apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Therapist specializes in couples stressed-out by home improvement:
http://www.sfgate.com/columnists/lloyd/

ooer, too deep for me.

However, I am constantly amazed at the horror stories that I hear of from our friends that go through major renovations and their marriages and relationships appear to remain intact afterwards. It seems that the human spirit has an amazing ability to cope with seemingly insurmountable - and never before experienced no less - problems.

Well enough of my claptrap - I got beaten again to starting an OT (by e left coaster!) so here is my change of topic again:

Via curbed, then http://nycenvirons.blogspot.com, I found this great link to really well designed solution to small apt living:
http://www.inhabitat.com/entry_810.php#body

I think we once discussed on AT a similar concept from another UK firm which I will try to find later.

Fascinating. My friend's relationship really suffered during a massive renovation, although I have to say it wasn't my personal idea of an ideal relationship even before that. They made it through, but she said she contemplated leaving him.

I wondered if something like this might show up on this site. This is my first post after discovering the AT yesterday. My husband and I about to embark on a kitchen renovation and while we generally have a great relationship home decoration is one area that seems to bring out the worst! We've lived in our co-op six years and we havn't even put up window treatments in most rooms because we can't agree on them.

Having read many of the threads on here and browsing through both some of the pictures and apartment tours I feel like I've found a place for great advice and perhaps some partners in persuasion, on this site. I won't bombard you all with questions in this post but perhaps I could start with just a couple...

We're renovating a kitchen which is a long narrow space 7ft, 8 in. wide by 21ft., 4 in. long. We're not making any significant alterations to the space itself but we will replace everything in the space including the floor. The super in our building will do the labour at a very low cost and he does decent work.

Do you think we need to hire an architect to help plan the space or do you think that the design consultants available at cabinet sellers will be sufficient? We'd like to find cabinets that are mid-market...better than home depot or ikea but not the highest end either. If you have any specific recomendations of vendors of cabinets in NYC or the general region that carry produces that have a contemporary styling in the mid-market price range I'd also be grateful.

Thanks everyone for any input you might have. I'm looking forward to this renovation much more now having found this site.

Drat...I was worried about accidentally posting multiple times. apologies everyone.

Welcome to AT curvedfeather.

Read this thread for some great advice from an architect (Dan Berkman ) as well as others with experience. You will see that HD can be the most expensive option.
http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/ny/031505/the-owner/the-owner-sticker-shock-or-10000-is-pocket-change-to-others-002306

Dan left his contact details in his last post and it may be worth contacting him.

As for Ikea kitchens, you would be surprised at how sturdy and well designed the cabinets and hardware are. Read this thread for more:
http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/ny/042805/200-words-from/200-words-from-la-things-from-ikea-that-dont-suck-002660

If you are up for it, one thing that we really enjoy here are pictures of ppls' places before, during and after reno so if you have the time then it would be great if you could send pics or set up a flickr.com account and link to it. Don't worry if you don't want to do that or don't have the time to do it but please come back with more questions and progress reports!

And I hope it all goes well with you.

I forgot to add an ikea link that trillium provided in the other thread:
http://ikeafans.com/

Okay, sorry to tug at the thread, but I have a Burning Question.

1. Are box springs actually unnecessary? Last year I got a new mattress, and it of course came with a box spring. Now I'm looking at beds, and all the designs I really like are mattress-only. Has anyone here ditched their box spring? Did the mattress comfort decrease? I love my mattress comfort as it is. Thoughts?

Not to change the thread again, but I was scooped! I ordered Neue galerie giftwrap by Dagobert Peche to frame and hang over my couch and someone in the new issue of Domino has giftwrap hanging already! Also would you say Hugo Guinness is overexposed already--I love his stuff but I've been seeing it all over thhe place and it seems as done as....suzanis and granite countertops (with apologies to those who love them for more than their resale value of course) :-)

Shoshana, that's not being scooped... it's ANTICIPATING the Next Big Thing.

Thanks Wende, I feel better already

Yes, non-box spring beds are fine with normal mattresses.

I'd been sleeping on a mattress + box spring + metal frame for years. Recently ditched the box spring and frame in favor of a nice (mattress-only) bed from Room & Board (using my existing mattress). Everything is great.

I firmly believe that people are entitled to some time off. That said, I really miss my daily fix of AT. Without fresh AT material, I've been left with no choice but to get some work done for my employer.

OK, I have commented on Abito before:
http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/ny/033105/competitions/who-has-the-smallest-coolest-apartment-in-the-city-002329

Where I originally found out about it:
http://www.landliving.com/articles/0000000270.aspx

AT has linked to it before:
http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/ny/022405/slinks/slinks-002125

The mocoloco piece:
http://mocoloco.com/archives/000872.php#more

Curvedfeather--
Wow, you really know how to make an entrance! ;)

I think you need not necessarily an architect or a kitchen planner/cabinet consultant, but you would benefit from a designer. Let them guide you through the maze (they may even have alternate vendors/sources) and do not underestimate a designer's ability to meld disparate tastes. As hokey as "Designing for the Sexes" was, I think there is real truth to the need for (pure) design arbiter...

