As we hit the weekend, it's time to think about getting stuff done tomorrow and finishing it all on Sunday. The Book Blog is here. Tuesday's post is here.
Meanwhile a few of you asked about good Landing Strip suggestions and we wanted to pass along this recommendation.
The Hola Y Adios table at DWR is elegant and about as slim as you can possibly get. We have used it a number of times with colorful bowls, a lamp and a cork board above it for messages and other loose, important stuff.
Weekend Question: from Melinda
I need a little feedback on something.
The metal door of our apartment (click here for picture) will remain a bulletin board/message center, although we'll be weeding out some of the crap on a regular basis. It's also a nifty display for our magnet collection...
What I need are suggestions on how to make it look like something other than the door to our apartment with crap stuck all over it.
I've already decided what to do about the ugly clump of phone wires plastered to the left-hand side and the top of the trim. The carpenter who will do the beadboard (haven't picked one yet) can do something similar to Curtis' "Hiding Cable in Front of Marble Saddle" thing, and then paint that and the trim the same color.
Bearing in mind that the style I'm working towards is "Urban Rustic"--or as I like to call it, "Soho Shaker"--how do I work that style into defining the door as "bulletin board/message center"?
Would blackboard-colored paint work, or would it be too overwhelming in a small, narrow apartment? As you can see from the credenza and the bed, I have no problems about going for large furniture in a tiny space. more in last post thread
This Week's Assignment:
Reading Week 3 - The Landing Strip - pps 100-128
Worksheets are available here. Click here for the Book Blog.
What a cute table-shelf, and I love the name!
Here we go again. DWR table $498 + $45 in shipping. Check out Room and Boards Slim Console Tables from $159-$189 and only $21 shipping. And they dont need to be attached to the wall- no drilling, no screwing....
I really like JoJo's idea, stripping the door. Of course there are chemical dangers, but the end result would be 'urban rustic'. I can picture it in a well kept (uncluttered) well decorated apartment. If things were to accumulate by the door, it might just look unfinished.
Hey there - I'd recommend painting a border around the portion of the door you want to use as your b-board area and/or painting inside that border a different color than the rest of the door.
Also, I can't tell if the larger piece of paper toward the left of the photograph is one of those "mandatory" fire notices the city wants us to all have. If so (not that I would recommend anything illegal, mind you) but I'd ditch it. Everybody in my building did after letting the super install them with a wink and a nod. They are just SO ugly.
Lastly, try to keep the items on the door in a grid pattern - maybe even painting that on, too. You want it to look like things that you are keeping for a reason rather than a random assortment. To that end, you might want to try adding some artful postcards to the lot.
Good luck,
Sharon
Melinda -- if you like my frame idea from the other page, you should find a good picture frame and attach it to the door with those strong little magnets. For that matter, you could frame a couple of your favorite pieces and stick them on with magnets...
well, seeing as you can paint the door... maybe just paint half of it or the upper 1/3 of it with blackboard paint and the rest a nice calming shade of blue (like the dwr console wall up there). that way you have a defined area for notes only and a defined area for stuff stuck on there. and the area below would always be clear?
Melinda,
One idea to control the appearance of clutter - frame out an area on the door with simple moulding creating an area within the door for memos, photos, ect. - which will seem neater that what you have.
I recommend offseting the moulding from the edge of the door at least 6 inches on the top and side - set bottom frame no lower than chair rail height. Paint the frame an accent color or to match frames you use elsewhere. Inside the frame paint the surface accent color, or chalk board paint. You could even use pretty paper.
Do re-paint the whole door - it looks like it needs it and will really help the whole project look great.
Either cork or blackboard for the door - both would be fun!
cork options: jelinekcork.com
Holly
Alternative to a faux frame (which is a perfectly good idea) -- paint the entire door a nice color, then paint broad horizontal stripes in a distinct enough shade to show up as different. How different depends on your overall color scheme.
Line up the magnets inside the stripes, row after row. If you also keep the left and right margins of your stuff straight, you end up with a very orderly arrangement. (Like those houses where there are forty different-shaped pictures all on the same wall, but the outside edges of the arrangement are square, so it all looks orderly.)
I'm not sure why I think the stripes are necessary to this look, other than that they give you existing straight lines to follow and emphasize "this is DESIGNED."
(Thanks to Maxwell's prodding, I am going to finish the touch-up paint in the foyer today, for real, REALLY.)
Ever and anon anon lasers in.
For what it's worth, I think lils is onto an elegant solution.
