apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Now that I am selling my condo I have motivation to keep it clean. Imagine you are trying to sell the place & a realtor & client may appear at anytime.

Jonathan,

We went with an ultrasuede couch -- well, I guess ours is faux-trasuede -- on the advice of several sales and regular people. It's worked out. The fabric hides stains well. That said, I'd go with the bycast leather or any plain old leather that will stand up to wear and tear. The average small child will sit on, jump on, pummel and chew all furniture in sight, and that adds up. It's nice if baby clothes and sheets are soft, but I think the salesman trying to make you feel that what he sits on has to be soft is just trying to sell you something.

Jen

I have a similar mode of thinking to Anne's, though mine's more optimistic.

I hate the thought of unexpected company finding my place to be a mess. Have you ever shown up at someone's place and they avoid letting you see anything because they're embarrassed of the mess? We all have. But I don't want to be that guy! So, I keep it tidy - especially since I enjoy having company over.

It helps that I'm somewhat of a minimalist and am tidy by nature. My idea of my place being a mess is other people's idea of neat and orderly.

The real trick for me is finding a way to not have the place look TOO tidy if I have a date over (at least the first few times she'd see the place). I've had women say things like "Wow you're clean! I'm not letting you see MY place!"

...but what can I say? My loft is a reflection of myself.

Gives a whole new meaning to "an apartment to die for." ;)

jmarieb--
My best friend here in the city and I have a pact... if anything were to happen to him, his family knows I have first access to the apartment to, um, "sanitize" it of any collections they might not care to find.

One DOES occasionally need to beg for attention, AND be patient....sheesh, I put a question with a convenient link up no less than 5 times in a few weeks or so and got zero takers! Now that I just bought the table in question, don't you DARE tell me it sucks when I come to asking what chairs to pair it with! And, of course, I will ask, because I like concensus, which I hope to GOD I get (in one way or another) when I come looking/begging for it again.

;-) (but only to a point)

I like these chairs and they come in apple green.

http://ww1.westelm.com/cat/pip.cfm?template=8grid&pkey=cfrndin&gids=f046&cid=frndin&area=shp

And these chairs would look great with the table
http://www.roomandboard.com/rnb/coll.do?coll=RB3968&dept=RB314

BTW, love the table.

susiq - feeling bad that you were ignored I went back thru every Open Thread to Jan. 19th and didn't see any posts from you. What is it that we all ignored?

awwwww, shucks, thanks! last time was probably a few in december, not since then, as i purchased it via an ebay store in late december but then when it was mysteriously not shipping, cancelled it in late january.

I just bought this table yesterday and will soon be thinking what chairs to pair it with. I thought it was a cool table for a very cheap price, thinking I'd get my dream table down the road. But, the chairs I think I want are the lime green Arne Jacobsen Series 7 chair OR the Wegner Wishbone chair, but am wondering if they are too curvy for the angular table base, even though the table is round. It's a bit premature, though, since I can't get those chairs just yet. Also am considering the green leather ones from C&B.

Thanks for asking!!!!!!

...on second thought, I know I jumped into the thread that said "the doctors are IN...." and that might have been in January, come to think of it.

thanks for the thoughts chzdanish and jmarieb. I guess I'll see what I can sort out. The problem with the low-profile proper futon platform is that I actually really need space under the bed for storage. (Bad Feng Shui, I know - but I need somewhere to put out of season clothes and extra blankets).

Jonathan, for what it's worth (leather sectionals are not in my future), "softer for the baby" sounds like a pretty transparent sales ploy. You already have this baby? Then you know that in the early months, they tend to barf (and worse) on your furniture. Later on, even the most vigilant parent can't always prevent sticky fingers from going where they shouldn't. If this is to be a room that the baby is to be in (i.e., you don't have a playroom or family room somewhere else), I'd go durable and cleanable. If you're fortunate enough to have space for adults and space for families, go with the nicer leather.

Random insert here. But I just want to say I totally love this website. I read it every day and learn something new most of the time. Eclective, useful, beautiful.

Thanks Anne, I really want something from Denmark and there are so many good choices. I'm seriously considering the Wegner Wishbone chairs, but I just can't afford them at the moment. So, I'm still up in the air right now.

susiq,
I also love your table. Very cool. Given the strong lines of the table, I think it would great with contrasting curvy chairs like Series 7. I'm not so sure about how well the Wegners would go with it; I'd have to actually see the combination first before deciding. But my thoughts on this may have more to do with the fact that I like the Series 7 more than the Wegner chair to begin with.

