It's Not Easy...

Sessily asks:

I love the color green, my future hubby does not. Any compromise? He thinks I go overboard, because I like sage green waall paint and wear a lot of green aand want to incorporate jade green roses as my wedding flower, and he thinks it's too much green like leprechaun vomit.


There's plenty of room to compromise here. I could see your fiance's problem if you planned to paint every room in the house green, and compliment it with green curtains, green furniture, green carpet and green kitchen appliances. However, green compliments a whole lot of colors. If he doesn't want sage walls, you could go with an earthy beige and add green accents in the rug, throw pillows, etc. For your wedding colors, pick his favorite and put the two together. You can do gorgeous things with green and blue, green and purple, green and yellow, green and brown, etc. The only combo I might stay away from is green and red, but even that could work for a Christmas wedding.


The key here is that you need to learn how to work green into a color scheme so it won't look like "leprechaun vomit," and he needs to appreciate green when it's used in moderation.

Things You Never Think About

Sneezy asks:

Why is it that facial tissue manufacturers are constantly changing their box designs.  Sometimes I find a box that I think is especially pretty or that fits my bathroom decor especially well and all I can do is buy what they have on the shelf at that time.  The same box is never, ever, there if I come back in a month needing more.  Is tissue box designer a job with very high turnover?

Unfortunately, I don't really have an answer for you. I couldn't find any job postings online for tissue box designers, so either the turnover isn't that high or it's one of those niche fields that you have to know someone to get into. I imagine that if you're employed full time as a tissue box designer, though, that you'd want to come up with as many designs as possible to convince the company to keep paying you.

The last time I bought tissues it was a huge case from Costco. I think they've lasted us about a year. The designs on those boxes are all similar but in different colors, so I use specific colors for different rooms in the house. I suppose going with the discount brands could solve your problem, since they don't spend as much money on box design, the pattern turnaround is probably slower, and buying in large quantities of course means lots of a particular design.

Alternatively, a quick google search revealed that you can special order custom designed tissue boxes from Kleenex. Sadly, the design program runs on Windows, and I have a Mac, so I can't vouch for how well it works. The service is pricey--$4.99 per box--but if you're very concerned about your tissues matching your decor, you may find this worth it.

Finally, you could invest in a tissue box cover. Then it doesn't matter what the tissues look like.

Do the Opposite of Hoarders

Angelina writes:

I have absolutely no idea how to decorate my house. I don't even have an idea where to begin. It's clean, clutter-free, but otherwise a hodgepodge of things I'm not interested in or attached to. I would like to make a change however. Can you please advise a good place to start?

Magazines, the internet, and HGTV.

Pull out or print pictures of everything you like. I mean, everything. If it's a color, a pattern, a particular piece of furniture, a pillow, a painting - anything can be an inspiration, and since you say you have no clue where to start, pull out everything that appeals to you at all.

After you've amassed a good number of images, take a long look at all of them. What things do they have in common? It might be geometric patterns, a color scheme, or even that everything is glittery. And that's your starting point.

From there, you should be able to get a better idea of how you'd like your house to look. Keep in mind what kind of entertaining you do, and if you have or plan to have children: I have a crazy hard-on for all-white couches, but with a little kid in the house, that would just be asking for disaster. If you do a ton of entertaining, you may want an over sized dining table or a lot of little tables scattered around your living room for people to eat on. If you have pets, you may want to look into easy-clean upholstery and carpets.

I always ask myself two questions when I think about buying a piece for my home: Do I like it? and Is it practical? Not everything in your home needs to be practical - art pieces, for example - but you absolutely should like everything you bring home.

Feel free to mix and match - if you like it, it probably has something in common with other things in your home, and will find a place to fit in. Don't be afraid of thrift-store finds or Craigslist coups: any place that sells what you want is a place you should look for it.

And most importantly: Have fun! Decorating is like fashion. You should feel free to play with it, to treat it as an experiment. Your tastes and needs will probably change over time, and you'll be able to change things up as life goes on. Enjoy yourself!