apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Rasil - It was driving me nuts so I called the store that sold both companyC and SUSAN SARGENT.

http://www.susansargent.com/tufted-pageall.html

She's kinda country-cute, but perhaps the FrenchKnot design appeals? And they are on sale, to boot!

I got my new camera and then proceeded to drop it before I took the first picture! Aargh!

Yet More Signs of the Decadence of the American Empire:

NASCAR Real Estate Goes High-End

http://tinyurl.com/o5kgr

Hurray for capitalism, Henrietta.
I'm sure you're happy for all those poor construction workers who now gainfully employed building the condos for the spectators.

Or you would prefer if the state extracted the money from those tasteless imperialists with binoculars via taxes and simply distributed them, welfare-wise, over non-working populace?

I don't think the United States should turn into a third-world country where a tiny percentage of the citizenry lives like kings and the rest are consigned to serving the monarchy or discarded as cannon fodder.

Besides, I am NOT anti-capitalist and today we are supposed to be polite you scamp.

Full Disclosure:

It is just this mentality that accounts for the 100+% hike in the price of Yankees tickets over the past decade.

Bitter Yankees Fan

Suggested rules for next year's contest to avoid any confusion or disagreement:

15 categories including: renter, owner, categories for dollar amount spent on furniture (4 categories), categories for dollar amount spent on renovation (4 categories), pet, no pet, open closet, closed closet , other.

In order to maintain fairness all submissions must include accompanying receipts to calculate money spent, signed copy of lease or closing documents for owners, notary republic certification of pet ownership (no using friends pets!).

Also contestants must be able to prove they have lived in their apartment for greater than 180 days in the past 12 months.

This should clear things up and make for a much for fun contest! :)

But the big boys will always like the big toys!

Thanks for widening my vocabulary. Word a day keeps the IRS away.

To drastically change the topic, I need moving advice! We are making the jump from Manhattan to Williamsburg, and I am looking for a mover.

I saw a recommendation for Rainbow Movers on this site and have called them for an estimate. Since the recommendation was a couple years old, does anyone have other input about them, good or bad? thanks!

:) Scamp! What a good word revival!

Let's add open toilet and closed toilet to those categories.

About ten years ago, in another life, and a much bigger house, I had an indoor hot tub room (whirlpool spa - to be precise). I would like to do it again in smaller more compact digs. I'm looking for something small (two person), comfy, sexy, and moveable - since I may be moving to another condo (ground floors only!) in the not too distant future. Most everything I see seats a cast of thousands and costs a firstborn. Any advise? Comments?

Dorio, I haven't used Rainbow Movers (though I did once buy boxes from them and they were very nice) but I have used Movers Not Shakers and they were great. They actually showed up 15 minutes early and were very polite and efficient.

You sometimes get an answering machine, though, and it can take up to a day for them to call you back. That made me worried, but after the initial talk, they are very responsive.

Windwolf-

Have you considered a Japanese soaking tub? Not sure how moveable they are, but they are usually more upright than long so could fit in a small room. They have been discussed before on here so you might try searching the archives.

I saw this on HGTV last night and thought it was an amazing table:

http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/shows_hiwt/resource/0,2496,HGTV_21356_52780,00.html

It's sold at a store on Hayes St. in SF called Propeller.

The show airs again today and on the 16th. Almost everything else they featured was really stupid/lame but this table was great.

Here's a nice topic for a day on which niceness rules: children and design.

What's your feeling on whether children like good design? The MoMA store has had a line of products for children for years, and DWR, with its sensitivities to the market, has its recent kids line. Do you know how they do?

Are there books on design for children, just as there are for art? There's Steven Guarnaccia's slightly campy "Goldilocks and the Three Bears: A Tale Moderne" with its Arne Jacobsen chairs and George Nelson Clocks and Eva Zeisel bowls for porridge, but are there more serious books?

I ask both out of general interest and because of a particular project I've been involved in. We adopted a child from India some years ago and, right from the start, she showed a sensitive eye for art and design. A year or so ago, I suggested that she augment what passes for writing education in her public school with notes on some of the ceramics I collect. The project led to a small book. Reactions from publishers has not been encouraging, however. The common response from several is that the book is well-written, but that design is not of sufficient interest to children for the book to sell well. What is your sense of whether this sort of things interests children?

My tot is impervious to the art and design we have dutifully provided for him since practically day one.

