I can't take credit for that headline, but I do detect a new series in it. Here's a question for you (or two): Do books belong in the bedroom? Do TVs? Do little black kitty cats with glowing eyes?

A while back, I posted about this magic scratch remover stuff called Tibet Almond Stick that I used to cover up a scratch in my newly refinished wooden floors. Then nikkirose wrote to suggest that instead of covering up mistakes like this in the future, I could avoid them with these furniture moving pads: Moving Men Furniture Sliders. I know they aren't pretty, but I wonder if they're functional. Has anybody tried them? Do they work? Or is there something else that does? Because I'm ready to move things around, but if I scratch the floor again I'm going to cry.

My friend Elliott writes to say I should buy this skirt from Kiku a Washington state based design studio he found on this website called Buy Olympia, which features lots of cool independent artists making everything from books to, well, clothes. Thanks for the tip, El.

Do you ever suddenly look at some big piece of furniture in your apartment or house and wonder how it got there? I do. My friend refers to it as my amnesia about bad things. You know, breakups, the first time your mother left you alone at school, MOVING. There must be some medical term for it. Lacunar amesia maybe.

In any case, one of the things I can't picture is how I managed to get this huge, heavy white chest of drawers into my former fourth-floor walkup apartment, then down again two years later and into the current residence. But I did, and there it sits. I was thinking I'd get rid of it and dreading the process, but Nick Olsen thinks it's a keeper. Here's what he has to say: watch the video.

Casapinka found some hot vintage lamps for her Hemingway room. I lived in Iowa City for six years and all I did was thrift (and write half a dissertation). There I may have found some stunners like that. Brooklyn, Brooklyn is finished. Unless you know of any secret spots you want to ruin by telling all of us...

Both will be in the upcoming domino sofa guide. The first is the Tight Backed English sofa from the Kohler/Baker Milling Road Collection. I love the fabric, but am not crazy about the shape. The one below is Mitchell Gold called the Dale. Do you like that shape? I am so much more into the squarish sofas, I think.

Photos by Paul Costello

So says Yves St. Laurent. But what is style? I thought I knew. And I thought I had it (however unconventional) until recently. But then I had one of those high shool lunchroom moments. You know the kind, when you overhear someone making fun of what you're wearing. So I've been comforting myself by trying to think critically about design culture and taste. I know they were talking about this a while back on Apartment Therapy, but I can't find the post.

Should you find yourself interested in such things, put on your thinking cap and check out Pierre Bourdieu's book Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste in which he says (and I quote from Amazon: "No judgement of taste is innocent. In a word, we are all snobs.") Not to be a bummer, but he's right.

I think I mentioned that The Deal Hunter, aka Nick Olsen of domino on a Dime, Daily Dose fame came over to help me out of my rut. Here's just a little of what he had to say. I'll keep posting little mini-videos as I learn to edit.

Nick Olsen's lessons in furniture arrangments in my Vimeo account.

Guess what? I had a decorating professional come in and give me some advice last week, which should make, er, some readers very happy. There he is, our own Daily Dose blogger Nick Olsen. We'd been meaning to do this for ages, but haven't been able to find the time. I got it all on video tape, which I will edit and post next week.

Note first how he introduced the idea of symmetry into the room by pairing the white garden chairs at either end of the coffee table. His first lesson: traditional furniture arrangements are a good thing. But I paraphrase. Check back next week for the nitty gritty.

Dangerous question: What's wrong with this picture? A lot of things, clearly, but let's concentrate on one thing at a time. Because you know that's my way. Not. (Today I was thinking that I'm like a juggler here with 15 projects in the air and pretty soon, my friends, I'm going to have to start catching.) Back to the problem at hand.

Here you have my entrance hall--puts the shoes in context a bit. It's really, really, really long--longer than many people's New York studio apartments. In fact, squash it up a bit and you could rent it for a pretty penny in the East Village, just ask the good people at Curbed. But, this is deep beyond-Brownstoner Brooklyn, a good forty-minute train ride away from Alphabet City, and, well, it's not squished. It's just really, really long...

