www.31daystoclean.com

The next thing on my reading list. Wait. What's a reading list? The only kind of list I have is a "to-do list." A to-do list of things that never seem to make it to the "done" list.

Well. Maybe THIS is what I need to get a DONE LIST to replace every one of my TO-DO LISTS.

Except for learning how to clean your house, I have no idea what this book is about. And no, that was not just a disjointed disclaimer. Or was it?

But since it was FREE (if I blogged about it) and my house is pretty much anything but clean and the subtitle says, "Have a Martha house the Mary way" and my blog subtitle talks something about Martha and Mary (you know, that Bible verse up there? Yeah. You know what I mean) and my house is pretty much anything but clean and I'm pretty much a Mary-wanna-be but stuck in a Martha mode and my house is anything but clean, I thought all 27 of those reasons were good enough to advertise this book on my blog despite the fact that I have yet to read it.

Okay. THAT was a disjointed disclaimer.

Ahem.

Have I mentioned my house is pretty much anything but clean?

I do supper dishes after 11:00pm.

I fold laundry only to put it in a basket and leave it there because that's the exact amount of time I have to do laundry.

I clean my bathroom because government officials would start making visits to my house if I let the bathroom go one more week day.

I mop the kitchen floor only because the dog was sick all over it.

I don't take pregnancy tests because not puking while mopping up a kitchen floor that had a sick dog on it proves that I am not pregnant.

(okay, that last reason was random.)

I have never scrubbed my diningroom floor. Ever. My MIL did it once when she was visiting. That was 4 months ago though. So I guess it's time.

I still haven't written all my "Thank You" cards for people who so kindly shared gifts with us when Korynne was born. I've only written 2. Oh wait. Make that 3 thank you cards successfully written. That dining room floor that got scrubbed once? Yeah....

I only scrub the shower after I bathe the dog anymore.

I've only bathed our 4 year old dog once.

I grow science experiments in my fridge.

As if I didn't have enough laundry to do, I decided to cloth diaper my baby. Which has been a wonderful choice. Actually. I'll tell you about that later. Maybe. IF I get my to-do list done....

And last but not least, I NEVER blog. Ever. Anymore. At all.

So maybe if I had a clean house, I'd have more time. To blog and write thank you's and stuff.

I'm the type of person that if you dropped in on me and my house was a mess, I wouldn't be able to sit and casually visit until I at least got the living room picked up. But since I know that might make my guest feel bad for stopping in unannounced, I ignore the impulse to tidy the room. And then with all the courage and strength and will power that I have left after 4 natural and unmedicated child births (please don't ask why I did that), I force myself to SIT. But I HATE sitting when the room I'm sitting in that I'm responsible for, is a mess.

I would love to be able to relax and be stress free in a messy house that's mine. I pray that God would make me content with clutter and messes. But He refuses to answer my prayers in this department.

So I guess I'm gonna give THIS book a try. You should check it out too. :)

What Roofers Can't Do, Plumbers Can

We had this pipe in our basement. And it leaked more weeks than I wish to count for days. Dripping in our basement making a gigantic puddle causing some condensation, this pipe continued to drip. And drip. And drip. You know how pipes do that every once in awhile just to let a little pressure off because they're old?

Well, this pipe started dripping and like most pipes do, it continued dripping. For some reason, it is not a self correcting/sealing pipe.

So, considering the plumping expertise of the people that live in this house, we began utilizing an amazing feature. I mean seriously folks, I can't believe this plumbing repair option is not marketed yet. A person could really make a lot of money off advertising this, not to mention doing seminars, classes and home demonstrations.

What this Amazing Plumbing Repairs For Dummies involves is a strategically placed bucket that is positioned exactly in the precise angle and latitude and longitude of the impending drips coming from the invisible leak in the pipe. It takes quite a bit of concentration and investigating and calculating but once you do it a time or two, it is worth the effort.

