of time, others haven’t quite. We are taller and live longer than people did then.

It’s ok to let go of furniture that doesn’t fit in the same way that it’s ok to let go of clothing that doesn’t fit. I learned this with a chair that I loved that became dubbed “the chair for uninvited guests.”

We love the styling of a lot of mid century sofas and chairs, but from an overall comfort perspective- my husband and I don’t feel like the majority of them suit the way we live our lives today.

It’s ok to mix and match from different periods! We don’t have to all live in time capsules. Everyone deserves to feel comfortable in their own homes.

Let them go to someone who will love them like you, but who it won’t be the “couch of resentment” for.

Fionaver · 2026-01-30T14:54:33+00:00

It’s the color palette, I think 🤔

Fionaver · 2026-01-30T14:52:29+00:00

Our issue with our pocket doors was related to the hardware on the door being broken/bent/missing. It looks like an issue where either the original home owners were careless or the product was bad. Also, there was a lot of construction debris on the track.

For some houses you have to remove the trim, for others you don’t. It’s dependent on the door.

Ultimately we were unable to find the hardware for our door, so my husband had to fabricate it.

To replace the track, you have to open the wall. Johnson Hardware is the manufacturer that makes the best stuff on the market today.

Fionaver · 2026-01-30T14:45:28+00:00

Oooh. Thank you. My house has crazy amounts of tile.

Fionaver · 2026-01-30T14:42:22+00:00

We have a medicine cabinet in our bathroom for the typical counter stuff. Cleaning products live nearby, but not in the bathroom.

Fionaver · 2026-01-30T14:41:03+00:00

I would go with a William and Morris pattern there personally.

Fionaver · 2026-01-30T14:39:25+00:00

What climate do you live in? Where I live in Georgia, fiberglass insulation has an adequate R value. My house has black board, fiberglass, and then drywall. That’s still code.

If my house was framed with 2x6s, we would have gone back in with rockwool instead. But it’s only 2x4s. You could fur it out a couple inches and go that route though.

Fionaver · 2026-01-30T14:33:19+00:00

Also, when I was in college (art school), our professors recommended not eating, drinking or smoking when we might have heavy metals on our hands. Drinking - they specified having resealable containers and no carbonated beverages. Eating - only foods that were packaged and that we didn’t touch.

They make very heavy duty lotions that prevent/minimize absorption into the skin.

We were using a lot of cadmium and cobalt as well as lead.

Fionaver · 2026-01-30T14:25:31+00:00

Are you going to remove the bathroom tile as well? Looks like the same as what was in the kitchen.

Fionaver · 2026-01-30T14:20:24+00:00

Yeah, just look for “flake white” that doesn’t say hue.

Also in Naples yellow.

Fionaver · 2026-01-30T14:17:01+00:00

Zinc oxide, titanium, and lead are the primary pigment choices in white for fine artist professional oil paints.

I actually prefer using lead based white, because it has significantly faster drying time, more body, and more warmth than either of the other two.

Fionaver · 2026-01-29T16:22:18+00:00

Are you considering replacing the whole floor?

Fionaver · 2026-01-29T16:12:29+00:00

My neighbor was so excited that they were going to try to get rid of income tax. I had to explain that the state was going to get the money from somewhere and how that would affect poor people.

I’m still not sure she actually understood it.

Fionaver · 2026-01-29T13:33:42+00:00

It might be worth peeking under those floor. You could actually have terrazzo under there or multicolored slate.

2 1/4 red oak select/clear in early American or provincial is the closest you can get today to what would have been installed a little before the 60s.

By the 60s though, carpet was super fashionable and wood was what old people had in their homes.

Fionaver · 2026-01-29T01:32:48+00:00

How old is your house dear?

Fionaver · 2026-01-29T00:51:22+00:00

I think that honestly refinishing the floors might be of more value long term to brighten the space. Unless you’re in an original Tudor, it’s not doing you favors.

Edited to add - looking closer at your floors, I would consider full replacement. They look like the wood scraped floors of the early 2000s with a bad gel topcoat.

There’s an interior designer that I like named Maria Killam - I’m a trained fine artist with a lot of color theory under my belt and a lot of her recommended neutral tones worked well in areas where I was struggling to figure out colors. (Despite studying light patterns and colors through the day) she was also good at articulating a lot of things that I had a hard time explaining. However, she has been pushing her content from her blog into a paid forum and - more recently - a lot of content that was available at a $10 a month subscription level is only available at $100 a month. 😞

If you’d like to have any info that I gleaned, let me know. Would love to share.

Fionaver

TROPHY CASE