apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I got a complimentary issue of what im guessing is a new magazine - 'ny home'. anyone heard of it? anyone else get it?

what do you think - i havent looked at it yet.

looking for a smallish desk along the lines of the offi wave desk for my new place. those zim zim work shelves that were on the page today looked kind of perfect, actually, but i'm guessing those won't be available for some time. anyone know of a nice, modern & small desk?

MGR, don't you think the Coolest, Smallest, apt entries are a book waiting to happen? Whenever I am hunting for interior design books to inspire me all I find are these "Small space" books showing thes dinky little places 1200 sq ft and up. They may toss in the odd 750 sq footer on a lark. And it is rare to find studios also. When I moved a few months ago, I would have loved to have had pics of all these clever creative spaces. I think this should be an annual contest, AND a small book series (not a large coffee table book, 'cause I don't have enough room for that . . .)

I'd buy a book like that! I'm tired of small space decorating usually focusing on homes at least twice as big as my apartment. (And I'd rather see real homes and not the usual staged looking photos decor books feature.)

Agreed. I really prefer seeing a home that is inhabited, so I can understand how one functions in it. It then seems much more within reach to apply it to my own place.

I totally agree. But then, if they did a book, they might include a bit more text -- maybe interviews or something -- with the inhabitants. So, they can actually talk about what it's like to live there, compared to how they've lived before. Things like, "I've lived with a loft bed, but I'm too old to climb; I've slept on a futon, but my back just can't take it like I used to, so I've finally decided that it has to be a [whatever] for me."

Hey! I know! They could have it be a pull-out section in that magazine that advertises here -- domino! Right? It would make perfect sense! Because readers of the magazine would be more aware of AT, etc. Am I just bleeding all my genius out for free again? Oh, we.

"And also starring..."
Favorite films, interiors wise, please, dear decor fanatics. Which flick has your favorite, ones you most love, or that inspire you?
(Sets by Cecil Beaton? An Almodovar?)


Mine is "The Best of Everything", 1959.
dir. Jean Negulesco. (Just came out on DVD.)
Perfect jazzy 50's swish apartments, from the swinging bachelor to Joan Crawford's publisher pad.
(Fun film, even with its old school tragic Samantha Jones type and general wreckage).

ps
please post, whatever movie it is, regardless of taste police fears...whatever inspired interiors lust!

Does anyone have ideas for home made paint or color washes?
(Moving to an apartment with several white glossy layered walls...experiments time, before i paint for real!)

Rubbing alcohol and beer (thanks Debbie Travis) and small brushes produce an oak or maple wood effect, forget which. Guinness, or blonde beer...hmmm.

Might try cool aid and r. alcohol, to achieve plum or key lime green.
And boiled beets water, which i guess will not mildew once dry, for a transparent fuschia.
(Apply clear varnish if it's a keeper; it might come out all streaky; otherwise, break out the big sponges and begin again.)

White table cloth, ball shaped vase filled with white tulips, cheese-cloth window covering, and those cool white frosty ice-cream shaped plates and bowls available for a few bucks each from Crate and Barrel will counterpoint this color wash craziness.)
R. alcohol and mouthwash?
Fabric dyes, curry...henna?

oops

C+ B's "oval wave plates" that is (thank u "O" magazine, for alerting me to these beauties).

There is a book on small spaces...

Living Large in Small Spaces-Expressing Personal Style in 100 to 1,000 Square Feet by Marisa Bartolucci and Radek Kurzaj

I got it from the library....lots of fun.

Two movie interiors that come to mind... the minimalist apartment in Dying Young (love the partial religious relic in one scene) and the old-L.A. chocolate brown glam of the house in Gods & Monsters.

morten--
you could try searching the archives here... i think there was a small-desk thread awhile back. Other than that, I'd try blu dot, topdeq, and some of the "usual suspects"... cb2, IKEA and Hold Everything.

squixan--
seems like you were the lone but lucky recipient of that magazine... your review, please!!!

How weird. I am looking for the exact same thing morten. A minimalist, small (45 inches wide) desk. I don't need tons of storage because I use a wireless laptop and I have book shelves and a big storage closet in the same room for files (oh yes!). Haven't found the perfect thing yet except perhaps a new desk by moooi that was being set up at DWR in SoHO it's called Two Tops.

www.moooi.nl/content/collections/collection.php?unid=110

It's got a funky, old and new thing going on... It's probably ridiculously expensive though.