I do remember seeing your post way back when asking for comments about a table on eBay. When I saw it, I thought I had seen it being sold at some e-tailer, possibly West Elm. But when I looked there, I couldn't find it.

any tips on how to keep a small apartment clean over the weekend? i find that i can be reasonably neat during the week but that the laziness/partying over the weekend just kills me...

mc -

Well, I had a couple of friends to my place for dinner last night, which made me KIND of keep the place kind of nice, and then after dinner, one of them helped with the dishes. We kind of kept talking and visiting while washing and drying the dishes, so that gave a little time for the food to go down before dessert. And then washed those dishes. It was nice to have the place kind of decent before going to bed.

So, I'd say... do something to your apartment that makes you want to show it off, so that at any moment you'd WANT be ready to have someone show up. So that if you see your neighbor in the elevator, you could say, "You gotta see what I did!".

That's what makes me keep it decent most of the time.

Has anyone else bought Marimekko Sheets from Crate & Barrel?

I found a really nice set for a great price at the C&B outlet in New Jersey a month or two ago. Last night was my first night sleeping on them and it was like sleeping on sandpaper! I've never had such uncomfortable sheets, and I'm certainly no high-thread-count sheet snob.

It is so disappointing! I love the pattern and now I don't know if I can keep them.

And yes, I did wash them before I used them... Maybe my laundry didn't use enough fabric softner? Should I wash them again and see what happens? Anyone else have a set??

drying clothing and sheets in a dryer tends to dry out everything more then line drying, it happens a fair bit with my tshirts (100% cotton) fabric softer only tends to fix the problem slightly.

Also it could be a case of washing liquids not being rinsed out properly then becoming hard during drying.

only thing I can think of would be washing the sheets in just plain water then air drying so as to not dry out the material completely.

Otherwise constant use and washing should make the sheets softer in time!

Marie:

Your comment: ... Maybe my laundry didn't use enough fabric softner? indicates you send your laundry "out". Ben makes several good comments.

I do my wash in a public laundry and always use some lavender in the wash and then take my sheets out of the dryer just before they're dry. Commercial machines are far too hot.

And yes, any sheet, the more you wash it the better it is although I am definitely a high thread count snob.

Let us know how you resolve your problem. I would be curious.

jmarieb, in the memory foam thread you said you stand by hand-made futons.

After really paying attention when I've been in hotels and visiting friends, I think I'm sticking with my futon, too. Time for it to be replaced, however.

But I'd really like to have it look more like a normal bed - it's still on my student years low pine platform. The majority of platform bedframes I've seen locally are too loft-gimicky, and seem to scream hipness. (No CB2 or Westelm stores or delivery here in Canada.)

How do you modify a standard bed frame to take a futon? Can you just run slats across it? Do you need extra support anywhere else? Anyone tried this?

mc
I'm with Curtis - really the only thing that is guaranteed to make me keep my place clean is the threat of impending guests.

For three weeks, my dining room area in my new apartment was a disaster zone because I was in the middle of several decorating projects and had been dumping all my tools and other paraphenalia on and around the dining table. On Saturday, a friend called up and wanted to come by and see my new apartment. Since we were both free that day, and would not be free for at least another week, i said, why don't you just come over now. I had about an hour to get the projects finished and the dining room cleaned up, so the place looked fabulous. There was no excuse why i hadn't done it three weeks ago.

Make a plan for someone to come by, even if it's just for drinks or tea, each weekend. it will keep you motivated.

about sheets.

most places recommend that you take sheets out of the dryer while still (a little) damp and let them dry out on the bed. less wrinkles and gives them a softer touch.

even though you say thread count is not an issue. I think it is, i have some west elm sheets which are 210tc, and some from ikea that are 180. I think the ikea ones while much thinner, feel much softer. Though i did feel those sheets at C&B and found them to feel fine, so try the things suggested already first.

Blue (this comment contains massive amounts of speculation, and would require lots of further research)

I've never tried that, but I have a bed frame that does not need a box spring (from EQ3). Having put it together, I can tell you that it is simply a box with a metal L-shaped ridge around the inside, which support the slats. Those slats are nailed to pieces of hardboard, 4 at a time, and there are 4 of these assemblies. This prevents the slats from moving around. There is also a center leg attached to a rail which runs from the foot to the head of the bed. The slats/hardboard assemblies sit on top of that, too.

