apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Hi, I'm new here, so I think this is what I'm suppose to do.
question: I've been looking around for some great hangers, Theres been a few on here that I've seen but nothing to my taste. Has anyone came across some sites? I always see on decorating shows/mags they have awesome looking closet organizers but can't seem to find any myself!
Thanks!

I'm looking for unfinished floating shelves similar in style to the Ikea Lack floating shelves. Any idea where to buy some online or otherwise?

what a fabulous tub!

Serrakat... have you tried Ikea, they have those great wooden hangars at an affordable price.

i submitted this question to AT but i guess i didn't get picked.

anyone know a good way to hang a large poster. i'd like it to be protected, so now poster rails, and somewhat inexpensive. with a coupon for the framing shop they still wanted $180 to do a frame for it, which i think it crazy, the poster only cost $100...

Serrakat - I love the Huggable Hangers I purchased last summer from HSN. I know it sounds cheesy, but they are amazing. Not only was I able to hang all of the clothes already in my closet, but 5 large storage boxes of out-of-season clothing, as well! They are much thinner than the plastic tubing hangers I had been using, yet are very strong - I can even hang my heaviest winter coats on them. I have seen similar-looking hangers at Bed Bath & Beyond and Linen N Things, but you can usually find special offers on HSN - I got 144 of them with free shipping for $144. The extra storage space in my closet is so exciting!

I have 2 areas I'm looking for feedback:

1) I'm looking for a small but powerful handvac style vac that I can use just to clean up little messes on low pile carpeting. I bought the Dirt Devil KURV (designed by Karim Rashid) that can be left out because it looks so designer... but took it back because it only had 9 volts and didn't pick up anything. Plus, it had a tiny little nose end to suck up the dirt, not nearly large enough to do any good. Any suggestions for a more powerful one for the home (extra points if it looks nice enough to leave out so its handier)???

2) I'm looking at buying some chalkboard wall decals for my office area, thinking these would be super handy. Supposedly they don't make a chalky mess like regular chalkboard stuff, but wanted to know opinions on them. These are the ones I'm looking at so far, but open to suggestions: http://www.brightandbold.com/chwade.html

I'm looking for unfinished floating shelves similar in style to the Ikea Lack floating shelves. Any idea where to buy some online or otherwise?

Jmorey- Have you considered having the poster plak-it mounted? It is a great way to make a poster relatively indestructible. The only downside is that it is permanent.
Take a look at plak-it.com

http://www.lordandtaylor.com/gifts/OnlineShopping/LT?Dsp=1&c=1&cm_mmc=Google-_-BRANDED-_-Broad-_-lord%20and%20taylor

Where I can find an umbrella like this on Lord & Taylor catalogue cover?

Niamh - Thanks for the suggestion, but i am trying to avoid that option. Every time i inquire about framing it they keep on telling me to dry mount it, and i really don't want to go the permanent route. Eventually I would like to cycle posters in and out of the frame (although right now i only have 1) so it would have to be able to go into a storage tube.

jmorey - i had the same issue, i went to home depot, had a cheap, thin piece of wood cut to the poster size, had some crystal clear plexiglass cut to size and put it all together with corner brackets - added a hook in the back and hung it on the wall - i also interchange the posters, super cheap but very sleek

JMorey - I second the masonite and plexi framing -- I'd recommend putting some sort of archival paper between the masonite and the poster to prevent yellowing, and if you're feeling cheap / broke, you can use heavy binder clips (the kind with the silver tabs - available in many colors if you look in the right places) and hold the assembly together that way. Then, you simply pull the tabs off the front sides of them, and stretch picture wire between the top back tabs.

easy peasy.

On the poster frame question you might try and head to TJ Maxx or Marshall's and find a cheap framed print and replace it with your poster. Many times you can get decent frames for less that way.

callie - I read a review of a bunch of those handheld vacs and they came to conclusion that the Black & Decker was the best for the money. The only one that they thought was better was MAYBE the Dyson Root 6, but it cost twice as much!
Here's a link to the Amazon page for the B&D model...though I've seen it cheaper at Target.
http://tinyurl.com/2ct69t

Frames Cheap?

Have you tried to the Basement of Jayson's Home and Garden?

Hey all, I'm looking for a walnut mid-century cabinet for my hallway. Any suggestions for places to try i the Chicago area?

Thanks for the suggestions everyone.

i've been debating the plexi an masonite route for awhile, i had just worried about it looking rippled behind it since there wouldn't be enough pressure. what kind of corner brackets did you use? I just need to find some good antiglare U/V plexi that isn't really expensive since it's so big and is going to be in a high light area.

Pre made frames are out, the poster is 33.07" x 46.46" (stupid metric...) so along with it being an odd size, which i can go 33x47 with it, most premades don't come close to that size.

I've found some fairly reasonable priced places online but then the shipping for it is as much or more then the frame...

thanks everyone

@jerwyn,

try Pegboard modern.

they have some pieces to see on their website.

they have a small showroom in Bridgeport.

http://www.pegboardchicago.com/PC_main.html

On hand-held vacs -- you have to charge the B&D upright, using their wallmounted charger (as opposed to some other models which can be charged lying flat) -- and there's no place in my apartment where a wallmounted charger wouldn't be an eyesore.

Re: poster frame
go to www.dickblick.com and click on framing then poster frames.

Hi,
I'm moving and I would like to donate a bunch of furniture (IKEA stuff mostly but in very good condition). The problem is that the charities I've contacted do not accept glass-top tables (I have a desk, a dining table and a coffee table all with glass tops)...I can't also seem to be able to find someone in my area interested in picking up such items. Do you have any suggestions? Do you know of any charities that take glass top tables? If you have moved in the past, how have you dealt with this?
Thanks!
Ana

new@design:
Give them away free on craigslist. Believe me, you'll have no problem enticing someone to come pick up free goods, and whether it's a poor student, or mom struggling to make ends meet, your free items, especially if they are in good condition, will make someone's day. I gave away two arm chairs on craigslist once, and the woman who picked them up was almost teary, she was so grateful to have found free furniture that wasn't crap. Almost as good as giving it to charity.

new@design:
I second the craigslist idea. Another one is freecycle.org

Wow! Huge thread!

Anyway, I would love some advice... Going to order these (how could I not! So on sale!): http://www.potterybarn.com/products/p7385/index.cfm?pkey=xsrd0m1%7C20%7C%7C%7C1%7C%7C%7C%7C%7C%7C%7Cstripe%20cafe&cm%5Fsrc=SCH in either red or yellow for the kitchen, which is here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/24453785@N02/2316564542/

We are re-doing it, getting matte black stone counters and white subway tile back splash. So pretty neutral. Also, you can't see in the photos but we have a beautiful red kilim rug over blonde-ish hardwood floors.

What do you think, red or yellow? I think red would stand out more and compliment the rug, yellow would be more subtle and blend in more... Agree? Disagree? Thanks!

freecycle is great. I've gave away a few things on there that i didn't want to deal with toting around or trying to sell. I also got an air conditioner from there when i moved to someplace without air and didn't have the spare cash for one when it was 100 degrees out...

Tiffany,

I vote red.

Tiffany -
I second the vote for red.