I hope it will yield results later in life, so he can exist in a perpetual state of dissatisfaction, hankering after the esthetic ideal that always flutters beyond reach.

Kids are all different, though, aren't they.

Design Dubbler, don't know about the girls (other than myself...but that age was looooong ago), but judging from observing my son grow- yes, children are very much interested in design.
Only they don't want it to be called such and taught as if it's a serious business (like in school; that's a hateful S-word). For example, my son has been building fantastic space machines from Lego from the age 5 (he was never satisfied with the purpose of the set, so we ended up just buying tons of various individual parts for his fantasy to fly), and appreciated some structural advice from us, like the wings-to-body ratio so the vehicle don't go nose-diving. But he resisted any formal "architecture appreciation" trips with all his might.

Then he discovered a quicker way to communicate his ideas - he started to draw those machines. Again, being immediately bored of my attempts of traditional drawing techniques' teaching (no classical gypsum busts for him!) Which lead to xtra-curricular 3-d Geometry classes in his middle school. Etc, etc.

Windwolf

Re: Hot Tubs

Did a search, found this site with info on several different kinds of tubs:
http://www.repair-home.com/Soft_Hot_Tubs.html

I was worried it would look like a kid's inflatable pool. LOL! It doesn't:
http://www.softubcanada.com/english/index.html

Here's another that is "reasonable" in price:
http://www.spadepot.com/warehouse/smartub.htm

Lots more to browse on that site. Now you have a search term to use to look at the various brands and options.

I don't know if you'd call that "sexy" though...it's...uh...just round. You could always attach a couple of those chrome naked ladies with the Marlo Thomas/That Girl hair flip found on trucker mud flaps. hehehe

If it's comfortable, relaxing and enjoyable, then that makes it "sexy". Although, I don't know about the rest of the women here, but I'd run screaming from a guy's place that had an indoor hot tub. It's sooo Casanova.

Did anyone see this?

Awesome lighting idea, if a little DIY and exposed (click my name).

Can you paint lighting hardware?

I was looking at a garden supply site and found this for the railings on my balcony:

http://www.jamaligarden.com/productDetail.asp?productID=133-HR05-001&inGroup=&subC=

For $17 I think it's the perfect solution and the size is just right.

I'm off to celebrate holidays. Just wanted to wish everyone a Happy Passover and Easter.

i saw the companyc sachi rugs at kate's paperie last night and the black bean one that someone's AT-posted apt featured was definitely the most striking. the red one i was interested in looked blah.

i also went into z gallerie which repulsed me in every way -- poor quality, an oppressive insistence on very dark colors, crammed in displays, obnoxiously chatty employees. one of the clerks trailed me through the aisles asking me questions, including "what do you think of z gallerie's products", to which i wanted to say, "i think they suck, bye!" instead of which i grumbled non-committally.

I started my AT required reading for the 'group cure' and I have one concern going forward. So I just wanted to put this out there to see how others--couples specifically--are dealing with differing tastes. While my husband and I see eye-to-eye on mid-century aesthetic, my taste is WAY more eclectic than his. I'm all about mixing and matching and color while he tends to be a little more...safe.

And then there's the clutter.

I'm easily able to pare down and de-clutter, whereas he can justify keeping anything...everything! Especially books.

So! How's everyone else going about thinking and designing for two?

Honestly, Sandra, I think you need to beat your husband into submission.

Thanks for the moving tip fiona.

Any advice on how much to tip each moving guy? Say for 6 hours of work?

Anne,
I think the seagrass would look great.. but if it was at my place my cats would shred it within days. Let me know how it wears with the wind and the kitty claws.

Sandra, it's a tough one - my husband and I both have slightly different views on the cleanliness/clutter factors - and on the design (he just sprung that he wants a 'lot of built ins' in our 1960's tract home). I think it just requires some kind of compromise - he wants to keep books? Fine, but there has to be an attractive storage solution, and you should still be allowed to cull 10-15% and donate them to the New Orleans library system, for example.

darlyn, that's a good point. But they haven't clawed at anything else so I might not have that problem. I posted before I had a chance to look at the rest of the items and just saw this as well:

http://www.jamaligarden.com/productDetail.asp?productID=133-03JC1007N/6x2&inGroup=&subC=

which I think is very cool.

I was looking on the site for gravel because I ran out of redwood flooring for the balcony and then the flooring was discontinued. So my thought was to put gravel in the missing spots since I'll never be able to match what's already there.

