apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Okay, since I'm first (maybe), my ambitious home goal (not) since I'll be at my parents in PA is to browse carpets (deciding if I want new carpets in my living room--and if so, area rugs or bound remants) and contemplate painting and whether I want to approach that with my LL.

firsties??

wow.

Does anyone know about painting over vinyl flooring? we have 1960's era sheet vinyl flooring (is it vinyl at that age?) in our hall - I want to make it dark brown like the rest of our flooring. Can I paint it?

Speaking of painting flooring, has anyone had experience with painting plastic laminate countertops? I'm wanting to update mine in my kitchen but don't want to invest the money on something nice like solid surfacing, granite, etc. I've seen Debbie Travis do it on her TV show, but am curious how successful/durable it really is in real life. Has anybody on here tried it? Success with it? Recommendations on how to go about it?

Thanks.

My goal is to unearth and throw away more things that have been in boxes since we moved nine years ago (I know), so the recent, visible buildup can be stored away. (I'm really ready for the 8-week cure.)

No experience painting the coountertops, Daily nuance, but I would assume that an oil is your first choice, after scuffing the surface with sandpaper.

In our first place, my husband used full strength nitric acid to remove the first glittery layer off our plastic countertops and make them plain white.

My goal this weekend? To find the ONE !$@^@^*^% piece of documentation I did NOT have for my tax appointment YESTERDAY. :P

(and to avoid reading/getting weepy about the box of letters and cards I'll inevitably come across while rooting through the closet...)

ps; Hey, where did Maxwell go? Can we have class outside today?!?!

Daily Nuance, What about replacing it with just a better laminate? It's gotta be easier and less expensive than going through the trouble of painting. I'm just saying this on imagining, not on actual knowledge. But, I know there are nicer laminates out there...mine looks like a concrete-type surface, but is a laminate. It's kinda nice and easy to clean, too!

rachel - I remember reading something about boat paint for flooring since it's able to take a serious beating, but it could have been for wood floors. ? You'd still have to tackle the adhesion problem though.

My goal is to redo the dollhouse that's on the dining table. It was supposed to be done today, but I'm still wretchedly scraping old rug and wallpaper off the interior.

(Miles & Theo decided that living above a cafe was too stressful, so they're getting a cottage that would be 576 sq ft in real life. Space use is *so* much more efficient when you don't have closets, stairs, doorways, or halls.)

Too funny, wende, that scraping wallpaper ALWAYS sucks. Even in a dollhouse!

Back to floors......there was a thread a while ago about staining parquet a dark color. Anyone have pictures of their result? I cant stand the busy look of my parquet tiles, would love to see how much staining will improve it.

Rachel,

The glossy red rubber commercial tiles were outside of my kitchen renovation budget, so I painted over my old yellow dingy vinyl tiles.

Don't let any hardware help or contractor tell you it can't be done. Clean the floor thoroughly, let it dry well. Prime and paint it with porch or deck paint. 2 or 3 layers of poly on top and you've got yourself a brand new kitchen floor. In my case, glossy red lipstick floors. Hee hee.

Caveat: they do scratch, so I've placed colorful rag rugs near the sink and stove or other heavily trod areas. Be sure the poly coats dry thoroughly or your floors will look like an amateur's manicure (bubbly).

Good luck.

I have a question for the group: where in NYC can I find a Flokati rug? I've been looking online and I can't get a grasp of the thicknesses (2000 gram, 3000 gram, 4000 gram). Does anyone have one? Are they hard to clean?

Cindy--
re: cleaning a Flokati

Just DON'T use the hand attachment from a Dyson Animal vac designed to pick up pet hair. For obvious reasons. Well, um, obvious to me NOW...!

It was a VERY "I Love Lucy" moment.

rachel: thanks for the tips

Christine: My first thought was also to just replace the countertops. I got an estimate from Lowe's and was shocked when I received it. Replacing the existing countertops also leads to replacing the sink (which I don't like), the faucet (the same), the garbage disposal (original to the place from 1984). Add all that in, plus installation, plus (for some reason which makes no sense to me) an additional $100 charge just because I have a dishwashwer (I know that just replacing the countertop, there are only two screws securing the dishwasher to it... how can that take $100?). I don't have that much kitchen countertop, yet doing all of that came back with an estimate well over $2K, which to me just doesn't make sense for plastic laminate. If I'm going to spring that much, I just as well do something of higher quality. Thus why I was considering simply painting as a sort of "make do" until I sell the place. I figure painting it myself couldn't cost more than $100 IF I knew what I was doing and IF I knew it would come out at least decent.

Btw, I DO like the concrete countertop look.

