apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I have a landscape designer coming tomorrow to look at my yard and draw up a master plan. I have a few things I've pulled from magazines for inspiration and to give him an idea of what I like, but I was thinking about going to the library today to check some books, just for additional visuals. Any recommendations?

I can't wait to start the 8-step home cure. I got 2 weeks left until I finish this class for the semester and I can get started.

My apartment not to mention my personal life but anyway is in a havoc mess. I've been living in my studio apt. almost a year now and my organization is not good. From the kitchen, to my office space, bathroom, closet is in need of help.

I was also looking into learning about feng shui. I want to utilize that in the bathroom, living and bedroom area.

Anyone know any good and informative websites that could give me some good info on feng shui.

Amber,

"Green Architecture and the Agrarian Garden" by Barbara Stauffacher Solomon. The book features garden landscapes on the grand scale, but its wonderful drawings and commentary can be a great inspiration for smaller projects.

Searching for something and I hope SOMEONE on AT can help!

I saw some dishes either on AT, or doing the maze of click-through....they were white plates with a black eiffel tower pattern, with a matching bowl and mug - approximately $12 each - I'm in desperate need of these plates and have no idea where I saw them - I think they were on a website with a bunch of other cute boutiquey stuff....

ring a bell? anyone? anyone? Beuhler??

I'd be soooooo thrilled if you were able to help!

rachel:
we had a post at AT:Chicago on P.O.S.H. that featured a photo of some eiffel tower plates that are $12. They have matching bowls and mugs too.
Click on my name for the link...

YES!!!!!!

Janel, you rock. THANK YOU!!! YOu have saved my dining existance!!! My food shall not suffer the humility of being served on paper!!!!! Rejoice!!!!!

:)

has anyone used one of those "man with a van" people on craigslist? I had my wood blinds delivered to work here in Manhattan since I don't have a doorman at home (which is in Jackson Heights) and I'm trying to figure out how to get them home.

I'm debating calling a cab (would it even fit, the box is like as tall as me) or even trying to carry it on the subway on a little dolly, I'd probably regret that though. Not sure what my best option is here, I just want to install my blinds tomorrow!

rachel:
so happy that you're happy!

robbie,
your post caught my eye because i also live in j.h. and last year i brought a 7 foot fig tree home on the F train - it was a rather amusing subway ride (it was fairly light). why not call a car service that has a mini-van?

Robbie,

Best option is to call Delancey Car Service (Houston Street I think) and tell them you need a station wagon.

Amber, check out
http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/pac_ctnt_nobanner/text/0,,HGTV_10680_18735,00.html

there are a lot of ideas on this site. Landscape Smart is a show worth watching for anyone trying to figure out the backyard dilemma.

Robbie,

I have to get a newly framed picture, which is very large, from midtown to Jackson Heights tomorrow - so we are in the same boat.

I am thinking either of getting a cab that is one of those minivan cabs, or renting a van for a few hours.

I also like people's suggestion of calling a car service that has bigger vehicles.

Thanks for your thoughts everyone,
Cake Painter -- last year I carried my refurbished Dyson vaccuum I ordered from Amazon on the F train from 23rd street to Jackson Heights. It's not quite a 7 foot tree, but it was enough for me to to hesitate this time around!

Robbie,
you could call this guy Ramone- he works for my regular car service in Queens (I live in Sunnyside) and has taken me to JFK in his minivan with my surfboard. (Ever take an 8 foot board on the 7 and A trains? I have- not horrible, but not the most fun, either...!)

Anyway, nice guy, call him directly. 646.919.9222

-Sara

Robbie,

Another Jackson Heights resident here. We always use Mexicana car service and ask for a van. They are super-cheap, and the drivers are always helpful. Only catch is that they sometimes are not answering phones, for whatever reason (I think they get overwhelmed by call volume)

Number is 718-446-8700

Thanks Anne & Henrietta, I'll check those out!

robbie,

you shouldn't have any trouble now finding some wheels - good luck w. the blinds.

seeing all these jackson heights people spring up here makes me want to post about a new CSA (community supported agriculture) that has formed in j.h. (i just discovered it the other day). i realize this should go in the 'kitchen', but there's not an open thread up right now...and i thought i'd strike while the iron is hot. info can be had at farmspot.org

Wow that's really interesting cake painter, I live in the building right next to St. Mark's church and can see it from my living room window, so if I do this it would be really convenient, the only thing is I get home from work really close to 7 so I'd be cutting it close.

