apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I have a minor obsession with the Tord Boontje Garland light, but I am not the sort of person who spends that kind of money on a decorative lamp.

I would like to hear from anyone who has one. If I buy it, will I love it?

Do you really need two to get the full effect?

Rust would fit into our house so much better than a shinier metal. And I think it highlights the shapes better. But there's probably a reason that the gold and silver are much more popular.

Thoughts?

Where is the AT store?

Check out the far right sidebar, Szig. Or...

http://store.apartmenttherapy.com/

It's not stocked to the level of Macy's quite yet, but the art section is an interesting concept.

hello everyone! if you want to know why i am feeling flush with excitement, click my name.

fabric. where do you go (besides reprodepot)? what do you do with it?

question to the crowd. I had big plans of finishing and entering my bedroom in the fall colors competition. But a foul up with UPS means that my curtains haven't arrived, so I'm stuck with bare windows and not able to pull together the full effect in time for tonight's deadline.
Should I:
1. Wait, get the curtains and finish up later and abandon the contest altogether
2. Get some other (2nd choice) curtains up in time to enter tonight
3. Experiment with making the bare windows more aesthetic (any suggestions there)

do the bare windows mess with the color effects at all? for instance does the fabric tie the whole room together, or is the light coming in the bare windows too tricksy to photograph well?

i think if it's just a matter of a tastefully arranged room, i'd skip the curtains and enter anyway. if the curtains are a vital part of what you've done with color, find a quick substitute if possible. unless the whole room is beige (in a colorless way), i'd enter anyway. i mean, what do you have to lose?

to clarify: i meant unless the room is colorless without the curtains. not as in "omigod, if you have one of those BEIGE rooms, do not enter!"

also, as for ways to make bare windows more aesthetically pleasing.

i like to sit candles in mine (i have deep sills). it's also sort of a natural place for little decorative vignettes and brickabrack, if that's up your alley. bottles, crystals, sea glass, anything shiny or translucent and colorful. a friend of mine puts theatrical lighting gels in the panes, though it's probably easier to find replacement curtains than theatrical gels, unless you happen to be a cinematographer or lighting designer. if you've got the hardware set up, it might be easy to drape some sheets up there. if your look is very modern, vinyl shower curtains could be really interesting.

all in all, it depends on your style. if you're a minimalist, it might be fine to just leave them as is.

I love AT. I really do. But I'm becoming less and less thrilled with the attitudes people are displaying in comments. THere's a real snarkout contest happening, it seems, and I'm really unsettle by that. Why can't we all try to treat each other respectfully?

If someone's house is not to your style, even if it's in a contest entry or a flickr link - you can try to be nice, without blowing smoke up their ass: try "I can see what you're trying to do, but it's not working, maybe if you brought the colors closer together on the color wheel?" as opposed to things like "Yuck, this sucks. Nice couch too, you obviously haven't been anywhere other than Ikea."

I know I'm just one person,a nd my presence or lack of won't be noticed, but really, isn't there enough negativity in the world already?

I know kids month is over-but I ordered this great looking crosby bunkbed directly from Ducduc in the beginning of june and they're not returning my calls...It was supposed to be ready in August. I'm moving next month and my kids won't fit in our new apartment without a bunk bed. Anyone have any suggestions?

AT is hitting 300 Open Threads just as the US is hitting 300 million people. Coincidence, or metaphysics?

(I hope nobody else pointed this out already and I missed it...)

fabric. where do you go (besides reprodepot)? what do you do with it?

For starters,

http://www.tonicliving.com/

http://www.contemporarycloth.com/

http://www.melinamade.com/

http://www.equilter.com/

http://store.txtlart.com/

http://www.kiitosmarimekko.com/

I'm still figuring out what to actually DO with it. There's only so many curtains or cushions or wrap skirts any human being needs.

ah trilobyte, you feel my pain. i have finally found the fabric for me, it's too heavy for curtains, and after i make a few pillowcases, what do i do with it?

not a marimekko fan myself, too faux-naif and pop. i like grown up civilization.

Does anyone have suggestions for a beautiful brown paint-- warm, cozy-- for a hallway? Benjamin Moore is great. Would love recommendations from any real-life apartments!

Does anyone in the listening area know anyone who does tag sales? I have a friend selling all his furniture, he lives in Staten Island.

Thanks again,
Susan

brown paint: lake shore trail by benjamin moore. Just painted my bedroom with it, it is warm and cozy, very deep and rich though. If your hallway is dimly lit and/or windowless you might want to be careful. If I ever get myself together I will post pictures of the finished bedroom

Thanks, Danae! Would love to see your bedroom, if you have a chance to post pics.
The hallway is fairly small, but well-lit and connects several bright rooms, so I think I could get away with a richer color.

Any other brown paint suggestions welcome! Thanks!

I just got a new Banana Republic card in the mail to replace the old all black one. This one is a medium sunny orange (lighter than the AT book cover orange), very pretty. I have not been feeling BR or the Gap clothing for some time now, but perhaps this is a good sign for better design coming soon.

Anyway, my color inspiration for the day - sunny orange!

For a suggestion on things to do with fabric - I bought very plain lamps (Meridien from Y-Lighting http://ylighting.com/ltu-rs-42.html) and have bought Japanese yuzen paper, which put on the lampshade for a change of pace (double-sided tape and ribbon). I'm not a craft person, but its so easy even I can do it, and do so often. Try that with light-weight funky fabric perhaps.

I asked this a little while back and got no reply, but I'll give it one more try. Where in Manhattan can a person buy that Peel Away non-fumy paint stripper? Thanks!

Jenn--
My fave brown by FAR: Pratt & Lambert's Loam... #2015.

A chocolatey dark brown with plum, cola and chocolate pudding undertones (as the sommelier might describe it!!).

Click my name to see it on my entry wall (although that first pic makes it look a little "milk chocolate" and it is definitley a darker brown in real life).

ooh.. thanks patrick! i was actually looking at a swatch of 'loam' and wondering how it worked in real life. the nearby rooms are painted in pratt & lambert 'dried moss' & 'blue passe', so i think it could be a nice marriage!

thanks!

jenn--
Glad to help. Be prepared, though... the first coat (if not using a tinted primer) will look pretty dismal. So might the second coat! Hang in... the end result is really worth it!!

i have to say, tinted primer is really worth it. really.

though even after that, your first coat of paint will look awful to the point that you'll wonder whether you got a bum can or made a terrible mistake.

on the bunkbeds- did you pay by credit card?
if so, complain to them, and just go get something from ikea

on the fabric- our place is drafty, so I use it to make draft dodgers (like long neckrolls) for both the bottoms of doors and windows. plus I'm busy upholstering a $12 used headboard.
also- you can stretch it out over frames and hang it as decoration

don't forget table linens:
(but only if the fabric is machine washable)
table runners, placemats, napkins, table cloths...)

you can also make purses/bags out of it.

i love to sew- can you tell?