apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Out here, it's the kind of gray day when one wants to paint one's living room yellow and fill it with lively modern furniture in yellow, orange, and cranberry tones.

Having committed to an entirely different look, I'm going to resist the urge... but I feel like the character in A Chorus Line who broke into other people's houses to rearrange the furniture.

Well, I'm going to try to stay off line as much as possible the remainder of my 4 day weekend and work around my apartment.

Yes, I have Tuesday off as well. Still struggling to sort and clean out my clutter. Have several other projects waiting my attention: Brush the dog; put up new shelf in bathroom and re-hang a mirror in bathroom that has come loose twice now (the frame is soft wood and the screws have pulled right out, luckily it hasn't fallen on my dog or broken yet, I'm going to try some Gorilla Glue with new screw holes); take down & store Christmas decorations; install a USB PCI card in my computer and update my software so I can connect my new digital camera and printer. At some point today before the weather gets bad I need to go in to Housing Works and donate a bag of old clothes that's been sitting by my door for a couple weeks now. Everything seems to take longer than I expect it to.

Better get off line and get back to work. Happy New Year everyone!

There are so many things I want to have done to this place. I don't want to tackle any of them until I get my ceiling painted and I keep putting that off because - well, who wants the destruct a room to have their ceiling painted?!

Question - what does everyone do with the inside of a door? Paint it the same color as the room or leave it white like the outside of the door? In my tiny bathroom I have the inside of the door painted the same color as the walls but I'm thinking I should paint it out and make it the same color as the other side. The door is always left open and it's not seen from any part of the apt.

Curtis (or anyone else who can answer this)- should that door (metal) be primed before painting it? Or do I have to scrap off the paint before painting? I'm going to have to prime the rest of the bathroom since it's now torquiose and I'm going to paint it a soft sage. I didn't prime the door before painting it the last time and paint is peeling off on the edges which leads me to believe that I have to treat it before painting it again.

I just watched two episodes of Room Service on Fine Living Network - love it! P2 has often mentioned it as a favorite and this is the first I've seen it. Love Sarah Richardson and her soothing, straight-forward delivery, including hands on construction of various things. As opposed to that ridiculous girls-with-power-tools show. Richardson's approach is matter-of-fact, anyone-can-do-this-if-shown-how. And I like the results. Wonderful.

It's time to celebrate Discardia again:

http://www.metagrrrl.com/discardia/

If the bathroom door is only closed when people are using the bathroom for purposes that require privacy, I'd be tempted to paint it a "surprise" color -- possibly a color that picks up an accent in your accessories, definitely something that surprises and delights.

Happy Discardia, apartment dwellers!

I've started a new "Discardian tip a day" for 2006. Enjoy!

http://www.metagrrrl.com/discardian/2005/12/do_this_one_thi.html

I was coming up in the elevator just now and saw a guy with Dwell. Of course I started talking to him and told him about AT. I love telling people about this site.

Does anyone here have a great little (read: little) bookshelf stereo the want to recommend? I'm without music and going nuts. So I'm looking for an inexpensive audio system.

hey guys...
this is totally unrelated to anything...but I would love AT to do a segment on some of the "dirtier" sides of apartment/condo living...
specifically NOISE REDUCTION and privacy.

I bought my first condo in an "up and coming" area of boston (slightly ghetto but not the worst)

the building was "new" when we moved in in august, having been converted from apartments over the previous year. and we were the first wave of tenants..most of us buying during the final phase of construction.

so..all our neighbors are new, and the condo board is being handed over from the trust this week...so needless to say, with no board onsight, conflicts abound.

like,we have so many noise issues...mainly through the walls. if one unit has a party...we all suffer.

I can decorate up a storm...but I am at a loss as how to help noise proof our place a bit more.

we thought about building (or having built) or installing a series of ikea wardrobe units along our problem wall. creating both an entire wall of sliding door units, and using clothes as insulation....

we also looked into acoustic baffles...but we are not sure how that would look.

in short,we can't tear down drywall to reinsulate. and we aren't even sure we are allowed since, but there has to be something.

Has AT ever done an article like that?
I mean, I love seeing colors on walls and hearing about how new yorkers cut up sofas to get into their places...

but one thing I would think our NYC friends could add insight on is noise..

any thoughts anyone?

Michael, this topic has come up several times on AT. While I don't personally have any good ideas I'd suggest checking in the AT archives/topics for solutions that have been previously discussed. If that's not helpful you can always submit a new question.

Here are a couple of thoughts:
You can open a small hole in the wall and have insullation blown/pumped in that will give you both sound insullation and block cold air.

You can also pad your walls. Put up strips of wood on both top and bottom of the walls and then staple foam or fiber padding onto those strips. Then cover all with your choice of fabric. You could pad it with the same thing that sound studio walls are covered with.
http://www.soundprooffoam.com/quiet-barrier.html
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/g=home/navigation?q=Studio%20Foam&r=&src=00630

Michael: I think Anne's suggestions are excellent. It's basically how one makes a padded headboard. Even if you just used batting, and a fabric that is spot cleanable, it would be nice to look at and would probably do the trick. Besides, with a condo you should be able to break down some wall. Usually its just co-ops that have issues because you don't actually own the space. I'll be awaiting your solution.