Curvedfeather-
I like your name and I like you already; welcome! Anyway, I've heard people here and elsewhere love and hate Home Depot. A woman in my building did her new kitchen in a small studio apartment with them and she loved it, and I think it looks great. Also a friend of mine in Queens was very happy with the results of his, and his kitchen was also small. I don't know how much either of them paid.

I do know that Home Depot does have people actually come out and measure your space (which I think is no charge?) and then they do up a little floor plan on their computers, then sort of syphon off the actual work to contractors and that some people have posted here on AT their nightmares with some of the contractors that HD has given them.

Also, keep in mind that with them, most of their stuff is standard widths and sometimes there will be a few inches of wasted space in-between the last one and wall, which can be no big deal, but actually given the depth and height of the cabinets, the wasted space can add up when you calculate cubic feet. This may also be true of IKEA, but I don't know; you might want to clarify that if it's important to you.

But an actual designer person or architect may be the way to go, because P2 has a point; you guys may need a referee.

Jamie, thanks for that link. It was great to read through the thread and Dan's advice confirms at least that we're proceeding in a generally right direction. I'm still skeptical of Ikea for the kitchen though I'm generally a big fan of the company and have many an Ikea object in my home. Our kitchen is heavily used (and abused).

Patrick, any recommendations for a designer? My husbands desire for some professional input is to have a mediator so you're post hit the home.

Anne, you can definately use a regular mattress on a platform style bed. I think you loose something in comfort but that's a personal preference that you may not share. I agree that there are many more stylish platform beds available at affordable prices than the alternate.

Shoshana, about 3 years ago I bought some wrapping paper to frame and my husband laughed at me. I think I'll pick up that issue of Domino to show to him. He's not keen on creative use of things unless the idea is from someone else.

I want to thank Helpmeplease for the Somethings Gotta Give pics in the other open thread. I don't know what kind of floors you should get (i'll vote dark, think they make rooms look larger), but I've been looking for some pics of that house. Thanks

Today I'm at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas (CES). As you might imagine....it is a pagent.

I got to hear Bill Gates talk about the "mainstreaming of tools" and plug the new Microsoft OS called "Vista". Seems the release of Vista will make PC's have almost all the functionality of Apple's two Year Old Mac OSX.

The best part so far is new TV's. They're big and the graphics are better than my eyes. Amazing.

OT I realize, but who was it who was looking for that lamp at target that looks like the ship spotlight or something like that? The Target near me here in Boston just got more in & I could ship it for them.

bored -- i agree. bring back our AT!

is MGR off doing press for his book? (i think it comes out soon. . .) what's the scoop?

Helpmeplease--

I think it is truly up to you, and how the building "feels" to you.

Or, which of the two samples do you most aspire to? While I aspire to a high-tech edgy, mostly white box with great, gutsy art, the apartment I moved into (and the city/neighborhood in which I live) didn't "feel" that way, so I ended up with something darker and warmer. But it's a nighttime space, and I like it "cavey". Conversely, I often fantasize about a modern/classic townhouse in DC, or a great modern/country interior in Pennsylvania or on the Hudson, and each of those would determine their own end result.

The dark planks will keep the space dressier and either more formal, or more modern (depending on what goes into the "envelope").

The lighter herringbone will be more traditional in a less formal way (does that make sense?), and may end up being more timeless for the space.

Your flooring people will be able to guide you through what woods, specifically (I got a great mailer from a Canadian floor company that compared flooring woods in a matrix; will try to dig it up). The rule of thumb is the harder the wood, the higher the price (but also the most impervious to dents, dings and scratches).

Also, will your apartment be primarily a day or night-time space?

But don't get too hung up on "a dark floor yielding a dark room" and vice-versa. I think it depends more on how you treat the windows, and how you light the space... even with ebony floors, if everything else going in is all whites and creams, you dress the windows simply in a way that allows maximum light, the space will still be bright.

Another thing to consider: if you are trying to get the most (visually) out of the square footage, match the lightness/darkness of the floor to the furniture. The less contrast between the two (and ditto the wall color), the bigger the space will feel.

One last thing: if your walls are truly, truly square, planks will work beautifully, while the herringbone will do a better job of hiding wonky walls...

Curvedfeather, I don't have Ikea cabinets myself, though I probably will go with them, but my friend used them. She loves them, and could really have gone with anything. She is a former architect, and used Ikea for the cabinets (with high-end hardware) and has the whole Viking, Subzero appliance thing going on.

She threw a party for me at her apartment and people were STUNNED to learn that she had used Ikea cabinets. In fact, another friend almost cried, because she had just done her house in expensive cabinets and said, "I like her kitchen more!"

I second Fiona's vote for Ikea cabinets. The cabinets are like a whole different world from the rest of the store. And as a source when reading design mags, Ikea kitchens FAR outnumber higher-end providers, even (especially?!) in designers' own homes.