I'm not sure if I eat that many veggies but the fruit one looks very appealing to me.

robbie,

farmspot will have a table at the st. marks flea market tomorrow (sat. 4/29) to chat/get more info. i'm planning to stop by late am.

My prayer:
apartment therapy: washington, dc ;)

have a fun weekend all!

Robbie -
Whatever you do, do NOT use "Sculptor With A Van" or whatever he calls himself. I wouldn't mind the fact that he's old, but in his case it means he's really only about the van -- not so much about the lifting -- and he's NOT careful, as the "sculptor" part would suggest.

I used him to move my stuff into storage when I had to move out of the place that I sold, but couldn't move into my new place yet, and he seemed cranky and bitter and threatened to walk off the job when I asked him to be more careful with the television that I, myself, had sculpted all the filigree on.

So, I'm kind of hoping that he takes the van directly to the storage unit in the sky without taking anyone else with him in the process. It's been almost three years, and it still makes me see red to think about it.

I haven't finished reading it but I thought I'd share. (I accidentally posted on the previous openthread...)

Courtesy of Arts and Letters Daily
(http://www.aldaily.com/)

A link to powells.com review
http://www.powells.com/review/2006_04_25

The House in Good Taste
by Elsie De Wolfe

Home Alone
A Review by Terry Castle

Here's an excerpt of the review.

Might paging through a shelter mag be seen -- in an analytic spirit and with a certain Freudian forbearance -- as a middle-class coping mechanism? As a way of calming the spirit in bizarre and parlous times? House porn, I'm beginning to think, could best be understood as a postmodern equivalent of traditional consolation literature -- Boethius meets Mitchell Gold. Though shamelessly of this world -- and nowhere more so than in the glutted and prodigal U.S.A. -- it's as spiritually fraught, one could argue, as the breviaries of old.

Which isn't to say that certain people aren't, for complex reasons, particularly susceptible to the shelter-mag jones. Décor-fixated individuals (and you know who you are), according to Praz, are usually "neurotic, refined, sad people," prone to "secret melancholy" and "hypersensitive nerves." Quaint language aside (he enlists the "mad, lonely spirit" of Ludwig II of Bavaria as a historical example of the syndrome), the claim is weirdly compelling. Readers with the obsessive-compulsive gene -- the twenty-first-century version, perhaps, of "hypersensitive nerves" -- will be familiar with the low-level yet troublesome anxiety produced when something in a room seems misplaced, askew, or somehow "wrong." I won't be surprised when brain scientists discover the odd little fold in the cerebral cortex that makes one agitate over slipcovers or jump up and rearrange the furniture.

Terry Castle is great. I somehow lost an article of hers that happened to be one of the best things I ever read on interior design.

So thank you very much.

Does anybody have a Bingo Pouf? (http://www.dwr.com/search.cfm?Ntx=mode+matchpartialmax&Ntk=all&N=0&Ntt=bingo+pouf&x=8&y=7 ). Does it work well? Are there alternatives to it? I'm looking for something that folds out into a single guest bed, of sorts, at night, but doubles as a compact something else by day.

On another topic, have there been open (or other) threads on apartment gardens? I'm looking for information on what grows well in pots placed on balconies and decks and so forth. We talk every year about starting a deck garden -- and talk and talk about it till it's August and too late. Perhaps this will be the year we act.

Anyone use Sketchup to create 3D plans?
It is easily one of the most intuitively easy drawing apps out there and can be really helpful for visualizing furniture and structure placement.

Problem was that after a 30 day trial version the purchase cost was about $500 but now that has changed since google bough the vendor last month. They have now released a forever free version. For Windows only for now which is ironic because I'm pretty sure it was out for the Mac first. I first got to know about it from a product designer friend who saw it at a Mac show. Free Mac version will follow though.

http://www.tuaw.com/2006/04/27/sketchup-free/

BTW, I and others have mentioned sketchup before on AT.

jp: Thanks for the link. I'm downloading the program as we speak.

Design Dabbler,

Take a look at the Multy Sofa bed by Ligne Roset. It's made in a chair size (with or with out arms) and folds out into a single size bed. Has a slat system that pulls out and then the seat folds over and becomes the mattress. Very,very comfortable. Cover is removable (and dry cleanable) and acts as the duvet so you don't need to store any extra bedding anywhere.

Have a great weekend all you AT'ers. Am going to Boston tomorrow and won't be back til Sunday late in the day...

