Actually, after getting help from wende in Phoenix, Mella DP (in Chicagoland), and Alana in Canada, I think I've got the flow issue in the living room pretty much dealt with. At least on paper. It remains to be seen, once the furniture is moved around, if the paper plan works out in real life.

I can attest to the truth of sarahc's words "Once you have a clear vision for your space, the rest will fall into place." Over the course of the weekend I was able to realize just what feeling I want in my living/dining room, and what room in the Style Tray in my Mind evoked that feeling. It's actually the West Sitting Hall in the White House, that I've seen pictures of... it has the graciousness, poise, serenity and comfort that I'm going for (besides having the west light as my humble dwelling has). Alas, I don't have the gorgeous window that is part of the West Sitting Hall, but it gives me the feeling I'm going for. Having "named the vision", the elements are really starting to fall into place. See more at my blog, to see my thought process, and for a link to pictures that illustrate what I'm trying to do/say. (you'll have to scroll down past my lengthy to-do list to find the living room posts)

http://serenityathome.blogspot.com

smallcitybeth, you couldn't have picked a better room for your inspiration! Jackie Kennedy was a great decorator, and her improvements brought a boost of style to the White House that remains today.

I've added a new version of the Living Room Floor Plan to my Flickr page, and I've blogged about it as well. I'm really happy with the way the plan is working out on paper -- I hope it works as well in real life! Please check it out and see what you think. (Unfortunately, my colored pencils don't have quite the shades I need, so my attempt at a colored floor plan falls a little short of the mark, but I know you all have good imaginations, and can translate a little goldish chair shape into a creamy-colored Parsons chair...)

Now I *must* go and clean out my fridge...

Oh, and thanks, sarah c, for your comment on my inspiration room!

I have to say, you folks posting the posts for the Cure are doing a fantastic job. They're so helpful and warm and welcoming.

I only missed doing the cure with Chicago by about 240 miles: maybe next cure I'll drop in and pester you all in the midwest!

Meanwhile, thanks for the great info and links. I'm really enjoying them.

Smallcitybeth: I like the new floor plan and I hope it really works for you. Do you have to get a piano mover?
I'm off work today so I'll give it all to the kitchen cleaning task.

Thanks so much for the kind words, Alana.

Francesca -- yes, I'll have to get a piano mover, even though the piano's only going to be shifted about a foot. I'll get them to move the desk a bit at the same time, and move around a few other pieces of furniture (saves my back, and makes better use of having to pay them for an hour no matter what...)

I'm looking forward to getting the furniture all settled!

Now that I have everything out of the cabinets and all over the kitchen and living room while I'm cleaning the inside, I'm wandering about shelf liners/paper. Are they worth the trouble? My shelves are adequate: could use a fresh coat of paint, probably by the next cure.
Any experience, feelings on the subject?

Francesca - I always put it in, but I've never been in a place where the cabinetry was newer or been in particularly good shape. I only used the adhesive type once, and found it to be a HUGE pain in the ass. I think it's really a judgement call - if you don't think you need to use it, then why spend the time/money/resources doing it?

I put shelf liner in my cabinets when I moved in- they were icky. I wish I would have painted instead. The adhesive has given way and it droops sometimes. More hassle than I really need. I do use a shelf mat on the bottoms of the cabinets with my glasses and plates that absorb shock and movement. Those are just laid in (no adhesive) and I like those.

Whew. I just got my images up on Flickr with comments. Please take a look. After some serious thinking, I decided I needed to do the Deep Treatment. So I photographed the whole main floor.

I think I've got a lot of good stuff in place: it just needs tweaking and reworking. It's finally time to put some other color on the walls (goodbye, medici ivory!), too.

As for shelf liners: I only used it if the bottom of the shelves were in bad shape (i.e., flaking, chipping). Otherwise, it doesn't seem worth the hassle.

I'll pass on the liners then. Moryse Heron, your place is great, especially the kitchen and dining room. You are right about the office: it does need decluttering. Are you able to do a floor plan for us?

Sigh. No curing happened this evening in the home of SmallCityBeth. Sigh. I had to go out for groceries after dinner, and when I got home, I was too tired to tackle the remainder of the fridge. Or at least, I told myself I was too tired.

All I did today that was remotely Cure-related was to throw out most of this week's bouquet of flowers, because they were bothering my allergies... I've still got a few carnations on the corner of my desk, but that's it. I guess I have to either stick to carnations, or skip the flowers thing. sigh again.