Another trick I've seen (in addition to upscaling the hardware, as Fiona mentioned) is using all Ikea cabinet "carcasses" and upgrading the doors (on all, just top cabinets, or just bottoms). Or Ikea cabinets with a higher-end countertop.

Dark floors!

I think you'll "lose" the light ones and that beautiful herringbone once you add your rugs (you said you had rugs, right) and furniture. Even pics from the tour of the Urban Glass House did not look as great as the pics you posted.

Or the traditional would be oak stained in a colonial or walnut stain. Beautiful in any light, esp candlelight.

From a housekeeping standpoint, there is a lint/dust factor with dark floors.

I have dark floors in the kitchen and it's a challenge just to keep that small space looking clean. If you're a clean-freak it might be annoying and develop any OCD tendencies!

The natural oak floors in the rest of my place doesn't show dust and all the little crumbs of daily living.

Don't forget too with Ikea cabinets you can just go custom for the fronts. They use Blum hardware, which is hight end, and the same stuff other companies use for their boxes. Where it gets cheaper is on the fronts (and the fact you're expected to diy). On the ikeafans link there is a beautiful Ikea kitchen done with custom slab walnut fronts. In this month's domino there are 3 Ikea kitchen's, one with mdf fronts the owners cut and painted themselves.

Also, this might be better posted on the LA side, but henrybuilt has started selling modular kitchen kits. They're gorgeous, but maybe not practical for shipping accross the country!

http://www.henrybuilt.com/kitchen_1.asp

regards,
trillium

Hi curvedfeather. Welcome... I'm one of the IKEA-lovin' geeks on the site. So allow me to once again step up on my soapbox re: IKEA kitchen cabinets. I've had mine for just over a year. No visible wear and tear. And P(too) and Fiona's suggestion of using higher-end countertops and built-in appliances is a good one. (I've got lower-priced appliances incl a Bosch dishwasher, but have Caesarstone counters.) I really think IKEA has a pretty good selection of facing options. And added bonus are the cabinet-organization systems designed specifically for the cabinetry. Save some money on the cabinetry and treat yourself to luxe appliances and touches with the savings...

Ikea Soapbox*

* some assembly required

Anne (TFO) - I don't want to introduce the "duh" factor here but you can only ditch the box spring is your bed is a platform bed. You have to have a box spring on a frame with slats. I guess you could replace/cover the slats with a platform to use the "mattress only" approach. That look is great for an asian/zen look or a contemporary look but IMHO would look "off" in a more traditional interior.

Max went to a "silent" retreat so AT has been minimal this week. I assume he'll be back next week and AT will be back up to normal aka: our beloved AT.

Are Ikea bathroom vanities up to the same standard as the kitchen cabs?

P2 - I'm LOL...you're too witty :-)

Trillium...I *love* the henrybuilt stuff...my husband doesn't. It's funny, we could agree if we had an unlimited budget but when we have to compromise we lean in different directions.

Ok Ikea, is back on the list of possibilities...I certainly like their price and if there's enough testimony to their durability I'm a happy camper. I like the idea too of exploring customs fronts. I also like that I can download their design software and start messing around with ideas now.

Any thoughts on a slide in dual fuel slide in ranges versus counter cooktops and wall ovens? I like the look of a built in wall oven but is it one of those things that's gong to scream 2005 in a few years like granite counters?

Apparently, I need to quit the day job. Every time I actually work (which is rare) I can't catch up with these marvelous posts.

Nothing to contribute at the moment, just shamelessy addicted to AT and checking in. Although I'm sure I'll be back later...

Curvedfeather, built in wall ovens have been around for many, many years and as a concept I don't think they will go comletely out of style. The specific oven you choose may look outdated or wornout by the time you might choose to sell.

My condo has IKEA kitchen cabinets that were put in by the last owner and they are great. Nothing like some of the shoddier end of their furniture. I also had a complete IKEA kitchen in a previous rental and it was all good, all sturdy, all attractive. Based on my experience, I wouldn't give the durability question of IKEA kitchen cabinetry a second thought.

P2 - OMG, yet ANOTHER fan! You'll have to start a fanzine soon and your own fan website!

Hey, if a built-in wall oven was good enough for Carol Brady and Alice, it's good enough for me.

Some real estate resale lore I've heard around DC is that midlevel kitchen cabinetry is the way to go (although I'm sure it depends on what level of real estate you're involved in). Too cheap, buyers don't like, too expensive, buyers won't pay for.

