apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Oh wow - busy day for all - and I get to be first?!

Inspired by David and Im's space - I'll throw this out - what are the best step stools out there? I have tall closets, but have a big problem with storing stuff all the way to the roof. Also, any creating solutions to raise and lower heavier storage boxes?

I'm so excited by the storage possibilities I feel giddy!

woohoo, i get to be second! thumbing through domino, i saw a dish rack that i think could solve my itty bitty kitchen drying problems
its bi-level and they say its from the conran shop, but they're website is so freakin' useless that i can't tell if it's something they actually stock or not, and, at $65 a pop, i'd like to see if anyone out there has seen anything similar for waaaaay less moola
thoughts? help? thanks!

oh how embarassing, of course i meant their website, not they're
god, i hope my boss doesn't read this site!

There has been alot of discussion here lately about filing cabinets/desk space/office space and it has me wondering..what files and paperwork are really necessary to keep when you have a small space? Do I need to keep the statement from my gas bill every month? I dont see why..but my friends all tell me I should. I have insurance paperwork going back forever. Forms from former 401k that I've rolled over. I do all my banking online and yet I'm still stuck with all this darn paper. I'd like to throw it all out and not even NEED a filing cabinet! is there a better solution than filing? any suggestions and ideas are welcome. I've tried to find a definitive list of what is necessary to keep but without any luck so I thought I'd throw the question out to people who are the experts in living efficiently in small areas.

sjv
It depends if you rent or if you own, and if you're keeping paper for a tax audit or capital gains proof, or some other reason.

sjv, I've read two good articles on the subject. Both are by Liz Pulliam Weston, a columnist at MSN.com. The first is entitled, "Trash your Financial Records," the second is entitled "Go Paperless for Safer Banking." The first is no longer available on MSN.com, but you can google it and read it in the cache. The second should be available on the MSN website. They also include a link to an 8 page IRS pdf guide on what records to keep.

Hope this is of some help.

Does anyone here have an update on their Rastobator experience? I'm thinking about doing it and would love to know how it's working for others.

ann, Ikea sells several different 2-level dish drainers. The most expensive one is $30. Umbra also has some cool designs, but none of them are 2-level.

Can anyone help me with my problem du jour? I'm living at the rough end of a really interesting neighbourhood. In this city (Vancouver) that means used needles and high property crime rates, as well as other unpleasantness.

My apartment is on the ground floor, which gives me access to the yard, but also makes it less secure. There is a fence, and some landscaping is in place. But I need to beef this up, both so that I don't have to look at the street, and to make things safer. I have a 2 year old son, and I'd like to be able to allow him to play outside.

Any thoughts on plants to discourage trespassers? Holly? Bamboo? This is a wet and dark part of the world - anyone have any ideas on plants to preserve privacy and enhance safety in the Pacific Northwest?

original blues,
Having neither, I'm no expert on yards or plants, but as someone who also lives in a neighborhood with a high property crime rate, I'd discourage you against totally hiding off your home via foliage...because everything I've heard on the topic says this only encourages thieves.

sjv,
I've heard you should keep your utility bills up to 1 yr. I think this is a good place to scan images of them and keep them on your computer versus keeping the paper copies. I've also heard you can trash your bank/card statements, so long as everything is correct and you don't need them as proof of purchase for warranties or tax purposes. Me, I'm chicken...I keep darn near everything. As for the old 401K...not sure. But, I think I read you can get rid of that stuff too--so long as everything has been sorted out for, what else, tax purposes. Taxes, I've heard 7 years, but I plan on keeping mine forever...as much as that stinks, I'm afraid of the governement.

Yeah, that would be "government". I'm having the same day as you, Ann.... :)

Re: Smallest Coolest Contest Judges. After this contest concludes, could we see 3 pics from each of their homes plus a 100-word essay? Perhaps even a smackdown pitting judge against judge? I think it would be really interesting to see how they all deal with their personal spaces.

Sorry... Enrique here.

Re: Smallest Coolest Contest Judges. After this contest concludes, could we see 3 pics from each of their homes plus a 100-word essay? Perhaps even a smackdown pitting judge against judge? I think it would be really interesting to see how they all deal with their personal spaces.

FYI, there is an interesting article in today's WSJ analyzing the lackluster performance of recent mass-marketed 'celebrity' home lines (Todd Oldham, Oprah's guy, Thomas O'Brien).

Thanks, Christine. My real problem is not so much fear of property crime as people throwing their used needles over the fence. There were two used hypodermics on the outside of the fence this morning.

