apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I have been toying with covering the hideous tiling in my bedroom with those decking tiles. I was wondering if my husband could jigsaw the tile for a custom fit around the toilet.

We will be at ikea this weekend checking it out.

nycgrrl

duh.. I meant bathroom....I don't have a toilet in my bedroom....:)

nycwife - please let us know how it turns out if you give it a go...

Yeah, the first thing I thought was "that cool headboard would be awesome in an urban garden!"

One or two of the decking make great spa look mats for bath or sink. Used them before in a large bathroom with a clawfoot tub. Just wash them off when needed. They are not slippery with wet feet and tons cheaper than the wooden mats available from high end online sources. Seriously, try it. Also used one for a dish drainer on the surface next to the sink.

nycwife: An option to having to cut the tile is fitting as snugly as possible around toilet and then filling in the gaps with river rock.

Just a thought!

hippyvieja: GREAT idea for a dish drainer! Thanks!

To do the jigsaw cut...draw a template from brown paper and cut it out. Then trace it onto the tile(s). The fit should be just about perfect.

But I can't imagine doing an entire floor with it...how much gunk would accumulate under tiles? Maybe I'm wrong but it makes me shudder...

i'd be careful with those ikea tiles, they don't have the rubber lining on the bottom, so they may rot really fast and cause mould to form under them....

better off hunting for ones with a rubber section on the bottom :)

My boyfriend and I also used a singular Platta tile in our bathroom to make the cheapie version of a wooden slat bathmat. To insure the floor doesn't get too wet we cut a real bathmat down to size and put it below the tile.

We thought about using these tiles in the bathroom as has been shown on IkeaHacker and the like but a couple of things that deterred us from the idea were:
1) gunk build-up below/difficulty of cleaning
2) the box states that the coloring will leach (will this stain my feet/clothes that I may *gasp* drop on the floor?) Spa floors are made out of true teak, not cheap dyed wood.
3) Who am I really fooling? I will still be able to see the uggo tile floor underneath

I've been planning on laying a long, skinny Billy bookshelf on its side and turning it into a padded bench with storage underneath for a while now. Oh, and my mom re-floored her bathroom with some Ikea cork placemats. Gotta love mom. :)

the manger headboard could work as a screen in front of a fire place ( so long as the scale worked) or maybe as room separation in a studio apt.

If you happen to have a corridor or doorway that's no more than a few inches wider than that headboard, I can see it being a terrific guard gate across a corridor, to keep pets or children in or out - as the case may be. Just add wrought iron hinges to one side and a latch to the other, and mount it on a 1" x 3" strip of wood painted the same color as the walls. You could even build that up a couple of inches to make it fit an opening up to 6# wider than the headboard. Much more attractive than most things marketed for that purpose.

Katie, I think the Billy may not be sturdy enough for use as a shelf, since it's particle board. I love the idea, though -- maybe you could use another of their shelves? Whatever you do, post it to AT.

I have already hacked an Ikea wardrobe for my recently redecorated bedroom. I covered the front of an old Ikea cabinet with different vintage wallpapers and got a cute, eclectic bazaar feel out of a very ordinary piece of furniture. I don't remeber the name of that particular wardrobe but i think the odda would work well for that project. It's a fun and easy project.

stine.w,

Wow! I love your papered cabinet. And your kitchen--adorable. How do you like your SMEG?

Great job stine.w! I enjoyed viewing your pics.

That's funny. When I purchased that headboard I actually thought, "When I get sick of this thing, it will look great in my garden."

I can see using a really cute paper on the dresser for a baby or kid's room! I thought about using those wooden decking tiles to cover up our uglies... but I always thought we'd have to cut them which is just too much trouble. I think I'll go measure just to see though...


http://thebluepearlgirl.blogspot.com

I'll be starting med school within a year (god willing) so I'll be setting up a new apartment. I have a twin captain's bed from ikea that I used while in undergrad. It's in great shape, but I'll inherit my parents queen bed when they buy a new bed this year.

I HATE throwing furniture out or selling something I love just to buy more stuff, so I'm thinking of using the twin bed as a daybed/couch. With some nice coverings and cushions, it might be a nice solution. Plus, it's always nice to have a guest bed available.

I'll add to the love of stine.w 's home. You have a great aesthetic! And nice taste in books. :)

NYCwife and company ... I'm thinking all the same thoughts. Jigsaw around the toilet? But the gunk? But the mauve?

I'd so love to hide the mauve floor tiles in my bathroom. So, so love. I'd love a feature on sneaky bathroom fixes for renters, actually. I need some ideas on how to hide our floor!

The river rocks sound cute but cleanup seems like kind of a project. It is still a toilet, after all.

stine.w--your house is so much fun. love it!

brooklynb, have your apartment completely set up before the first day of classes. You won't have time to work on it at all afterwards. If you're buying furniture, a great couch for reading will pay for itself many times over (by getting you the grades to get your first choice or residency). You will be reading textbooks ten hours a day. I recommend deep buttoned leather. It also helps to review your biochemistry over the summer before you start (have the kreb's cycle memorized, for example). Good luck with your interviews this fall.

Laurenwl, the bookshelf would still have the shelves, which in this configuration would be vertical, so they would act as supports. Plus, the cushion will be constructed on a plywood base, so hopefully that will strengthen the structure as well. I want to get to the project in the next month. Hopefully it works!

The Platta tile is such a great idea! Love it.
I'd even consider sealing it with the kind of stuff you put on wooden porches and make like a make-shift patio- maybe in a small urban space where grass has trouble growing!

I was thinking the platta tiles would look neat as a headboard...

visualheart: i'd be careful with those ikea tiles, they don't have the rubber lining on the bottom, so they may rot really fast ...better off hunting for ones with a rubber section on the bottom :)

OR, you could just get some rubber stoppers and attach them. Now that I think of it, I just might do that.

here2help: Well, you're certainly living up to your handle! Thanks for the advice! Are you in the MC?

I hosted a lot of study groups in undergrad and I'd like to have a place for people to crash if they need it. I inherited a lot of furniture from some deadbeat roommates, so I hope the only new furniture I'll need is a Mikael corner desk and a nice reading chaise. I owned a Mikael in undergrad, but my parents have been using it while I've been in grad school. I don't think they'll give it up. ;)

re the platta tiles (from the ikea website): Wood contains tannic acid which, after a time, can leak out and discolor the sub-floor. Never lay wooden decking on a surface where it would matter if this happened.

maybe *not* the best choice for renters?

We just used 4 (http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/80102151) and 2 (http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/40102148) of these BESTÅ height extension units to build a storage platform under our bed. It's a perfect fit width-wise and just a bit longer than our queen mattress. The extra bit of length isn't a worry for us though. My husband is 6'8" and we're adding an 8" foam extension to the head of the bed so he'll fit more comfortably.

We're using the BESTÅ units as both shelves and drawers. They're great for shoe storage and seasonal clothes. And we joke, the dead space left in the middle under the bed would make a great Panic Room.

emarie, i don't think the Manger headboard would work as a fire screen because it's really tall (66 1/2") and it's powder coated steel. I don't think that coating could hold up to the kind of heat exposure from a fireplace...of course if it was a non working fireplace, that'd be a whole other story.