Here's the link to the kitchen with the custom fronts. It might be too modern and cold for your husband's taste, but it is an example of what you can do with a custom front:

http://ikeafans.com/BAJill77.htm

On the bathroom vanities, I haven't read or heard much about them, I read more about people modifying the kitchen stuff for their bathrooms. I think the general feeling is that they don't offer you many choices for bathroom cabs the way they do for kitchen ones. Can you tell I've been lurking obsessively on the kitchen Ikea threads on the other forum?

regards,
trillium

Talking of kitchen cabinets, I also am considering buying some Ikea kitchen cabinets but I really fancy a darker wood tone than any of the ones they currently sell. I love the idea of buying the cabinets from Ikea but having custom fronts made. Any ideas on the price points of custom wood fronts? I'm not sure what wood I'd like, but a cheap wood stained dark would suffice. I'd just want simple flat panel doors, preferably with the holes for hinges and handles pre drilled! Thanks.

Has anyone ever used commercial rubber flooring for staircases in residential units? I saw in a house in Seattle, but can't seem to find a source for purchasing/installing.

Here is an example of what I'm talking about:
http://www.endura-flooring.com
Thanks for any input.

I think these open threads have been great.
Bored people are boring...

Weekend art tip
http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/exhibitions/#burtynsky

P(2), "Save the Quarry", this is one for you.

The photographer makes large format work at industrial sites around the world - copper and nickle mines, white marbling in Italy, recycling masses, ship un-building. Extraordinary, and closing Jan 15.
Bonus exhibitions...ancient floor mosiacs from a synagogue in Tunisia (Curtis, it's like paint-by-numbers before there was such a thing, eh?), and their wonderous "Visible Storage" backroom with 1,500 design objet. Noguchi and Eames (unlabeled) under glass...

Laura,
I *wish* I had used rubber stairs every time I walk up them at the Apple store in Soho. Asia Society has them as well, if you are interested in seeing them employed in an industrial space.

I have been following AT for a while now, I love it and the people and want to get people's input on my next project: built-in shelves.

I have a narrow living room 16' long by 9.5' wide. I was thinking of getting shelves built along one wall. THe shelves would only extend out about a foot.

I want to know whether I should extend the bookcases/shelves all the way to the ceiling (10' ceiling) and then add molding to achieve more of a built-in look, or just build them to normal 7-8' tall.

Rita

guido--
Great art tip! Thanks.

If Burtynsky does those images as HUGE aluminum-mounted cibachromes, I think I've seen them, and YES, amazing. The scale of the quarries and the scale of the prints really do a number on the viewer, as your eye sort of tells you: "This is huge. No it isn't." Crazy.

Also reminds me of the equally-great work of Chris Jordan:

http://paulkopeikingallery.com/artists/jordan/

The Brooklyn Museum has a back room?!?!? Cool!! Oh, not THAT kind of backroom. Nevermind.

This is a great website for anyone looking for any building in NYC or what's on what block.

http://home.nyc.rr.com/jkn/nysonglines/

Definitely something to bookmark.

Rita, I'd build them all the way up unless it's a prewar place with molding up top in which case I'd stop at the molding (usually a foot or so from the ceiling)

anne, good one! I've been wondering about something like that for nyc...
www.smalltownbrooklyn.com has scrollable street maps for some b'klyn 'hoods, with a commercial focus tho
(For those of us perpetually wondering "Where did I see that new wine store?")

From what I can tell, I'm sure you'd enjoy this backroom as much as any other backroom, Patrio II.

Whichever Anne It Was RE: Box Springs-
In my 19 years of living in New York, I have YET to own a box springs. I was on a captains bed in my early starving days, and then 2 different loft beds, and my last 2 have been Murphy beds. All normal, proper regular mattresses, but with no box springs, and I sleep like a graven image.

ah, yes... I DO have diverse taste in entertainment. ;)

Hey, anybody want to help me get my idea for an NYC Commuter strike (where NYC commuters stay home a specific Friday to protest the recent transit strike) off the ground?!?!

Burtynsky does some interesting things with printing, like using watercolor paper and er, I forget the style of photo printing, to achieve an Other sort of quality with white on white stark compositions.
He owns a printing facility in Toronto...

They do some really nice things with paint in the Brooklyn Museum - a big band of Chinese Red at the top of a grey room for the Chinese factory prints that themselves have stunning multiples of single colors - pink uniforms with blue aprons at one plant, all yellow at another...

Can anyone tell me why I should have my doors stripped professional (taken away and dipped) rather than buy new? It would run about $250 per door. I can't tell what kind of wood they are bcs they are covered in 10,000 layers of paint. My building is in Brooklyn and the doors are likely original from 1914 (so maybe oak?).

Is Big Apple Stripping still the best place to do this? And lastly, what happens to the hardware on the doors. Do they remove it?

Perhaps get just one door stripped to determine wood/condition/end result, then make the call?

But, yowza, $250 per door?!?

Rita -
Some contractors do their own millwork (as in "create molding"), so if you had your bookshelves built in, they MIGHT be able to re-create the same kind of molding you have at the ceiling so that it matched perfectly if you want to take them all the way up. OR... perhaps your molding might be a standard profile that might still be available.

The only thing is that you'd either need to strip all the paint off the existing, or you might need to slather on some spackle over the new, so they appeared the same age, depending on which age you go for.