My well experienced recommendation (and believe me, I have a lot of experience with this) would be to get several buckets and place them in the general vicinity of the drips. Although one bucket is better than none, several are better than one.

As mentioned already, this leak had been going on for several weeks a few days and the man of the house determined after some encouragement from his wife on his own that it was probably a good time to contact some professional help. AKA: plumber.

Of course, you can always hope that a leaky pipe will fix itself and I am pleased to say that we definitely gave this pipe time to heal his leak. We are such patient people, in fact, that we waited for a really long time. The Automated Reseal in the pipe just didn't happen.

Amazingly, the leak got worse. Instead of dumping the bucket a couple times a week, we were dumping it several times a day.

So the plumber came on Thursday and in no time flat, he has conquered the leaky pipe that was rotting the floor joists, growing mold up above it in the bathroom and sopping the basement floor with it's continual dripping.

Now, I hate to succumb to the "I told you so" mentality that often befalls those of us that "Told them so" but when "they" didn't listen and then it turns up that "I told you so" was right... well, the only thing you can say is, "I told you so."

What makes me refer to this is that prior to calling the plumber and prior to the plumber getting to our house and prior to finding mold in the bathroom, I had mentioned to the man of the house that perhaps he should just double check and make sure this wasn't a homeowner repair job. Toby had already decided on that and thought it would be wise to personally investigate the leak because you know how a person hates to pay an unnecessary plumbing bill, right?

My dear, brave husband checked it out one day and diagnosed the problem as an Overspilling Copper Dilemma (OCD). Considering he does not have the tools for OCD (such as a torch and other copper repairing tools), he deemed the plumber invasion a wise idea.

"You know how I am with plumbing, honey," he said. To which I calculated in my head: Toby + Plumbing = Disaster. This mental picture had built so vividly above my head that Toby could see it too so I had to immediately delete that explicit picture and say, "Leaky Roofs + Toby = Paradise." He breathed a sigh of relief to know that I am still the cheerleader for the team he's on.

Bob the Plumber is a really nice guy. He really is. Once he took pity on me and our snake filled yard and he told me how he had hit a snake with his own lawn mower and never had snakes in his yard again. I took his advice. It worked. This guy knows his stuff. And Thursday was no exception.

He had a truck full of copper fittings and copper pipes and copper this and copper that so he was ready. Entering the house armed with a flashlight, he went right downstairs to the problem. Within no time, he was upstairs and in the bathroom.

His diagnosis?

Well, you know that pipe-tube-thingy that attaches your toilet to the water supply right behind the toilet? Yeah, go look in your bathroom and you'll see what I mean. That gray/silver (depending on the year it was made) pipe-tube-thingy had malfunctioned. So as the water entered the toilet, some of it slipped out and ran down the OUTSIDE of the tube-pipe-thingy and followed down through the narrow hole in the floor drilled just for accommodating that tube-pipe-thingy and then it dripped downstairs into our Bucket Invention right past that OCD copper pipe.

The repair plan?

Unscrew the tube-pipe-thingy
Toss in bathroom trash can
Screw in new tube-pipe-thingy
And then empty that bucket in the basement one last time.

I looked at Toby and smirked smiled gleefully lovingly but didn't say a thing. I could tell what he was thinking.

The mold is gone. The basement is dry. The pipe-tube-thingy gleams a bright shiny silver behind the toilet. So pretty. It feels good to have such a modern upgrade in our old house.

On Change, Contemplations And Completions

I am right in the middle of two-full-of-change weeks. So much change and so much to contemplate and so much to complete!

A wonderful friend is heading to China for an indefinite amount of time. She plans to learn Mandarin and teach English. The rest of what she's doing sounds fun and exciting. Taking in the Olympics there will be a huge event in her life. I mean, really, how many of us have ever been to the Olympics?? The sad part about this departure is the fact that we did not bid each other good bye. (Wisconsin is too far away.)