SmallCityBeth - Maybe try some flowers that are waxy (in fact, wax flowers might be a good choice!). But when I worked at a flower shop in spite of my allergies, I found that tropical flowers and things that had a waxy texture didn't irritate me.

Moryse, you're house is freaking gorgeous. Love all the woodwork.

Smallcitybeth-try foliage. Florists usually have a lot of different fillers for their arrangements and some are really colorfull.

LauraII and Francesca -- thanks for the suggestions!

I faced reality yesterday. Facing reality is not one of my key talents. I realized that for several reasons, I need to focus most of my budget resources into things other than the Cure. sigh. So the drapery project needs to go on the back burner, as does purchasing end tables for the chairs in the living room. (Purchasing winter clothes that will fit, since I have lost a fair bit of weight since last winter, is now number one on smallcitybeth's agenda.)

On the positive side of this, delaying the drapery installation will allow me more time to find drapery panels that are "just right", instead of going with the Wal-Mart ones that will "do for now". That means I'll be spending the money once. This is a good thing.

I have an idea for a temporary covering/softening of the window areas in the living/dining room. I'll try it out later today. If it works, I'll tell you more. If it doesn't, I'll try to have Thomas Edison's attitude of "that wasn't a failure, I've just found one more thing that doesn't work"...

Onward and upward... (?)

Wow, I'm blushing...so exciting to see my floor plan on AT! Thanks, guys.

Beth, I can totally sympathize about the budget thing - I'm cutting corners myself. I'm looking forward to seeing your temporary window covering idea. Although I would say -- have you looked at IKEA's selection at all? Because I was really, really happy with the quality of my drapes from their Stockholm line, and they were only $60 for a package of two. Lined! Linen! Easy to hang!

mavieenrose -- thanks for your sympathy, and for your suggestion. Unfortunately, the nearest Ikea is a 7 hour drive from here (and I don't do online purchasing...) Too bad, because lined, linen, easy to hang, drapes for $60 a package sounds wonderfull!!

This is one of the occasions where living in smallcity smack dab in the middle of nowhere is a bit of a pain. Very little access to good stuff!! Oh well... I suppose I could get one of my cousins who lives in an Ikeacity to do a little shopping... maybe I'll take a look online, just to dream a little... ...

Thanks.

I'm back.

Mavieenrose, I went and looked at the Ikea site. The drapes are more expensive in Canada (it figures, most things are...) but they're definitely going into my style tray as strong possibilities. They're different than I was envisioning, but I really like them. In green. There are red accents in the many shades of green, and wow, that would so go with my room... (still can't buy 'em now, but I'm so happy to have another possibility for when I *can* buy them. My cousin may be going shopping at some point in the future...) Here's a link to the ones I liked.
http://www.ikea.com/ca/en/catalog/products/10112016

About that link I posted -- it goes to the beige iteration of the drapes -- click on the color choice drop down menu and choose green.

This week has proven to be challenging (at best) for me. My husband is traveling for the next 2 weeks (solid) so it's just me and a 3 1/2 yr old. Not a lot of cleaning goes on while he's awake- destroying goes on while he's awake.

I did get my floors washed (because I dropped a sippy cup of milk without a lid on) and the oven got cleaned out (it was really gross and took a whole roll of paper towels) and 1/2 of the fridge is done, but my son kept moving all the food around so I had to stop, and we played legos.

I have looked at all my style tray stuff, and I can't come up with my style. I just can't.

I have started to put together my plan for my destroyed kitchen walls. And, I have read everyones Flickr comments on my pics but haven't gotten around to responding (it's 2am and I am done for today- my son will be up in 5 hrs and I need some sleep) Thank you for everyones comments.

I have come to one conclusion though, I have very little patterns in my house. ( I don't wear patterns either) Some stripes , some circles. But that's it, over 90% of my public space is solid colored. I need some help to incorporate something different into my space, something new.

lorijo - your comment about patterns is funny. i've noticed the same thing about myself. i rarely wear patterns and i rarely buy anything for my house with a pattern. i think part of it is because i find myself to be so indecisive that when i do make a pattern or bold color choice...i find myself disliking it months down the line. trying to get better about that and remind myself to buy small patterned things that i can easily and inexpensively replace/rotate...but then that means additional things that need to go into storage and that's not a good idea either.

i did some Cure things this past weekend...gave an old TV to the thrift store, along with some lighting fixtures we replaced with ceiling fans. felt darn good!

actually...i need some suggestions on one our projects...we'd like to install a shelf at the top of our ceiling, similar to what Maxwell did in his bedroom...i'd like to find something that's EASY to install, doesn't have any visible brackets on the underside and isn't an IKEA Lack shelf (because they're not deep enough or long enough). suggestions?

bbt:
It might be difficult to find an shelf with hidden brackets that's deeper than Ikea's Lack (10 inches deep) because a deep shelf needs bracing. The cantilever thing can only go so far. But I won't say it's impossible.