I emailed morten, but since cristy is also looking, blu dot's got a very small desk called "lil buddy" or "my little pal" or something. It's brightly colored metal, small, cute, not unreasonable.

I went cheaper. went to the door store, got an 18x30 top and a set of square legs, had them attach a keyboard tray. cost about $150. It looked fine until I painted it, put the enamel on too thick, and it got all wrinkly. Now I have to sand it or strip it or something. And the thing is, it really looked fine without the paint.(sigh)

We got a copy of NY Home here at work as well as a copy of another new mag called Elements of Living that an editor dropped off at our ICFF booth. I flipped through EOI and ... whatever. Haven't looked at the other yet.

Was that a picture of yarn on the Open Thread item? Mmmmm, yarn.

Speaking of getting complimentary magazines, a couple of months ago, Vitals Woman just showed up at my door with a note saying that if I wanted to, I could send in the card to continue my free subscription. OK. Not like I don't get enough magazines. This week, something called Consumer Electronics or something like that, showed up. The hell? What list am I on? I'm gonna become Crazy Ebay Mom and it won't even be my fault!

This isn't right for me and more than I want to spend (budget is exhausted) but this desk from Conran is gorgeous.
www.conran.co.uk/conranshopping/showMoreInfo.do?productid=10214

I love Vitals Women! It's funny. Only problem is the fashion isn't that great yet. But with time...

martha--
yours is a valubale lesson to Alberto with the Victorian!!! (but sorry about your desk!)

I love AT. It's great that we can post comments here. And the "Watercooler" is a great idea.

Anyways. Who is the king of shower curtains? I'm looking for something minimalist. White background, with some grey (to match the grey marble streaks in my white tiles) and maybe an accent color for punch.

Cuse--
If you are in NYC--
--Details (on the Upper West Side and Chelsea)
--Gracious Home (one of the only reasons I would shop there)
--ABC Carpet
--The Terrence Conran Shop
or
--West Elm
--Restoration Hardware
--IKEA
--Bloomingdale's (check their generic shower curtain display, then head over to the Calvin Klein section; shower curtains are a little hidden but worth the trip)
--Macy's (I think they carry the "Hotel" line, which may include shower curtains)

If all else fails, find a fabric you like, get a grommet kit, and make your own. Any fabric as long as you use a vinyl liner.

Good luck!

The May PAPER mag annual "special design issue" is pretty novel and fun.
Who is going to fill the Nest void?

Ruth--
Were you a kitten in a past life?!

re-- movie interiors
I would also say most of the "starring" interiors in the Merchant-Ivory stable, especially...
Howard's End, and that INCREDIBLE Robin's Egg blue (on steroids) center hall staircase in Remains of the Day. I believe the film's art directors found that staircase, and color, as is.
And, for entirely different reasons, Harrison Ford's apartment in Blade Runner, and Tom Cruise's home in Minority Report.

Ruth--
"Vitals Woman just showed up at my door..." conjured up a different picture than intended, and I was disappointed to read it was a magazine, and not some sort of Amazonian/Wonder Woman *actual* woman. ;)

Brian, thanks for the tip on the small spaces book. I'm going to see if my library has it.

Orangered, I'm thinking of the movie Amelie and I don't know why. I can't see myself living in her space, but there was something about the colors the art director used that keep luring me back. PS I think the teeny artist's apartment in An American in Paris when I think of the smallest apartment contest. I can handle small space living - but that place was th esize of a closet!

re Domino, I got the first issue and suscribed basically because it is only $12 and I am curious. I recently picked up a copy of Atomic Ranch mag, too. Anyone else read that? Thoughts?

I love the Gene Kelly's apartment in American in Paris. It's also just a wonderful scene where he dances around all his hidden storage compartments.
Also in Paris, the woman's apartment in Before Sunset I loved. It seemed very livable, totally shabby but still a lot of style. It was also very French though i think it's rare to find a loft like that in Paris.

Patrick, no, I'm a knitter in this one.

Cristy, I like Vitals Woman too (Patrick, quiet) although I'm not really sure what the point of the exercise was. And yet, I did find myself drawn into Gisele's world.

As far as movie interiors go, I saw this French film the name of which escapes me at the moment about five years ago or so. A totally and completely ridiculous movie which critics loved and the audience I saw it with finally gave up and started laughing inappropriately. All I remember is a policeman who rode around on a bike everywhere and an incredibly long shot of female genitalia. Anyway, there was this one room that had walls in a beautiful green color and panels of turquoise flocked wallpaper. I'm still kind of in love with those walls.

yet another bed question here.