I know, right?

quick! before you all go home for the weekend--

how do you bleed a radiator? these pipes sound like ... something really loud! all night and all day.

JaneT -
East End Woodstrippers did my kitchen cabinet doors, and although they're in upstate New York, they picked them up and dropped them off, all for one price. OK, they were just kitchen cabinet doors, but they did TEN of them and a drawer-front all for $175.00. And yes, that has already (?!) been two years ago, but that's still kind of recent.

Not sure what they'd charge for a proper door, but the guy named Dean that I dealt with was great. Click on my name (in THIS posting) for their website.

And his e-mail address is:

refinish@optonline.net

Rita -- If you're fairly sure that the wall you've chosen is THE bookcase wall, go all the way to the ceiling and finish the top with molding. The resulting look is so much more "finished" than setting objets d'art on top of 7' bookcases.

I love my non-built-ins because we move a lot and rent... but putting things up top looks cluttered because there's nothing to balance the height on the opposite side of the room. Once a bookshelf is "built in," it reads more like a wall and makes fewer demands.

Ah, ACTUAL doors. I thought you meant cabinet doors.

But still, yowza, $250 a door. Just a little less yowza.

P2 - do you still need the name of a headshot photog? Mine was Eric Jacobs. He lived on the UWS on CPW in one of the named buildings. I'll have to look for his # in an old address book but if you need it email me:
addg1@verizon.net

JaneT - are those doors amazing? If not, why not just buy new ones?

I went out to buy the LIVING ETC. mag but see that it's British therefore, $7.50! I opted for the Jan. issue of Domino for $3.50. Now I know what to ask for for my birthday next month - a sub. to Living, Etc.

That's what I'm wondering. I had my doors dipped some years ago on my old apartment and I love the way they turned out. And I really loved what a pain-free project it was: they came, they took, they dipped, they returned and rehung my gorgeous doors. But that was some years back and I think I paid about $90 per door. $250 per door @10 doors is a different story. I don't think they are amazing, but I'm sure they are a nice wood.

Thanks for the tip Curtis. I'll contact those guys.

New anon, do you know if your radiators are steam or hot water?

If they are steam and only have one pipe going into the bottom of them them then you need to ensure that the condensate that forms once the steam reaches them can run back down the pipe again to be heated once again. To do this the radiator has to be tilted (pitched) slightly to towards the pipe side.

http://www.heatinghelp.com/steam_waterhammerinthesystem.cfm:
In any steam system, the condensate is supposed to drain by gravity back to the boiler or the condensate receiver. If water lays in the pipes between firing cycles, steam will pick it up and drive it into the first available fitting. Water hammer from bad pipe pitch usually happens when the system first starts. Steam will also rapidly condense over a puddle of water causing the water to snap violently up into the partial vacuum left by the condensed steam. The proper pitch for parallel flow steam mains is one inch in 20 feet. For counterflow mains, it's one inch in ten feet.
Check the pitch with a line level.

The other common problem with steam radiators are that the steam release valve on the other side of the pipe gets blocked. This will cause your radiators to remain cold.

See this link for fixes to both situations:

http://doityourself.com/hvac/maintainradiators.htm

$250 per door is so TOTALLY WORTH IT,
and includes free p/u/delivery.

You can heat gun a little section if you really need to see the wood, but you should get those thousands of layers of paint off anyway. I did a ton of wood stripping at my place, and was *thrilled* to ship out anything that could be pried out of place.

And Big Apple did mine (8 years ago, back when it was $75 a door.)
They did a great job -- the doors come back sanded with the hardware on a coat hanger wire, also stripped.

Good solid wood doors will cost thousands to refabricate. They tend to be odd sizes, and what you have is probably much nicer than anything you will buy. The guy that does Brownstoner.com used Big Apple to good end more recently...

Honestly, I like architectural integrity whenever possible, so even it cost a lot I would want to use original doors whenever possible. Not crazy about the McMansion doors that you get at Home Depot, anyway.

THEN...once you get them stripped, prime them well, and use a really good quality satin-finish alkyd (oil-based) paint because the finish is delicious, and feels very substantial and timeless.

salvage places sell old plain solid unstripped doors for $100-250 each, so really you're just ahead of the game

ummm, save the trees

I vote for re-doing the doors too. I was looking for a replacement door for my old house (1938) and was shocked at how much it would have cost me, since I wanted something solid that wouldn't stick out like a sore thumb amidst all the other old doors, and would be drilled to accept the old hardware.

If it's any consolation, I'll bet you'll recoup your money and then some if and when you sell if you keep the old doors. If you do decide to get rid of them, they go for quite a pretty penny (crusted layers of paint and all) at places like Restoration Hardware and other salvage places, so don't throw them out, sell 'em.

regards,
trillium

anne (the "mean"/lowercase one: my taste runs much more toward contemporary. Most of the beds I've liked (read: able to afford) say mattress-only, so I'm thinking what I will most likely do is keep it as is and do a headboard.