Update on the getting the blinds home:

So all the options I tried did not pan out, probably because of the peak hour I wanted to go home. I ended up using a dolly and carrying the 6ft box taped to the smaller box home via subway.

I got really lucky, I planned the best subway route with the least walking involved, and both needed trains came right when I arrived and the trains were not crowded. The only goof is when I switched to the 7 at queensboro I lifted the box too high and it made a thump on the ceiling!

The hardest part was the 3 long blocks from the 7 to my apartment, the box was just too tall for a dolly. But I got back home in close to the amount of time it usually takes me. I feel like I just ran a marathon. Luckily I'm a young naive 25-year old so my body can still take it for now.

Anyway thanks for everyones help! I just wanted to install my nice walnut blinds ASAP and I can only do stuff like that 9-5pm Monday thru Saturday in my co-op. I can't wait to see them up!

hey, JenPDX, thanks for the Terry Castle essay. It's always nice to hear really thoughtful writing about the obsession we all share around here.

a quibble, though: it hardly mentions the book. I know, I know - it's a reprint. But Castle's essay, as entertaining as it is, isn't really a review.

For Design Dabbler and other urban gardeners-

This comment is probably too late for Amber, but my favorite relevant garden book is "The City Gardener's Handbook: The Definitive Guide to Small Space Gardening" by Linda Yang. There's parts on container planting, considerations for rooftop/deck environments, and other challenges you run into in the world of apartment gardening. It has plenty of lush beautiful pictures... I found it really useful until I loaned it to a friend who doesn't want to give it back.

Thanks, anon.

Good luck, Robbie. That's sounds like a fun Saturday project. I'm trying to get a visual based on your description of transporting the blinds home, and it's making me laugh. (I've been in similar situations when I've hit showroom sample sales, and didn't have the good fortune of "Doris Day" parking or a buddy to help me carry the piece.) Well done!

On a similar moving/transport note...

Has anyone had experience with Plycon Transportation? I've checked their website and see that they blanket-wrap furniture AND are a member of the American Society of Interior Designers. So, they seem reputable... I'd love to hear some feedback from anyone who's used them about their quality of service and pricing.

[Update: I've contacted the out-of-town shop I visited on Wednesday and may move ahead with the purchase of the Danish Modern dining set if the transport charges don't kill me. I keep looking at the polaroid of the set and drooling. Thanks again to everyone who chimed in on the topic yesterday. I did some more research on the pieces and found that both the table and sidechairs are still in production. So I was able to get a better idea on the pricing. I'll probably make a final decision on Monday once all the numbers have been run...]

The wife wants a desk in the bedroom, so that she can do work while overlooking the yard/garden. She refuses to use the computer center/office I have set up downstairs for myself.

I hate the thought of her papers and medical books kicking around the bedroom, which should be a place of peace and occasional intercourse. If I see or think about work in the bedroom, I get immediately stressed and can't sleep. Hence, I am mulling over getting her a rolltop desk so all her crap can be hidden from view and prevent me from geting into panic attacks.

I found this, on ebay, which seems to be made by the Amish. Does it look extraordinarily cheap? Anyone feel like making another suggestion?

http://cgi.ebay.com/FINE-CUSTOM-MADE-NATURAL-ASH-WOOD-ROLL-TOP-DESK-OFFICE_W0QQitemZ4457808496QQcategoryZ20495QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Cheap? Yes!

Some time ago someone posted a photo of a desk that attaches to the wall and flips down when needed. Otherwise, it's just an unobtrusive box on the wall. Anyone else remember that?

also
http://www.britishkhaki.com/britishkhakipages/kiplingdsk.html

http://www.usonahome.com/searchresult.aspx?categoryid=23&ndx=2

Lawson & Fenning has a nice desk - Madison Desk
http://lawsonfenning.com/

I have a minor dilemna... I went to Room and Board yesterday and bought a desk I thought would work with the arm chair I use as a desk chair. Here's a picture of my current, erstaz desk:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/czarina/125874588/in/set-72057594102874204/

I want something desk-sized that is 24" tall -- end table height. R+B could make me something, but it is 2.5" thick in front. I went ahead and ordered it, but when I got home and took another look at my desk, I won't be able to fit the chair under it. For reference, I sit back in the arm chair indian style and rest my elbows on the arms of the chair while I'm working. Here are the three options I'm debating... I can change the height of the table to accommodate the chair, which would put my desk surface up to 27" -- this is the easiest option, but also the least comfortable one. I can have a metalworker remove the front bar and move it back enough that I can get the chair underneath. I can just get the table top and find someone to do the bottom. Any ideas?

mary, which desk did you ordered at R&B? BTW, that chair is too big for that area but it seems like you're not ready to consider another one because of the way you use it.

jonathan, I realize that the desks I suggested are not roll tops but are definitely good looking enough to have in the bedroom. (your wife actually lets you have intercourse with her?!)