Design Dabbler,

Despite my son's philistinism I remain a true believer and am skeptical of the publishers' contention that no audience exists for children's design books.

The bottom line does constrain editors. Which publishing houses did you approach, if you don't mind my asking?

I don't think "design" and "kids" are compatible. Design is all about expression within confines - art within restraint. Childrens' expression is all about unfettered expression. Why is why art is good for their imaginative development, and why art from children, of course, sucks.

Dear Henrietta: I have spent a lot of time in developing countries. Comparing our lot with their lot almost insults what people in the developing world face (starvation, extreme human rights abuses - real ones - marauding armies marching through villages raping and murdering, riots, lack of any education or infrastructure whatsoever). Our underclass is, on the contrary, very often fat, lazy, spoiled and spend a lot of time watching television.

And Tat is quite right (since her name is Tatyana, I can only assume that she or her family knows firsthand the evil that is the reality of the dopey politics of uniformed upper east side lefties): a NASCAR racetrack and condos employed hundreds of workers, suppliers, maids, service people, etc.. These wages support families, are sent via remittances to support villages in Mexico, Guatemala, etc..

Jonathan, I thought all the lefties lived on the Upper WEST side;)

Jonathan,

Scamp/Tat and Henrietta seem to have worked it out themselves quite amicably. Nothing like stirring the pot, eh?

Dorio, can't remember what we tipped, to be honest. I'll ask my husband if he remembers and I'll let you know if he knows.

Stirring the pot yields better sauce.

So, too, doth conflict yield truth.

sandra - on the clutter vs no clutter issue and the stuff/nostuff issue...

Fort me,the key to keeping stuff is CONSOLIDATION (with an attractive storage solution). In other words, Books are stored in ONE place - not 5 bookcases scattered throughout the house.

If you look at the smallest/coolest apt contestants...the ones with books and stuff tend to have them CONSOLIDATED into one area.

And, I personally like storage pieces with doors. I think closed storage lends visual CALM (even with glass doors).

I don't see why children couldn't like design if it's made concrete. They like building things and arranging things. (Is there a developmental stage that goes with arranging things, maybe?)

I read my first decorating book at age 8. It being the 1970s, I used to build Lego studio apartments with mod wall graphics. The other great game was going through the Sears catalog, trying to find housewares that were plain enough to not be tacky.

(I'm not saying I developed *great* taste in design -- but I developed my own taste that's not "you'll love it at Levitz" or even "let's go buy a suite at Ethan Allen.")

Dabbler, I'd look into how you build a "platform" that demonstrates to a publisher that there's a market for your book. A blog seems like a natural...

anne, that willow fence is bee-yu-ti-ful. I'm so glad to find that site, as our building's garden needs a lot of work.

Rachel--I love that homemade chandelier. It's been featured on this site, and I've actually built one, but I haven't figured out how to install it. It's quite heavy, probably needs a ceiling box, so I'd need an electrician to hang it. I'm thinking there might be a way to make a really tall, sculptural floor lamp out of it. I think if you masked off the sockets you could paint the pieces with spay paint--there's a special one for plastic made by rustoleum or someone. I'm thinking of painting mine bright red, as it reminds me of coral. I guess i'd take it apart, sacrifice one pair of bulbs to protect the innards from spray paint, and put masking tape over the screw ends. Spray one piece, let it dry, take out the bulbs and screw them into the next piece, spray, repeat.

Jonathan,

I'm aware that the US is not Haiti (or, um, Iraq), and my rhetoric obviously referred to the massive transference of wealth and bankrupting of the country that has taken place under the current administration (while fighting two wars!).

But I'm on the phone.

i hear you henrietta. god knows i am not defending this administration. i merely took and seized the opportunity to insult America's underclass.

Jenpdx -

Could not agree more. I have barrister bookcases (flea market, $100, I think) w/ glass doors. Love them. They make everything inside look so importaont. Plus, no dusting!!

I think the key to having stuff in a small space is making your storage PART OF THE DESIGN and keep collections together - a trick that never fails. Retail stores are great guides for this - the way they arrange their crap for sale in such a yummy way. Half the time, I don't really want the crap, I just want the way its displayed;)

It does take a while to find the right pieces, though.

And Henrietta -

I got a new camera just before the holidays, and hit got stolen 30 minutes after I bought - literally.