My bedroom dressers and nightstands are light birch with simple nickel hardware, and I think I will just upholster some plywood with foam and fabric and call it good.

I'm going to be brave and reveal that I found perfect fabric for it: it's a parrot-green micro-nap polar fleece, not super-nappy. I think it would feel heavenly have that behind my head when I read.

What I envision is that this will be oversized and tall, with the top of the headboard about 5'6" from the floor. I'll install hanging hardware on the back of the headboard that I plan to suspend from fasteners on the wall. I've seen a custom headboard (here? HGTV.com?) that consisted of individual upholstered panels of contrasting colors (maybe 6?) that together comprise one headboard.

I think one single expanse of green will look better though, especially with some cool pillows in front. My linens are white, and one set of pillows has white pillowcases, the other has light green. And I stack them instead of standing them up. I've been wanting to mix up the pillowcase colors for a while, though.

P2: A commuter strike? Isn't that essentially equivalent to what you are really doing all day long anyway...posting on AT and not working???
;)

Box springs: unnecessary

Bookshelves: all the way to the top!

Plank vs. herringbone: just posted my thoughts on yesterday's thread

quick! Before you go home for the weekend new anon. Do you have single pipe steam radiators? So was that post useful?

Lori2--
Yes, BUT:
A) I'd be home, and B) we'd be doing something political. :)

P2-

Ha ha.

Apartment Therapy New York City, Apartment Therapy Los Angeles...

I vote for "AT Bedtime Edition" - for those of us who like to read and post at night!

I think I do! And your post was very helpful. The radiator is tilted a tiny bit, but I just put a shim under it to tilt it a bit more. It's hisssssssssssing a lot, but so far no knocks. I hope it works. I have a guest coming who will have to sleep in that room and you can't possible sleep through that banging. The hissing is scary enough

Or "Apartment Therapy After Hours".

Ohdearlord, the possibilties!

It could be made up of highlights from the daytime edition, taken completely out of context to scandalous effect.

Like:
"I have a guest coming who will have to sleep in that room and you can't possible sleep through that banging."

Thanks! Fortunately, I don't have existing moldings to worry about. So I will go all the way up the ceiling and add molding all around the room.

Rita

I knew it when I wrote it and I almost went back to rewrite, but I thought this crowd was purer of mind.

For anyone who gets the Discovery Channel tune in from 6-7PM for Cash Cab every night. This show is a riot. I want to hail that cab!!!

Not this crowd...and I LOVE it!

Joey,
I wasn't the original one looking for those Target ship's spotlights but ever since I read about them on AT I have been lusting after them. I would very much like to get them if you are still game to send them from Boston (to NYC - not so far)

Oh, and I also vote for AT "after hours" as I am usually too busy at work to post much and always feel a bit Johnny come lately on topics.

And I must say, I am amazed at anyone who wants to go to a "silent" retreat. I heard tell of such places but as I love to gab I think such a vacation would be torture.

my goodness, I take one day off and look at all of those posts I've missed! I landed my first solo show at a small boutique in San Francisco... that starts tomorrow. I've barricaded myself in the house all day and have been painting (and needlepointing) away. I'm trying to keep a little Flickr diary of this madness (click my name for link). So far, it's going well and the house isn't too much of a mess... but it's only just six o'clock.

Thanks for all of these posts! It's nice to have something to read during my quick break.

aquarabbit -- WHERE???

I looked through your Flickr diary, admired the fine whompus cat on the irony board, but couldn't find a boutique name or address.

Yes: WHERE?

Are the ones on your website for sale?


p.s. Wende, are we still doing an sfAT party? The party will be PHAT!

ebrown -- I hope we are! I guess someone needs to actually plan it. I will grab an OT early on Monday or Tuesday and see if we can't get a date set.

So sorry...! It's been quite a long day already. The show is at a clothing store called Seventh Heart, right at the corner of Market and Franklin (click for link). I think they've only been open for about a month or so. I will hang some pieces tomorrow, and they will have a closing reception for me on the 19th. I will let everyone know more when I find out the details tomorrow. Thanks so much Wende... it will be great to finally meet you if you can make it to the show!

Good news, I think I finally conned someone into bringing me food, so the night is looking up!

Here is an interesting little take on the mod and midcentury furniture craze.
don

Donald, great link.
Aquarabbit - love your work. And the giant gorgeous cat.

Glad there is more support for "AT After Hours"!!

Yes, great link, Donald.

Hey Anon-

About the house in Something's Gotta Give: it was featured in Architectural digest in 2003 or 2004. Sorry I don't know the exact month (or year), but they were showcasing sets in movies - also in the article was the set from some haunted house movie, and that movie that Tom Cruise was in which took place in Asia.

This kitchen renovation thread has been very helpful. We are starting ours in the Spring (when we can use the grill on the patio to cook on). The link on my name is from a quick cosmetic job after we bought our place, just so we could live with it. But now we will replace the cabinets, counter, backsplash and floor.