BF and I are in the market for a tall platform bed. I saw one blogged here a while ago, but it was waaay out of our price range -- we can't go over 500. Anyone have a lead on an online seller of non-creaky, budget platform beds? (We're in SF, so alas, cannot bring a bed back with us on a plane.)

An alternate solution we're considering is building a low-loft loft bed. Like a loft bed, but only 2 or so feet off the floor, so we can store such as laundry baskets underneath. Alas again, we've no carpentry skills between the two of us, and all the "easy" loft plans on the web are designed for 6' or taller. Any ideas? Ever grateful -

jayepea -- It sounds like you have very specific things in mind. Find yourself a local handyman and ask what they'd charge. Otherwise, take a look at Ikea. In NYC we also have a local chain that sells unpainted furniture, including loft beds. They advertise in the voice, so find your equivalents and see what's out there.

How about "Mon Oncle"? I love both the horribly uncomfortable mondernist show house and the shabby, twisty exterior/interior to the uncle's building. Plus, the plastic factory is also quite nice. "Metropolis" also has great architecture, especially that one scene with the "modern" biplanes flying among the massive buildings.

best interiors in a film = barry lyndon. it helps that nothing else was happening.

Well, that 50's-esque movie whose name I can't remember with Julianne Moore had gorgeous interiors; I loved that. Also, the Sigourney Weaver movie The Ice Storm had great interiors.

"The Hours"? or "Far from Heaven"?

Far From Heaven, it must be.

Movie interiors... now we're talking! Good watercooler topic, orangered! So many to choose from and not all of them belonging to the villains in the movie. (The bad guys always get the best spaces!) Here are a few that really resonated for me.

Auntie Mame. In the movie, the constant redecoration of the lead character's apartment is used as a device to denote the passage of time. The best incarnation of the apartment is a hyper-exaggerated version of Danish Modern--which Mame declares as the work of designer "Luhl Uhluhl" (sp?). The room is all fluid lines and refined textures. The furniture deep and wide with "modern" lines, and is raised/lowered on a pulley system--used for comedic effect. It really needs to be seen to be believed. The movie is a fantastic romp and Rosiland Russell is at her over-the-top best.

Down with Love. orangered, if you loved the apartment in The Best of Everything, you'll like all of the interiors in this homage to the Doris Day/Rock Hudson "sex comedies" of the mid-'60s. Since the entire film was shot on a set, the production design team had a lot of fun and exaggerated all of the design cues of the day--from Ewan McGregor's fully-automated striped wood bachelor pad to Renee Zellweger's bright-and-airy cosmopolitan Manhattan salon to the ultra-swank, ultra-modern offices of Look Magazine. The movie is light fluff, but a lot of fun if you like '60s romantic comedies. Oh yeah, the costuming is pretty over-the-top, too.

American Gigolo. I think that Richard Gere's character is the true genesis of the whole metrosexual phenomenon--vain, stylish and bit pretentious. His apartment really embodied the whole coke-fueled, body-obsessed, Armani-wearing, conspicuous-living of late '70s/early-'80s L.A. (It was like an aspirational style guidebook for Hollywood types at the time.) Clean-lined Italian furnishings in muted tones accessoried with exotic primitive accents and books(!) and (gasp) mini-blinds--when they were still cool. Don't get me started on the gravity boot set-up in one of the doorways... The hollywood madam character, of course, was vaguely European and lived in a relaxed beachfront multi-level house in either Malibu or the Palisades--all pale woods and gauze (well, you actually only see her sundeck--but that's the vibe you get). The pimp character lived in a full-service high-rise condo decorated in dark colors with lots of spot-lighting and mirrored surfaces (better for doing blow). A true stylistic time capsule.

Blade. Of all the bad guy pads I've seen in movies, the one belonging to Stephen Dorff's evil vampire character Deacon Frost is a favorite. Situated on the rooftop of a seedy building of a then-ungentrified downtown Los Angeles, the lair has all the creature comforts for the modernist vampire. Rooftop infinity pool/water-feature (accessorized with cheeky rubber ducks). Retractable full-width door/rooftop that opened the entire high-tech cocktail-lounge, chill space onto the pool and night-sky. Really good Italian accent lighting punctuated with candlelight. Oh, and he sleeps in an electronically-sealed gloss-white sleep chamber--for two! Very W Hotel before the concept mainstreamed... The movie "sucks" (sorry), but I liked the vampire rave scene with Traci Lords that opens the movie.