If anyone is looking for a new APT in NYC, check out the site thats going to KICK CRAIGS ASS... they're charging $25 per listing now and Base4Space only charges 99 Cents. Help spread the word.

This week-end I am determined to install my new garbage disposal. I have tried unsuccessfully (many times) to take out the old one, but it attached with some sort of NASA-inspired industrial nuclear plumber's puddy or something. If WD-40 doesn't help, my next step is a hacksaw and a hammer.

This was supposed to be my first, small, confidence-building home improvement project and instead it is a spirit-crushing boondoggle that has hung over my head for months.

avocado
not that I'm suggesting anyone with a crushed spirit play with petroleum distilates
but
how about Liquid Wrench,
or one of those other
beyond wd40 productos?

*******
since everyone knows everything here

does anyone know if the hopefully named without irony
"Korean Restaurant" of Columbus OH is any good?

This weekend we are cleaning out the kitchen cabinets and looking at glass tile for the backsplash and granite or caesarstone for the counters. Our new cabinets have been ordered and will be delivered 5/1. I would love to have a stoop sale to sell off all the goofy appliances we have received as gifts over the years (quasadilla maker, smores maker) but the co-op tends to frown upon that sort of thing. I guess it's Craigs List for my crap.

I'd love to sound-proof my little condo from the 2 college sophomores and their stereo who live above me. Any suggestions on how to attempt that? Any urban tricks?

Yes, Yes, Yes, please tell about staining crappy oak parquet a dark rich colour! does one aim for almost black and the result is then a mahogany brown (really deep) how well do they wear?

Good luck to all who are having counter-top issues. It sucks when the cheap stuff is only a few hundred away from the good stuff. Labour costs crush many of my dreams too....

Hey guido,
I am ready to try anything. Do you know of any product names for "petroleum distillates"? I am trying to do some research, but all I can figure out is that I shouldn't use it to grow tomoatoes in California. Is that something I can get at the hardware store or will I have to plumb my blackmarket industrial solvent suppliers?

I cannot wait until the guys at Ace Hardware hear me asking for this stuff. They always seem a bit wary of selling me even duct tape-much less anything caustic or sharp. Obviously, they know me better than I know myself.

Windwolf, short of suspending a new ceiling a few inches below your current one using isolating clips and channel it's not going to happen. You can do it, but be prepared to spend A LOT on serious construction.

p(too), forgive me for being so upfront, but I've been awaiting your comments on the smallest, coolest entry #25 - Grant's WeHo Charmer. I think he's getting a bum rap in the voting - or is at least certainly underappreciated. I was interested in your take on it. His place, imho, reminds me of your "vignette creating abilities."

Windwolf-
Have you checked to make sure that their speakers are not on the floor? I have found that makes a huge difference in how much sound gets through.

My fiancee and I are putting in a new ceramic tile countertop this weekend. This is to replace the perfectly fine laminate one that was painted black, then had a gold faux finish applied over top with a sponge. It's foul, but then just about everything the previous owners did to our new condo was foul. The white tile, combined with the chocolate brown cabinets and light seafoam paint we've put in the kitchen, should make for a nice look...we hope, anyway.

pdx brooke--
I'm on it!

anyone have any thoughts on/experience with Hip and Humble in Chelsea?

i think they are hideously overpriced for their shabby chic furniture, but they do have a table they made from reclaimed wood that is the perfect size for my needs.

p(too), thanks!

Windwolf - - my daughter is a college sophomore living in a second floor apartment - - I hope you don't live in Seattle!

I bought a kitchen base cabinet off Craig's list and am trying to find a reliable man with a van to deliver it this weekend.

Any of you NY-ers have a reliable van man?

Sometimes I really miss having a car...

Windwolf--I'm so sorry. This is a loooooonnnngggg shot, but can you talk to them, perhaps give them a briefing on how it is to live in real life when you have jobs and things that you need quiet for? Maybe some carpet on their end? I think aside from earplugs and their cooperation, your options are somewhat limited...unless, as Max suggests, you want to put in a sub-ceiling of some sort.

Daily Nuance...daaaaammmmnnnn, I was definitely not thinking it would be THAT much!

This weekend I'm having a designer come in for a 1 hour consult for space planning my living room! Sounds like it should be a simple thing to do, but I've conjured up so many possible furniture placment scenarios that I can no longer see straight. I'm looking forward to a fresh (and professional) perspective! Once I have a plan I'll be able to go forward with a few purchases that I've been holding off on. I'm excited at the prospect of forging on!

oops! ...placement

Jesse, I bought a sleigh bed at a Housingworks Thrift Store two weeks ago, and they gave me contact info for three independent delivery guys they use. I had to have the bed removed within two hours. Their guy had it waiting for me on my doorstep within 20 minutes.