I encourage you to think outside the door, so to speak. Assuming you're keeping the furniture as it is, it looks like your notes etc are posted above the line of that nearby bookcase (?). I would hang a message board over that. 4 of those bird patterned FLOR tiles hung up there would work and they feel a little Urban Rustic to me.
TY Henrietta
I love Alex's idea of framing an area out. I would think it would be fun to find a cool old frame, attach it to the back of the door, and paint the area inside with chalkboard paint.
I think that if you did the "frame out" thing, you should use chair rail molding, but do it in the shapes of how a panel door might look; that would give you the rustice thing, I think, and then prime the whole door and the frame moldings and then paint that whole thing with that magnetic paint they blogged on here a month or so ago, just in case all these coats of paint are making your (metal, right?) door lose it's metalness for putting magnets on.
But I also really love wende's idea about the strips, except I'm have a hard time imagining them being rustic modern, but more of just modern.
Wow, you are all good. When I first read the question I was stumped and thought I really have no idea. And then I read all the great suggestions. I am just going to plead Friday.
Curtis, my brain is working at half capacity today, and "modern" was the half I got. I'm not kidding.
I posted this on the other post about the landing strip...but it doesn't hurt to ask again. If your door dumps you into the living room (my layout--walk in, TV on right, sofa on left, dr table behind that, small area to walk to your left), should you even bother having a landing strip there, other than a place to put shoes? I love the concept, but I have a coat closet and my mail shredder in the kitchen, under the jutting-out part of my counter, which just seems to make more sense. Not that anyone's forcing me to put something right beside my door, but I was curious what others with similar layouts thought!
Here's an idea: strip the door! I have no idea what 'urban rustic' is, but this is an option--you decide if it works: Use a heavy duty paint removing gel on the door to strip it to the bare steel (must use chemical resistant gloves). Finish with a coat of clear marine sealer (available at Janovic in a turpentine like metal container). Gives an incredibly look that gets great compliments in my loft. Beware: the stripping stinks to high heaven as does the sealer. And the stripping takes a couple of coats and patience. The end result is super cool, though.
I know the pic here is not too flattering, but this is a great entry table.
http://www.crateandbarrel.com/family.aspx?c=989&f=6758
We are going to pick one up this weekend for our new landing strip!
Thanks for the "frame" ideas, folks!
By the way, the whole apartment is due for a paint job as soon as I find a good carpenter to put up paneling on the walls that are Far Beyond Paint.
I picked up "Country Living 750 Ideas for Decorating on a Budget" for inspiration the other night, because it was on sale 1/2 price at Barnes & Noble. I'm sure I saw some doors in there somewhere.
Oh yeah, and the "Fire Regulations" thing? We keep taking it off to throw it out and then we change our minds and put it back up, not because it's illegal to remove it, but because we're afraid we're going to jinx the building or something and it'll burn down.
Christine, I've been pondering the same thing. My front door goes right into my living room, no entryway whatsoever. I always go through my mail right when I get in the door so it doesn't pile up, and throw trash in my recycle bin under my sink. Keys go in the purse, which goes on the back of a chair in the kitchen. I have a coat closet, so I'm not sure that I need one. Unless my purse deserves its' own table. Probably not.
Besides, it would be one more surface for the boyfriend to attempt to clutter up!
Christine, I have a similar layout. What I'm planning is to put a 2 tier table to the right, mount some hooks on the wall for coats, and put a trash can/recycle can for paper below. As long as I'm not dumping wet gunky trash into the paper, I have no problem taking out catalogs etc for recycling and shredding other paper. Now, my coat gets thrown on my files in the corner, my books and bag go on the couch, and I'm always hunting for my wallet and keys. The key for me is to have a space that is just big enough.
I have no landing strip (my front door also opens into the living room) and I'm good about putting all my stuff where it belongs. The problem is getting my daughter to do the same with all her crap. So I may be figuring out a landing strip anyway.
A designer friend of mine came down with a bad case of the cutes when it came to the "Fire Regulations". He went for a pretentious frame, ribbon, and an elaborate hook. Very Mario Buatta.
What about re-contextualizing the fire regulations - type them in a great font to make them into some sort of graphic, or print them out on rice paper, or whatever....
or supersize them to cover the whole door?
I like the idea of painting in a grid, perhaps even one that takes on the function of a universal calendar. Magnetic numbers move to number the days of the week properly each month, and leave a gridded area outside the "calendar" for odds and ends.
Well, the whole point of a landing strip is that things go where you plan them to, not that you have a table with specific functions. This is my entryway:
http://flickr.com/photos/czarina/125879385/in/set-72057594102874204/
I just have a place to hang my coat and put on/take off my shoes. Recycling goes in that big red box. Over to the side is the non-cooking part of my kitchen counter, where everything lands before I deal with it... Before my renovation, the mail landed on my stove, which wasn't so great, really.
hmm...