Another close friend just returned from the desert of Africa. After playing phone tag for a couple days, we finally spoke. The visit was good and the pictures were fun but having both over a cup of coffee would be better. (Wisconsin is too far away.)

Yet another dear friend is heading to the sombreros of Mexico this week. Her blond hair and bright blue eyes will shock many as she launches into a fluent Ecuadorian accented Spanish. I was able to at least partially say good bye to her since she did just visit me a couple weeks ago. (Wisconsin is still too far away.)

And last, but definitely not least, my own favorite blond sister fell in love. I'll have the rest of the story probably some day. In a nut shell, she fell hard. But somebody caught her. And I'm thinking she pretty much really likes him. (Wisconsin is definitely too far away. )

As for me, I am just here... in the Midwest... living a full life yet without a plane ticket or sombrero or adventure ahead. Unless you call catching 4 snakes an adventure. (before you congratulate me, I will admit they were only garter snakes and I DID have leather gloves on). I finally completed a large landscaping project and hope to tackle a few other projects this next week. My own dear love has been under the weather with strep throat and feeling rather ill. So, doctoring him up has been a "project" as well but one I am glad to say is completed. Now to get that baby better...

I'm feeling rather "retro" these days and want to blend some 50's style blue into my house. We'll see if that pans out to amount to anything of value. I am brimming with other new ideas but not sure if they'll just be ideas or actual completions. My kitchen needs help badly and the red apples are beginning to glare at me and feel depressing. That house project we were working on earlier this year has kinda been pushed to the back burner until Toby has more time in the evenings and weekends. So, a fresh coat of paint should be in order for our kitchen, even if it will get changed several months from now.

My house is a walking garage sale -- I have so much stuff to get rid of. But, before I can actually have the sale, I have to sort all my stuff but before I can do that, I have to clean out a spot where I can sort stuff but before I can do that, I have to convince my husband that a garage sale would be worth the work and effort and time. If I don't convince him, I'll be the one hauling all that heavy furniture down the end of the driveway sometime this summer. And I can't really see myself being capable of that.

The yard is finally looking better. I'm sure my mom won't be able to believe that I may have some of her green thumb genes in me, even if it's not an experience I call "therapy." So, the pictures will prove that I can PLANT things but we'll see if I keep these things alive.

There will also be a little change around my blog in the next couple weeks so stay tuned for an important announcement about the change I am contemplating completing.

The 9,731st Thing I've Learned The Hard Way

Never get a cat. Period. Just don't. No matter how cute they look, seem, feel, act or how many mice you have or think you have, just don't get a cat. Get a stuffed animal to cuddle for you and buy a trap for the mice.

My experience has been this:

Picture a cute, cuddly, friendly, well mannered cat. A nice picture, right? Indeed she was.

Now, picture this cute cat a few months later. Got it?

Picture her walking through your basement.

Just slowly walking, normally, nothing real exciting about her gait, walking from one end to the other.

Are you picturing it?

Now, mix in some sound to your picture. Mix in the sound of a howling/pathetic/painful/cry/wail/loud blend. Got it?

Listen to the sound for week after week after week after week. Yeah, that's right. For that long. Listen to it until you have visions of manually strangling the sweet creature simply because you have become delirious.

You probably will comment now and say, "Oh, your cat is in heat." If she's in heat, honey, she is perpetually fertile.

That's our cat for you. Such a sweet thing.

Update of Fate and Snake Hate

I have a blog
I have a dog
I neglect my blog
and feed my dog
aren't you excited
my priorities are righted?

I have kids
they play with lids
they play with pans
they play with cans
they play with pots
they play a lots

I have a house
without a mouse
I like to bake
without a snake
my house you see
it has some snakes
and that is bad
oh, that is sad

It is such a pain
to hear the rain
it comes right in
and that is sin
the floor is wet
and the snakes they get
wet snake bellies
and eyes of wet jellies

We are taking the time
to spend a dime
to fix our home
and the snakes that roam
the water will leave
oh I can't believe
my house will be dry
the snakes go buh-bye!