Unfortunately, I threw out the list (I'm sure you could call them for all three names and numbers), but I just checked my outgoing numbers on my cell phone. The number for the delivery man I used was 212-693-0770.

I don't think it's such a long shot to talk to the noisy neighbors. They may not realize you can even hear them (I know that sounds unbelievable- but don't you remember being a college sophomore?)

Definitely talk to them before you just call the cops on them out of the blue for disturbance!

pdx brooke -- can you let us know how your space planning consultation goes? and how much you're paying?

Daily nuance,
I haven't painted or reinstalled kitchen counters myself, so divide what I say in 2. You're going to sale-prepare your kitchen, right?
I had designed a kitchen in downstairs apartment, about 4 yrs ago, and having a tight budget, used IKEA stock and their butcherblock counter. It was really, really inexpensive (I think about $180 for a 8-footer) and my contractor made a sink opening, installed it and siliconed it in 2 hrs.
Have you tried to get couple more quotes from GC or even a millworker?

If I install maple floors and then stain them "pickling white" (just a hint of white), will I kill myself for not staining them dark like everyone else? Is this going to be the second biggest mistake of my life? (don't ask)

avocado
Liquid Wrench is an actual product name
also not recommended for tomato growth
those californians are so strict!

if you go to where that one is at the hardware store and start reading labels . . .
I used that particular product for a mess that involved plastic and rust, but there's others I'm sure.

ventilation is your friend...

pixie, would be happy to! I can tell you right now that the designer says she charges $90/hr. I'm flying a little blind on her abilities since I'm only going on a referral from a hip Portland design firm, but I'm hoping for the best. Perhaps what I'm buying is a sounding board for my ideas, but at least I think she'll be coming from a good place to set me straight if needed. However, I'm hoping she has some fabulous solutions for my space. I'll let you know how it goes!

Gee, pdx brooke, now I see I'm shortchanging myself!
Thank you for this tip. (are you in NY? have to keep up with the market, geographically, too...)

Tat, nope - I'm in Portland, OR.

Thanks, Doug!

Good, even better.
And to think that my last client, a 5th Ave lawyer, twitched at $75 rate and no comission!

Hi, I just found and fell in love with this blog. I'm in Baltimore, MD and really want to find someplace that can take drafts or CAD designs and do metalworking for me so I can design my own furniture. Anyone have any suggestions for me? Drafting tips or leads to places that could help me realize my designs?

Thanks guido!

This weekend I will finish my clothes fold/iron/purge begun last weekend, so that one day soon I may get to see my sofa again!

after watching a Neat marathon and paying attention to this contest- purge, purge, purge. there are going to be some difficult decisions made.

Greg -
Welcome! And it kind of sounds like to me that you need more than one company. One for the drafting and one for the fabricating. I think you could probably find some kind of software that would help you with the drafting thing, though, so you could do it yourself.

Christine: I didn't think either that it would be that much. But then, I was also figuring in the cost for replacing the sink, etc. However, I don't even live in a metro area and the quote was that much!

Tat: Thanks for the input. Yes, I was thinking of fixing it up for resale. IKEA sounds like a good route to go for the countertop and I'd consider it BUT as I just noted to Christine, I don't live in a metro area. The closest IKEA to me is 5+ hours and I don't have a vehicle that could haul back a long kitchen countertop. However, your suggestion of asking a GC or going to someone else for a quote is a good one and if I'm unable to determine if painting the kitchen countertops is a feasible thing to do, I may go that route.

Daily Nuance -
I swear the place that made my laminate countertops was my local Ace Hardward place here on the Upper West Side. If any of them in your area have a lumber yard and custom carpentry part of them, you might have the new countertops made by them? But I'm not sure if they would be able to provide a plumbing person to help deal with the sink thing and the whole installation thing.

But give it shot! My sink is that old-fashioned kind with its own metal cabinet thing underneath, etc., so there was no plumbing involved.

I basically had one countertop made as kind of like a cap like you'd do with a tooth. The laminate was fused to some plywood with a front and side lip to cover the edge.

And for the other counter just needed a pair of brackets, because of how I wanted it to look, so it wasn't much trouble either. I think I paid about $175 altogether for what they did for me.

re-potting a $1.50 ikea plant i got last summer that is out-grown its 6" pot.
buying something at the le creuset outlet, even if only a spatula.

Sure, Daily Nuance. [but I sorta hoped Curtis could give an advice on painting the countertops-or you think it's not feasable? Purely theoretically: good scrubbing and rough sanding, concrete primer and 2-3 layers of epoxy-based paint, for waterproofing; what do you think?]