A lot has changed since I had a kid, but two things I now understand.

One: why people buy minivans and SUVs (it's difficult to find a standard car that will take more than one carseat, and these days the laws are so strict that they have to stay in carseats until they're schoolage). We have so far managed to avoid this, and think we'll be able to permanently. We have a preference for the small - but boy do I now understand what makes people go for the big.

Two: why people move to suburban areas widely perceived as being safe. I hate having to scan the parks for needles when I take my kid there to play. It's a profoundly depressing experience.

OK, all off topic. just had to vent a little. Finding those needles has thrown off my entire day.

whoops - correction - standard cars will take two carseats, but then there's no room left in the middle for even a fairly small person, like, say, grandma.

Hey Original Blues,

Sorry about your depressing finds in the park. I think that you should probably remain vigilant about checking the back yard regardless of the foliage barrier.

I am an Urban Planning Consultant and my peers / friends can be quite snobby about the choices people make. If you don't mind, I might bring up your example next time I am trying to get one of them to forgo the suburbanite judgment for a bit.

Well, I've been snobby about that choice myself. So I don't mind in the least if you bring up that example.

One thing I've noticed after living in several cities (including NYC) is that I'm getting very fussy about neighbourhood. I want to be able to walk to buy my groceries and other daily necessities. This is one reason I'm living where I am, despite the crime.

We were house-hunting until last year when the rent versus buy equation shifted in favour of rent - and we looked at some of the more established suburbs. One thing that came out quite clearly was that many suburbs have the kind of walk-to-shopping that we want, and many so-called urban neighbourhoods do not. This is partly just because Vancouver is a new city and its zoning laws and commercial property taxes have always discouraged long retail strips.

Hey, if the commute's not awful, I'll take a lively suburban strip over vast stretches of "urban" green where you have to drive to get your groceries.

Urban planning has been much on my mind lately, so it's interesting to hear what you do for a living.

Originalblues -- THORNS. Plant the thorniest bushes you can find. You'll have to train the kid to leave them alone, but that's just one small person whom you supervise.

I'm an urban planning consultant too! I hear ya on the needles...that is awful. I get angry at my fellow planners when they're in la la land about how living in the city is such a glorious experience. Yeah, if you're RICH. Even middle and upper middle class people, especially with kids, put up with a LOT. There has been a problem of used needles and condoms at the playground at the park near me. And, though I am an ardent fan of walkable neighborhoods and small spaces, I can see the appeal of having a nice yard and driving to the grocery store, too (heck, I can't walk to do my daily needs now...I have to either take a moronically inefficient bus or fight for parking).

Sorry interior design people!

The second I see any needles or any of that sh*t near my home, I am going to put it on the market faster than I can blink. I would actually love to carry a handgun around to accelerate the gentrification in park slope, but the wife has a problem with me carrying a firearm.

Original Blues - Can you post photos of your current fence / landscaping situation? Is there a keyed gate or can anyone pass through? My first reaction is to ask the city to add more trash bins on the sidewalk. Otherwise, a combination of woody vines and backlighting may work well, depending on the fence configuration.

All this discussion of urban life is giving me a Sondheim (parody) moment:

Bums on my doorstep - la la la!
Needles in bushes - la la la!
Drunks on the buses - la la la!
Hi ho, the glamorous life!

Hey Christine (in DC),

I was going to ask you about your job the other day when you were talking about doing research on Trader Joes, it sounded like you and I have similar jobs.

We are finishing up a project in which our client thinks their community needs a whole foods - however the demographics don't support it at all. So my boss is like, "I heard about this place...Margaritaville something...". And since I can't read minds, I couldn't make the connection Margaritaville-->Trader Joes, despite all the buzz that was going on here about it. I finally figured it out later.

Topic: I think there should be special smallest, coolest prizes for people brave enough to live in their tiny apartments with a kid.

OriginalBlue:

Get a sign warning about an attack dog AND a sign about an electric fence. You want people to think some crazy-ass f*ck lives there. I'm not kidding. Everywhere I have lived, I have tried to make my neighbors think that I was potentially unstable. Other than the pitying looks my wife has often received in the elevator, in my mind it was well worth it.

Um, park junkies pay attention to signs?

thanks for the advice everyone. I've put so much work into my current place over the last few months that even the fantasy of decamping to a safer and more chichi neighbourhood isn't much consolation at the moment. (And one problem with this city is that your choice is either chichi, or, to use the realtors' euphemism, "ever-changing.")