With another dime
(I love this rhyme)
our kitchen so small
is expanding a wall
a bigger and better
(oh, I just love this letter)
is coming to us
such a happy fuss!

Without further adieu
let me say to you
that writer's block
it has a lock
where I like to think
and put to ink
the things I think
and the thoughts that dink

With a small fight
I broke the tight
block of lock
that block of mock
that kept me quiet
I hope you didn't buy it
that I wasn't busy
or perhaps even dizzy

And here I am
a blogging ma'am
coming to you
with a rhyme that's new
to tell you that
my work is fat
my work is full
my work not dull

My kitchen a mess
(the heart of this nest)
is getting some work
and I must not shirk
on making food
for my handsome dude
or watching my kids
play with my lids

So all that to say
that from this day
I will try to blog
(and feed the dog)
but I may not be
very frequently
updating this site
so go fly a kite!

What To Do With A To-Do List

As if to play a part in an ongoing brigade of change and decay going on around here, our van has turned a gear and decided to add itself to our growing list of things to fix. The thing with that list though is the only thing that ever changes on it, is the addition of more items. Unfortunately, that list seems to not have a "cross off" feature on it.

Well, at least it feels like it somedays.

First it was the basement. When it rained, the rain gauge outside was the exact same as the rain gauge in our basement. Funny, huh? So we got smart and made sure all our storage items were in rubber maid bins or on top of rubbermaid bins. Fix the leak, I can hear you say but really, why go to the bother as long as you store nothing in card board?

So, my husband got smart. He researched leaky basements. And he found the perfect remedy: a a paint-like texture that once applied to the walls turns into a rubber-like substance which results in a complete water proof barrier. We could drop our house in the middle of a massive swimming pool and not get a drop of water inside. Sweet stuff.

I'm sure this stuff will do the trick eventually. The reviews were incredibly promising. Funny thing is that it just doesn't seem to work no matter how long we store it in buckets down in the basement. State-of-the-art repair man, that hubby is. (Actually, he really is when he has a little of that thing called "time." Ever heard of it? We sure haven't lately.)

But, riding even higher on our to-do list was the perpetual problems going on in our one and only precious bathroom. Talk about turn-of-the-century accomodations. Only, this was at least a century behind in function and performance.

For starters, the faucet leaked. No, not the drain; the faucet. We came up with an excellent solution. By positioning a container to collect dripping water under the sink, we aspired to repair the situation by just dealing with it in a very cost effective manner. The container would fill with water and then be poured out and then be put back under the leaky faucet. Great idea, I'm sure but we never were able to figure out where to put the container. The drips were inconsistent and sporadic and seemed to drop wherever the container wasn't.

At this point we realized why there was a hastily written handnote duct taped to the bathroom sink when we bought this house last spring: DO NOT USE SINK. (Tip ---> if your real estate company offers free plumbing inspections, accept them at any cost. Really.)

As if the leaky faucet wasn't bad enough, the drain volunteered its membership on our to-do list. It just completely quit working. If you couldn't remember if you had brushed your teeth that morning, you had at least until bedtime to check the bathroom sink for frothy toothpaste. Add shaving results and shaving cream to the frothy water and top it off with sudsy soap and by the end of the day you had quite the chemical reaction going on in the sink.

Yet, above all, the most inconvenient part of our bathroom was the shower. The faucet part where the water comes out was loose and rickety. If you pulled on it at all, you could see the pipe behind it. The stopper that you pull up on in order to activate the shower had completely malfunctioned. So, you technically couldn't take a shower but you also couldn't take a bath either because the plug for the drain was like a bath timer: you only had minutes to enjoy a full tub and suddenly, your dreamy bath soak turned into a shallow drought.