What is my home-improving project for the weekend? 1) look up discontinued dishware patterns, to complement my set of Villeroy/B dining plates 2) call Fritz Hansen rep and ask for instructions on removing supposedly removable cover on my desk chair. Among other things. Anybody can help with #1?

I'm actually considering as a home improvement project to knock out a closet between the office and the kitchen, creating a circular pathway through the house. The energy seems really blocked up in the house, and I need to move some stuff around.

Thanks for the countertop painting tips, Tat.

also re-potting a plant, and oddly enough--it's one from ikea! i just stopped at c & b and they had some really pretty glazed pots.

i think i may start some spring cleaning/decluttering, do a general clean-up around here, and hit the farmer's market to start looking at plants (*hopeful signs on spring*) and start planning what colors i would like our window boxes to be this year. i'm thinking that beautiful bright blue/purple and shades of yellow/green.

Well, if you simply MUST paint the countertops, then I might offer this:

Pick a color that's pretty close to that of your existing countertops, because the only thing I can promise you is that at SOME point it WILL chip, and the less contrast the better.

THEN... use the most serious primer you can find. I'd say that if you're going to use something like Kilz or BIN, you're better off, but I would probably use their oil-based, instead of their water-based for a project like this. However, I'm not dead sure whether the stuff in them would maybe react somehow to the laminate, so you might want to test it in a small area to see if it takes it well.

Then I'd give it another coat of that same primer, just to make sure. If you have no pets or children, and you're a brave hearty soul and have plenty of windows, and don't mind doing a lot of masking of areas directly around it, you might even think about the spray version of that primer, because the finish will be MUCH smoother.

Then... actually you might want to actually use some good spray paint for the color, too, come to think of it!

OR... Krylon makes the same enamel that comes in their spray in a brush-on paint, so you might use that. If so, you should makes your brush strokes consistent: either make them consistently in one direction as if you were painting wood, so the "grain" of the strokes go all the same direction, or make them consistently random.

After the whole bloomin' thing is done, you MIGHT consider getting some epoxy resin, which comes in two bottles sold together (I KNOW that Janovic used to carry it) and then follow their instructions. You'll have this insanely shiny surfance which should probably last until you can afford something you like better.

OR... you could just collage a bunch of pictures and stuff onto that primed laminate, and then do that epoxy stuff, kind of like they do on bars sometimes. Like they have (had?) at Two Boots, that local New York Cajun pizza chain.

Who know? You might wanna keep it forever that way.

Otherwise, maybe you might just want to use a serious porch and floor enamel for your paint, and/or another coat or two of a serious polyurethane.

Tat -

Replacements.com for the silverware match-ups.

- Curtis

Oh no-no, DN, that's not an advice, only a suggestion; I haven't actually speced this one.

I'd rather ask Curtis as he has lots of practice with painting. I understand you're an architect? Look up Benjamin Moore specifications book in your resource library; they have all kinds of typical conditions they recommend a specific applications for; may be yours is there, too. Anyway, that's what I would do.

Thanks, Curtis, replacements-dot-com was my starting point. They are too expensive though, I'll have to go do some more digging.

Daily Nuance, I feel your pain as I am preparing a house for sale and went through the same thing. I decided to keep my slightly nicked and a little stained (but clean) light beige laminate but to paint the ugly oak edge trim black. I painted the REALLY ugly Home Depot "oak" cabinets white. It looks OK for a temporary fix, although I have to touch up the edges from time to time. I figure that you get marked down for anything less than granite anyway.

Tat and Curtis,
Thanks to both of you for all your suggestions and help. Yes, Tat, you're correct that I'm an architect. Your suggestion of looking up the specs in the paint manufacturer's catalog is an excellent one. That and/or I could as a paint rep directly.
And Curtis, thanks for all your very detailed suggestions on the route of painting. I'm aware of the epoxy resin and have even used it before in a totally different type of project. I DO especially like your idea of creating a collage of some sort on top of the existing counter and putting the epoxy resin over that. Like you say, I could use pictures and things like that. Or after you suggested it it occurred to me that I could probably even do it with fabric or something similar.

Thanks again to you both for your recommendations.

My Vendome bed just got a small chip on the head board. Booo hooo.... Does anyone know any good touch up product I can use instead of me buying a huge pillow to cover it up?

*mimi, is your headboard made of wood?
Than I know the thing you need: it's Sherwin Williams' "Scratch Fix Pen". They have it in various stains, the onew I'm linking to (click on my name) in for mid/light wood

The salesperson at BoConcept asked me today whether I was "off my meds."

I had a horrible week.

My weekend project is to find the right bus to step in front of.

poor jonathan.

ARE you off your meds?