I ordered a 48x30 tabletop and a short Parsons base:

http://www.roomandboard.com/rnb/coll.do?coll=RB1202&dept=RB118

I walked in there just wanting short legs, but they don't make 'em and I really don't know who does custom like this. IKEA makes adjustable legs that go short, but they really aren't attractive and the last time I had an IKEA desk it wobbled a lot.

Anne, those are nice...no prices on British Khaki desk (which I like a lot). No price is a bad sign, methinks.


Ha ha, guess what I just found out. My contractor just bought his wife a brand new Mercedes. I should have been allowed to hand her the keys myself or at least signed the gift card.

I was in Desiron last week ordering the Darin bench and fell in love with the desks that the assitants use themselves. Not roll top but with two drawers I guess you could dump paperwork into them at the end of the day. I love the thickness of the top coupled with the U shaped legs.

http://tinyurl.com/k5tk8

Jonathan -- I'm usually not in favor of big armoires, but a couple of places make armoire workstations that close up afterwards. The shelf desk that someone mentioned is the eNook:

http://www.anthro.com/ppage.aspx?pmid=54

Jonathan,
Have you considered the Davis Desk at Williams Sonoma Home? The style may not be your taste, but it has lots of storage and at night can be closed up to hide the papers and "crap."

Also, WSH makes a desk very similar to the British Khaki desk for $1850, the Circle Fretwork Writing Desk. It's lovely but I don't think it would hide much paperwork.

Interesting tiny homes article in my local Saturday paper today:

The Anti-McMansion

http://jscms.jrn.columbia.edu/cns/2006-03-14/lemoult-tinyhouses

szig, why didn't I think of that!!? I fu%^ing LOVE that desk and if I could print money that would be the first thing I would buy. (pg. 64-65)I also like the Mason Table as a desk. (pg. 6-7) at Williams-Sonoma Home.

Jonathan, if the bedroom is turning into an office, turn the office into a bedroom. Otherwise, the shrew is going to complain that the desk doesn't look right, that she can't see out the window with a roll top or that her delicate neck is strained from actually having to turn her head to look out to one side.

Bedrooms are not offices. They should not be used as offices. This is my opinion only. Bedrooms should be places to sleep and play. To relax. Read materials for pleasure, not to study materials for work or school. Lounging, lusting, loving and the occasional breakfast in bed (hopefully without toast crumbs on the sheets).

Worst case scenario, you're trying to sleep, and she's puttering away at the desk. That would drive me nuts. I'd end up throwing her and the desk out the window into the garden so I could get some sleep and she could fully enjoy the garden from within the garden.

Ahhhh, sleep at last

zzZZZzzZZzzzZ

AT Website confusion/questions/suggestions

I get lost on the various city sites. I can't remember where I saw what, and it gets more confusing when I KNOW I posted, let's say, under the green pea pod lamps and the post isn't there. That's because the green pea pod lamps show up first on AT-LA, and then appear here on AT-NY. Maybe they're on AT-Chic and AT-SF too.

I'd like to see the green pea pod lamps show up on ALL sites at the SAME time, with the link to comments going back to the originating source, AT-LA, where the thread is managed by the host there.

The only area specific content I'd like to see would have to do with the resources and Craigslist type things. Uh, I'm not sure how all that would work though. It would be a lot of work to have one big site, which I guess is the point of having several sites, but the content is interesting on all of the sites, and I skip around to read them all.

The other thing, I'd like to see the archives where I can pull up an entire date's postings, rather than one article at a time. I can't find the lamp I liked, and I can't find where I mentioned the lamp I liked to someone else in another thread. Ahhh!

Jonathan: If your wife has a lot of work to do in the bedroom, there's a piece on Ebay that will accommodate all her needs (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=4458881840 ). It may be too bulky for you, but I happen to know that John Malkovich (yes, the JM) has one. I'd been looking for a similar piece for *my* wife (although not for bedroom use) and had been eying this one at a local dealer's. One day it wasn't there. I was told that JM had walked in and bought it. The dealer, a semi-friend, said "How could I refuse John Malkovich?" But he felt guilty enough at having deprived me to sell me a Bertoia chair at a low price.

