apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

The biggest angst and nuisance in my apartment are suddenly the curtains in the two bedrooms and the living room. The rods are either bending in the middle, almost falling from the ceiling and half fallen already. Horrible. And I so dread fiddling around with electrical tools and ladders... I don't mind mess, I love painting rooms, but climbing on ladders to find the wall too soft or too hard, and curtains falling down already gets me the cold sweat... Help!

Let's see, I need new furniture to put away the clothes that can't be hanged in the walk-in closet, new reading lamps, I need to paint (this will get done this week-end), I need to add some art (maybe a mural)... And I have a budget of zero dollars! I love my Anichini sheets but need to change my matress. It's somewhat ok but I know I would sleep better on a new, firmer, fresher one.

I would also love a vanity table to put on my makeup in the morning and to reclaim my Louis Ghost chair to put it in my room in front of it, instead of in the living room, where I keep telling people not to sit on it (I know, I know, but if anybody is going to scratch it, I'd rather it be me!).

And while I like my bedside tables, they need to be resurfaced (they were my granny's and date from the 30-40's) and to tell the truth, I'm tired of seeing them. I'm craving a more modern look. The thing is, I can't sell them either (my Dad would never forgive me) so... Should I use them in the walk-in closet?

I sleep really well in my room: it's super clean, well-organized (except for clean clothes on the floor, waiting for me to buy furniture) and doesn't have a window (I love that) since it's at the back end of my loft. The wall are 7 feet high (ceilings are 11 feet) so I feel like I'm in a craddle when I'm in bed, surrounded by short walls.

Here's a few pics of my room as of now:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/allabouteve/1363439290/in/set-72157601972567193/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/allabouteve/1362549751/in/set-72157601972567193/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/allabouteve/1362549189/in/set-72157601972567193/

Wellll not quite NO money. Pillows and covers totaled around $50. Gotta love Ikea! I'm so happy with my pink chair that I have a comment on flikr from afjtuba to thank for. I would never have thought to do it and happened to have the paint already!

The main project for my bedroom is to take down the draperies and install woven-wood roman shades, which I already have. It goes against the grain to remove custom-made draperies, but these are high "ranch" windows and the stubby drapes don't do a thing for me.

The second phase, which will not happen right away, is to add curtains, already chosen but not purchased. Somewhere in this I need to patch the holes from removing the drapery hardware, and paint the window frames.

OK in NY is looking for good pillow suggestions to wake up her sofa.

I'm a guy.

I think I have chosen pillows, though.

Design by Alexander Girard:
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d172/okmoreh/millerstripeneutral.jpg

Design by Hella Jongerius:
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d172/okmoreh/dotringcoralreverse.jpg

The idea is for the Girard striped pillows to coordinate with the sofa while bringing the grey of the fireplace around to that side of the room. The Jongerius coral is to add a small amount of the orange from the lamp that's directly across from the sofa.

Wow! I'm so excited to have our place featured a second time. I feel like I'd better work hard to have an apartment worthy of the honor when it's finished. :)

Last weekend contained the biggest part of our physical efforts for the Cure. Getting the paint color wrong was a huge exercise in frustration - we had friends over to help paint and everything, but when the two coats of green (Behr Emerald Lake) were up, they looked terrible. I think I said on my blog that it was like standing in a green Skittle. We trekked back out to Home Depot and ended up with Ralph Lauren Alpine Pool instead. (The photo at the very top of this page shows our study with one coat of Alpine over two of Emerald. We did do a second coat and that smoothed out all the unevenness of the color.)

I'm really, really happy with the second paint color, though. It conveys the forest feeling I was going for and it's very soothing.

I really, really had to push my husband to get him to give up his ratty old college desk, which I feel kind of bad about. He loves the new desk, though, so it's okay. The whole room looks completely different, much more professional and "us." Our friend J. who came to help paint wasn't there for the second day of painting: when she saw the photos of the finished room she couldn't believe how different it looked. Oddly, though rearranging the desks to face each other gave us MORE room rather than less, and we each have a nice little corner plus a perfectly adequate walkway, not cramped at all.

I hadn't planned to throw a party at the end of the Cure, since our circle of friends aren't generally the type to do dinner parties (and we don't have a dining table anyhow), but it turns out that we will have company that last weekend. My dad's going to be in town and will be staying with us, so that's good incentive to have everything done.

Pixie and Smallcitybeth:

Sorry for the delay in replying. I was off-line for a few days.

Without posting three lists of 30 items each to show how they add up to a fourth list of 30 items, I’m not sure how clear I can make what I’m doing. But I’ll try without making an overlong post.

The lists are everything I need to do for the entire apartment. In the case of the bedroom, the cosmic list has getting replacement pegs and perhaps an additional shelf for my closet system as item five. Item eight is files and filing (about which everyone by now has heard more than enough I suspect).