Speaking of using fabric on a surface and then waterproofing it... I once knew someone who had a plaid CAR. I'm not sure which method she used to get this done, but it was definitely a (very deft) do-it-yourself project.

Like Joan, I'm clearing and tossing. "Closet editing" sounds so much better.

TAT - i just looked through the architectural link you sent me with all those funky surfaces. Dare I?? Pretty wild stuff but very cool - i wonder what pricing is? For a desk in the nook, it pretty much breaks out as follows:

Room and Board: $500 for a solid walnut top, $400 for butchers block

Bo Concept: nice 2 inch thick wood, veneer but you have to wait for some bearded, inbred, socialist nitwit in Norway to cut the fricking tree down because it's a 4 month wait. $200

Local glass guy: $150 for custom cut glass. I walked into this guy's shop and got a quote. The second I laid eyes on this fellow, I somehow KNEW that he has spent several years in prison.

Surely the Architectural System stuff, for 63 inches by 23 inches, is going to top well over $1,000 bucks, right?

I recommend the crosstown. It will do the trick for you but not snarl traffic for the rest of us.

I'm the BOMB now baby. I cleaned out my fridge. It sparkles. Not much of a Saturday morning, but at least I can head out for the day now guilt-free. Seeing all these apartment entries has made me extremely in touch with how messy certain areas of my space have become that aren't visible - closets, cabinets, etc.

One down, 400 more to go. Next stop my closet!

What is everyone else doing today? We're going to Boston to play a little. Find an exhibit or something. Just chill. Dinner in Chitown, expresso in the North End later on... I want to hit Vessel, too. Love those guys.

Best,
Holly

I'm getting sent to nowhere when I click on a contest entry link. Is it me? I need my fix -- bad.

Thanks for the reminder Holly I think I will clean my fridge

pbphoenix - it's not you. Some of the links to more recent east coast entries aren't working. Hmmm... maybe this is a message from the AT universe to stop browsing and work on our own apartments...

FYI...

This weekend is another big freecycle drop-off event. They have a temporary space down in the financial district where you can drop off up to two shopping bags of stuff you want to give away -stuff must be in good shape, no electronics that need repairs, etc. You can browse others' stuff, or not. You have to make an appointment in order to be given the exact address. Send an email with your name & phone number to FreecycleCenter@gmail.com to find out what appointment times are still open, and any restrictions on what/how much to bring. A volunteer will contact you to confirm your appointment and provide you with directions to the space.

I went to several antique stores today and ran across a Paul Klee work that I really like.
I was not sure I had the right space for it so I came home to measure and look up the piece online. It is this piece:
http://www.arazzeriascassa.com/Collaborations_Klee_GiardinoDegliUccelli.htm
Does anyone have a sense of how much I should be spending on this?

Freecycle rocks!! this morning i just picked up a medicine cabinet and chrome shelf for the bathroom*** and it was free as opposed to the 80+ dollars i was about to spend on a temporary solution at Target..

Greg, my friend has a company that makes a computer driven table saw that makes all kinds of things. Look at the website for Shopbot and see if that is what you need. Sorry, I don't know how to make those links.

Holly, I hear you on judging your own apartment by the entries here...

Today I cleaned out the entry closet and got rid of an entire box of stuff - I've got a very large pile sitting by the door to go in the recycle bin or the trash bin. I scrubbed the kitchen and bathroom, and moved some furniture around. The husband agreed with me about knocking down a wall, so we're going to do that later today - we're taking down a wall that stands between the office and the kitchen - including the pantry - this will allow us to get more light in the office, and then create a more positive flow of energy - as well as a wide and shallow pantry as opposed to the current narrow/deep place where things disappear and take on lives of their own.

We're also going to make a couple potted plant arrangements for the porch. :)

Greg I make wrought iron Furniture and sometimes I have my designs cut by high pressure waterjet which has a CAD program. The most expensive part of the job is converting your design to digital.
You can buy the software yourself it is called Autodesk it costs about $900.
Or you can send your designs to the shop and pay for them to scan them. Theres a good place in Virginia that does this work also.....
file://C:\Documents and Settings\Owner\Desktop\Metal\Laser cutting

this comments system needs preview button....

lasercutting link......

http://tinyurl.com/jhavn

Cindy,
I LOVE my Flokati- it's so easy to clean, and it is so comfy that my friends sit on it instead of the couch when they come over. I finally decided on the 3000 gram b/c it's more plush than what's available at mass retailers, but was a lot less expensive than the heavier weight. I found the best value on a website- http://www.flokatirug.net/. They were really nice, and the shipping was excellent. To clean it, we just shake it outside every week. Sometimes we use a garden rake (LOL) to brush out the tangles. When it gets really dirty (maybe yearly?) you can take it to a cleaner or someone else who has a commercial-size washing machine... they are machine washable and just hang or lay flat to dry.
I hope this helps!