I'm inspired by rachel in denver: "What about re-contextualizing the fire regulations - type them in a great font to make them into some sort of graphic, or print them out on rice paper, or whatever...."
That's it. I'm staring a new business:
Fire Regulation Crossstitch.
Maybe with little emboidered flames across the bottom.
Further silliness is based on those old fashioned ribbon boards-- map out a grid (say, 3 or 4" squares) and frame it in at the top half of the door. if you have favorite magnets, put one at each line intersection on the grid. Get some lovely satin ribbon (in burgundy perhaps) and run it on the diagonals of the grid (under the magnets) & use the magnets to hold the ribbon in place. Tuck your notes, etc, into the ribbons.
I'm channelling Martha Stewart today: lovely idea, far too elaborate to set up, and not very practical as I suspect stuff will fall out/off after a few entries & exits.
um, paint the top half with a faux cork finish?
Mary,
I like your little bench--where did you get it?
I might try a little something different, but I think I have embraced the spirit of a landing strip without actually having one...
Landing strip? You need bikini wax for that.
Melinda, do you plan on painting the door a different color? A color change would clean it up for sure. I wish we had a metal door, genius idea for the message center. We just have a board in our entry way. I am wwaaaay behind on this week's assignment but I'm on vacation... I'll catch up when I get home.
That mini table is in my style tray! Perfect for our skinny hallway.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/putyourflareon/sets/72057594111477588/
Given the discussion of sticking things to doors with magnets, this SF Chronicle article on displays on refrigerators is timely (and no, the author is NOT against them on grounds of clutter):
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/04/29/HOG3IIFTJA1.DTL
Christine -- Thanks! It's from Ikea, but I couldn't find it on their website now... It may have been discontinued.
My landing strip is going to be either a LACK shelf ($15) cut down to size, or the VALTER/TRYGGVE brackets and shelf ($17). I'm leaning towards the second one. http://www.ikea.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?topcategoryId=15561&catalogId=10103&storeId=12&productId=70387&langId=-1&parentCats=15561*15637*15648
My goal is not to have yet another piece of furniture in my small apartment. However, if you need more storage in your entry, you could mount this LACK shelf unit ($70) horizontally, keep the top clear, and use the cubbies underneath. That way it should always look neat.
http://www.ikea.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10103&storeId=12&langId=-1&productId=11317
Late to the party, but I always did the same thing on the door in my old apartment, and will probably do the same thing in this new loft. It is the one place I always look, so I don't forget the events put there.
My thought was to find magnetic frames (even plastic) of varying sizes and place them over the things I put on the door. I could never find the frames I was picturing (no pun inteneded) though.
Mary, Christine, I looked up the bench/table/shoe storage, and it was part of the KANTRA series. They had also had a curvy hat/coat rack to go with it. It was in the 2003 catalog.
I thought I'd check to see if it was maybe in Canada, nope. But I had NO IDEA that IKEA had a television show!!!
http://www.spaceforliving.ca
And I'm counting the minutes until Patrick says "HELLOOOOO Mr. Holtby" (on the "About the Show" page)
Looks like there is a lot to explore, and they have a contest, so check it out.
Dorio:
Re: Magnetic Picture Frames
Any here you like?
http://tinyurl.com/ggwdt
Better prices on just the photo pockets here:
http://tinyurl.com/knj39
Check locker items for other attractive (get it? magnetic!) ideas:
http://tinyurl.com/ltzeo
Small frames at IKEA:
http://tinyurl.com/lyon5
Melinda:
You could do frames on the door, just frames, any lightweight frames, here are some colorful ones at IKEA:
http://tinyurl.com/goglt
Here are unfinished wood ones:
http://tinyurl.com/zpwal
I'm thinking what you could do with LIGHTWEIGHT frames is use double-sided sticky tape to mount them on the door, semi-permanently.
The upper area where you'd have messages, you don't use the backing or the plastic cover, just the frame. Or even a thin backing of colorful tissue paper, that will add color and will still allow the magnets to hold. All cluttery items, notices, etc, are contained within the framed area.
The lower areas can actually BE art prints. They don't have to be expensive limited edition or original anything. Just something you like.
You can set up the frames to be like a panel door, four, six, eight panels, depending on your door size and what sizes the frames come in. You can try it out now, with newspaper or binder paper and see how it would look.
It doesn't even have to be art prints or posters. A nice fabric could be used to back all frames. Whether or not they had messages posted in them.
