apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Mentioned in the H&G section of the Times today is a design firm that does beautiful work. Take a look at this woman's portfolio:

www.formsofdesign.com

Nice, huh?!

Is AT the coolest site on the web? What other coolest sites do you like?

I was trying to do some decluttering last night, but I did not get too far. I just got paralyzed and could not make any progress. I have not made an outbox yet, so I think that is my next step. that might be the answer. I sure hope so. I really want to make this work.

On a side note, on my last post I said that I did not want a mid century mod apartment, but I am looking for 2 chairs and I saw found Barcelona Chairs which I am going to look at this afternoon. (A couple of modern elements can work in a non-mod apartment, right?) The problem is they were reupholstered with a flowery print fabric. They are terrible. How much would it be to re-reupholster them in a decent brown leather?

Thanks

In my opinion, AT is the coolest. I also love www.lifehack.org and www.43Folders (which has a relatively limited quantity of fresh material being posted, but it almost always hits the spot) and .

pixie. you are so cute. answering your own question. but you do come up with the best ideas. this should be fun....

I get led to the best web stuff by other people, that's why I'm asking. And if there is a cooler site than AT, I REALLY want to know that.

There is no cooler site than AT. But I regularly visit http://www.plan59.com for his latest scans of vintage ads. And I also visit http://www.petchhouse.blogspot.com (found through houseblogs.net) because this guy is not only remodeling his cool old house, but he's also building stuff like kitchen cabinets out of old wood. And he's got a sense of humor about it.

Anne - Really! That stuff makes me smile.

Archie,
Paralysis is normal. Do the work in short chunks - set a timer for 15 minutes at a time and then stop. If you're not following the chapters of Maxwell's book, that might help, because that breaks a place into chunks also, which is extremely helpful to me because I only have to focus on one area at a time. Definitely make an outbox. It really helps, because it's not a full decision to get rid of something, it's a halfway house and you can always take it back. And remember, you can do it!

What specifically were you decluttering that paralyzed you?

Archie,
I think an outbox will help. I never called it an outbox, but I have always done this--if I'm "not sure" about something, but it's not doing anything for me, I stick it in a central place until I just plain no longer care about it. Some things I end up keeping or retrieving, but usually, most of it goes out the door!

Here's another strange question from me: does such a product as an extra-long bedskirt exist? I know bedskirts are currently unpopular, but moving into a tiny apartment necessitated getting those "bed risers" to elevate my bed so that I could use the underneath part for storage. There is literally nowhere else to put the stuff in my bedroom, but now the ugly plastic risers and all of the storage under my bed is in full view. Just curious what (if anthing) others have done in this situation--I'm figuring I will probably need to make my own extra-long bedskirt with a sewing machine.

Thanks for the comments.

I was working on the kitchen last night; and that should be an easy room! Just wait until I get to the living room. :o(

We have a plastic three drawer storage unit in the corner of our kitchen that I was trying to clean out and get rid of. I'm going to keep trying until I get it!

I just have to stay focused and follow the Cure.

Julie,
I think they do. My bed is be-skirted for the same reason--storage. I probably need a longer one, but I bought a standard one. They have several drop-lengths, so it depends if they match what you need. I got mine online at JC Penney, but I also remember looking at Garnet Hill and The Company Store. The problem is finding them in different colors, but I think if you only want white or off-white, you'll be ok.

Pixie wrote:
> I get led to the best web stuff by
> other people, that's why I'm asking.
> And if there is a cooler site than
> AT, I REALLY want to know that.

Oh... do I really want to cross-pollenate my blog/forum communities.

Hmmm...

http://www.designaddict.com
or straight to the forum...
http://www.designaddict.com/design_addict/forums/index.cfm

I will admit, it's a little more elitist crowd, and strictly modernist.

All my best bookmarks are at home. I go to a lot of music forums, and computer geek forums, as well.

http://www.mocoloco.com

I also think that MocoLoco should incorporate some form of community into its blog. If they don't want comments running off of individual posts, they could place a separate forum within the site.

http://www.reluct.com/

I like Reluct but, like LocoMoco, it has no community, and also like MocoLoco, it is already a cross-promoted site here at A.T.

I subscribe to Core77.com 's newsletter, which I see is another cross-promoted site here.

Gig Posters is a cool site about concert poster art, and has a forum:

http://www.gigposters.com

Then there's always MoMA:

http://www.moma.org

For announcements on things like art openings and such, I use FlavorPill / ArtKrush:
http://www.flavorpill.net/
http://www.artkrush.com/

Archie:

There are folks who were able to follow The Cure and get it done with perfect timing. Then there are going to be people like me, who stalled at Week 2. It may be the Eight MONTH Cure for me. Pain (back/nerve) curbs my physical energy.

So, one thought...don't add more stuff to your place right now. Nothing. You have to sort through the stuff you HAVE to figure out what you'll NEED.

A couple of things you can do, that won't take a lot of effort but will make a HUGE impact on your place. Shelving analysis (sounds fancy). This is from my list of suggestions from previously.

Take all the photos out of the frames, put them in a safe place (to be put in album or scrapbook later). Put the frames in a separate area. Put all the books you have in ONE bookcase. How about the red one? I like the red one. Put/store the shoe boxes near the top as they are light weight, and books near the bottom.