Anne: Re: your bathroom door. Everything should be primed, and everthing - including glass - can be painted if you select the correct primer. Metal doors should be scraped if you have flake-off from prior paint and then sand it down. Once its clean, paint it. I like Wende's suggestion. You could also use mirror. Back to primer: I've painted every imaginable surface and always suggest that people use primer. It might seem like extra work, but you won't have to paint again for a long, long time, and your paint (2 coats minimum) will be a true color.

Primer gives a service "tooth", so the paint has something to grip onto and adhere. Otherwise, it slides off and peels. Since its metal and in your bathroom where moisture is, you might want to let the primer cure 24 hours and then paint. You can sound the primer coat down lightly without breaking the bond.

Of course, you could always do a modern "mural" on it and completely surprise everone. Have fun.

Anne- I just love my Sony CMT-EX1 bookshelf stereo.

I would definitely recommend it, I had the most amazing sound.

http://www.resourcesforlife.com/library/products/sony/cmtex1/

I am not sure if Sony still makes that model but here are other options:

http://www.epinions.com/Audio_Shelf_Systems--reviews--0___50_w--prices--brand_sony

Good luck!

温度记录仪
红外线测温
摩托车配件

For a metal door what I did was strip all the paint first with a hot air gun then used a sander to sand the door back to bare metal, then primed with an oil based high adheasion primer (I don't know what you would have in the stats im in Australia) I did one coat and it drys flat, then painted it with a high gloss oil paint (I like the ease of cleaning and the reflective nature of gloss) the door has taken quiet a few good bands and not even a ounce of paint as come off the door (I'm going to have a hell of a time redoing it in a couple of weeks because I hate painting over painted serfaces)

About the sound proofing the room.
The Ikea closets are a good idea, however, padd the back of the closets with sound absorbing panels that will give you a heck of a lot of sound loss running through both the panels and the closets.

Michael-
I was at a friend's new place for New Years Day and his apartment is in an old brownstone-ish house with a bay window overlooking a pretty busy corner, and so his landlord installed double windows.

The original windows are the slightly curved kind and those are still there, but since the sills are so deep, there was room for those new brown kind on the inside side of them, and that has apparently helped with outside noise. Not sure if that's one of your issues, but that's a good thing to keep in mind.

thanks for all the noiseproofing advice...
I am still unsure what to do.

got woken up at 4 am by clanging water pipes.
my partner is on the verge of mental collapse he is so overtired and stressed out.

emails to the building developer have not been answered...though we will be at the condo meeting tomorrow. so I am preparing to bombard him.

it is good to know that many people suffer from this affliction. As at times, it feels like I made the biggest mistake of my life buying this place..

of course, now the bubble will burst and I will be stuck with this hell hole.

funny how a few less hours of sleep a night can make one so nihilistic.

Hi Anne

My boyfriend got me this for christmas 2004 - I never used it. When I moved to my new apartment, I started using it and I love it. I am so mad at myself for leaving in the box for a year! I have it on my bedstand and I go to sleep listening to it (it turns off after a pre-set time period) and I wake up to it in the morning. So much better than my old alarm clock. It looks fabulous too.

http://www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/INTERSHOP.enfinity/eCS/Store/en/-/USD/SY_DisplayProductInformation-Start?ProductSKU=ICFCD855VSIL&Dept=audio&CategoryName=pa_CDPlayers_CDClockRadio

Michael, have you tried using a white noise machine (or whatever they're called) to help block sound?

Michael -- Talk to a local, reputable lawyer before pursuing what I'm about to suggest, as I'm not sure how it would play out if I'm right. Has anyone tried bringing in an independent housing inspector to make sure that the building is actually up to code? I'm thinking that, if housing values are about to take a dip in Boston, you want to make sure that the developer pays for its mistakes or short-cuts, since you can't count on rising values to protect you.

Thanks for all the suggestions on both the door issue and the bookshelf stereo.

Ben, we can get just about anything on the planet here in NYC so I'm pretty sure I can get my hands on a primer suited for high gloss oil based paint. Thanks for suggesting that.

I think I'm going to bring the door back to it's original white. I think that would look better with the silver sage from RH that I plan on using. White shower curtain and fluffy white towels:
http://www.restorationhardware.com/rh/catalog/product/product_suite.jsp?productId=prod3900004&navCount=3
and bath rug:
http://www.restorationhardware.com/rh/catalog/product/product_suite.jsp?productId=prod740052&navCount=7
will look great in my tiny bathroom. Wish I could put in a corner sink, too.

Anne-
It sounds like a very clean, crisp look. By the way, KILZ is the best primer ever; its only equivalent is BIN, but for which ever one you use, promise me you will use their original, oil-based versions for best results. And I promise you it will be very, very stinky and toxic but it will work very, very well.

How toxic? Do I need to wear a mask and will it affect the kitties? I'm also assuming that the stickiness will go away once it's totally cured?

How do you set the time on it? its hard to figure out