apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I'm reading an amazing book about recent history. Alicia Drake, the writer, calls fashion, "a highly visible state of grace". Almost everything she writes about connects decorative arts to fashion and the wider world.

Four stars, baby:

The Beautiful Fall: Lagerfeld, Saint Laurent, and Glorious Excess in 1970s Paris

Just tried the xmas lights on the old ceiling lamp idea from AT....wooohooo! what a great effect! I encourage anyone to try it (I had never thought about those socket converters before...genius!)

Question: Has anyone used back-painted glass in their bathroom as a shower wall or instead of tile? If so, can you point me towards some technical tips? I'm seeing it referred to in design mags, but can't find any hands on info (about mounting, paint to use, etc.) Thanks for any help....

PS - Should we have an AT party here in Austin??

Painting linoleum, has anyone had SUCCESS with it?

old, discolored with gnarly marks from removed partial partitions linoleum.
home sites will say, don't do it, but a few advise how to.

the most sensible way is to use a primer first, BIN was the brand i think i browsed once + need to find again, for a small entry area.

the other is to try an oil based wall paint, as advised; even w/ just acrylic, which i've used in test patches and tap danced on, it actually doesn't come off unless you scrape it with small pointed objects.
then maybe put a glaze over it.

one Don't, if the floor looks 1970's is do not sand it first--asbestos may be lurking, a hardware employee told me.

in a larger kitchen, the primer + paint costs may add up,
but it will still be well below the costs of MIYO vinyle tiles, which in time will be placed as a square center, like a rug.
(the landlord gave the green light, to just use a neutral shade; he's said twice that work was done on the floors b4 we moved in in '05, but obviously it was merely considered, judging from various unnattractive tile samples found near the fuse boxes.
i'm thankful for the ugly floors tho, one reason we pay below market rent.)

Does anyone out there know whether there is a North American source for the Arne Jacobsen AJ Door Handle? When I google it, I only come up with European retailers, however, I suspect someone without a web site MUST carry it in the U.S. -- Any suggestions of who might have it?

Monika wrote:
> ...a web site MUST carry it in the U.S.

Just oder it from overseas and have it shipped here.

I've just started week three of the cure and I'm planning the colour scheme for my sitting room. It's going to to be a warm room - off-white walls, red sofa, warm wood, touches of warm, pale orange, etc. But before I read about warm versus cool rooms, I really had my heart set on painting my alcove shelves a light French grey.

My question is this: how do you tell if a grey is warm or cool? And if the shelves are going to have lots of differently coloured books on them, does it matter?

Susie...a great test is to let the color dry and then put a wet cloth on it. That lowers the reflectivity and you can tell color better.

Lisa, which idea are you referring to?

Scott - thanks for that tip. I'd never heard of doing that before, so I'll try that with my testers and see if the warm/cool thing becomes any clearer!

Susie,
I don't know what you are calling a 'French Grey'. Typically, 'French Grey' refers to a warm grey - almost taupe in color. The prismacolor markers and pencils called French Grey are a good example of this.

Lisa -- can you elaborate? Sounds intriguing but I'm a bit stumped: "Just tried the xmas lights on the old ceiling lamp idea from AT....wooohooo! what a great effect! I encourage anyone to try it (I had never thought about those socket converters before...genius!)"

I was assuming Lisa meant that sockets and more sockets ceiling lamp that was posted yesterday -- the one with many bulbs protruding from it. But I'm not sure how Christmas lights would work on that, so my assumption may be way off.

Chris:

we are in a hurry to complete the renovation (I can count on the fingers of one hand how much time is left until it MUST be done), and dealing with an overseas supplier would be courting disaster -- if anything were to be defective and need to be returned for example, we'd be sunk.

Hi smallcitybeth -- I had the same assumption about Lisa's post but then couldn't quite suss out how to make it work. Maybe her xmas lights have a socket instead of plugs? Or maybe she used individual socketed xmas light bulbs (do those exist?) and did a color-filled version of the multi-socketed chandelier from yesterday -- ?