Still haven't figured out my carpet situation. But, I went to some fun antique/junk stores in my hometown in Western PA. Somewhat depressing place, but I found a fun "Keyes Moire Glaze" enameled vanity tray for $1. Very Hollywood glamorish. Well, with the exception of the few stains on the top. anyone know if this can be cleaned? I just used some dish soap, which obviously did nothing for the stains. that was my big find for the day, and some Molton Brown bubble bath and a hot pink blown glass vase at Marshalls.

I spent most of yesterday at a friend's place covering up some cable cord in front of the threshold to her hall bathroom. I covered it with molding that I stained to match her existing floors.

If you click on my name, you'll see the photos that I took with my cellphone camera, in the set called "Hiding Cable in Front of Marble Saddle".

curtis
ooh do i have some projects for you. you're wonderful. i mean your beautiful painting has always impressed me but this 'detailing' is enough to bring tears to my eyes. you're the best!

I want Curtis cloned, and a couple Curtises distributed to each major city. Doesn't the NEA fund that sort of thing?

I had a wild kitchen orgy day yesterday: baked an elaborate German pie (filling: pears, selery, shallots, anise seeds, cheddar and walnuts) and Moroccan-style chicken with cuscus(+berries), for a dinner party at night.

And yes, the desk chair cover IS removable! I wasted good 1/2hr on finding this exact model on Fritz Hansen site so I'll be equipped for conversation with tech support at their customer service - but then pulled my resources and figured put how to do it myself. Not easy: involved going to a hardware store for a special hex key set, unscrewing the back and the arms, but I did finally remove the damn cove and washed it. Looks brand new now.

Jonathan, those were just examples to show you what's out there besides glass and wood (hey, if I say "to lift your spirit", would you hate me now too?)
*Architectural *Systems is expensive, yes. How expensive exactly, your millworker can find out - he can purchase durectly from them and get a quote on material you like. He can ask for a thinnest sheet (the least expensive) and lamainate it to an 1/2" plywoood (if the material you chose is not transparent), and than think of some very simple edge to cover the sandwich.

I remembered the name of aluminum foam manufacturer in Canada (click on my signature); go to "alusion resin" and see furniture examples they have. As far as I remember, this guys can manufacture your worksurface as well as material, and just ship directly to you from Canada. I was thinking: aluminum lace with bluish hint' resin on top, may be under-lit on wall perimeter with T5 fluorescent strips or jewelery-cabinet underlighting...

Oh boy, sorry, here's the link.

Thanks wende and obi! Well, it literally took HOURS to carve that curve out of the back of that molding. And I didn't even take a picture of it, because on the camera phone, it didn't seem like that was going to even show up. But you can see only the evidence of it from the photos, I guess.

Those little projects are intersting little challenges, though. Meanwhile, my Road Runner is sometimes very slow, too, so I might have to have them come in and replace MY cabling, too. Not looking forward to it, because I've hid my own cables very nicely, too.

I think whether or not you think the melding of old/new here is successful is a matter of opinion, not education.

Curtis, you explained it just when I wanted to ask - but you didn't show us how you actually scoop out the excess wood in the back of that baseboard to fit the cable in!
It must be hell, I know.
What I was wondering - what about the white cabling going up (around the doorframe, for instance); I'm seating next to one right now and it's fugly. (And no, I didn't consider doing anything about it - I live in a rental.) it must, at some point, go vertical after (or before) it reached that marble saddle, isn't it?


Curtis, try switching to earthlink using same cables you have in place; sometimes the equipment is fine but the service sucks. Earthlink's connected somehow to TW CAble (i get my tv cable bills from TWC include Earthlink speed internet connection)

Whoops... totally posted that on the wrong thread. Nevermind. :)

Help please! Does anyone know how to install acrylic, plexiglass shelves in window for plants, as seen in "Coolest Small Apartment" contest entry #43 "Melanie & Doug's Nest West"? Have a west facing 5-window bay and want to use it for window gardening but the ledge is not deep enough to fully support flower pots. Would appreciate hearing from anyone who knows how to secure the shelve in the manner that it looks like it is floating. Doug did not answer inquiries re their plant shelves in the comments for his space, but I believe they have extended the window ledges with some type of clear shelving and there are no visible bracket, which is the look I'd like. Many thanks!

My little project this weekend became a HUGE project....

When we took down the first walls of the main living area, it was over in a few minutes. There was some dust, but not much, because it was a weird sort of board that they used, rather than actual drywall. This time, we had an over-engineered 3 ply drywall and stud configuration using 6" screws. WAY more construction than needed, but it's gone now, and 12 hours later, most of the drywall dust is cleaned up.