Jonathan, I can't figure you out (and please don't tell me I'm a "godamn idiot"). At times you seem like someone whose bitterness and sarcasm are wildly enjoyable. At other times, you're just obnoxious. Are you both? Are you neither?

Jonathan,

Give the underclass a break. I work (VERY peripherally) with underprivileged children. Their parents do have jobs and are not bad people. They are simply poor.

That's all I'm going to say for now, except that I'm confident that had I blossomed under your fabulous chandelier, I would be a richer and more beautiful person today.

Fiona, I see Movers and Not Shakers is a flat-rate company. did you have a lot of extra charges, such as materials, etc? Anything unexpected?

dearest H, i was being ironical. God bless the little people!! see? like that.

the child will have none of the benefits of my labors. i plan to raise him as I was raised, in a house bereft of love, rife with competition, a Hobbsiean pitt of anger and abuse. only then he will be able to compete in this dark world.

glad to see that "puzyr" is back!

Dorio, we paid for boxes, but they were cheaper than other boxes we priced out. Other than that, we didn't pay anything other than the flat rate fee we were quoted.

Good luck! I know I hate moving.

Thanks again Fiona. Moving is never a pleasant experience for sure. I think I will get a couple of estimates.

If any one else has a moving company recommendation, please chime in.

Pphillipp, I prefer to think of myself as "puzyrek." Haha. I've been here all along, wondered if you were gone...

ugh, puzyrechka, diminutives will be the death of me. last weekend i learned skovoroda, skovorodka, skovorodechka...

it's an evil plot.

Henrietta: Thanks for the interest in my publishing problem. I'd love to discuss it with you at greater length, but is it at all possible to do it by email? If so, please email me at designdabbler at hotmail dot com. It's really my daughter's book and she's a little reluctant to let me discuss it too widely.

Jonathan: I'm not sure why art within constraints is so beyond the appreciation of children. They live within constraints all the time: they can color only with the colors in their crayon box, they can color only on paper (after the first few passes at walls), they can build only those standing structures with their Lego blocks that do not defy the laws of physics, they cannot fit a larger object into a smaller container. Children work creatively within boundaries, just as designers do.

I'd suggest you have your son sit only in Rietveld zig zag chairs. You'd be introducing him to design and simultaneously preparing him for the harshness that is life.

pphillipp, small correction (with all respect to your impressive linguistic abilities): it should be puzyrechek, since puzyr is masculine.

Dorio,
I wish my moving company was in NYC (in DC here), so I could recommend them. They were great. For 3 hours, i gave $20 to each guy (3). I remember seeing something like that on a site about moving, otherwise I would have had no idea. Check out the board movingscam.com. It's great for finding the bad (and good) moving companies!

arrrrrrrrrghhhhhg! ;)

I just have got to say this about moving boxes: all of my apartments have been at least KIND of small, and actually every single stinkin' one of the ones that I've moved FROM was! So, for me, the file boxes that are "legal x letter" sized that you get from Staples and places like it are the only viable answer for me. They stack compactly and about as high as you want to go.

Furthermore, I think the best way to deal with them is to go ahead and splurge on several packages of full-sheet letter-sized white labels, and type in like 96-point or whatever, the contents of each box, and while you're at it, go ahead and make 4 of each label, so you can put it on all sides of each box, so that no matter how they end up getting stacked, you can read the contents.

You CAN label them things like "KITCHEN - 1 of 6". Or, if your old apartment was kind of a mess (like a friend of mine's was) and yet you knew exactly where everything was... say things like "LEFT SCONCE - 3 of 5" for all the books that were precariously stacked under that sconce.

Also, when you do it like that, you CAN copy-paste-the info onto some kind of spreadsheet or something, so you can kind of be aware of how many there are.

If it's books, you can do like I did with the horrible lawyer that I worked for, which I had to help move -- each box said things like "NYS Supp. January 1974-February 1978" and "NYS Supp. March 1978-February 1981" and stuff like that, where most everything can be copied and pasted very easily.

Don't be angry, filya, I'm sure you'll master it soon. :D

On couples...

I dunno. I think the thing to do is decide what you can live with together first. You have to negotiate rather than declare by fiat or nag. If he loves built-ins and books, give him enough built-ins that he can keep a bunch of books, but agree that the books go there. Is he also reading the book? Do you know what you both want? You need to set these things out as part of The Cure...