Another option is to buy a bunkie board (I think that's what it's called) from a bed store. It's simply an upholstered board (we could have gotten one for about $70, if I remember correctly) on top of which the sits the mattress, instead of on slats. That might also sit on the ridge of a standard bed frame.

I bet in any cases, you'd need to a frame with ridges that go all the way around the circumference of the bed, not one that only has side rails. I can't remember if most standard frames have rails on all four sides.

mc & New Tenant -

Besides -- it's kind of FUN to have people over, isn't it? It's like ... my old place was so small that people would come over for like a second, and then we'd go to the Starbucks for coffee, which was immediately downstairs, but now that my OWN place is large enough to sit down and relax, it's kind of nice to be able to developing hosting skills! Can you imagine starting to be kind of a grown-up at 43-11/12ths years old?

You're right curtis - but I think sometimes we get lazy or distracted and we don't just make the plans.

MC
Another thing that is motivating me now to keep my place clean is that i am really happy with the way it looks. I have worked hard on decorating and making it cosy and beautiful - I want to keep it clean or I don't get the benefit of all my hard work.

IMMEDIATE SOFA HELP NEEDED

I have a baby and about to buy a leather sofa sectional. One sales guy says to buy the (lower grade, slightly plastic coated) BYCAST LEATHER because tougher on stains. Another sales guy says to buy the untreated SOFT ITALIAN LEATHER because softer for the baby. This is from Stendmar, which does sectional knockoffs and sells on Ebay. Any thoughts?

Jonathan, we never got an apology from you for this:

"Uh, i'm real thrilled about your teal lamps and all but can we bring the subject back to my leather couch???

Posted by jonathan at 02/01/06 4:34 PM"

in this thread:
http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/ny/020106/open-threads/open-thread-132-006196

This one:
"Uh, i'm real thrilled about your crappy teal lamps and all but can we bring the subject back to my leather couch???

Posted by jonathan at 02/01/06 4:19 PM"

Good point, jamie pup, especially since that comment was in reference to my elation over scoring two Thomas O'Brien for pennies. Harumph.

Jamie - you busted me! I'm the same jerk, still without a sofa! You people have no idea what I went through in childhood...my personality is not my fault. NONETHELESS - I'm impressed!

mc, curtis, NT,
I just wanted to add another vote for company being a motivator for cleaning. It's funny what I consider acceptable mess to live in but what I would die to have even my close friends see (not that I'm that much of a slob alone, mind you).
I have been fixing up my raw loft space in BKLYN and as I have almost no budget I am doing much of the renov. by myself. I had hesitated to invite friends over - it's not yet perfect - but over xmas I put up a tree and had a few friends over and the fun of hosting and having any nice words said about my work was overwhelming. It has now motivated me to tackle another daunting project, painting my floors, so that I can play hostess again (and hopefully get more praise - can you just tell that I am a leo?)

Good Evening!

Does anyone knows where could I find a cheap vintage full size iron bedframe in the new york city area...doesnt have to be iron...but it has to look like the old victoria metal frames.

thanks for your help in advance.

mc--
I actually have the opposite problem, since weekends are when I get caught up on putting stuff away, sorting bills, organizing mail, emtying dishwasher, etc... all the stuff that piles up during the week.

But thank god for a mostly-organized SMALL space... even when it seems bad, just 45 minutes or less and it is "presentable" again.

jonathan
it sounds to me like you were only joking and maybe people took your comment the wrong way. Or are you really selfish enough to think that AT is all about you? Please enlighten us. :)

whoops, emptying

Blue:

I have a double futon which was hand made for me in Los Angeles when I was there. It was pricey and is still wonderful (airing these things outside on a sunny day really does kill bacteria). It is on a double size regular platform - flat, no slats, which is pine and painted a chocolate color. I'm sort of fanatical about good painting and so its a nice presentation. Very low with an asian aesthetic. This is a platform we built oursevles and we did include cutouts randomly spaced for ventilation - but, uh uh, no slats.

It was never intended to be a sofa, just a bed, so it doesn't receive abuse from being rolled around. I like firm, firm beds and that's what this provides.