Embarking on a new career, my so-not-a-plumber-husband assured me he could fix it all. What man doesn't wish to rescue a damsel in distress, especially if that distressing damsel happens to be his wife?

So, that's when he got the bright idea about the container under the sink that fixed the leaky faucet. As for the anti-drain drain, he bravely picked it and pulled globs of slimy hair out. (what a hero!) And when it came to the malfunctioning shower, he turned to his roots (carpentry) and brought in a small load of wood. Yes, wood. With the skill of a brain surgeon, he strategically crammed several pieces of wood shims up into the faucet resulting in a permanent shower setting in our bath tub. This setting worked but the water pressure was pretty low because half of the water came out the faucet through the shim dam and the other half sprayed haphazardly out of the shower head. It took a whole hot water heater full to fully rinse your hair.

I'm not married to a plumber. And in case you didn't catch that I'll repeat: I'm not married to a plumber. Toby can fix about anything but that anything doesn't include plumbing or cars.

And just yesterday he informed me that the van's transmission is going out. But, I can't entirely believe him because just a few months ago he assumed something tragic had happened with our outdoor spigot of the home we were selling. So, for once he called the plumber. (Smart thinking.) Only problem was that the spigot had no problem: it merely needed the shut-off valve turned to on. That's why for him to conclude out of the clear blue that the van needs a new transmission, I'll not hold my breath until a real mechanic looks at it. Who knows? If the van is anything like the shut-off valve at our old house, the van could just need the oil changed.

Sweetly enough though, while we took our latest trip to visit my folks, Toby arranged for a plumber to come and totally repair our bathroom in our absence. I knew nothing of the arrangement either. I was more than just a little surprised and elated when we came home and found a modern bathroom in place of the previously dilapidated accommodations.

As a double feature, we not only get to enjoy our new bathroom but we also get to experience the thrill of crossing something off The List. Unfortunately, those slots on our List have already filled up and overflowed but at least we can enjoy a good shower in the mean time.

Follow Up Post

Before beginning every task on my to-do list, I set the timer for 10 minutes. My goal was to see if I could get the jobs done in 10 minute increments. If for some reason I couldn't, I just finished it up before going on to the next job.

I guess I could've neglected the project altogether and gone on to the next thing -- you know, sort of a "punishment" for not getting the job done fast enough.

Then, I would've been left with several almost-finished projects and perhaps that could've been good incentive to work really fast from now on. But I knew if I did that, I would never succeed... punishment or not.

With the bathroom, I finished it in just above 10 minutes but included in this task was filling the little dresser between the tub and the dryer with all our winter stuff.

Finally, our hats, mittens and other winter apparel has a place to go. When our bathroom is clean, it makes alot of other things easier and more orderly because our bathroom also functions as a laundry room.

The dining room took just under 10 minutes. That included sweeping the floor as well as the general pick-up of the room.

I always enjoy fixing the dining room up and making it appealing and ready for the next meal. It makes it easy to think about and prepare for a nice, well prepared meal.

I recently purchased those place mats from TJ Maxx on clearance for 4/$5. The table cloth came from a consignment/thrift store.
The candelabras were a recent buy from Goodwill for $0.99 each. I still need to get candles for them but wanted to look for homemade rolled beeswax candles.

The kitchen on the other hand, took 130 minutes -- I set the timer 13 times and boy was I glad to see the end of that project! Considering the kitchen needed everything done, I wasn't surprised it took that long. I had made several mental notes of what I wanted to get done in there and was thankful it all fell into place. With the recent purchase of 2 kitchen islands on a major clearance sale at Shopko, I finally had room to put a lot of my kitchen stuff. I wanted to make a baking center for one of the islands so that everything would be within easy reach.

It's amazing what happens when you put your children down for naps, light a candle, set the timer 13 times and buzz around your workspace. At last my kitchen is a functional, easy-to-work-in place. I'm so glad and inspired to concoct all kinds of goodies and time consuming meals.