My question is, has anyone installed cork flooring and are you happy with it? I cook quite a bit and the current tile kills my back. I like the look of cork and heard it gives a bit. But does it last?

Enrique --
I just found an old post of your mentioning "top down/bottom up" roman shades you had made at Home Depot. I priced these out at Smith and Noble for $1000 each -- Would you mind sharing how much HD charged you??

I never would have thought of going there for shades. This website is the best!

Lori,

I, too, am trying to decide whether to go with cork or the porcelain tile standby. As a result I've searched every corner of the internet for users' feedback. The best place to find that is on www.gardenweb.com

Choose "home forums" and search for "cork floor" and you'll get several threads of folks posting their experiences with installing and using cork floors. For the most part very positive, esp. in the area of cushy comfort and durability.

My question pertains to wet area management.

I'm still looking for all the answers. good luck.

PS GUIDO: how's the Conserv search? I just purchased the Summit 171ss, it is indeed the same fridge (Vestfrost label on the inside). $995 with free delivery at Drimmers. The Liebherr, however, is wat dreamy and gorgeous and hardy and all glass and chrome on the inside, BUT, over a grand more. So ... we make do.

cheers.

You guys have such good taste, I am wondering if you can please help me. We bought a kitchen table last year. its a portica glass-top table from Room &Board with staintless steel legs. retangular shape. The problem is - we don't have kitchen chairs yet because I can't decide on the ones to get. My style is very living etc. I am thinking either four white Maui chairs. here's a link
http://www.modchartreuse.com/current/seating/maui_chair.html Or, spluge on four upholstered cherner stacking chairs in walnut, but with maybe different colored upholstery (which you have to order and get the material for the upholstery.
http://www.chernerchair.com/stacking-upholstered.htm Another thought is four armless louis ghost chairs. But we have two and my husband doesnt care for them too much. Help me my stylish friends!

Olga and Lori,
I had a cork floor installed in my kitchen about 9 months ago. It isn't exactly cushiony but is still infinitely more forgiving than the tile it replaced (on both my back and my housekeeping). I chose a presealed laminate product, which I love. No problems with moisture in the kitchen, but I wouldn't use it in the bathroom.

I vote cork over porcelain. For sure.

And for the wood floors, I think an oak stained dark or ebonized would be the way to go for that look. Or maple.

Olga, Kea and Sweetie,
Thanks for the feedback and I'll check out www.gardenweb.com.

Laura. I believe I spent around $975+ for Home Dept to custom-make 3 flush-mounted top-down/bottom-up roman shades. Keep in mind that my windows measure just under 16'wide x 6'high. (It's basically an entire wall of windows.)

The cost included 1 visit to measure and 1 visit to install. (HD subcontracts measurement/installation.) Also, this is my 2nd set of roman shades from them; the 1st set they made did NOT have the top-down/bottom-up functionality--because the person at Home Depot wrote up the order wrong! They corrected the mistake. But the whole process of getting the correct shades was about 6+ weeks. Home Depot isn't really known for the best customer service, and their custom-order desks are alway understaffed. So, be prepared to be patient and to wait... But the pay-off is worth it. I'm almost positive that I saved 30-45% on the total cost.

BTW, the manufacturer of my shades is Bali. And I ordered a natural-colored cotton canvas in a weight that provides total privacy but still allows for light filtration in the daytime. It was a great problem-solver for me as I live in a ground-floor, street-facing unit.

I'll post some pics on the AT-LA flickr site so you can see them installed. (To get a better sense of the scale, keep in mind that the TV pictured is a 42" plasma.)

Thanks so much for the info Enrique!
I'll consider Home Depot and let you know what I finally decide on.
(considering sewing my own romans at this point... my budget is growing beyond my control......)
Enjoy the weekend!

you may already know but Room and Board is selling quite a few floor samples at 50% off. was there today and watched the sales guy putting labels on the pieces.

tash,
wellllllllllllll, if you want to go for that fabulous Cherner look, but don't want to blow the bank, you could always go for these respectable imposters.

http://www.target.com/gp/detail.html/sr=2-1/qid=1136674476/ref=sr_2_1/601-9058290-8038565?%5Fencoding=UTF8&asin=B0009GVKBI

The The Seventh Heart is located just off of market. Cute little boutique in San Francisco. I did a write up about it a few weeks ago.

I don't want to hijack that other flooring issue, but I have a rather/sorta similar issue:

I'm thinking of getting a "piano finish" on new wood floors I'm installing. I'd get cheapest decent wood -- oak maybe -- and then get this done. I have 3 kids and worry about dirt, but I'll have large rugs and it gets so dirty in NYC anyway that I don't mind swiffering around the edges for say 3 minutes every couple of days.

But here's the thing: I've never actually seen a floor like this. Do you think it is a giant mistake? Any thoughts?

Kea,

thanks for the feedback. What brand of cork flooring and what type (click-lock or tiles) did you get and did you install yourself or have someone do it (and who, not many know how). Laminate? Is that a way of describing the pre-finished layer of top coat or is it the vinyl-covered cork that's out there?

