apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

ooh, look, I got a little shout-out! thanks! I've been pretty obsessed with your site since I stumbled upon it a couple months ago. It's great - keep it up.

I need to make a change - my roommates have a terrible, very old vacuum cleaner that blows dirt around everywhere. It's also very heavy.

We live in a big loft (about 2500 ft?) and have just a couple of small area rugs.

Part of me feels I need to buy a nice vacuum (was even looking at the Miele stick, although it's out of my budget, really) and part of me feels I should just sweep and vacuum the floor and buy a strong hand vacuum for my one 4x6 area rug! Am I just being lazy? Is sweeping best?

I have an Electrolux Pronto that does basically nothing. I'm afraid it seems worthless.

Ideas? Let's say $250 is top top top budget but really I'd rather spend less than a hundred... I'm a student.

Thanks...

PS By Miele stick I mean the Miele S163... it gets good reviews but I haven't seen/heard it mentioned on AT.

This is my first post, although I've been reading virtually every word of this website for several months now!

I need some help with my bedroom closet. It's built into the eaves of a finished attic, so the back wall of the closet is only 55" tall, while the front is only about 72". I'd like to put an organization system in there, but custom is so expensive and the closetmaid/rubbermaid type systems all seem to be too tall to fit.

Does anyone have ideas?

Thanks!!

Anyone know the sofa from The Big Lebowski? Silver with cusions?

Cyndiu,

How deep is the closet? And how wide is that 55" tall back wall? Are the corners of the closet floor right angles?

Cyndiu - there is a "20 ways to organize your bedroom closet" post a few below. An inexpensive option would be to start with three hanger rods. Two in the front (if 72 inches will allow) and one in the back. Then build off of those with linen hanging shelves/organizers. If the front would not allow two levels of full-length shirts, you can use the top bar for the hanging organization items, and maybe your shorter items (like skirts, if you wear them). The back bar can be for seasonal or less-frequently worn items.

of course, this suggestion is premised on the idea that your response to Felonious's question is that the closet is deep enough...

Does anyone have any ideas on how to plan a built in bookshelf? I want to have built bookshelves built to cover one wall of a room. I will use them to store hundreds of books as well as a ton of art and office supplies, 2 printers, and 2 lap tops.

AND, of course, decorative objects to make it look pretty.

Any ideas on how to plan the shelving?

Felonious,
Thanks for asking. The closet is 105" wide and the side walls are at right angles to the back. The door opening is 99" and is roughly centered in the 105" total width. The depth (at the bottom is 39" and from the top of the 55" wall, it goes on a slant till it meets the front wall at about 72".

With the width, it seems like a big closet, but with the slanted ceiling, it's tough to plan something in there! Right now its just got one bar straight across the middle at about 60" and shoes all over the floor.

Cyndilu - I'm a Container Store addict so I shelled out the big bucks for Elfa for my closet. My closet is under a set of stairs so I have a sloped ceiling and strange configuration too. I fit all of my stuff into the closet and I'm amazed. It's really been worth the money. I have two hanging rods along the back and another that runs back to front along a side wall. I store shoes and purses on shelves on top of the hanging rods.

http://flickr.com/photos/pookndamon/2426546176
http://flickr.com/photos/pookndamon/2426548242

Thanks Cynthia! Actually it never occurred to me to have hanging storage on the two side walls, but in your second picture the closet door would be where you have your purses hanging, so hangingin space on the sides would totally work! I want to put some drawer space in there if possible as well, so I'll begin haunting the Container Store and Elfa products. Thanks for the tip!

Sleek, if I recall correctly, the sofa is a Le Corbusier, either the LC2 or LC3.
http://www.dwr.com/product/designers/h-l/le corbusier/lc2-petit-modele-three-seat-sofa.do

Can anyone recommend a good and not bank-breakingly expensive lamp repair place in the city?

I saw these lamp repair places mentioned on the Best of NYC section of NY Magazine:
http://nymag.com/nymetro/bony/services/2005/11378/

http://nymag.com/urban/guides/bestofny/services/04/lamprepair.htm

I think there's one on Amsterdam in the upper 70s.

I can't promise that it's not kind of expensive, but a friend of mine at least got some kind of satisfaction dealing with the repair folks at the east side (main) branch of Gracious Home, and I've had some good look dealing with the people at the West Side branch, although they weren't doing anything with a lamp for me, it was repairing the hinge of my original-equipment late-1930's/early-1940's medicine cabinet.

Thanks, anne and Curtis!

Hi Mdeathstar! Did you get your sectional yet?

Cyndiu,

If you replace the clothing rod in the back of your closet with an Elfa rod, it'll hang at a much lower height than the current 60 inches. Elfa rods must be suspended below one of their shelves; that eats up several inches. Since your back wall is only 55" high, your rod might end up less than four feet off the ground. Might be too low for coats and some dresses. I love Elfa, but it's something to consider.

If the clothing rod hangs toward the back of the closet, and you're hanging stuff along the full length of the rod, then the available surface on each of the side walls would be only about 15 inches wide. You could probably install a 12" wide Elfa system on each wall.

But if you don't think the expense is worth it, you could hang hooks into a stud in each of the side walls and use hanging shoe storage. If your closet has a door, then there's also over-the-door shoe storage. Underneath the clothing rod, you could have a neat line of standing shoe racks. stacksandstacks.com has a lot of options.

I just discovered having an expanse of bare, uncluttered floor in the closet is the most mentally refreshing thing ever. Just getting all your shoes organized and off the floor will probably feel great.

Kerri - It was just delivered on Saturday! I LOVE it. In hindsight I would have gone with the industrial fabric (my cats are already making their marks) but I'm happy.

How about you?

Mdeathstar- Congrats!!! Mine is here in a warehouse I am waiting for it to be delivered to me. I had to go out of town on family emergency about a week and a half ago so it should be at my place tomorrow or friday. Could you take pics, I am so anxious about what the fabric looks like. We both got the Totem Storm. :-)

I'll take some photos tonight and post them to my flickr account and put a link here.

The fabric is "tweedier" than I expected but I'm pleased. It's neutral enough to blend with my ivory carpet and brown chair.

Yeah that's what I was worried about...as long it's not the type of tweed that snags. I can't wait. Thanks for sharing.

kerri - check the photos here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mdeathstar/2531677469/in/photostream/

Mdeathstar- Thanks so much for sharing!!!! Wow! I can not wait for mine to come now. It looks great! Those back pillows looks so comfy. Thanks again! :-)

It is VERY comfortable. Enjoy!