You'll see the functions of the above picture displaying the islands. The little dresser in the bathroom that now hold our winter stuff, used to sit where the island on the right (above) now sits. The new set-up works a lot better.
Here are some of the details of the decor in my kitchen. The little candle on the left is a factory reject Yankee candle I found at Goodwill. The "Ginger bread spice" scent smells up the whole house and is a good invigorater for me when I don't feel like cooking or cleaning. Candles seem to really motivate me for some reason!

The picture of the dried apples was a project I did a couple weeks ago. We had a bag of grainy apples that were not good eating apples so I cored them with my handy Pampered Chef corer (that thing is awesome!) and sliced and dehydrated what used to be rather mushy apples. They look so pretty sitting on the counter in my apple kitchen so they serve two purposes: eating and decorating.

That marks the end of the first day of working off of my world wide web to-do list. I'll keep my blog updated with further achievements and aspirations.

To-Do List

My darling husband always encourages me to write my list of work out. I always tell him that I'm too busy to make a list. That writing a list is another job that I'd have to add to my list of things to do.

Toby is a faithful list writer. His method is to use the blank side of small 3x5 recipe cards turned vertically and then writes his list in perfect rows. His font is so small, I marvel that hands his size can create letters a zillion times smaller than his own finger print. He will keep that list on hand and though he may forget his watch or his cell phone or even his own car keys when he leaves to run an errand, he will never forget his list.

Since he has learned this method from the best (his mom), I'm taking his admonition today and practicing something that he always does very well: make a list.

If there's anyone that can take the cake for list writing, it would have to be Toby's mom. She will neatly fill a recipe card or any scrap of paper (recycled envelopes, odd pieces of card stock, blank sides to printed sheets of paper, note book sheets, etc.) with everything that she has to do -- whether it's an item to buy at the store or a reminder to ask a friend about the quality of the fabric they bought on sale the other day. EVERYTHING goes on that list. Often, she'll have more than one list on hand too.

She prints by hand her list of things to do in a very fine print and could even put Microsoft Word's 10 pt. size font to shame with how neat and precise she is. She carries that list devotedly in her pocket and will use it as a quick reference all through out her day.

I love reading her lists. It gives me an idea of what I should put on my own lists. And since she's silently and unknowingly impressed on me the necessity of putting everything on a list, I'm going to start today's list out with:

1. MAKE A LIST

I want to seriously motivate myself to get my work done today and get on a roll for the next few days. So, I will humbly publish on the world wide web everything that needs to be done in this 1288 sq. ft. abode in the next few days. You'd think with this small space, very little would have to be accomplished. The following list will prove that whether mansion or shack, my list of things to do is overwhelmingly long and full of variety.

In order to cross something off my list today, I might as well go ahead and make the following list...

1. MAKE LIST (as mentioned)
2. REORGANIZE KITCHEN (rearrange, redecorate, clean, fill new island with necessary stuff, etc.)
3. CLEAN OUT FRIDGE
4. VACUUM LIVING ROOM
5. DUST LIVING ROOM
6. VACUUM BEDROOMS
7. FOLD AND PUT AWAY LAUNDRY
8. WASH BATHROOM MIRROR
9. EMPTY DISHWASHER
10. LOAD DISHWASHER
11. CLEAN OFF MY DESK
12. CLEAN OFF AND ORGANIZE TOP OF TOBY'S DESK
13. DUST BOTH DESKS
14. SWEEP AND WASH KITCHEN FLOOR
15. ORGANIZE OUR CLOSET
16. HANG MATERNITY CLOTHES
17. CLEAN OUR ROOM
18. ORGANIZE JANAE'S CLOSET
19. REARRANGE JANAE'S ROOM
20. ORGANIZE LANDON'S ROOM
21. GET RID OF EXTRA KIDS CLOTHES
22. SEW BLOOMERS FOR JANAE
23. SEW STRAP COVERS (for Toby's coveralls)
24. FINISH JANAE'S PILLOW CASE
25. SEW RAG QUILT FOR COUCH
26. ASK TOBY TO BRING FABRIC BIN IN
27. COVER BOX (for plastic bag holder)
28. PUT TOYS AWAY (again)
29. REPLACE PICTURE BOARD WITH NEW PICS
30. PUT WINTER STUFF IN "NEW" DRESSER
31. PUT AWAY DUFFEL BAG (that's been storing winter stuff)
32. PLAN MENU
33. SHOWER
34. FIX HAIR
35. MAKE SELF PRETTY
36. LIGHT A CANDLE
37. PLAY MUSIC