Have you thought about putting the brackets on the top of the shelf instead? Painted to match the wall color, and hidden behind some of the objects, they might be mostly hidden from view. Prefab shelving may not work, as the shelf has to be screwed to the bracket. But separately-purchased brackets with a board cut to length (most diy big-box stores will cut lumber for you) should work fine.

I love the look of a high shelf; if my hall weren't so complicated (architecturally) and my skills were more impressive, I'd definitely install one.

This kitchen project is driving me crazy. I think for now I'm just going to beadboard the walls behind my counters. I spent most of the morning at lowes looking at cabinets and I found that I have a odd sized sink base- 42 inches. I only have an 8 ft counter on that side and that has 2 cabinets and a dishwasher. I figured it wouldn't be that big a deal to replace my cabinets- I only have 8. 3 base cabinets, and 5 uppers, and one of my uppers is going away for a new range hood soon. Well, tomorrow is another day, and I have to go to Home Depot to check there.

I shifted some furniture around in the living room this evening. Created a nice conversation area, as long as the conversation's only between two people... I didn't quite follow my game-plan, and I may go back to it. In trying to create my own little White House West Sitting Hall, I seem to have simultaneously re-created the White House bowling alley, from the kitchen to the bedroom. I put the two dining chairs along the wall, but that just makes it look like a country doctor's waiting room superimposed on a bowling alley. This furniture arrangement needs some tweaking. If I had a digital camera, I'd post a picture for your comments -- since I don't, I'll take a picture or two, and get them developed on Saturday (by which time I'll likely have tried two or three other options in the furniture-placement department).

I'll also take a picture of my interim window treatments in the living/dining room. I got the ones on the patio door up this evening (ran out of steam -- personally, that is -- before getting the dining room window done). As long as you don't look too closely at the way they're attached to the wall, they definitely look better than the bare windows did. And it's temporary. I kept telling myself that as I put them up. It'll be much easier to explain what I did when I have a picture to illustrate, so I'll wait until then for details.

In the kitchen part of the cure, I finally unpacked my grandmother's silverware (hey, I've only been here 6 months!), and gave it a bit of a wash, not that it was dirty. Haven't put it back in the chest yet though. (see "running out of steam" above)

At least I did *something* Cure-ish this evening...

Well - I just posted all my before and some after pics...and the before's are pretty bad. I just realized there's nothing like taking a pic to show you the truth! I did want to ask - I'm not sure how they end up on the group page? Could someone explain that to me?

Lorijo - I came in late onto your kitchen dilemma, but would like to help. Kitchens are challenging. What exactly are you trying to do? How do you want to configure your cabinets on your sink wall? 42" is still a multiple of 3" - and most stock cabinets come in multiples of 3". Another alternative to beadboard the walls behind your counter is decorative tin ceiling material. It looks great left natural or finished. A little country - but if you use it with more modern cabinets and fixtures you can balance that.

Tarao- The base sink cabinet has some water damage to it that i found when I ripped off the tiles on the wall above it. During the tile removal we removed most if not all the drywall in places. That can be repaired, as it was water damaged anyway. SO, if I was to replace the sink cabinet, I figured, with the small size anyway, we should just look at putting in new cabinets that aren't as cheesy as the ones we have (that I painted white) .
I will try to put up a floorplan tonight when I get home. This entire section of the kitchen is only 8 ft x 10 ft. Galley style. The sink side is approx 8 feet long. There is a 24 inch dishwasher by the wall, than a 42 inch sink cabinet, than another 24 inch base cabinet. We have a 6 inch wine cabinet to install to make it 8 ft. The other side is just one 24 inch base cabinet between the stove and fridge.
The wall MUST be fixed, no doubt about that. The drywall is going to be removed and than something done. I like the idea of the Metal ceiling tiles. My husband is leaning toward beadboard (because he can do it easily I think) I am in a quandry. Well, off to the hardware store again.

Moryse -

I think we plan on doing something similar to what you've mentioned. the shelf will be high enough that you can't see the hardware from above, and we've discussed using a wire or thin metal posts to hold the cantilevered edge if we think it's needed. i'm shooting for this to be our main activity for saturday...let's hope it happens. time is running out.