*pphillipp, dear, don't listen to misinformants: pusyr, whatever the accoutrements of diminuitives, is still masculine. (Exhibit1)

However, if becomes flirtatious unisex if used to address the opposite gender.
Exhibit2: if you call a girl "bochka", you'll be burned at stake (and rightly so!)- but if you say "bochonochek, tebe nravitsya eto kol'tzo?" you'll get much plesanter reaction.

PS: it's "skovorodOchka", not "skovorodEchka".

i'll never get it, never - but thanks for trying!

now back to design...

Curtis, holy crap you're organized! I should hire you to come pack FOR me. thanks for the tips though. Hadn't thought about the personal inventory thing.

thanks christine, for the tip tip.

I forgot to note: "bochka"is feminine,
"bochonok- bochonochek" is masculine.

I don't see anybody talking about design on this thread, other than (tangenially) Design Dubbler and Jonathan.
Which reminds me: clickon my name and you'll see an interesting discussion on the topic of art and constraints.

Dorio -

Another moving tip is to take a photo of all your stuff (in their box) before you tape it up. Then you have a photo inventory of your stuff. Thank god for digital cameras.

Then, if a box is missing from your move, you've got photo documentation what was in the box. Especially good for items that might have resale value (CDs or collectibles).

In a recent move, I took pictures of the CDs in the box and then the number of boxes that contained CDs.

so rugs. like company c in style and price but not company c because none of theirs is exactly right. thoughts?

somehow the april blossoms rug has managed to drive me wild to drive a buy a rug without being wild to buy *it*.

Very good tip JenPDX. That seems like a good inventory technique. Hopefully I will be done packing when the movers get here, so I can stand around taking photos of everything that goes out the door. That would be ideal.

Dorio, more on moving...I advocate making an inventory list as you pack boxes too, and if you're very organized, putting a copy in the box and keeping one with you, numbering each box so you can find stuff (as Curtis mentioned...) Also, pack things you want to take out first/last together.

Design Dabbler,

I would be pleased to correspond with you but fear I've lead you to believe that I have inside dope that could be useful to you. I don't, and I wouldn't want to waste your time. You've probably already approached some niche publishers who produce the kind of children's books found at the MoMA store. I do think there's a market for children's design books--kids can't tell the difference between art and design (not that the difference has been explained to anybody's satisfaction anyway) so why would design books sell any worse than art books? Unfortunately the demographic is pretty small and it seems such a project is viewed as a risk. Maybe a house that has been turning a nice profit recently would be willing to take the risk.

What's really abominable are the children's books pushed by chains like Toys 'r Us--all mass media product spinoff. And have you seen Scholastic's list lately? They have good stuff but plenty of crap there too.

Jonathan,

"the child will have none of the benefits of my labors. i plan to raise him as I was raised, in a house bereft of love, rife with competition, a Hobbsiean pitt of anger and abuse. only then he will be able to compete in this dark world."

Right. You probably spoil him rotten.

regarding rugs...

Emma Gardner might be of interest. Maybe (much) pricier than CompanyC...
http://www.emmagardnerdesign.com/index.html

And I *think* there is another woman designer (not Angela Adams) that has a line of rugs closer to the Company C range...but I can't remember the name.

(And for gods sake, can't we just leave Jonathan alone?)

Thanks, Dorio.

By the way... one reason that I use those legal-x-letter kind if that all those other lovely liquor store boxes tend not to stack well, or compactly when you have a small space, and they certainly don't, therefore, stack very, very high, as these ones are able to do -- both for the move-out and the move-in. ALSO... especially for books... they're a manageable size so that you don't kill yourself lifting them.

OH... yeah... and when the movers are stacking them on the handcarts, they can stack them pretty high for that, without being pre-carious, which makes it all go much faster, and when they're putting them into the truck, it's also more efficient. Makes a VERY neat "wall of boxes" inside the truck.

Oh, and they're very strong, so it's really not any big deal to stack a box that is full of metorites on top of a box that is full of butterfly wings.

shauna - I feel better about smashing my camera to the floor - at least I still have it and I think it works (although I can't say for sure if anything's wrong with it yet.) How did your camera get stolen so fast? Did you replace it?

Curtis, I agree on using file boxes. I always use them when I move, which has been often. They are also good for storage in a storage space.

Oh my -- I love those standard-sized file boxes! We've used them for umpteen moves with great happiness.

Movers also like them, as they're the right size and sturdiness for books, and the movers can count on a box of books having a certain weight range.