And I absolutely love aspects of this neighbourhood. Buying groceries is no longer a chore. I love going into all the different shops. Butcher, Italian deli, cheese shop, produce shop - it's a very old-fashioned area, not many chain stores (even the local ones). So I will stay, if only for the food.

I'll try to get some pictures up, and post them on a later thread. The fence does have a locked gate, and my understanding from people who have lived in the building for a while (and there are a lot of them, and some of them have raised kids here) is that it has generally been quite safe, with a hair-raising exception every few years.

Maybe, Jonathan, I should just fly you out here to visit for a week and scare everybody off!

Hi All, not to turn the attention away from the nasty needles but i'm wondering - anyone have a suggestion for a recliner couch that is not completely ugly, maybe even a little bit feminine? I have a 29 inch doorway, a max length of 86 and a budget of about $1000....totally open to suggestions!!

xo
Dana

Uh, Jonathan, "potentially unstable"? :)

Avocado, story of my life! Everyone thinks they "need" something in their community--that it's going to poof, magically appear because they want it and it's always my job to tell them they can't have it unless they get beaucoup bucks in. I feel like the party pooper all the time. On occasion I feel like i help communities attain their goals (once, my company helped get a whole foods). I do the economic analysis/real estate side of things (that is, when I'm not writing on design blogs like AT...).

Dana,
This is not the most inventive solution, but have you looked at La-z-boy? I was somewhat impressed with *certain* selections they had--though it's hit or miss. I saw some recliner chairs from them I liked. I have to ask...is there a man involved in this decision?

*original blues, I googled your question-and look what came up: aparently, Seattle looks up at Vancouver for their imaginative use of hedges in place of fence!
http://tinyurl.com/nqmbz. There are some recommendations in the article. From personal experience (a Brooklynite here), when in doubt about which local/hardy/healthiest plants to select, I used to call Brooklyn Botanic Garden or Horticultural Society, they were always very helpful and friendly. may be you have something similar in Vancouver.

Avocado and Christine (DC), are you reading blogs on urban planning (and around), like City Comforts (click on my signature), or extensive coverage on 2blowhards? (I would like to see you @ the lively discussions @ the latter, f.ex. at this old onehttp://www.2blowhards.com/archives/002332.html - I'm sure you'd have much to add.

Hmmm, for some reason it doesn't open.
Let's try again:
http://tinyurl.com/nqmbz

Hehe - only kind of. I'm allowing my boyfriend a say but actually this is all me. (Gasp) :P

I grew up with them and just found the COOLest but ugliest loveseat in a store after sitting in a bunch of uncomfortable sofa's and got all excited. The loveseat is really too small but I love the idea - it's on a glider system, has separate but connected seats that rock indiviually or together amd each recline individually. Great for hyperactive me. But UGLY.

Either way, it reminded me how comfortable they are and since it's really the only seating in my apt....well, i wondered.

I forgot about La-z-boy actually. I looked earlier but could not find any prices on the web.
I'm in the city so getting to a store is somewhat of a problem for me. I'll try to hitch ride tho. Thanks!

Dana

Holly has thorns, but it's pretty, by the way. If you're literally intending to drive people away, roses would be a bad idea, because then they'll just want to be spiteful and cut the heads off the flowers.

Actully the problem with anything like that, is that if they've dropped needles there just anyway, then you've got needles AND thorns for you to reach through to get rid of the needles.

Tat, thanks for the URL...though heaven knows I need no more places on the web to check throughout the day!!!

Curtis, my thoughts exactly--I see my neighbor cleaning through his bamboo on weekends...mostly trash, but if you added drug paraphernalia into that...

Dana, Lay-z-boy has the stupidist policy of not showing prices on web or in advertising...how can people know if they want it or not? I went to a showroom once. I think they're fairly reasonable, price-wise. I really liked a leather recliner they had--very clean lines...and I know what you mean. I sat in my brother's aptly named "big boy" recliner when I was visiting and thought "my, this is comfy." :)

thanks for the article, tat. And Curtis and Christine, you are absolutely right about the serious dangers of cleaning out a bush without being able to quite see what you're grabbing.

Well, I'll keep hunting for a solution. And I'll just have to teach my kid that "the junkie is a person in your neighborhood, in your neighborhood, in your neighborhood..."

You may resume your regular programming now. Thanks again for letting me complain.