Neither item is on the wow list. The first three items there are sell books, fix the bedroom floor lamp, and replace the bedroom closet handles. I’m not sure clearing one more shelf of books really relates to the bedroom at this point, but for the record, that’s item number six.

Irk, like wow, is in the eye of the beholder. While fixing the lamp is only number two as a wow factor, it’s number one on the irk list, followed by the door handles and then the closet pegs and shelf. Clearing a shelf of books and finding new homes for old books are five and eight respectively.

When the ranking are totaled, the final results can be organized. The floor lamp for example is 11 on the cosmic list, so its total is 14, putting at the top of the total list.

The closet stuff comes in at three; clearing another shelf, five; selling the books, six; the door handles, seven; and the infamous files, eight.

That doesn’t mean that’s the order in which I do things, though. This week I’ll be dealing with the lamp and selling books (one and three). Clearing another shelf (two) is going to have to wait for a burst of energy.

Hope that helps.

Pearandopal, I really like that color too.

Yay, I have a featured picture!

I'm really excited about the theme I'm working on for my bedroom. I bought different colors of IKEA pots (with plants) last week to match the colors in the painting above my dresser. I absolutely love the color combination, but now I need to figure out how to continue it on the other side of the room, (without painting). I guess I should get back to cleaning the closet now.

Pictures are here:
http://www.poweredbytofu.com/2007/10/22/apartment-therapy-week-7/

and here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/poweredbytofu/

JonathanB--so the cosmic list involves repairs? Or generally anything that will make the apartment function better?

Wow and Irk seem fairly self-explanatory.

So, let's say Item A is #1 on Cosmic, #8 on irk.
Item B is #3 on cosmic, and #3 on wow
Item C is # 3 on irk and #12 on wow

So, on the master list,
Item A would be ranked 9th or (9/3) 3.
Item B would be 6 or 2.
Item C would be 15 or 5

Sort of something like that?

oh, and I haven't quit.
We'll be installing a new faucet in the kitchen this week: yay! But it also means installing shut off valves (which we don't have) on copper pipes so it may take a while.

And I just spent about an hour scraping off some of what's left of the veneer on the dresser drawers. It'll take more elbow grease and vinegar before I'm done, though.

JonathanB - Thanks for the explanation.

What about items that are not in crisis stage but if taken care of will ward off crisis - like replacing a water heater, which is the same age as others in the building, some of which are suddenly springing leaks? Do your lists relate only to non-crisis or non-crisis-aversion/responsible homedweller items?

The Flickr group won't let me post pics anymore (why is there a ceiling? A daily limit should be enough to control overflow) and I have no idea how to remove some, so I'll link to my week 7 album here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/allabouteve/sets/72157602653734548/

Are you looking for a dresser Eve?

Those nightstands truly are gorgeous. Is there another family member you can give them too?

wow, i'm honored to have a photo featured. Thats a photo of my office and its amazing how a change of color can completely calm a room.

Well the bedroom is packed with more clothes than I thought I had, and its taking a while to purge. Purging just my sweaters will free up a ton of space. I'm also going to paint my old wardrobe white to match the existing dresser. I want to paint the entire bedroom, but I don't think i have time this go around. That may have to wait for a weekend project after Thanksgiving.

Alana and Pixie:

It’s everything that relates to household improvement or maintenance. It goes from the serious – fix a something that’s broken – to the silly – get a new tissue box cover.

The list started quite a while ago, before I found AT, but thanks to a cure or four, although I keep adding to the list as I find something else that needs to be done, the list overall has grown smaller and smaller.

And yes it includes replacing something before it breaks, which in my case is a 30-year-old stove. It still works, but almost all of the others in the building have had to be replaced, so it’s only a matter of time. On the cosmic list it’s in the top ten, but since there’s no wow or irk factor, it bottoms out there, which pulls it way down on the to-do list.

On the other hand, I do do things on the list regardless of position if I happen to run across it. And since I have to hit California Closets anyway to replace some missing pegs and get an additional shelf and since Home Depot is across the street, I’ll at least start shopping a replacement stove.

I can't WAIT to show you the pretty much finished alcove, but I need to make one more installation (a new overhead lighting fixture) first. I just have one question though.

My new lamp (from IKEA, because I'm cheap and it's within walking distance) comes with three circuits - black, white, and green. It also has a fourth ground wire which is separate from the first three.

My original lighting fixture is crazy old, and only has black, white...and ground. So....where do I put the green wire from the new lamp?

If anyone has any wiring experience, I would be really appreciative of an answer. This is all very new to me! Thanks!

Well it's a good thing I didn't have anything to do in my bedroom and I'm close to being done in my kitchen because due to a family emergency I have to get in my car and drive to Austin Tx ( I don't fly anymore). I may be gone weeks. I'll finish the kitchen project when I return.
Good luck and have great end of cure parties.

Sorry to hear that lorijo.