Very good suggestion on the file boxes. In our small spaces it is necessary to be able to stack to the ceiling at times. I see only one drawback. "They are also good for storage". I can see myself just not unpacking them;)

I have ordered the "book" and have made a firm committment to go through it AFTER the move. I know, wrong order, but I figure it will help me set up th eplace anyway.

jenpdx, thanks! emma gardner looks quite nice. please do let me know the other one.

Henrietta: No, I didn't think that you had inside information or contacts or anything like that. When I posed my questions earlier in this thread my main aim was to try and see, generally, what people felt about kids and design. If there's anything specific to discuss beyond that I'd prefer to do it by email, as per the wishes of my daughter.

As for moving techniques, I've found color coding a good way to go. Get a bunch of thick-point colored sharpies and mark big X's or something on each box in a color that tells you its destination: green for kitchen, brown for bathroom, red for bedroom, etc. You can't count on movers being able to read.

Dorio,
Note my qualification: "They are also good for storage IN A STORAGE SPACE." Closet, storage room in basement, rented storage, etc. I too have not unpacked them and had them hanging out in my abode interminably! In that sense, they're pretty unattractive.

http://www.emmagardnerdesign.com/rugs/knotted_silkwool/flowersonwater.html

OH MY.

OH MY I SAY.

Hey, and Rachel (in Denver)-- It comes in orange, black and cream!!!

(which, if memory serves, is one step closer to linking your wardrobe and your decor, no?!?)

whoa, ten times the price of company c.

well, then, i guess our marraige is off.

*sniffle* probably doesn't look that great in person anyway.

*sob*

I know couples living is about compromise. That's why our apartment looks the way it does after seven years of living together! Primarily, my goal is to ditch some of the book weight. The problem is convincing him that he really doesn't go back to EVERY ONE OF THE NINE HUNDRED POUNDS of books that currently take up the entire height and length of our dining room. Meh!

Sandra, I feel your pain.

I have no solution, as what got my husband to do some substantial book culling involved a particularly nasty argument with yelling, and I wouldn't recommend that as a problem-solving method.

I love this blog. Hi everyone, I'm new. I just moved into a new space, have a great soaking tub in my new apt that seats two (or three.. who knows?!) I'd have to go home to tell you who makes it. This is in Queens- old pre-war bathroom, luckily for me the woman before me was an architect, did the place due justice. I am loving all the tips and ideas I get from AT!

Moving is a pain, but we hired two Mexican/ Honduran day laborers for the day, right at the U-haul pick-up place, and tossed out most of my unworthy furniture. Boyfriend said I needed a fresh start- he was right. (natch)

Best moving tip is to devote one whole day to packing- I thought I was doing a good job doing a box a night for a few weeks, but the day of the move, my bed still had sheets on it, etc etc. Not cool. Make sure you are packing lots now, because in the end, I ran out of boxes. Used way more than I thought I needed.

good luck!
sw

Dorio,
I've moved cross country several times in the last few years and it's never fun, but I have become completely devoted to boxes from theboxcompany dot com. They don't need tape to close, are very sturdy, and collapse flat once you've moved (without removing any tape, they're like pop up boxes). I've lost a few boxes to crunches and tears over my moves, but probably 85% of my boxes have been used multiple times. Plus, they have a grid on the side with little check boxes to indicate contents and room, and space for writing NO. 3 of 12 boxes, etc. Perfect for an OCD packer like myself.

We are preparing for a trade show for our luxury product and we are looking for a small bench, like an ottoman. Ideally it should have storage too. Modern design. brown or gray color

We are also looking for a two long thin Metal tables about 6ft long x 2ft deep x and 30" high (hipp high)

Of course our budget is limited.

Can you do a mild cull without him noticing? I mean, surely he doesn't need two copies of whatever-it-is, or eight-year-old computer manuals... Maybe just set him a task that's easy, like culling out all the old computer manuals. It gets easier to toss things when you have a pile going. You could also start doing bookcrossing together, or time your decluttering so that your books go to a very good cause.

I've decided lately that I just don't need most of the paper things I have, books included. I never reference anything if it's not already on my computer, and I turn to the internet first anyway...

I must confess that I'm a little taken aback at the number of wives/gfs here who seem to want nothing other than to get rid of their so's books. When did men stop watching sports on TV, grunting, shooting friends in the face, and start reading?