As for the postings re: keeping the apartment clean, there is just one thing that has worked for me (and I have a busy schedule) and that is daily picking up. 15 minutes every day/night. That's it. Because, by the weekend, the last thing I want to do is spend one of the two days cleaning! Turns out my mother was right.

Marie--
Those sheets are very heavily printed in the patterned areas, no? Perhaps that is the issue (versus threadcount), which should certainly (also) improve with continued washing...

Funny, though... groiwng up, my mom line-dried everything, and I always thought that made things like sheets stiff. But I always thought it "crisp" instead, and have rather fond memories of sliding into a bed made of just-dried "crisp" sheets.

Well, except for when we were Miami-sunburned. Then, not so much!

mc - I know this is a sick way of thinking what helps me keep my place neat and presentable is the thought that I may never come back to my apt. Everyday the unexpected happens to unsuspecting people and wham - dead! That is ALWAYS on my mind so then I think about the strangers that have to come into my apt. in such an event. So I always make the bed, have the dishes washed and put away, magazines stacked neatly and keep an overall neat appearance to the apt. everyday.

Told you it was sick.

Anne I do the exact same thing. otherwise my apt would be utterly disgusting. i say, if it works it ain't sick (ok a little weird maybe...):D

Anne - Not only is it NOT sick, but now I'm thinking of a few things in my apartment I wouldn't even want found if I didn't return!

I need to do some reorganizing. Hmmm.

Jonathan -
By the way... I think you want leather that won't stain. Babies are tougher than you think; they don't need such soft leather. Besides, if the baby is on the soft leather couch too much, he/she WILL find a way to stain it for sure.

Marie,

I am using Marimekko sheets right now. However, mine are really old - like from the '80s. I think these sheets were born before the whole thread count craze. I love the pattern (ivory on ivory), but the sheets aren't luxurious. I am not sure if they started out as sand paper or not. They are plenty soft now, although old (I need to find new sheets I like, but can't!).

I would say if you really love the pattern and can wait for them to soften up (and they will), keep them. But if very soft, luxurious, immediately comfortable and cozy sheets are more important, then take them back.

k, thank you! My suspicions too...about it being too curvey. But, you know when you just have to possess something? The more I think of it the more I'm inclined to just go with what I love. My daughter bought a reddish wood parsons dining table at Ikea and paired it with very curvey, traditional, black rubbed-through chairs from Target. I was unsure about this combination, but the contrast of both styles is very exciting. Each style is accentuated with this combination.

Jonathon...as the graduate mother of 3 kids, plus having purchased a sectional with glove letter quite a few years ago, a couple of thoughts.

The "soft" issue isn't an issue in terms of the baby. You have to go in knowing that once the baby is walking around with food in the hands or sticky fingers, you could get a beautiful palm print right on the front of that untreated leather cushion. If not a palm print, then stains of some sort over and over. It will happen. But, the stains dissipate (somewhat) over time too. And other people will be getting it stained too. I have a glove leather sectional that is majorly broken in and stained and discolored due to (3) teenagers, not babies. So, it never gets better! But, I'm fine with the look. It looks well lived in but you can still appreciate the beautiful leather, always. Lived in leather, IMO is nicer looking than lived in anything else. You have to be totally ok with the "lived in" look and if you can be, and you love it, then get the soft leather.

LEATHER SOFA - helpful all, thanks. And to the one person above who understood my true nature, thanks. I love this site but everyone is so godamned polite to each other it occasionally makes me wonder whether you are all posting from f*cking Kansas. IN any case, for the baby, then: ANILINE LEATHER is real leather but is scraped, dyed and has a thin plastic coating. It looks cheaper than soft leather but is supposedly a bit more stain resistant. SOFT LEATHER is relatively untouched and more comfortable but without the shell. Perhaps I should keep the kid locked in the basement and not let him near the sofa.

Lori, P(2), and jmarieb-

Thanks for the sheet advice! While I can't really line dry my sheets (I don't know that I want my mostly white sheets hanging out from my fire escape on 79th Street....) - I will definitely try washing them myself next time and using a lower dryer setting and taking them out early.

Re: sandpapery sheets

This might sound kind of homespun, but I've read that a 1/4 cup of apple cider vinegar in the rinse cycle acts as a natural fabric softener. I've never tried it, but some folks swear by it.

Just curious Jonathon. Did you go with the Stendmar? How is the quality?