<p>Thumper, I don’t have cats, so can’t help you there. For me, pet friendly means that the upholstery can be cleaned. I have the couch steam cleaned every year or so. We have a black lab; the vacuum and a sticky roller are my friends. Now, we only allow the dog on one piece of furniture, and that couch has a slipcover I can throw in the wash. I know people with dog-on-furniture homes who swear by their off-white washable slipcovers in denim, canvas, and other sturdy fabrics…</p>
<p>another, thank you for your kind words. Sounds like I did good! Art really can be crazy expensive… but totally worth it. I used most of my own art work and even that probably wound up costing me at least 30-50 bucks each between getting the picture printed, buying the frame I wanted, etc. I probably have 15 or so of my prints hanging in my house. I can only imagine how much it would have cost if I bought my art from someone else!! actually, I should research that… I have been thinking about setting up my own little store online… Maybe I can sell a couple of these prints!! I showed a couple photos of my house to co-workers and a few of them asked me where I got my art work. :)</p>
<p>Thumper, I don’t know what to suggest for you but I wouldn’t suggest microsuede. That’s what I have and I’m pretty sure it would get destroyed from cats claws.</p>
<p>Don’t discount Costco for furniture. Yes, theie selection is very limited but if they happen to have what you want you can’t beat the price or the quality. I’ve purchased some beautiful high back tufted leather recliners (think cigar room at the yacht club :)) for less than half of what anyone else was charging.</p>
<p>We also have cats. I found that white pepper sprinkled on a rug or area around furniture will keep cats at bay. The pepper does not stain and doesn’t show up on most surfaces. I’ve protected several pieces this way.</p>
<p>Re: artwork…most of the artwork hanging in our house is either watercolors or prints done by artists we know. I love them. For us, it’s the content of the pictures that mattered…most of ours are landscapes (that look like they could be our backyard). We also have a couple of nicely framed pieces of art that our kids made. They are bright and cheerful. Regardless of any “redecorating” that happens…the art work will NOT change…it might get moved around, but it will all be kept.</p>
<p>The cat is an issue and is the number one reason the old couch in the LR hasn’t yet been replaced!!!</p>
<p>thumper, I had a cat who was using our old, ugly couch as a scratching post, and I was reluctant to replace it for that same reason, but as soon as we replaced that sofa with a leather one, the cat went elswhere to satisfy her claw-sharpening needs. Neither of my cats like leather sofas!</p>
<p>Oh, Thumper we would SO get along. I don’t match my artwork to my furniture. There are artists we like, inherited, or in a few cases my kids’ work, and I hang it up. We have one kid’s work next to a Picasso…works fine for me.</p>
<p>Chocolate and blue are very in now. If you love it all the better.</p>
<p>Pet friendly? (we have dogs) The dogs can’t go into the formal living room at will. (one dog was known to pee on a rug when we left her over an hour. sweet revenge). Leather is a great selection for pet friendly areas. (our dogs shed) I covet a chenille sofa/lovesweat in that fabric…but it’s not happening.</p>
<p>A neutral fabric is fine because you can punch it up with accessories. Pillows, changed every few years of seasonally (or in our case when the dogs get too friendly with them) can change the look of the room. </p>
<p>And as everyone who watches HGTV will tell you: the cheapest and most effective way to change a room? Paint.</p>
<p>I do, though, go the other way and sometimes choose a paint color because of a much loved piece of art. We have a beautiful painting that came to life when I changed the paint on the wall where I wanted to hang it…now I have a deep red dining room as a result. Then I used the same paint in another room on the other side of the house to balance it. (site lines go all the way through)</p>
<p>^^^Absolutely. I personally dislike the art gallery white that so many people have adopted. Yes, it’s safe.</p>
<p>There is a “home” that we pass often. The owners (based on their security system and shuttered, from the inside, windows) are major collectors. Occasionally the shutters are open and since we are at the light we look in. CoLD. Big art…no life…and an UGLY house which I am sure someone famous designed. </p>
<p>I’d give kopeks to see a big hairy dog running through that house. or life of any kind.</p>
<p>so, I’m guessing: no creamed onions on THEIR mirrors! LOL (couldn’t resist)</p>
<p>I burst out laughing!!! Thank you for a wonderful morning laugh.</p>
<p>No, I suspect heavy breathing isn’t allowed in that house.</p>
<p>“A good rug is many thousands of dollars.” - Yes, rugs can get expensive. And the choices can be overwhelming. It was probably good that our decorator just brought us two choices for our living room. They were small 6x8 rug, and $400 and $600 (1998 prices)… and we ended up liking the cheaper one better. </p>
<p>Two years ago we picked our family room rug area rug from Lazy Boy, with the help of their decorators. I think it was about $600. It really makes the room! Part of the reason is that we selected the couch fabric and paint and carpet colors with the area rug in mind. (We already had our wall tapestry as a started).</p>
<p>I love the navy/brown color combos. After having navy couches for 15 years, I was ready to buy brown. But despite my husband’s fondness for leather, we opted for a more comfortable chanielle fabric… ha, in navy again. But navy just looks good in that room. Both couches are same fabric, but one of them is stationary (non-recliner) style with a lower back so we can see the TV from the kitchen. </p>
<p>It took us 2 years to get around to picking the flat screen TV that my husband wanted all along. But it was part of the master plan. The last steps will be an end table (an odd/big space… still working on that). And getting somebody to make new cushions for the old wood frame chair - a family piece that was the only “stay” item. </p>
<p>Some projects take a long time 
But in the meantime we got a kid off to college and another one back on track for college. Ya gotta have priorities.</p>
<p>sidetrack: I need a table lamp intervention.