The first thing you see when you walk into my house, if you see in sepia tone, is exactly what you see here: shoes. Lots and lots of them. They aren't usually that neat--I fixed them up for you. As soon as I walk in the door, I take mine off and put on a pair of sequined Chinese slippers. It's not just that I don't like tracking subway platform dirt into the house. It's that I don't like walking on cat food crumbs in my bare feet.

Neither, I assume, do my guests. So I try to press a pair of Chinese slippers on them too--especially the boys. Sometimes they refuse. And sometimes they're sorry they did. In fact, someone once broke up with me because they couldn't abide a lifetime of walking over cat food crumbs. Which seems a little extreme, but what are my options? Sweeping daily helps, but doesn't keep the cats from eating while I'm at work.

Do you make people take off their shoes in the house? Is it horrible to walk in and see shoes? Do these need to be tucked away in a closet?

More pictures of my pretty shoes after the jump...

I collect vintage bags. Surprise, surprise. So just imagine my delight when I discovered Becky, the self-proclaimed vintage bag ho's collection through a post she made on Shelterrific. Puts mine to shame. But compare and despair, right?

I always thought I was the witch in the family. But apprently it's my mother. Contrary to what you might think, this couch belongs to my mom. Is it the EXACT SAME COUCH I found at Everything Goes or what? What's happening to me? Mom, who makes this couch? Is it Baker? Down-filled? And why are you making me decorate my house just like you?

(Thanks to my neice Ashley for taking the photos.) More detailed photos here...

There are beautiful things in my apartment. And I have a soundtrack for these things. I have to remember that.

Your Love Is Like The Morning Sun by Al Green

Check it out. My trusty coworker Luciana Photoshopped the Everything Goes couch into my living room. She also, eh-hem, cleaned things up a bit. Should I ask her to come over?

Now what do you think?

...and I have no idea who she (I think it's a girl) is. But she's got a blog called "My House is Cuter than Yours" and another one called "Swapatorium" devoted to vintage stuff and Just what I needed last week when I was still willing to get rid of things.

So exciting!

Last weekend I went to Staten Island to to look for furniture at this great thrift shop called Everything Goes . My friend Melisse spied this couch and insists that it's fabulously ugly and will work well in my living room.

Incidentally...it only costs $150. No zero missing. The prices at this place are incredible for New York City and they're happy to keep an eye out for you if you're looking for a particular piece. Melisse says if I get a couch that costs $1500 I will fret every single day about the cats ruining it.

What do you think?

No, she's not chocolate, but she is sweet and not fussy like so many other busts. I love her right where she is, next to the gold lamp (it picks up her base) and the gorgeous golden bowl (not to be confused with The Golden Bough). Love that closeup. However, the overall effect of that corner of the room is just wrong. What should I do about that second file-cabinet like piece?

PS: The bust came from the same garage sale where I got my Vargas girl, but I think this is her at statues.com. And I'm trying to find the source of the gold bowl... Anyone seen anything like it?

Does anyone know of someone who refinishes floors near Dallas, Texas? jetguer is looking for some help...

I try. But my shelves are all different heights so often I have many odd-sized books that don't fit where they belong.  Here you see James Joyce's Ulysses (and the Cliff Notes) preceeding F. Scott Fitzgerald. Last time I checked "J" came after "F". What can I do about this?

My floors were redone in September. In October, I was trying to move furniture around by myself by tucking towels beneath the legs. Bad idea. Big scratch. Heavy Deco dresser doesn't slide over wooden floor easily.

THREE MONTHS LATER(!) I decided to try this Tibet Almond Stick. It's this weird little lovely-smelling oil-soaked stick wrapped in wax paper. You just open it up and apply it.

I'm a skeptic, but look, it kind of worked. Djuna, my little black kitty cat, was so happy for me she started licking up the oil. I was worried about her, but so far so good. Of course, I didn't photograph that, so you'll have to trust me.