OriginalBlues: forget this thorn crap. Three pieces of advice: I'm telling you, get a BIG sign made that faces outward that says "BEWARE OF GUARD DOG" and then one right under it that says "DANGER! ELECTRIC FENCE" and run some wires around. Here's a third idea - you should (seriously) consider hiring some guy to wait outside and beat the living sh*t out of anyone who comes near your house. You could get someone from a bodyguard agency, or a local bouncer, or one of those military magazines where people advertise security services, whatever. Just give instructions that anyone who steps foot in your backyard should be savagely beaten within an inch of their life. Tell them not to use a gun or anything, but a large stick, or a baseball bat or they can kick them in the head or whatever. It would cost you, probably $400 per trespasser and you would never, ever get any trouble again. Vigorous defense of one's property is a Constitutional right and should not be frittered away by appeasement. Believe me, if I lived in your neighborhood and so did Curtis and his thorns, within one week Curtis's lawn would be filled with needles, condoms and crack whores and nobody would come NEAR my lawn because they would have learned their lesson.

Hello. Sorry to change the subject. Does anyone else think that this dresser from IKEA is actually very nice?

http://www.ikea.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?topcategoryId=15597&catalogId=10103&storeId=12&productId=68058&langId=-1&parentCats=15597*16253

Has anyone actually seen this in person?

Jessica--I think it's nice, but that's me, in the "I don't think Ikea's total crap" brigade. I have 2 dressers from them. I believe I saw this one when I was there last, and it seemed nice enough (i.e. you'd never mistake it for being really high end, but it's still nice).

Jessica - I have seen it...don't much care for it. I think the Anaboda or the Bjursta are both nicer but that's me

original blues, along with whatever horticultural deterent you put out there, it may be time to rethink your security. How do you access the yard? Is this entryway truly secure? Do you have an alarm system (and as a first floor unit, you should)? Do you have motion sensor lights installed (you should)? Would it be appropriate to set up any sort of camera system (if it's a shared courtyard this should be done by the building as a whole, they don't have to be expensive)?

Um, how is either thorns or a rent-a-bouncer (WHERE can I get me one of those?!?!) a deterrent for people lobbing stuff over a fence?

On an oddly related note, I saw some really goregous, evocative art work at the Morgan Lehman Gallery booth at the recent -scope art fair, by talented and adorable Paul Villinski. The work dealt with issues of substance abuse... butterflies made from beer cans found on the street, and in one piece, they were tethered by delicate gold chains to crack vials (each with a different colored cap) found all in one day in a NYC park. Sounds kinda "twee" and forced, but the pieces-- that one in particular-- were really the closest thing I have ever seen to a "physical poem." Quite moving, modern and raw without sacrificing "beauty."

Oh, for more wallspace!

Thorns? 'Cause I was projecting my own neighborhood problems, where the difficulty is what goes on *in* the bushes...

I've decided I need to get a new living room rug. My old rug which I bought from my bedroom in my old apartment is a pale gold and it looks to pale against the light-colored wood flooring. I was thinking of either of these:

http://www1.macys.com/catalog/product/index.ognc?ID=124434&CategoryID=17255

http://fortunoffs.com/product.asp?pf_id=114187&sea_state=AwIFFQYAAzIxNhQAAhQAAxQABBQABQEBAAEBAQMHAAMABBUDAAhjb250YWlucxUEAARydWdz%0D%0AFQACDxUBAicFBQUA


Any opinions? The rugs are not on display at the stores, but if I hate the way they look, I can return them for a refund.


Also, how do you think this would look? weird?

http://www1.macys.com/catalog/product/index.ognc?ID=135890&CategoryID=17255

Well, after feeling like I hogged today's thread, I think I should make a positive contribution.

New Tenant, I'm sure you've talked about your furniture before, but I'm afraid I can't remember specifics.

I like both of the first two rugs - they have a kind of modern earthy vibe. They're cozy. But rugs you really need to see in person, since they all respond to light in different ways.

I think the final rug is fabulous, and more daring than the first two. If everything you've got is clean and modern, it would look great. But like really daring personalities, a rug like that is sometimes hard to introduce to what's already in the house.

Jonathan, your posts were a moment of black humour in a sucky day.

p2 is right (deep defeated sigh); I'm not sure there's much I can really do about any of this. But I'm still hoping for a solution short of moving to a different neighbourhood. My building is a hippie-style co-op (apartments not owned, but building run by the residents), and we're having a meeting tonight. I'll see what people think about security.

original blues--
I DO think that a back wall of dense, high bamboo would deflect some of the lobbing, and potentially deter any, um, parkgoers, from considering fence jumping if they decided the needle wasn't ready for retirement.