Marcelo--um, forget about the green one. We have old wiring too and extra bits we just don't bother with. You're lucky yours are colour coded! There's only one fixture we weren't able to replace successfully (some, admitedly we haven't tried) and it's on a dual switch (top/bottom of stairs thing).

Four exams down, two more to go! One is tomorrow and the other isn't until Monday, so after I finish the one tomorrow, I have plans! oh yes I do. I am going to go to the grocery store, the ATM, do laundry, do dishes, take out the trash...oh it's going to be good! All housekeeping tasks have been on hold for the past few days due to studying, so it'll be nice to get the apartment clean again!
As far as the bedroom, I think I am going to do it in two weeks, rather than just this one. It needs quite a lot of work, and a trip to Ikea, and the Ikea trip is definitly not happening this weekend. But I will start on the closet and clear my dresser top, and see how much time I have left after that...
Tonight I was able to take a little break from studying and took a nice hot bath in my newly cleaned and de-cluttered bathroom - what luxury!

Jonathan, I haven't seen the start of that discussion but this makes *so much sense*. Thank you! I'll keep this in mind for all future "what do I need to do around here on the weekend" situations.

olya: it began in the previous Cure thread -- 6.5? -- if you want to be pedantic about it, but you've probably got the basic idea from what's here.

Jonathan, the method sounds great for those of us paralyzed by decision making. Thanks for sharing it.

I'm very far behind due to a couple of weeks vacation in the middle of this. The kitchen still needs more work, but I felt I really couldn't tackle some of the clutter problems until I sorted out the storage situation. The storage situation meant dealing with Mr. Magoo's Closet in my front hall.

I now have five over-flowing boxes and some other miscellaneous sitting on top of the desk I'm getting rid of. My beautiful new English Arts & Crafts sideboard was delivered this week so the desk is now in the middle of the apartment with stuff piled on it.

Doesn't Maxwell say in the book somewhere that it will get worse before it gets better?

I now have six large plastic tubs in the closet. One of them doesn't even have anything in it. There's empty space on the shelf, room for another box, and I haven't even begun to contemplate the clearing of the bedroom closet.

I'm quite happy, because I've really been worried about finding places to keep things that are really important to me (like my grandmother's china and silver). I felt I was going to have to start making unhappy compromises about things to keep. I've been avoiding clearing out because I didn't want to face the compromises.

It turns out, now that I've plunged into this, that it's just a matter of getting rid of stuff I don't want or need. Most of that stuff is really obvious; it hasn't been hard to make the choices at all.

I know this is a really long post, but I wanted to put this up for all the people who are overwhelmed with stuff and are afraid to start this process.

ZuleikaD: I love the fabric swatches on your flickr page! And your new sideboard is equally gorgeous! congrats on that!

The bedroom is a frustrating place for me right now (decorating wise, heh heh). It seems whenever we have someone over, we race around tidying up and all the crap gets throw into the bedroom. It is also the place where things tend to go when they don't have a home. My outbox lives in a corner of my bedroom and that is NOT fun to look at. There is so much I want to do that requires $$ that I don't currently have. I'd like to get matching lamps for our bedside tables, replace the hardware on all the furniture, actually GET the bureau at some point so I don't just have a bunch of drawers lying around, buy a headboard, and get new white sheets and a white dust ruffle. These are all things I hope to accomplish after the cure.

For this weekend I'm going to focus on things I CAN do right now. I'll be doing tons and tons of laundry for starters. The floor of our bedroom is covered in dirty clothes (mostly mine). I'm also going to buy a new ironing board and actually iron some pants and shirts for work the following week! Maybe then I won't dread getting up every morning knowing I have to iron something to wear... Another project I want to tackle is my bedside table. I need to get some little trays to sort stuff in the drawer because right now its just a pile of papers, receipts, pens, earrings, and hair ties. I also might try to recover a lampshade! and deal with the outbox!

Unrelated to the bedroom, I bought fabric to recover our computer chair. I was expecting it to be a persimmon color but when it came it turned out to be NEON! PUMPKIN! and its awful. Since I can't return it I'm going to try soaking it in some burgandy Rit dye to see if that darkens it a bit.

ZuleikaD--Good for you! The first pass through the stuff is always surprisingly easy. I'm glad it gave you so much space. That's tremendous.
AmandaC/susiegoombs, I feel for you. We don't use the bedroom to stash (but only because that would involve running up a flight od stairs) but, it seems to always fall under the radar on purchasing new things to freshen it up. So, I too am trying to make do with what we have right now and spiff it up.

In Cure news:
The new faucet is installed!
We also put in shut off valves (there weren't any before) and the sink is back in place. Minor hassle, there, as the husband couldn't find replacements for the long, long screws which hold it in place. But he soaked them in something over night and managed to get enough rust off of them to reuse them.

But now I have a question--where do you put your dishcloth? We hand wash our dishes--no room for a dishwasher--so it gets fairly heavy use. I used to just drape it over the faucet to dry: but I don't want to do that with my shiny new one. But I'm stumped. Where do you put it?