apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I posted this on the last open thread, but at the end, so I apologize for all that are reading this twice.

We finally finished the Landing Strip section of the Cure! Click on my name to see some before and after pics (the 1st pic is before). Let me know what you think and any suggestions you have for making it better!

your landing strip looks great! you should join the Cure group (look for a link in the last Cure thread), that way it will be easy for other curers and similarly interested parties like myself to keep track of what you've accomplished.

Hi,
I'm about to move into a basement apartment with low ceilings and few windows. Currently walls, floors and ceilings are all white, but we can paint however we want. Does anyone have any ideas on how to make the space not depressing, maybe a little cheerful even, without looking like an Easter egg?
Thanks!

Oooh, Archie, great work on your landing strip area! Can I ask where the lamp is from?

Archie, LOVE the landing strip. It's totally like a different room!

Nicole, I think the most important thing will be to add lots of lighting of all kinds--uplighting, task, mood and mirrors. You could also go the other route, and make it kind of a cozy den with mood lighting and rich colors.

Archie,
The area is a real transformation from the before shots. I love the lamp and the red detail on the hooks. I too would like to know the source of the lamp. Great job!

Nicole, I'm in a ground floor apt surrounded by trees, so in many ways it feels basementy. I agree that lighting is key, but this is proving a little more difficult to achieve on a budget.

waaaaaay back when p2 used to post regularly, he agreed with me that stealing ideas from Starbuck's was a good idea. Those coffee joints are dark at the back; yet they manage to make the whole place cozy and inviting enough to keep sucking us all in. I'm more interested in their lighting than their paint colours, but you could take a look at different retail operations, many of which have relatively little natural light.

a related question: anyone got any favourite ceiling fixtures? There's a lot of cool stuff around, but little of it is suitable for low ceilings. I need flattish fixtures. (The ones currently in my place look like Kaiser Wilhelm's helmet.)

any good flattish ceiling fixtures you know of? And is there such a thing as too many halogens? (I think there is, but I'm not sure where the boundary lies.)

Thank you for the compliments. We(I) started off gung ho with the Cure, but unfortunately slowed down. It is nice to get this part done, as it was a huge step in the right direction, I think.

I got the lamp at the Pompanoosuc Mills showroom in West Hartford, CT. They must have been having a clearance sale on last years model, or something, becuase it only cost $35. (Since my first "hobby" is being a cheapskate, this worked out well!)

Also, we are lucky because we have a second bedroom that we really don't use for much so the Poang chair went into that room. We separated the bookcases, one stayed in that room in the opposite corner, one went into the dining room and one went into the closet to use for storage.

We still have pictures and pictures frames and framed art stuffed behind the couch until we decide what to do with it. But we are continually striving to declutter. And truly, it is all thanks to AT.

PSA that Hold Everything is going out of business as of this evening. Deep discounts, but not much left.

Last night, stuff was selling out faster than it could come off the website. It was annoying.

Next week I'm moving into an apartment in which the previous tenant was a major smoker. I'm worried that when I get there, the place will reek of smoke.

What can I do to get rid of the smell? I've bought some scented candles, and my mom is going to lend me her air purifier thingee. Is there anything else I can do?

Mia, the Fresh2 CFL lights are supposed to help clear out smells (as well as being much more energy efficient and longer lasting than regular incandescents). I wouldn't recommend scented candles until some of the smoke smell has abated since it is really just lipsticking the pig.

White wine vinegar is also great at extracting smells. Granted, it smells pretty strong itself, but that odor goes away pretty quickly. If you have access to the apartment before you move in, you could mop and wash walls with 1/2 vinegar and 1/2 water. Is there carpeting? I'm not sure what the best remedy would be for carpet.

I'm sure that others will have some suggestions too, and of course, I would hope that your landlord is willing to help remove any smoke smell.

i went through the same thing, once. i had a whole process. a few days before i actually did any moving in, i went into the space, TSP'ed it down, and frantically painted a few rooms. i brought over all my fans and left them running in the space all night (while i slept at my old place). the day before the big room i spent doing some hardcore deep cleaning and burning inscense, windows open, fans on, etc. serious serious airing out and cleaning. then and only then did i move any of my stuff in there, and i saved all books, textiles and upholstered furniture for last. by the time i was completely moved in, the place smelled good as new, and the whole deodorizing AND repainting AND deep cleaning only took a couple days.

i was lucky enough, though, that it was all hard surfaces -- didn't come with carpet or any window treatments or other textiles that would soak in the smell.

big room = big move

sorry