But security, building-wide, always seems like a good idea, for a different issue.

New Tenant -- All three rugs are lovely, but I think the first one is especially beautiful. It's dense and rich and sultry, perfect for a bedroom. The third one could work well with careful consideration of art, wall color, etc.

New Tenant, none of your earlier posts that I can recall suggested you were as radical as these carpets suggest. They are very cool - clearly their success or failure hinges on the other items in your apartment. But your boyfriend is in New Jersey! Will their be an ultimate meeting of the minds? Will this carpet end up in Paramus? Will his shiny garden state sofa end up on top of this rug? What else is adjacent to this rug? My mind is swimming with questions. The red ones are really extreme but with the muted sofas you were floating a couple of weeks ago, it works.

You have a Russian soul, New Tenant. I know it.

Does anyone know anything about a company called ModLoft in Fl? I am lusting after a bookcase posted on ebay
http://cgi.ebay.com/MODERN-Furniture-Wood-Glass-Twin-BOOKCASE-Bookshelf_W0QQitemZ4449739307QQcategoryZ3199QQtcZphotoQQcmdZViewItem
thoughts? This is so AT inspired by the way

in response to questions about my furnishings:

I have ordered the york sofabed:

http://www.roomandboard.com/rnb/prod.do?pfid=487149&grp=RB3210-1&grpType=0&collid=RB3210&collname=York&dept=RB155

and I'm planning to get a glass coffee table, possibly one of these:

http://www.chiasso.com/store/Item.aspx?DepartmentId=40&ItemId=50091

http://www.target.com/gp/detail.html/ref=br_1_10/601-9713036-4015310?%5Fencoding=UTF8&frombrowse=1&asin=B000E3YXX8


I'm still researching the coffee tables. I'm pretty sure I just want a clean, simple rectangular table. Since I decided to go that way, i realized it would look really cool with an interesting rug, which you will be able to see through the coffee table. My old coffee table was heavy dark wood and it overwhelmed the room.

Against the wall that faces the sofa, I have this west elm console for my tv:

http://ww1.westelm.com/cat/pip.cfm?template=8grid&pkey=cfrnsto&gids=p028&cid=frnsto&area=shp

flanked by two of those west elm rolling units (the low 2x4 ones).

To the right of the sofa there is a window seat with colorful cushions (mostly red and gold with some blue) and I have painted the wall on either side of the window seat red.

The art on the wall is mostly framed photographs from my trips and some retro tin signs i found in a store in the village.

That's about it - some other pieces that may or may not stay.

Since my furniture is mainly neutral (having decided not to go with the red DWR sofa), i felt i really needed something bright and dramatic on the floor. Hence the red rugs.

sorry for the verbiage, but it's late and I'm tired. To paraphrase someone famous, I had to write a long post because I did not have time to write a shorter one.

If anyone has coffee table suggestions, let me know.

thanks.

And, yes, I am concerned about the rug clashing with the red wall, but i guess I can repaint if it looks bad. I took me forever to paint those damn walls - red paint sucks to put on. But it looks great.

Jonathan - my boyfriend actually liked those two rugs the best of all the links i sent him. He actually has pretty good taste in theory. However, his own decor is a cross between single guy, college dorm and packrat. and everything is neutral - not even a punch of color anywhere. I always feel as though I'm entering the land of beige.

drat.

I double posted.

Anne -

I just used the rasterbator this week to try to add some 'pop' to my wall in my bedroom - I used a simple (and very black) graphic - i tried to cut down all the pages to make it a field of black with the white image (inspired by the gap poser above the bed in one of the smallest coolest entries) - my result?

Eh. Sure, it looks cool but the paper isn't connecting perfectly, it buckles here and there, and I definitely don't love it. I like the mass of the image, but I think the way to go is to print (in reverse) on iron transfer paper, have a very large and flat surface to work with, and have a long attention span - then iron it onto canvas. I don't like the paper look. However - with frames, it might be different (I didn't use frames as I was just experimenting.)

WIEDER is a surprise - in spite of its minimalist looks it offers excellent comfort, thanks to high quality filling and wooden slats in the seat. Roomy and comfortable while not taking up too much space. Even more surprising is the ease with which the sofa converts into a double bed.wiederusa.com

someone mentioned if anyone has heard about modloft in florida.

i have and they are AWESOME. i bought an entertainment center from them. they have auctions on ebay - http://auctions.modloft.com. enjoy!