This weekend's project was to remove a pantry and a closet to create an open space at the end of the kitchen that allows you to walk through the office - we have now an 'island' of plumbing in the middle of the house (the ktichen and the bathroom )

Light now flows from every room into almost every other room. We're going to hit the container store this week and buy the ventilated shelving for the walk through space, and turn a 22" deep and 18" wide pantry into a 30" wide and 4" deep shelving. Since we use mostly fresh produce when cooking, we don't need to store massive amounts of canned goods. THis will allow us some storage that will be hidden from view, but will be attractive enough should someone walk through the space.

The rest of the space will be painted with chalkboard paint to serve double duty as a message center/brainstorming area, as it's between the kitchen and the office.

No more walking all the way around the house just to refill my coffee!!

ARGH!!!!

Fans of spray paint, beware! Rustoleum and Krylon spray primers have different formulas. If you spray Krylon over Rustoleum, the paint will seize up in crackles.

I am so... so... so... ARGH!!! If I'd wanted to sand tiny bits of wood, I would have done it that way in the first place.

*wanders off muttering, trying to remind herself why she thinks it's good to create anything hands-on, other than maybe biscuits*

Tat -
My little cellphone camera kind of pre-viewed what it was to take pictures of, and that scooped-out carved-out curve on each side really just wasn't visible, so I didn't go ahead and take the picture.

But how? Well, I used a chisel, AND I used a utility knife. The utitilty knife actually proved to be more useful. but it was laborious, and you're never exactly sure whether what you're doing is really helping, so you keep carving, and then you try putting it into place. And then, since the floorboards were sunk just a tad toward the middle of the threshold, I had to slightly whittle the bottom edge on each end.

And about the vertical thing? The old cable had been installed in this same exact way and the cable had gotten stained along with the floor, but it never really looked right. Now that this new cable was white, it just seemed like the time for this. All the cables in her whole apartment are along the baseboards, and when they go from room to room, holes were drilled in the interior walls along the periphery of the entire apartment. This was the only place where it had to go across a doorway, per se. Make sense?

My weekend project: Hanging inexpensive saffron-colored cotton curtain panels around the concrete-block "privacy" wall of my patio. Final outcome: The added color helped to define and warm up the space, and actually expanded it visually.

enrique-- sounds pretty! pictures?

Hi Louise,

Plant shelves. The shelves at the bottom came with the apartment. The middle shelf - isn't plexi or glass, though we surely looked for a simple shelf like that at Home Depot.

We ended up buying a piece of pine 5.5 inches wide, cutting it to fit and painting to match. All of the brackets we found were really ugly. The minimal looking kind ended up costing about $10-$15 a set (like the Tucaneto brackets at the Container Store) and those were still too big looking.

So we ended up taking a piece of cove mold trim, cutting it 5.5 inches wide, nailing it to the window casing and then nailing the shelf to the cove mold trim. It was an easy and cheap solution and it's strong enough to hold the plants and our wolf/wolverine/dog-beast of a cat. If we owned this joint I might have put up something more permanent or sought out better brackets. But it was a weekend project and I just wanted to get it done.

Incidentally, we installed the shelf to align with the window sash so it would just disappear from a distance.

Total cost - about $14 for materials, $10 for paint (which we used to touch up all of our trim) and a take-our-time afternoon of work.

-Melanie & Doug

Enrique, every time I look at your terrace I'm green with envy. I put in a good effort every year to make mine as nice but never have the luck. But I heard back from City Gardener so I've moved up to the next level as far as consideration in redoing my balcony.
Fingers crossed!!

Last weekend's project.

Louise, I too assumed it was plexi, acrylic or glass, when I asked this same question.

Doug, I understand the shelves are fixed to the window enclosure. A question: are the windows double-hung? If yes, how do you wash the exterior side of them?
Majority of contemporary double-hung windows have a tilting mechanism, so when you need to wash the street side, you lift lower window frame about 1-1.5", tilt it forward inside of the room, then lower the upper window frame and tilt it in the same manner. Fixed shelves across the width of the window would block the tilting motion.

If I decided to put the glass shelves in front of the window, i would use either:
-removable pins for support
-aluminum or cold steel extrusion channels, shallow enough so they won't interfere with tilting.

Sorry, I didn't make it clear: I would use either of two methods and THEN remove the shelf when I needed to wash the window.

Enrique--
Great new Moroccan lamps at West Elm...

Does anyone here think that elfa shelving (white hardware/beech shelves) would look good in a living/dining/office that is more transitional than modern? I am considering it, but don't like the industrial look with plump comfy furniture. Also, can one subtitute real wood shelves for the laminate? Thanks.

