Luxury For Less : Decorating on a Budget

Written by Camen Natschke


Continued from page 1

Re-Arrange: So easy and possible to do in an afternoon. This is another way to get maximum impact without putting a dent in your wallet. Try configuring your furniture layout until you are pleased. Sometimes you really don’t need new furniture you just need to place it correctly to make it look like you did buy new furniture.

Re-Evaluate: Takerepparttar time to inventory your décor. You will be pleasantly surprised at how much you really do have! Once you know what you have you can decide what to do with it. If you have a wingback chair in your bedroom collecting old clothes and dust, then re-evaluate it! Maybe you need to move that chair to complete a perfect conversation area in your living room.

Re-Move: If you don’t use it or will have no use for it, then remove it! Donate it to your favorite charity, ask a friend if they can put it to good use or if it is a total loss, toss it! Don’t crowd your home and life with “dead” pieces, it will only cause you grief and frustration.

Re-Finish: If you have pieces that are in good condition and still functional then give it a face-lift. Re-upholster that old tired sofa or striprepparttar 130605 paint on that chest of drawers and either stain it or paint it to make it new again!

Re-cycle: Before you throw anything away, think about how it can be given a second life. We all have clothes in our closets that we have put there to be forgotten. Well think about using that old bridesmaids or prom dress as fabric for your fabulous new pillows. Again learn to approachrepparttar 130606 ordinary items in your home with fresh eyes!

Carmen Natschke is a designer, speaker and co-founder of Room In A Kit LLC. She is passionate about decorating and has shared that passion with hundreds of women through her Decorating Divas workshops and seminars. To read more decorating articles by Carmen visit (http://www.roominakit.com).


"An Excerpt from "Midlife Dating Manual for Women"

Written by Susan Dunn, MA, The EQ Coach


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Not so these days! Both men and women these days are more emotionally expressive, and userepparttar phrase much more lightly than you may be accustomed to. When your guy says it, it can mean:

·I have no idea, but I know women want to hear it.

·I’m feeling great and into myself.

·I love myself.

·Will you marry me?

·That’s not what I said. I was clearing my throat.

·A lifetime commitment.

·That was great sex.

·Let’s have great sex.

·We’re having great sex.

·I don’t know, but whenrepparttar 130604 guy inrepparttar 130605 movie said it, he got laid.

“I LOVE YOU” IN CONTEXT

It matters what precedes and followsrepparttar 130606 phrase, and how longrepparttar 130607 time-gap was. Ifrepparttar 130608 word “but” is anywhere around it, there will be tears.

When followed several weeks later by “I care about you very much,” “I love you” meant “I was hot for you but this has gotten too heavy and now I’m outa here.”

When preceded immediately by “I have to tell you something. I’m married but I love you,” it means “I’m hot for you, this will never get heavy, but I hope you won’t kick me outa here.”

You see how complicated it gets!

There’s no general meaning or even non-meaning forrepparttar 130609 term with men. Man are from their OWN planet. It isn’t even as easy as to say they’re all fromrepparttar 130610 same OTHER planet. THE MALE HONOR CODE PART III

It does remain true that if you don’t wantrepparttar 130611 answer, don’t askrepparttar 130612 question. This takes us back torepparttar 130613 Male Honor Code. Remember that direct questions get direct, rational answers; that is, untempered by sensitivity. Being generally lower in empathy, if you ask your man, “Does this make my butt look fat?” (which you wouldn’t ask if you didn’t think it did), and he answers, “Yes. Very,” don’t say I didn’t warn you.

A last part ofrepparttar 130614 Male Honor Code is about “don’t kiss and tell.” This comes up in intimate conversations. You are discussing a relationship or sexual issue, and sharing a past experience in order to increase understanding, to improve things, to make a point, and because you value your relationship to himrepparttar 130615 most. Then it’s his turn to share, and here’s what you get: “I don’t kiss and tell.”

I don’t think it has to do with empathy. It’s more like if there’s one thing that’s gotten through to them, it would be that to talk about sex with another woman would get them castrated. It could also be that while you were talking about making out on a beach with a pina colada in your hand, he was flashing on something about a Mile High Club, himself, 3 stewardesses, a seeing-eye dog, Muratrepparttar 130616 Turk, some duct tape, and a hookah.

WHEN WORDS ARE LACKING

While men will talk about their former spouses,repparttar 130617 ones who had divorce filed on them usually claim to have no clue as to why. It always just happened out ofrepparttar 130618 blue. “I walked in one day and she’d taken all her things. I had no idea she was unhappy.

If your guy is doing this, understand that his interpersonal relationship skills aren’trepparttar 130619 highest (again, no reason per se to disqualify him) and that you’re going to have to deal with problems very directly. I can’t imagine a woman divorcing a man who hadn’t spent sometimes years belaboringrepparttar 130620 same points, which, because he doesn’t know why he was “left,” means he never heard them, which is why she left. Words had more or less become meaningless. Perhaps you, with more age, wisdom and experience, can have better luck!

I don’t speak or understand “Martian” any better than you do; I’ve just learned alternate means of communication overrepparttar 130621 years which work better. How about you?

Communicating with a man in a daily relationship has been likened to training a dog. Reasoning doesn’t work. Explaining doesn’t work. Begging doesn’t work. Clear commands and quick, consistent consequences do. And, as with your dog, you must figure out how to get his attention first. It may mean removingrepparttar 130622 remote control, or even swatting a rolled newspaper onrepparttar 130623 coffee table. Do what you have to do! After all,repparttar 130624 way they learned not to “kiss and tell” was because they did once!

©Susan Dunn, MA, The EQ Coach, http://www.susandunn.cc . Susan is an Emotional Intelligence coach who works with women in midlife, and is the author of “Midlife Dating Manual for Women,” available on her website. Mailto:sdunn@susandunn.cc for FREE ezine.


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