In the Mood for Love. A story of unrequited(?) love between two neighbors (Maggie Cheung and Tony Leung) who discover that their spouses are having an affair, this gem by Hong Kong director Wong Kar-Wai is one of my favorite films of all time (by one of my all-time favorite directors). Set in early-'60s Hong Kong, the film is both well directed and well art-directed. The images are so rich and vibrant--from the production design to the costuming (Maggie Cheug has about a hundred patterned high-necked cheomsang dresses throughout the movie). Director of Photography Chris Doyle makes the seediest and claustrophobic environments seem beautiful and coolly romantic--especially the hotel in which the two lead characters meet (floral-patterned wallpaper, flowing red curtains, etc). If you don't mind reading subtitles and a slower narrative pace, you should see this movie. It's a very sexy mood-piece. And if you don't get swept up in the story, watch it for the visual inspiration. The movie is as stylized as the Josef von Sternberg/Marlene Dietrich films of the late '30s--excpet in rich, saturated colors.

Thanks all for your movie pics!
(My post and thursday's H + H machosexual bit were a coincidence, hadn't seen it yet; i'm not psychic, darn it).

Mame + In the Mood for Love, a favorite of a brilliant friend, i'm excited to see
(thanks Enrique!)

All of Kubric's films really have interior stars.

K. Sutherland's stark mimimalist huge aqua marine lit arched window bedroom in Flatliners stands out, (with the Desperately Seeking Suzanne and Flashdance fantasy lofts).

Recently the rooms in Carnage, a decent French movie, (hilarious, Ruth!) i liked much...sort of minimalist, not fussy, easily doable, but highceilinged.
And a Japanese film i saw two years ago but forget the name of, about a gay cop; dark, lovely moody bedrooms.

By the way, when is the Merchant Ivory team going to do a Dawn Powell novel? (Not for interiors possibilities, but good stories, yet maybe not for the screen tho...yet maybe they'd help popularize her...but that's a topic for another site.)

ps
Enrique, wow, that is.

hey patrick,
sorry i never gave you my review of NY Home, but ruth pretty much said it all - i flipped through it... Eh. unless you're dying to see vivian tam's union square apartment.

about the movie interiors...

is it wrong for me to say that i loved almost everything about diane keaton's beach house in 'something's gotta give'? cause i did.

also, i saw a press screening of the new movie, 'mr. and mrs. smith' last week - brad and angelina's house is pretty sweet.

hugh grant's place in 'about a boy' was pretty cool too.

and i loved pierce brosnan's island getaway in 'the thomas crowne affair'.

I like the apartments in the actual Doris Day Rock Hudson "Lover Come Back". Everytime I watch it, probably once a year, I notice new details.

Oh, damn. I fogot two of the most memorable movie houses/interiors!

A Summer Place. A Frank Lloyd-Wright house along the California coastline. Here's some info I found online. "One of the most recognizable homes... described as a little "cabin on the rocks" - the Della Walker residence, 1951. If you haven't seen it as you've driven down the coast, you may have seen it in the 1959 movie, "A Summer Place". Built for $125,000, with
an addition designed by Wright after the Walkers moved in in 1956, the house was one of Wright's favorites. Distinguished by its stone terrace that juts out into Monterey Bay, the large stone chimney/fireplace and the blue metal cantilevered roof, and the bank of windows, the house is the only building on the ocean side of the road in Carmel." Must have had a brain fart when I was compiling my list. Oh, and it's a great 3-hanky movie with Sandra Dee and Troy Donahue.

The Parent Trap. (1961 version with Hayley Mills.) The expansive California Ranch home is amazing. Some info from the net... "The film was shot mostly in California at various locales, including millionaire Stuyvesant Fish's 5,200-acre ranch in Carmel, Monterey's Pebble Beach golf course, and the studio's Golden Oak Ranch in Placerita Canyon, where Mitch's ranch was built. It was the design of this set that proved the most popular, and to this day the Walt Disney Archives receives requests for plans of the home's interior design. Of course, there never was such a house; the set was simply various rooms built on a sound stage."

Note to orangered. Make sure you rent "Auntie Mame" with Rosalind Russell, not "Mame" with Lucille Ball (which is the musical version and not such a great movie for interiors).

Favorite movie sets:
1) Marriage on the Rocks
2) The New Age
3) See You in the Morning
4) Basic Instinct
5) Strangers When We Meet
6) Down With Love
7) Christmas in Connecticut
8) Bringing Up Baby
9) Match Point
10) The Loved One