The last few things are only there for the fun of it. And, because I'd probably rather just get right to work without taking thought for how dishevelled I am. In order to make the house get in order, I should at least look half the part of orderly. Then, when I wonder where my bench mark is in the midst of a mess, I can just look in the mirror and get re-motivated.

So, I'm off to shower and spray some perfume and twist my hair up. After that, the list is my goal.

Proper Room Lighting

A light turned on in my head when I read the information below. I found it interesting, especially since I do this already in our home but never really knew it was correct -- even to a New York City Interior Decorator.

Wow, we're pretty upscale in our trailer home and didn't even know it. (!)

Before I entered the state of bliss that one enters when they become married, I had always dreamed of having a cozy living room with several dim lights accented evenly around the room. Now that I live in bliss and also have my own living room, I've become acquainted with the fact that I indeed share the room (and the marriage bliss) with another person.

And that certain person has at times expressed curiosity as to why there are so many lamps on but the room is still dim. Thinking they were doing our home and electric bill a favor, they bought a value package of florescent bulbs for the cozy ceiling fan in the living room and proceeded to change several light fixtures in our home.

I don't think the electric company was as disappointed in our lowered bills as I was with the drastic change of lighting.

Vital marriage communication played into the role as to what lights should sufficiently accommodate the money saving lighting. Toby had never known I didn't care for the lighting caused by fluorescent lights and I had never known there was concern with our electric bill. Now you see why communication is always important.

According to statistics, florescent lights are only efficient if they are left on for several hours. They use the bulk of their energy when you first flick the switch on. After that, they just seemingly glow and use very little power for the number of watts being burned. Turn them on and off several times and you won't be as impressed with your money saving bulbs as you would be if you just left them alone.

Until now, I never had someone to back my lighting decor philosophy up. Thanks to Scott Salvator, I have proof that dimly lit rooms aren't always bad.

To me, lighting makes or breaks your household ambiance. If you have a well decorated room with cozy couches and soft, inviting chairs and even have a candle burning and music playing, the entire atmosphere can be shattered by a bright, overhead light, or a florescent bulb glowing it's cold, yellow glow from a table lamp. Equally so, if you have to squint your eyes in order to see where the couch is, you just might need to turn your lights a little brighter or rearrange the lighting in the room.

The following title is key:

Balance, Scale and Variety

by Scott Salvator, featured by Bed Bath and Beyond

"The key to a well lit, glamorous room is to have many types of lighting and in various wattages, including table lamps, uplights, task lighting, spot lighting, etc. This allows you to dim, raise or turn off individual lights to create different scenes. You don't want one halogen floor lamp in the corner lighting your entire room. People also often choose too small a lamp, which looks ditsy and doesn't provide enough light. Formal and period lamps such as porcelain vases converted into lamps usually belong in more formal rooms. Ceramic glazed pottery is more casual and can usually be used anywhere. Other lamps are designed for certain geographic areas, such as white birch floor lamps for the mountains or palm carved lamps for Florida."

• Tip:
  When in doubt, oversize a lamp, but do not oversize the wattage. Use several lamps around the room instead of one or two.
  
• Tip:
  60-watt bulbs are good for most lamps, except reading lamps, which require a higher wattage.

credits taken here.