I'm glad my wife and I see eye to eye on this issue (as on most other design ones). We have several thousand books, with the collection growing by the minute. We wouldn't part with any. Our experience is that the book you get rid of one week is the one you're sure to need the next.

There's always Books for Soldiers.

They get bored out there in the desert.

P(too), you're good. As soon as I clicked the link my eye immediately went to the black, orange and cream rug and I oooohed out loud.

Unfortunately, I won't be buying a $28K rug ever...I have a dog. And a hairball-prone cat.

I've linked to pens that take a liquid ink for printmaking - do you think that I could thin a latex paint and use it in this pen and paint/draw on the wall?

Pphillipp, Jonathan, I adore you both. I'd love to wedge myself between the two of you on a three-seater sofa and enjoy my tennis match head bobbling as the two of you fling comments at each other.

You'd find out immediately you have something in common, when you both scream simultaneously upon my entering the room "What are you WEARING!"

You both make me laugh and cheer up my day, whether it's 19th century Dutch cobblers or laughing like a fool at your desk. Comments that are often full of imagery or just plain tickle me.

The thing is, even if you get rid of a bunch of books, they'll reproduce practically overnight.

There's nothing to be done; despite all the books on the table, the books are off the table.

The box company looks fantastic. Great boxes. I like this idea of not having to tape them.

thanks for all the great advice everyone!

Don't mind me, I don't know how late into the conversation I am - but regarding moving boxes - I've always had luck going to grocery stores and asking them for apple boxes from the produce guy. They have handles, are the perfect size for everything, and best of all, FREE!! You can even ask them to hold some for you if they don't have any currently in the back.

Craigslist is also a great option - once I was done with the boxes, I replied to a "boxes wanted" ad, and they came by and picked up all my boxes!

Recycle, reduce, reuse!

Capitol Hill, DC, box-seekers tip (I realize no one has identified as one.)

Cruise the halls of the House office buildings. Tons of great boxes. No problem getting in as long as you go between 7 a.m. (might be 7:30) and 7 p.m. The Senate is more decorous and doesn't have stuff out in the hall (as much).

Susan -
I love recycling -- lord knows -- but the precarious way grocery-store and liquor-store boxes stack in a small space is just dangerous, which is why the VERY little investment of around $1-per-box that I'm talking about is so great. And yes, the fact that they have lids, which means you don't have to tape them means that you can check mid-move to see if you were right about what you meant to write on them.

Recycling these once you're done is SOOO easy, because anyone who's moving will be happy to have them; and usually friends who need to store stuff in their own apartment like them, too. And someone DID mention the problem/asset about not really needing to unpack them so fast yourself.

Well, apple boxes have lids as well - so ditto to the idea that you can check on them. I hate the boxes that you have to tape down. I've also used the letter sized boxes bought at Office Depot for my recent move, and I actually didn't like them as much, cause the lid kept falling off unless I taped it down. The apple boxes are the same size, and the lid fits over the entire side of the box rather than just sitting on the top.

Perhaps we're talking about different boxes - I'm not talking about the wooden ones - I'm talking about cardboard.. like these:

http://www.snow-line.com/292239a0.jpg

http://www.putnamfarm.com/img/boxes2.jpg
(box AB-2 - the lid is basically a box without a top unto itself)

http://www.506infantry.org/images/curraheepackages03.jpg
the boxes behind her

I guess you just have to be specific with the kind of apple box to get.

Ohhhhh, apple boxes. Now I get it. With the full top. that would be good. Again, no taping. I might check the grocery for a few. I have decided to do a bit of a mix. The apple boxes would be good for folded clothes and shoes. I am getting some file boxes for files and books, and ordering a few others including wardrobe boxes from the box company (a little more expensive, but will be able to keep boxes for next move in 15 months).

Now if I only had an inexpensive, excellent moving company hired:)

Liquor store boxes are great too - really solid and if you get a lot of similar ones, stackable. The not-so-big ones are great for books, because they won't be too heavy and are compact for lifting. Recently, when I helped my parents move, I hit the jackpot on a local beverage store that had a wall o'boxes. Some of them also had inserts, that created little cubbies that each bottle fit into when shipped, which were perfect for glasses and fragile things. I think I usually have a mix of boxes. I don't like grocery store boxes so much because they hardly ever have them when I want them - they do a lot of box smashing these days as part of their recycling or whatever. I love the uniformity of the file boxes for many things.