Tat / Louise -

Simple answer - I go out on the fire escape to clean the windows. Works better anyway cause I can just splash the windows with soapy water and make a mess.

-Melanie

Wow, anne. Good luck with The City Gardener. That is, hands down, my fave show on HGTV. Your weekend project pics look great! jesse: I'm still tweaking the look of the patio (taking out a lot of the clutter, changing out plants and containers); so pics will be coming after a few more weekends. p(too): Thanks for the tip! I think the 3 lanterns I have are more than enough. But speaking of West Elm, LOVE the new modern daybed they have. If they had that in stock last year when I was doing my patio, I would have gone a bit more in that direction rather than the over-the-top "crazy rich old aunt in a mixed-metaphor casbah" vibe I have going now...

Enrique--
Was also happy to see the return of the simpler silver lanterns at West Elm that I showed you last year...

Yes, those lanterns are fab! Their outdoor stuff gets better every year.

RACHEL (in Denver)

Painting vinyl flooring links:

Vinyl Revival:
http://www.bhg.com/bhg/story.jhtml?storyid=/templatedata/bhg/story/data/13927.xml&psrc=dg052

Fabulous Floor Makeovers:
http://www.bhg.com/bhg/story.jhtml?storyid=/templatedata/bhg/story/data/12925.xml&psrc=dg052&page=2

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DAILY NUANCE

As far as painting countertops? I have painted countertops in this apartment. They used a Navajo White gloss spray over a 70's Coppertone laminate.

The gloss wears off fast, leaving a dull finish. To keep it super shiny, I use Turtle Wax Polishing Compound (yeah, the car stuff) to buff out the fine scratches and finish with whatever I happen to find first that is oily, waxy, or greasy (Pledge, Johnson's Paste Wax, one of those orange oil sprays, Crisco vegetable shortening, LOL).

If the paint doesn't chip, it will wear off in the heavily used areas, like my counter has a raised outer edge, supposedly to keep water ON the counter (I'd need a much higher barrier to do that with my grace).

Under the coffee maker, the repeated heat caused the paint to darken and start to blister.

The paint also stains from a surprising number of things, even with a good layer of Crisco, like that pink cat medicine, damp clear vegatable bags from the grocery store that have lettering on them, sales receipts (damp), colored wax from candles, and whatever else all those "mystery" spots are from.

I suppose it depends on how well it's done originally, how good the surface is that it's being done to, and whether or not you're a clumsy oaf and fling stuff around the kitchen, like I do.

I personally feel that they NEVER should have painted the Coppertone counters, no matter what was trendy, if the counters were in good shape. And that's my recommendation to you.

I thought the kitchen cabinets were a little worn when I moved in, and they offered to paint them...white. I looked at their paint job in the bath sink area, and decided it would not be a good idea to let them do anything. LOL!

*I* took off the cabinet doors, and I stripped and sanded the doors and applied clear coats. Oh, it's only particle board in the middle of the doors, but the outside (front and back) are REAL WOOD. And I like it. I'm sure it wouldn't pass the cool apartment contest judges, or any of you, but I think it's okay.

Someone had put those dang no-slip daisies on the bottom of the tub sometime in the history of this apartment, and their solution was to paint over it. But the color didn't match, and made the bottom of the tub look eternally filthy. Same with the sink. Cheesy, half-assed jobs designed to save a buck.

I have the original Harvest Gold sink that was put in, for the kitchen. I am the one who chipped it. It's still got wear left in it, and I don't want a stainless steel version.

My carpet is literally coming apart at a few places where it meets. I don't want new carpet. One reason is that I'd have to move my stuff, have them carpet, and then move my stuff back in. Yikes. I have a lot of stuff.

Secondly, new carpet won't make me any less clumsy, and dirt brown carpeting always looks dirt brown...sometimes lighter after being cleaned. LOL!

From the Consumer Reports issue August, 2004, chock full of Kitchen stuff, they say that the Engineered Stone rates EXCELLENT overall, and rates EXCELLENT for stains, heat, abrasion. VERY GOOD for cutting. And GOOD for impact. Engineered stone are things like Cambria, Silestone, Zodiaq.

Costs around the same prices or less than Granite, but doesn't need to be sealed, and has a uniform appearance (what you see in the sample at the store is what you'll actually get at home).

Other ideas include using some of the pricey materials ON TOP OF what you have now, in the form of cutting blocks. Are all of the counters CONNECTED?

I'd have to go searching, but there are some pictures on BHG of kitchens with varied counter materials, if you have separate counters. Use one kind in one area, and another kind of counter in another. Tailor them to your specific needs.

Tat, thanks for the Sherwin Williams info!

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