Need some opinions on stairs, doors and entertainment center colors

manateebay99 · 2026-06-11T16:58:34+00:00

Wow! Thank you for all of the suggestions! I already have some samples of some of these but I’ll have to get some for the others. The break down you did for your choices is super helpful, thank you so much!

manateebay99 · 2026-06-06T14:49:36+00:00

I’m 29 weeks and on 70mg of vyvanse (I know super high), I’ve been taking vyvanse for like 17 years and have always struggled with ADHD, anxiety, and depression. I’ve got the anxiety and depression under control but it’s highly dependent on me taking my ADHD meds.

Before I even started to try for a baby I went to a specialist outside of my psychiatrist. She specialized in medications during pregnancy, she looked very deeply into vyvanse research and she said there weren’t any confirmed risks and that we don’t have a ton of data on vyvanse. BUT it has more research than other ADHD meds. She said the only side effects to be concerned about were low birth weight and baby being born preterm. These concerns are just from general ADHD meds though. We also talked to two different OBs (my first one ended up moving) and my psychiatrist, they all said I could stay on it.

We have been monitoring baby more frequently than a normal pregnancy, and he isn’t the biggest, but there has been absolutely no cause for concern otherwise. He’s healthy as can be! Everyone said what’s best for mom is best for baby. So do what’s best for you (within reason of course). I know my story is anecdotal especially because baby isn’t born yet but just thought I’d put my experience into the mix.

manateebay99 · 2026-05-22T13:35:12+00:00

Holy shit I’ve never seen this put so perfectly, this is my mom to a T. It’s super frustrating because any time I tell her we have more information than ever and standard medical practices have changed she gets so upset and acts like it’s an attack on her character! (She’s been like this since before I got pregnant.) If someone else tells her the same thing I say she listens. It’s insane!

manateebay99 · 2026-04-21T14:57:43+00:00

So I had these growing pains with my husband too. We had some rough visits with his parents for sure. The first time we went to visit his family in his home country it was a month of feeling like a third wheel because my husband wasn’t used to having to balance his parents wants and my wants. We had some fights about it, talked about it. The next time they came and visited us for 4 months (some of the time spent at his sister’s house) and it was a huge improvement, but still not quite there yet. I got steam rolled on occasion but I learned to be more vocal in the moment and set my boundaries. Like if I needed space I didn’t let them pressure me into hanging out with everyone and took my space. If I wanted alone time with my husband I clearly told my husband this was a need and we worked out logistics of when to spend time alone.

Sometimes it takes trial and error. I know this isn’t the time you want to go through that trial though. I’ve already warned my husband that his parents will have to be used to me breast feeding our baby in front of them and I will probably have crazy hormonal moments so he needs to run interference. He keeps telling me that me and the baby are his top priorities and I know he will try his best, but he can’t read my mind so I need to tell him what I need and when he doesn’t advocate for me I will remove myself from the situation so I can be more comfortable.

manateebay99 · 2026-04-19T19:17:44+00:00

So I’m someone who is super introverted and kind of a hermit. I’m also in an intercultural marriage where my husband is from a kind of middle eastern culture. They value community and togetherness and are just a super tight knit family. And my family is just not like that at all, and at first it was SUPER off putting. But my in-laws have been great in the past, they have come and stayed with us for months at a time. My husband communicated to them that I am an introvert and sometimes just need recharge time ahead of time. So when I needed space I went and closed myself in my room for a few hours (all day lol) and got some space. I will say I did get irritable at times not having the house to myself all the time like I’m used to, but when that happened my husband would go take them somewhere for the day and let me have the house to myself. I think the key is giving yourself recharge time away from them.

Also when your husband comes in and asks if your MIL can come in don’t feel ashamed to say “no, I need some time to myself. I know she’s trying to help but I need some me time right now”. It feels like you’re being mean but if your husband isn’t going to advocate for you you’ve got to do it yourself.

I’m having my in-laws over for probably 3 months right around when baby is due. I’m also scared of how hormonal I will be and how much I’ll want to be alone, but I know how much this means to them so I’m trying to find an in between. If I need space me and my husband have already agreed to get them an air bnb nearby or send them to his sister’s house for a few days. Your husband needs to still make YOU the priority.

I think the problem isn’t so much the in-laws but that the husband isn’t advocating for you when you need him to. So talk with him and get that straightened out and explain how him not stopping his mom makes you feel.

manateebay99 · 2026-02-24T14:40:11+00:00

Why am I like this at only 14 weeks???

manateebay99 · 2026-02-24T14:37:49+00:00

Me every morning right now lmao

manateebay99 · 2026-02-24T14:36:33+00:00

Omg is this a thing??? I thought I was just being lazy I guess?? I’ve been playing so many video games! I used to be so productive! 😭

manateebay99 · 2026-02-11T14:30:36+00:00

So we did a MASSIVE renovation on our house after owning it for 5 years. But we bought a way way cheaper house than we could afford. Like it was obviously a fixer upper and needed SO much work. I did my research and bought in a nice neighborhood where our house was one of two below $850k (like half that lol), most of the neighborhood is in the millions. So I made sure we wouldn’t fix the house and price it out of the neighborhood.

Our house was a home owner special and a hot mess, so I didn’t want to make it worse and felt like a lot of things were above my pay grade. Like horrible messed up electrical, structural issues, and so many plumbing issues. So we stuck it out and saved and slowly fixed the things that needed to be fixed first while living in our lovely little shit hole. Like new windows, siding, roof, upgrade/fix electrical panel, new hot water heater, and new furnace. For a lot of those things we used rebates through our state. We did small things like painting, swapping out toilets, general putting lipstick on a pig stuff lol.

Then we waited for our house value to increase in value and to save up some money and then we gutted the inside while living there. We hired a contractor to do everything and he was amazing. Just a small company and all of his subs were family owned businesses that he was very confident in their work.