There's also a Raymond Loewy desk at http://www.modhaus.com/detail.asp?id=8896 , but I get the feeling your tastes run more to the new.

longtimelurker-

Still looking for peony wallpaper?
Check out the May issue of British Homes and Garden.

Andree: i agree with you...the notion of work getting in the bedroom irks me to no end. I set up a perfectly nice station downstairs and wife says "too dark" down there. i lie in bed almost every night awake stressing about work. i can't stand the thought of being close to it at night. maybe i should throw her out the window.

Design Dabbler: i like the link you sent on ebay a lot. that would definitely hide her crap and a computer as well. i'll look into it.

thank u both.

Incidentally, Design Dabbler, when I re-read your post i saw reference to your wife. I sort of assumed you were a female. i stink at gender guessing, i have pretty much been wrong every time.

Jonathan: "too dark" -- maybe the solution is to make her workspace more comfortable as a short-term compromise while you slowly, haphazardly look for something that fits your bedroom. Even if it doesn't work out and you have to buy something upstairs, it'd still be worth it just in case...

Jonathan, you guessed me right. And I too thought Design Dabbler was a gal.

Is your wife extremely wealthy AND extremely good-looking AND extremely well-connected? I'm just not feeling the love here. ;-)

Do NOT mess with my few hours of halfway decent sleep. I have enough trouble getting any sleep as it is, and that is one thing that would be a major deal-breaker.

If it bothers you, you DO need to speak up. Now. Not after the desk is put in. Not when it gets to the point when you do blow up, and lack of sleep will make most anyone edgy. And you're already edgy at the mere thought of it.

And certainly long before you're restlessly tossing on the sofa because you can't sleep while she's up there in the bedroom with lights on and working and thumping books around.

How about saying one nice thing about your wife and your renovation? There's something good, right? Maybe many things? Maybe a whole bunch of good things and you're focusing on the negative stuff?

Andree:

Oh, all right. Remember last month I was asking about the workstation computer area for downstairs? It is mostly done and I am pleased.

Here's the raw space before (the electrical was already done, I had put in the overhead recessed halogens)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/31415264@N00/137512197/

Here's the after, done as of yesterday:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/31415264@N00/137512262/

Jonathan -- I just saw a secretary desk at Housing Works on 23rd that might work for you. It was mission styled in oak with a desk surface that folded down and a few drawers. I didn't really give the tires a good kick, but it looked like a solid piece of furniture, and it was a little over two hundred...

You know, I finally stuck 24" table leg into froogle and found the right sized legs through a place called kitchensource.com. They sell all sorts of legs and restaurant-style table bases, including really short ones...

Yay! Problem solved. I'll use those as the base and the tabletop from Room and Board. I'm off to go cancel my other order and enjoy the pretty weather...

Terry Castle also wrote a fun/scholarly article about the allure of "shelter porn" mags in the March Atlantic.

Rasil (and anyone who's interested), I've posted some peony photos from today's strall @ BBG, click on my name.
You can copy them for your wall templates.

I was looking for a swiveling TV stand at P.C. Richard today and they of course did NOT have it, because no one does, because everyone is mounting TV's to walls.

But while I was in there they had these mini-kitchens, so I took a pic and put it up on the flickr bar up there on the right; the price seemed to be pretty reasonable and was marked down from whatever it had been.

You people who think it couldn't be a woman referring to a wife make me giggle. It's 2006, remember? And in some places it's even legal.

JenPDX, thanks for the link, I'm going to check it out.

regards,
trillium

Giggling here, too, trillium; he he he he.

Trillum, you're right of course. But I do live in park slope, you realize, so i am virtually surrounded by women who want nothing to do with me (inconceivable to many of you, i realize, but it's true). to be fair i only hear them use the phrase 'partner' not 'wife' but nonetheless i stand corrected.

Those of you surprised by my marital condition clearly haven't been following my posts with the attention they deserve. I've mentioned my wife before.

The question is: am I a mod, with-it, 2006 sort of woman with a wife, or an old-fashioned, 1906 sort of man with a wife? A day doesn't go by when I don't wonder about this myself.

You can always check out the Housing Works windows online and place bids.

http://www.housingworksauctions.com/program/stores.cfm

Sure beats running around town looking at all the windows in person.

Jonathan, the space looks good. Lots of storage on the right side for books, references, and decorative items. It's pretty stark, though, and compared to a multi-faceted garden, seems like night and day.