If the frames are really light, you might be able to hot glue on magnets and just stick them on the door.
...and if the frames are heavy, you can take these suckers from the container store:
http://www.containerstore.com/browse/Product.jhtml?CATID=62523&PRODID=64312
Drill a shallow hole in the frame, and attach these in with a little dab of Liquid Nails. They're really tough -- we have a hard time getting them off the bulletin board. You can also buy strips of sticky-backed magnets at craft stores.
Scrapbook paper and artists' paper also make good "generic" filler for photo frames.
Don't wince at "scrapbook paper" -- it's not all country plaids with OUR VACATION written across it in faux rope. Some makers do modern designs that look similar to fashionable upholstery or wallpaper.
nyc gardeners, i just posted some flowers on the classified that are free to a good home.
so i was working on my landing strip (which still really needs work)but became inspired by the sunny weather to work on windowboxes last night.
sold...the petunias and impatiens are going to a backyard garden in carroll gardens.
Andree, thanks for the links! Leave it to IKEA to have just what I am invisioning. Now I just need and 8 1/2 x 11 size. Maybe a mix of the IKEA frames and the large size photo pockets to keep everything cleaned up and straight-edged on the door.
wende, et al -
What else you could frame are the new 18" x 18" sample of Benjamin Moore colors; they're only $3.99; got a few the other day and they're much better than looking at those tiny little things, although they only have them in select colors.
But seriously, framing some of those blocks of colors could be really nice.
I like the idea of painting the door...paint a frame around the edge and a solid color in the middle. Get some really cute magnets that go along with the color scheme and you got yourself a design.
Curtis, I fall at your feet! I've been planning to redo the paper in the photo-screen-thing that hides the LR radiator, but my really exciting sheet of replacement paper is... um... dramatic, and I've been at a loss for what could work with it. A solid color will be a real help in quieting things down.
Now I'm tempted to run amok with paint samples in the boring panels of some of the doors here. Match the bedroom pillows on the bedroom door as a pure geometric design, with just one or two art paper panels that have a little metallic in them...
wende -
Glad to be of help! Now stop touching the hem of my garment, and rise up and run, don't walk to where ever they sell them. Honestly, they don't sell them at every single Benjamin Moore dealer, which is the 7th Ave/23rd St. Janovic.
So far, I've only seen them at one, and I've only been in one other place that sells their paint, which is an Ace Hardware Store that didn't appear to have such a fancy thing as that HUGE carousel of those samples.
Even though they only have selected colors, I think they represent their overall selection pretty evenly, so you're bound to find something that falls within what sounds like a pretty broad palette in that thing you're trying to match it to.
Of course, you realize that a quart of the paint is only about $10, but for your purposes the nice-and-neat factor of the paper samples is really probably optimal.
It turns out that the Benj Moore Web site tells which stores are supposed to have color samples, and one of them is within walking distance for me.
Nice-and-neat is great, as this is a project that takes half an hour if it's just a matter of cutting paper to size.
Well the landscape designer came on Saturday, and besides being totally excited about working with him on my front & back yard, he gave me a TERRIFIC idea for my house as well. Right now, the setup for getting to the backyard is not so great, as the only door is in my bedroom. The bedroom used to be the garage, which they closed in and carpeted. That means I take my trash out through the bedroom, let the dog out through the bedroom, everything. It's really annoying.
He suggested knocking out the back wall of my living room and putting french doors or sliding glass doors where the set of windows is now. (the windows in this pic would become doors)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ambernussbaum/118747699
Those windows are directly opposite my front door. This would solve so many problems. I don't get a lot of natural light in my house as it is because my yard is very shaded (by many wonderful trees) and the windows are so small. So it would add light, it would let me access the backyard from somewhere other than my bedroom. And also, we will put the patio garden/ grilling area/ outdoor entertaining area outside those doors so it will be a gorgeous view when you walk in my front door.
I am so excited about this. I can't believe I didn't think of it!
Amber that's great! Isn't it wonderful to be so energized about the place you're living?
I FINALLY got the tupperware organized this weekend, as well as cleared off my fridge. I also took pictures and left the camera at home.
I spent Saturday running around, but sunday woke up and tidied up a bit. I was not happy with the big table in the kitchen, it was too crowded, so I moved it to create a dining room again. It looks SO MUCH BETTER!
The icing on the cake was a couple friends stopping by while biking in the area, and they said "oh, it's so cozy and cute in here!"
:)
half a table at that price...I shudder to think what the full table costs
Cure update pictures in my name, complete with commentary and gratuitous food shots. :)
Really nice, rachel!
thanks!
Your office re-do is impressive as well! Very impressive!