You want to move around the furniture anyway, so you'll have to take everything off the bookcases.

Wash or clean all the decorative items and move them to one location. It doesn't matter where. Even the wall items can be taken down and put with the decorative items. All those items will be your very own STORE.

As you move things around and contemplate your actual home NEEDS (like how many people do you need to seat 95% of the time, every day), you'll have your STORE (Archie's ARTifacts) to choose accessories from. They aren't even going in an OUTBOX. They're just "on hold" until you've finalized the rest of the home.

So, start with the pictures, picture frames, books, decorative objects, and see the difference today!

Archie:

Also, zip over to BHG's Arrange A Room found in the Tools section here: http://tinyurl.com/fmv2w

You can create your own home, and resize the furniture to represent the actual sizes of your own furniture.

Measure your rooms. Measure your furniture. You'll only need to do that once. Keep it in a notebook.

You can move all your stuff with a simple mouse-drag, instead of back-breaking labor. And, you can measure furniture you're considering BEFORE buying it, being sure it will fit in the place that you're thinking of. This can save you from making bad purchases, where things are TOO BIG for the room you were thinking of.

That's also where you'll see that two new chairs won't fit unless you get rid of the sofa. ;)

Julie--
I bought a Calvin Klein bedskirt that I actually had to shorten (well, my dry cleaner did) so you may look there. But yes, I'm guessing long ones exist.

But, um, who said they are out of fashion?!?

Archie,
Reading Andree's post made me think of something else I did with things that tugged at my heartstrings but that I knew I was better off without--I took digital pictures of them! Somehow, it eased the pain of getting rid of them, and now, when I look at the pictures on my computer, I feel ridiculous for ever thinking of keeping them (for example, an old t-shirt from college, several posters I felt sentimental over...)

Archie, I think Andree's decluttering advice is really good. I think you could start with sorting: put all of the framed art in a box, put all of the decorative objects in another, put all of the books in another. Then you'll know exactly what you have and how much. I think it is easier to make decisions about what to keep when it's all together. And remember that you don't HAVE to throw anything away. You can keep anything you're not sure of in the box and revisit the box later.

I think Andree is right, that if you sort and clear first, you will see the difference today. I think you will also feel like you accomplished something and feel less stuck.

And I agree with Andree said about not bringing anything new into your apartment until you've done some decluttering. Decluttering is a magical process, and your ideas about decor will change during it. You may find that maybe you don't need anything new, that you can use what you have differently, or that maybe getting rid of things and rearranging was all that was needed. So, I suggest you start with decluttering and worry about things like acquiring furniture later.

Thank you guys so much! I clicked right over to Garnet Hill and found exactly what I needed--a 21" skirt that has tailored, pleated corners in simple white. I had naively thought that bedskirts only came in one standard length.

Patrick (the other one)--I didn't mean they were out of fashion--I think a bedskirt is a pretty timeless thing that will always be around. I just meant that most of what seems to be popular recently are modern styles that don't tend to need skirts, that's all.

Al in all, I am looking forward to my bed being be-skirted soon.

Julie--
Gotcha. And Garnet Hill always comes through!! Glad you found what you wanted.

A heads up from NBM to those who don't already know:

Saturday, May 20, 2006, the National Building Museum will unveil its groundbreaking, 7,000-square-foot exhibition, The Green House: New Directions in Sustainable Architecture and Design.

Already receiving national attention for its comprehensive exploration of new developments in green technology and products, The Green House is sure to be a big, “green” hit!

Just inside The Green House doors, visitors will notice the unique exhibition design by the award-winning architectural firm Lewis.Tsurumaki.Lewis (LTL). Visitors will be greeted by a life-size replica of the Glidehouse™, a modernist home graced with glass curtain walls and sliding panels of richly hued, louvered wood.

Housing Works is having an online auction. Check it out:

http://www.housingworksauctions.com/artAuctions.cfm

great cause!

OK, I'm back to the balcony issue. Since I can't find anymore redwood decking tiles to match what I already have I've been thinking about doing a raised deck on part of the balcony. Only 6" high and not the entire balcony. How hard and how expensive would that be? Where could I look for a how-to for what seems to be a pretty simple project? Is there anyone here that would be willing to help me out?

hi anne, thank you for your comments. i'll work on that one... let me know if you have other ideas. they're always welcome.

pixie... i like www.lime.com for healthy living ideas and www.pandora.com for new music. enjoy. :)

Not many divulged their fave sites, but of those who did, some intrigueing new ones (to me) that I am checking out. Thanks!

Pixie wrote:
> Not many divulged their fave sites...

chris (nyc) wrote:
>
> http://www.mocoloco.com
>
> I also think that MocoLoco should incorporate
> some form of community into its blog. If they
> don't want comments running off of individual
> posts, they could place a separate forum within
> the site.

Well, I wrote too soon. Apparently MocoLoco recently added comment options. Unfortunately, each comment must be individually approved by the site owner, which means it can take who knows how long before a comment actually goes live on the site. Consequently nothing like "real dialog" can actually blossom. It is no surprise that, though they have added this feature, nobody is using it. 90% of the posts have "0" comments and I've yet to see one that has more than "2". That's a shame. They need to swing the doors open and let the people in. The site traffic would explode if they did. Foolishness on their part.