My concern with moisture was more of the drips of water here and there from constantly washing stuff in the kitchen type. Just the usual kitchen messes. They recommend wiping up immediately. I'm already devising some sort of self-contained kitty eating station. (there's been a call out for well-designed pet-feeding stations from the community)

Thanks for any and all info.

We are remodeling our kitchen. Is Granite better than SIlestone? Do you really have to reseal granite several times a year? Is there anything better than granite or silestone that doesnt cost an arm and a leg? Thanks Dorothy

olga

le summit est arrive here too!

got it in the fall from the "crazy eddie" in brooklyn
$800-something, which is just over $900-something with tax.
Bit of drama involved (the first one they delivered, the freezer didn't work...the sales guy wanted me to go through the maker instead of giving me a swap right off the bat.
Hate engaging in that kind of fight!)
so I think you've done better with Drimmers!

Anyway, LOVE the design and the increased freezer space, and adapting well to the slightly smaller fridge section.

Dorothy, we discussed granite quite extensively in open threads 111 and 112:

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/ny/010406/open-threads/open-thread-111-005695#comments

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/ny/010506/open-threads/open-thread-112-005696

Some granites need sealing (once a year, once every 10 years it varies) and some do not. The link I provided to a stone forum in one of those threads will help you determine which do and don't. If you get one that does not, you will never have problems with staining etc.
Also do a search for silestone by typing this into google:

silestone site:apartmenttherapy.com

I'm pretty sure it has been discussed before.
It is engineered stone that p2 talks about, has the same characteristics as a granite that does bit need sealing but may not be any cheaper than some of those granites. I seem to recall the cost being similar when I looked into it. However, it does help to save the quarries.

I love a piano finish but assume it would need to be swiffered a lot. Look at the Marc Jacobs store on bleeker.

I also think there's something in that piano finish process that is highly flammable so watch out.

HERBERT MUSCHAMP throws down!

In today's NYTimes

The Secret History of 2 Columbus Circle
By HERBERT MUSCHAMP

"The city may not know what to make of the building, but a generation of gay New Yorkers always did. And our verdict is the one that matters."

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/08/arts/design/08musc.html

of course this thread is reaching its end...but...
I'd love to know what people thought of this rather surprising take on a building and the Landmarks Commission...

Me, I think it's incredible (and totally interesting) to frame the argument that way. And I haven't read beyond the jump yet, so I'll reserve opinion.

http://landmarkwest.org/webcam/javlw.html

guido--

VERY interesting article. Quite the tale he weaves.

Not entirely sure what the facade plans are for that building, but I sort of think that as long as 90% of the building's original feel-- as well as its new life as a design museum-- unfold as planned, I think it's a win-win. Could have been MUCH worse... could have been the second piece of land on the Circle to get Trumpified...

I'm not sure what could be uglier than a Trump building, seriously. I have always loved 2 Columbus Circle for its strangeness, and I hope that if anything, they make it look stranger still. But I really do like it when interesting old things are preserved but are also kind of fresh-and-clean looking.

Not everything old is worth saving, though. Its neighbor The Coliseum was as ugly as a mud fence and looked like an old high school, so as far as I'm concerned the Time Warner Center thing is positively gorgeous in comparison.

I crack myself up. I went to New Jersey this weekend and finally saw this friend's place and proceeded to rearrange stuff in his dining room and kitchen.

Well, now that moveable bar thing is situated where a bar should be and the counter space makes sense and is useful, because with an extension cord and some conduit channel, the coffee pot and toaster live there now. And the microwave is on the fridge, freeing up even more counter space. Am now kicking myself for failing to take before and after pics.

I loved what Muschamp wrote as a meditation on landmark preservation. Do we preserve buildings to preserve memory? Is it really disconnected from the building itself--what about the atmosphere New Yorkers want to achieve re: the old Penn Station as ugly and intimidating. Yay, Maxwell's back

I had most of my pre-War apt. doors stripped of eight layers of paint by my super. He also took all the paint off the hinges and knobs (They are a lovely copper underneath). They look great and are of a much higher quality than anything I could buy today.

He also planed them down a bit, so they close easily. No more swollen doors.

tash, love the description of your house as very living etc. talk about what i aspire to. can we see photos so we can drool over it?

both chairs are lovely, although i've always been drawn to the sculptural quality of the cherners. i think at some point (quite awhile ago) here on AT there was a discussion of the chairs and people said they're actually comfortable.

Hey me. I should have said I aspire for it to be livingetc. i am not there yet and little shy about showing pictures, but I will get up the nerve. I appreciate your suggestion about the chairs. cherner is what I was thinking too.

Hi Dorothy

I'm in the process of having my very very small kitchen redone - I'm using W&W Cabinets in Queens, they're great people if you need someone. Silestone doesn't scratch, and comes in a range of groovy colors. I like granite, but for the weight and expense I'm going with Silestone's 'Ebony Pearl'. Hope this helps.
TJ