Ahhh, but of course I have a suggestion. Use the tallest shelving area for a "nature display", along these lines:
http://tinyurl.com/j47yb

I always did a "tour" of the backyard years ago at my mum's home, first thing in the morning. See what was growing. What was sprouting. Fresh air. Didn't matter if it was raining or sunny.

Each morning, you and your wife could take a morning stroll (or in the evening) through your new garden and select a flower, a branch, a few leaves and put into the nature niche downstairs.

If you have a digital camera and printer, you could print out interesting pictures of the garden and put them in frames throughout the year. Everything has beauty.

You could make a smaller raised planter just for things to go in the nature niche. A few flowering bulbs. Some scented herbs. Plants like rosemary and some "geraniums" have scented foliage. It doesn't smell so much on it's own, you have to brush against it to release the fragrance. Just clip a couple leaves and set them on a saucer, to be picked up while thinking and brushed against the nose for fragrance.

Even things like a dish of dirt...that rich, dark, organic matter is pleasing to smell. Wood chips or cedar shavings.

Those things up high won't get in the way of the work station proper, and the lower area can be used for books. The vase of flowers or the bowl of dirt won't be knocked over accidently. But they can be placed on the work station top if desired.

You are now fully connecting with the garden, and bringing the garden indoors to the work station.

Another idea, wall fountain:
http://www.lagunawaterworks.com/moonstonebeach.html

That one is too big and wouldn't look quite right in the space, but it's just to get you thinking and to perhaps show your wife. I'd like to see it on the wall where the black art is, but I'd want to check on if it splashed out or not first. I don't even want to know what your wife would say when the fountain rained on her, ruined the computer, and shorted out the electrical in that area. I'm cringing at that thought.

Extra light, comforting sound, would work well with the nature niche.

Do NOT get me started on gay marriage. I am in San Francisco, and wept with joy while watching the news coverage when Mayor Newsom allowed gay marriage, and all the happy people FINALLY being able to legitimize their lives in such a way that it was equal to straight people.

I've never seen so many happy people on TV, and could have watched a live feed of nothing but gay marriages for the entire day. Or for days. Or for weeks.

Separate but equal usually IS separate and is NOT equal, and I don't like the idea of making up new terms when there is a perfectly good term available. Marriage.

Yes, a woman can have a wife, and a man can have a husband, and couples should be able to have children whether they're gay or straight.

I wrote Schwartzenegger a long letter, explaining why it should and MUST be allowed. It wasn't that long ago that inter-racial marriages just weren't allowed or accepted, or inter-religion. And in some places it still isn't allowed. Don't even think about marrying out of caste in India. Or following your heart when your parents arranged a marriage when you were a baby.

A straight couple can choose whether or not they want to get married, and they can live together without marriage, if they want to. A gay couple doesn't have that option. They can have a commited relationship that outlasts the total number of years all my high school friends stayed married for, and they still can't get that legal document stating they ARE married.

If they get married in one of many places that do allow it, it still doesn't gaurantee that the document will be accepted/honored in the area in which they choose to live.

What about things like renting or buying a home? Are married couples treated differently than unmarried ones? Like for credit reports? Or loans? Anyone know?

Some gay folks seem to kind of decide to actually co-own a business and form corporations to own property, but I think that if one of them comes from family money it's all in that person's name and the other one is just up a creek without a paddle if it all goes wrong OR if the moneyed one dies without a really clear-cut will.

Andree, for buying a house, a tenancy in common and a joint tenancy with right of survivorship are both open to unrelated, unmarried individuals. It's JTWROS where the surviving owner automatically inherits the deceased owner's share of the property. In TIC, each owner wills his/her shares as he/she sees fit.

There's a form of buying, tenancy in the entirety, that is like JTWROS but only open to married couples -- but I had never heard of it before looking up JTWROS on Wikipedia.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joint_tenancy_with_right_of_survivorship

I get such great tips from this site. Thanks a bunch.

INDUSTRIAL PLASTICS from 309 canal street did NOT move to brooklyn as suspected! i found them! they moved to new jersey. the phone number is the same(thank god) which is how i found them. i found an old receipt with the number (212-226-2010).i was so excited to have a friendly voice on the other end of the phone. the customer service is still great and they are really helpful! there is a new website too. www.industrialplasticsnyc.com . i think they also will be opening an online store. they also deliver and ship stuff to you. what a relief to find industrial plastic still around!!!!

Al - you may want to rethink Delancey car service. They will totally screw you on price and will quote you one level and then charge you more -- especially if you're a woman. If you complain, they hang up on you!