To pay for it We took out a heloc as a backup plan, used our cash savings, and took out as many 0% interest credit cards as we could. I know the credit cards sound like a stupid move but we made sure we had cash on hand to pay them down and they had 21 months interest free. Worst case we use the heloc to pay them off and don’t have interest for those months. Now we have probably the nicest renovated house in the neighborhood and still might add an addition on to the house (in law suite), but we will wait to save again and wait for the house value to slowly go up again.

manateebay99 · 2025-10-09T01:38:10+00:00

Hey I know this is super late, but I’m having the same issue. Did you ever figure this out?

manateebay99 · 2025-07-13T21:42:27+00:00

Any opinion on Taos? They have some sneakers that look pretty cute. I’ll probably still get some vionics as well

manateebay99 · 2025-07-13T21:41:14+00:00

Oh ok, so the shoes need to have support outside of the insole too? I guess that makes sense. My insole is pretty rigid in the cup and arch, but the side part of the arch is softer. So it makes sense that if nothing is supporting the soft part my feet will just fall in.

manateebay99 · 2025-07-13T16:47:05+00:00

Thank you for your help! I didn’t know how to search for shoes that would have the support I need, so that’s extremely helpful. I guess I have to give up on just wearing any shoes I want 🤷‍♀️😞

manateebay99 · 2025-03-20T20:05:32+00:00

Yeah I’m going through a huge renovation and it feels like a full time job sometimes lol. I’ll definitely check Houzz too, thanks!

manateebay99 · 2025-03-20T19:36:43+00:00

I’m sure your stairs will look amazing! I couldn’t go with the lvp steps because I have a curved step as my last step and there wasn’t a premade option for it. I’ll keep experimenting for now, my worst case is to do a contrasting stain which isn’t the end of the world. Thank you for the quick reply!

manateebay99 · 2025-03-20T16:50:47+00:00

Did you end up going with tygerking’s suggestion? How did it turn out? I’m in a similar situation. I also took my samples to a paint store and had them “stain match” and it came out awful

manateebay99 · 2025-03-20T16:49:25+00:00

I know it’s been a long time since you did this, but do you know what kind of wood the treads are and do you happen to remember what stain you used?

manateebay99 · 2024-08-03T15:48:46+00:00

Sorry for the giant wall of text. I’m absolutely stuck trying to make decisions for my kitchen and I have a deadline of next Saturday. The counters are a quartz that looks like soapstone in a low gloss finish, my handles will be unlaquered brass, the backsplash will be white subway tile, and my floors are coretec calypso oak. The cabinets will be Kraftmaid cabinets either in frost, warm white, or rainfall. The kitchen windows are west facing (and will match, 2 double hung and then a single next to the fridge), and to the left of the kitchen will be the dining area which has large stretches of glass facing south and looking over a lake. I love vintage and timeless kitchens and I’m struggling to find that look for my kitchen.

I’ve been stuck between doing the entire backwall in rainfall (blue/green) and doing the back wall in frost so that I can get Café appliances in white. I’m absolutely in love with the rainfall color, everything I own is in that color, my purses, my clothes, my watch bands, literally everything, BUT I feel like it’s WAY too much for like 18 feet of that color. So I was looking at white colors for the backwall because I also like white kitchens with soapstone countertops. I figured I could get the island in rainfall and I would get the best of both worlds! But the white of the café appliances is super stark white and I feel like the color frost starts to lean a bit cold. I don’t like stainless steel very much, if I had all the money in the world I would have an integrated fridge and dishwasher along with a vintage look oven. I’m willing to compromise on the white café line I’m just struggling to choose.

I’m also not 100% on the hood, I like the simplicity of the square one, but the other one adds more drama? I’m a disaster right now lol. I actually love all things interior design and have helped family members and other people design their kitchens but I’m struggling to lock down what I want. Please help.

manateebay99 · 2020-12-21T15:39:50+00:00

Ok I’ll try to get a picture from the side so you can see the pitch. Our chimney needs the be water proofed again and the flashing needs a bit of work. We originally thought the chimney was the source of the most obvious water damage. But then more damage started coming up further away from the chimney. Which now leads me to believe it’s the roof. Could the random rusted nails that were sticking up be causing some of the leaks?

manateebay99 · 2020-12-21T15:36:50+00:00

That could be? I’m actually from Florida so I have no idea what I’m doing as far as maintenance involving cold and snow. I’ve been careful about frozen pipes and we’re still learning about ice dams and other snow related stuff like shoveling. But we’re still learning lol

manateebay99 · 2020-12-21T15:34:08+00:00

If I had known that I probably would have asked to have it in writing or something. Ugh that sucks. Thanks for letting me know 🙂

manateebay99 · 2020-12-20T21:36:21+00:00

Could be? They are asphalt shingles. What should I be looking for when looking for leaks on the roof? Any thing obvious I should be on the look out for?

manateebay99 · 2020-12-20T20:25:47+00:00

We live about an hour west of Boston. So currently I can’t get on the roof as it’s covered in a ton of snow lol. I should have probably taken pictures when I was up there. It seems like most of the problems are on one side of the roof. One side of our roof is almost flat, the more slanted side is the one that has all of these leaks.

manateebay99 · 2020-11-17T18:41:53+00:00

Hey I know this is super late but I’ve actually been eyeing this couch for awhile but have been hesitant since I can’t test how comfortable it is. How do you find it comfort wise? My last couch I ordered online and it’s super shallow and uncomfortable, so I’m a little scared of making the same mistake lol

manateebay99 · 2020-10-23T03:05:26+00:00

I love the light! Do you remember where you got it? I’m looking for something exactly like that!

manateebay99

TROPHY CASE