apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

In case you haven't seen, Maxwell's book got a plug in today's Times (House & Home):

Maxwell Gillingham-Ryan, a former Waldorf School teacher turned interior designer and blogger (apartmenttherapy.com), has gathered his ideas about a healthful and psychologically supportive home in a book to be published by Bantam next month. "Apartment Therapy: The Eight-Step Home Cure," will exhort readers to heal their apartment, heal themselves, in gentle prose and feng-shui-like exercises. "When you work on your home," he writes, "you are working on yourself."

Who knew that Maxwell was also a self help guru?!?!? But I have to admit when my girlfriend moved out rather suddenly, the best thing I did was redo the entire apartment. I think the whole process helped me not only reclaim my apartment, but get over a really bad breakup. Now I have a smoking singles pad and a much better outlook :-)

It's very funny, but when a friend of mine had a nightmare room mate finally move out, we re-did the room -- nothing terribly serious, but a really good paint job and tweaking some things here and there, and it seemed to have the effect of exorcizing the bad spirit away.

Just saw this on Daily Candy:

Aero's Midwinter Sale
What: Up to 75 percent off Aero, Thomas O'Brien, and vintage
furniture, lighting, bedding, and tabletop accessories.
When: Mon.-Sat., 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Thru Feb. 28.
Where: 419 Broome St., b/t Crosby & Lafayette Sts. (212-966-1500).

Maxwell - when and where are you having a book signing?

I second Kate's question/suggestion. Would be great to meet some of the other therapists in person :)

I will third the question. When and Where?

I wanted to say I am soooo excited about this book. I am having a month long de-clutter purge in anticipation, so that when I get the book I will be ready to start the redecorating.

My first post!

Miss Angela! (Or anyone else who might be able to answer this!) Have you received your Eugene sofa yet from Room and Board? What's the verdict? Comfy? Showpiece?

I would assume any book signing would be announced as a separate piece on the front page rather than in an open thread, wouldn't it?

Anyway, the reason I am writing is to simply say that I got the latest Domino mag and it seems to be vastly improved over the first few issues. I can't remember details about the early issues but this one seems so much more practical and useful. For example, the curtain hanging guide (how to position rather than how to hang hardware into studs, frames etc.) is very useful for anyone wondering what the best positions and lengths are for different effects.

Also the story and progress photos of the nyc apt reno has some useful info and pictures.

I looked at Domino for the first time yesterday. The curtain thing did seem practical.
I didn't realize it was the decorating version of Lucky tho -- it's a hard format for me to enjoy.

Has there been a Lucky feature or photo yet of a room with black lines where all the walls/ceilings meet?

really really random... but.....
all day today i have just been ROCKING out to this website that was pointed out to me
its called pandora.com and its, get this, part of the Music Genome Project (somehow affiliated with billionare microsoft guy Paul Allen)

anyway, here's the deal
you pop in one artist or one song that you love, and the site starts programming a radio station just for you
you can then go in and add more artists/songs that you love and it will look for "genetic" similarities btwn the songs and then play all these wonderful random songs!!

it is one of those sites that just makes you go DUH! why didnt i think of that!
and i've gotta say, i wish i'd known about it for party month, b/c i can just see this working WONDERS for a party setting!!! no freaky ipod glitches, and it saves your stations and you can teach it to NOT play certain artists
its SO insanely cool, i just HAD to share with everyone!!!
all day, its been 1997 inside my own head
those were happy days :-)

thanks ann!

ann,

THANK YOU!!! I'm loving this site!

In response to Sandra's earlier query about the Room and Board sofa--I don't have that model but did get a Porter sofa from Room and Board last spring, a midcentury-modern knockoff. I really like it--I move it when I open the bed in my teeny apartment, and it is still as sturdy as the day it arrived. The upholstery really does shed stains and the color has held up really well. My overnight guest sleep on it and find it comfortable. The only thing I'm not happy with is the seat cushions which seem to be compressing more than I'd like.

Good luck with your choices!

ann: LOVING pandora.com! Thank you for the tip! I created 3 stations based on 3 artists (Giorgio Moroder, Royksopp and Thievery Corporation). Mostly great song selections came up. I can't wait to see how this site develops as they negotiate more music licenses and go deep with their catalog. (Some of the artists I requested weren't recognized by the database.) Very cool!

hey.. so its bedroom month, which is great because I am planning on buying a new bed right now.. but Im not rich, you know? Im going to stretch beyond my means to avoid Ikea or one of those futon shops that you CAN NOT escape on craigs list. In the under-700 category.. theres not too many GOOD options.

I found the West Elm of course, but the basic wood one got REAMED (no pun intended) when it came to quality. The DWR Alum bed is OK but I went and saw it and its just not that nice looking (and no headboard). I even went as far as to trek up to 96th street today to see the EQ3 beds, which honestly looked sub-ikea in quality. The leader by a LONG SHOT right now is the HOT ROD bed from Blu Dot, which is 550 on 2modern and no tax and free shipping.

This sounds great but I have never SEEN or touched this bed, and its hard for me to part with 550 blindly. has ANYONE seen this bed or know where there is one in the city for sale or on display or ANYTHING? Or have any suggestions? I see the CB2 stuff, and its ok, but the blu dot LOOKS better anyway and is cheaper.

So thats it. 5? 600? not large horrible wood thing. something that exists in the city to see. whatever. help. thank you people.

Help - I ordered a sectional from BoConcept that was to be the centerpiece of my living room - one of the quattros - one with a tray in. I ordered a beige micro-fiber and when it came in, the fabric was wrong. They had changed venders and the new fabric has a yellowish tinge which I don't like. I'm checking out their other fabrics but I don't think I want leather or something nubby (I want it to have a lush, more feminine look). Here is the website http://www.boconcept.com/Default.aspx?ID=10433 - I ordered it without the headrest or ottoman.


So....I might need to start from scratch - any suggestions of stores or sofas to consider. I'm at my wits end.

Thanks,

Marianne

matt,

hope you read this :)

If you like the DWR alum bed but it's too expensive, because of the no-headboard. dwr.com has a sale on them right now, the colors are limited but take a look. they also have a few other beds on sale--they;re still expensive but no boxspring saves you a few bucks.

Ann, let me add my vote of thanks for mentioning pandora.com!

Having gotten bored with discovering that every band I know I like really *does* sound alike (possibly because they're all vaguely related to Depeche Mode), I started populating a station solely with artists who've recorded songs about California. Now I'm getting all sorts of fascinating stuff I'd never have found otherwise...

I was going to send the same thing! Pandora is amazing.