Name: Becke, Lee, Pierre and three geriatric cats (Badooda, Magiggles and Einar)
Location: Lakeport, Ontario, Canada
Size: 1800 square feet
Years lived in: 1
Becke & Lee are self-described "artists, computer nerds and wheelers & dealers" of vintage goods (at The Vintage Cabin on etsy) who made the move from the city to the country a year ago. Becke writes, "My husband & I made the move out of the city & into this house a year ago so we could have more space to garden, be creative and enjoy a more relaxed lifestyle. Since we've been here though, it's been nothing but work!"
Q: My wife and I live in a small suburban condo but dream of building our own house someday. We hope that staying here another year or two will help us afford the big move. My question is, and maybe some of the readers have resources as well, how do we go about designing/building our own home? Do we contract an architect? Have other Apartment Therapy readers attempted this?
Q: My boyfriend and I moved into our new apartment about a month ago and are LOVING all the great natural light. However, it seems that these two east-facing windows (they're smaller, towards the top of the wall) let in a ton of heat along with all that great light. The "glass" isn't real glass, but rather a peice of plexi and I think that has something to do with it. We can feel the floors and furniture in their path get very hot, even on mild days. 
As fantastic as it is to see far away friends and family for Thanksgiving, it is pretty universally accepted that this is a tough week for traveling. If you are one of the brave souls hitting the road this week, jump below for a quick round up of posts that might make things just a little more organized before, during and after your trip.
Q: I live with seven people in a six bedroom house. Everyone except me is a slob. We have had house meetings and people promise to clean up after themselves, but they don't. I will move out at the end of the lease, but do you have any ideas for how to deal with people like this? Thanks!
We went to a party on Friday night, where the host had a whole series of "parlor games" planned for the guests to play. Once everyone had arrived, we moved into the living room where a sofa, loveseat and TWENTY FOUR chairs were available for us to be seated on. 
We haven't. When we head out of town, our dog goes to friends (or comes along) and we are not really "plant people" so that isn't an issue. I think it feels ok because we live in a multi-unit building - we know that someone is always around. How about you - have you had a sitter come keep an eye on things while you hit the road?
In Ohdeedoh's biggest contest to date, we had a huge field; with entries coming in from all around the world showing rooms of all sizes, for kids of all ages, and naturally, in a rainbow of beautiful colors. The readers gave their thumbs up to get their favorites into on to the next round and then had to make the difficult choice on just one room to give their final vote to...
Q: I recently painted my Craftsman dining room (larger photo below) with white trim and royal plum walls. My table is a family heirloom that I just had refinished so I'm not even going to dare to leave it bare. My question is: what color tablecloth or even table runner with placemats do you suggest? I really want it to look elegant so I'm thinking gray but part of me would like to be adventurous and go with green or orange. Any thoughts?