I do not like the lamps we have (which still include some hand-me-downs), but I really don’t like the lamps I see in stores, either.</p>
<p>Anothercrazymom, what would it take to get you to come to Michigan? Lake Michigan is gorgeous in the summer…</p>
<p>mafool, lamps can be hard to find and the mark up on lighting is insane. I often buy lamps wholesale from Decorative Crafts. When I have seen the lamps in lighting stores I laugh at the prices, I lamp I would charge a client $180 for was marked $380. I have also spent a lot more on lamps, ut you don’t have to. I firmly believe most people can live in a beautiful home that makes them happy without going broke. Now, most of my clients spend a decent amount of money. I tend to splurge on things in my own home (justified by the fact I pay wholesale), but I do love a bargain. I have several gorgeous chandeleirs I found in antique stores in so-so shape. I bought 2 1930’s fixtures for $275 and $300 several years ago had a little rewiring done on one and cleaned up the other and they look lovely in my 1928 house. I have been offered substantially more for both of them. Of course my one SIL asked me to give her one when I was contemplating a different fixture for the dining room. Family…</p>
<p>I’m with you! Our house is circa 1922 and I have also purchased and rewired early 20th century hanging fixtures.</p>
<p>It’s the table lamps that drive me to crazy. I need them for illumination and task lighting, but I just don’t care for many that I see.</p>
<p>My complaint on kitchen lighting… most table fixtures have “up lights”, and we prefer the bulbs facing down. As we get older, we expect to need more and more light doing bills and tasks at the kitchen table. </p>
<p>We almost bought one that had up lights but with a center task light (with separate switch) in the middle, but it was too pricey for our current face lift.</p>
<p>colorado_mom-
you can find fixtures that point up or down at rejuvenation
[Raleigh:</a> Mission Single-Pole Chandelier](<a href=“http://www.rejuvenation.com/fixshowC650-4/templates/selection.phtml?ref=1]Raleigh:”>http://www.rejuvenation.com/fixshowC650-4/templates/selection.phtml?ref=1)
Don’t know, of course, if you like any of these styles.</p>
<p>Thanks, mafool! There are downlight models available, just the minority. </p>
<p>We actually found one with down lights on sale for under $100 and bought that. We needed black, but our “chocolate brown” model looks black.</p>
<p>"“A good rug is many thousands of dollars.” "</p>
<p>Yup. And it loses a couple of thousands the second a cat pukes on it 
Therefore, my rugs are not from a country with the name that ends in a “-stan”, but from the local Cost Plus :)</p>
<p>Check out Overstock.com for rugs. They have an incredible selection. If you are looking for a large room size rug, you can order the smallest size available (often 3x5) as a sample to make sure the colors are as they appear on your screen. It is not expensive to return these smaller sized rugs.</p>
<p>I found a beautiful wool rug from a well know mill on Overstock that was on display at Home Depot Expo for 2.5x the price!</p>
<p>Until the cat pukes on it…You have no idea. As I said, our living and dining rooms are just that: formal. (My son once “threatened” to go and sit on the couch.) We inherited an enormous antique (1920) Persian rug. Try as I might it didn’t fit anywhere except the den since we already had rugs for those for the dining and living rooms.</p>
<p>As I mentioned: two hairy dogs (one of whom LOVES to dry his face on the rug in the den), three kids (grown with friends) who watch all sorts of games and events in the den with food…gooey drippy food.</p>
<p>After two months of worrying, obsessing, admonishing, I gave up: I called an auction house and a local rug dealer. We sold it. I now have a really nice wool rug from Pottery Barn. (purchased on sale). </p>
<p>Can’t wait for the next event. I don’t care if something drips or spills.</p>