I have a friend who repainted her cabinets using a white base coat, then used a "dry brush" technique with brown paint over the white giving her cabinets a very attractive faux wood finish.

Two easy moves that can improve the look without too much expense and without changing too much of the fixed design elements.If you go with the idea of adding a mantle and dry-walling above it to the ceiling, you can keep the brick fireplace surround below the mantel and the brick hearth; it will go with the black fireplace insert that you already plan to keep.

Put some--a little--into lids such as yogurt lids, sour cream lids, etc, along with some dry sugar of cocoa powder and slide them under the stove, fridge, back of cupboards, etc, where kids and pets can't get to them.Shouldn't take long before they're gone.

Perhaps it would be possible to embed dried ferns and flowers inside them.

lol, you are correct though, the tape falls off leaving dried residue that doesnt come off.

It was a long dry spell for me - prayerfully you'll have faster lease ups.Anyway, that terrible time inspired me to search for a way to pay the bills WITHOUT tenants.

You're absolutely right, though, it was practically the same shade as dried RedGard where it had been exposed to minimum UV exposure from the four windows in this bedroom, as it has here in the photo posted.I also met the tenant who did this -- and she would not know RedGard from Easter egg dye powder.In other places throughout the room, the paint had darkened a bit and taken on more of a purplish tone.

That well will run dry quickly too, unless I do some delayed financing tricks or something.

If it's cool and dry when you install tight you'll be seeing buckling when it's warm and damp.

No sense trying to stay dry after you have already jumped in the pool.