Lisa - we await illumination! [so to speak]

Nisha - now you've got me thinking about teal (one of my favourite colours). Not suitable for the shelves, but maybe in a pattern somewhere on a cushion? Hmmm.

Alex - the French Grey I'm thinking of isn't very taupe-y. An example of what was in my mind is in the link from my name. but finding that link has just led me to another colour - 'Green oxide' (in the Georgian Range in that linked site). That says it is suitable for mixing with warme siennas and walnuts, etc. In fact, the more I think of it, it's a gorgeous colour. I'll buy a tester tomorrow!

By the way, thanks for making me feel welcome - I was a bit nervous about posting on the nyc site, but I'm an avid reader of AT and Maxwell doesn't seem to have started a 'rural England' site, yet, so I thought I'd give it a go.

Hi, Susie -- that French Grey is a very pretty shade, but it sounds as though the Green Oxide may be a winner. Happy paint testing!

Maxwell doesn't have a "rural Canada" site either, so I just waltzed in here a few months ago and made myself at home. Wish you'd been around for our online Cure, which has just ended. Have you read the posts and comments on that? They might give you a few ideas. I did Cures on my own, following the book, before the Online Cure started, and I have to say I really appreciated being a part of a Cure community, and getting ideas and encouragement from so many people. There'll likely be another Online Cure in the Spring -- maybe you'll join us then (some of us are planning to be back for the next Cure).

I think Lisa must have been referring to this diy chandelier idea that was posted on AT:SF...

http://sf.apartmenttherapy.com/sf/112206/look/reversible-decor-martinas-chandelier-coverup-014969

Janel....yes! that's the one...I'm sorry I didn't get back here to check before now, but yes, it's a wonderful transformation. I'm in a 1948 little cottage, so it really adds sparkle.

Maybe I should post my back-painted glass question when the full team is back from hols, or everyone is back from the hardware store buying those socket converters! :-)

Lisa

monika,

try calling ironmonger in chicago. they stock many hardware pieces from around the world. website is not too comprehensive, so its best to call.

Susie in England-

Welcome!

To answer your question, a true grey would just be black and white mixed together. A "warm" grey would also have some red added to it. A "cool" grey would have blue added to it. If you put different greys next to each other, you will see the ones with red and the ones with blue.

As for what color to go with: choose what looks good to you!

Monika--

What, exactly, causes a dire renovation deadline?! (No intent of snark... just really curious!)

Susie--
Your comment "heart set on" says to me stick with your heart/gut. Love Maxwell, but that warm/cool rule of his has people all in an unnecessary uproar, imho.

My only comment about warm vs. cool in your case would be that English light tends to be "cool" in general no?), so if you are looking to counter that effect, steer towards a warmer (redder/browner) gray. Also keep in mind that thngs like reflected green tree leaves will also make a borderline color look cooler than it otherwise might. Normal incandescent lightbulbs will have th eopposite effect.

Em -
Thanks for the tip! Will definitely call them.

Patrick -
We are being transfered overseas - to Switzerland. That date is already set. The house needs to be finished so that we can rent or, in a wort-case scenario, sell it. The modern door handles are a key part of the design (all doors and trim are very simple and restrained, and the door handles tie everthing together), and we were hoping that it might be possible to see it through. In all likelihood, we will probably not be able to do it (e.g., I don't want to install them if they are ridiculously expensive), but we did want to check into it at the very least.

On a completely unrelated note, we have to register the birth of our month-old babe today, and so have to come up with a name. Patrick/Patrik is the leading contender...if I may ask, how do you like being a Patrick? (what about nicknames and abbreviations?)

Thanks, everyone. The cool/warm grey crisis is now over. I got a tester pot of the Green Oxide grey and really, really love it. I think it does have blue in it, but I don't care as I think all my multicoloured books will counteract that.

Patrick - yes, English light is cool (when we get any!). I instinctively decided to go with lots of warm reds and woody tones in the furniture and soft furnishings to warm things up a bit and only read the warm/cool section of the book afterwards, which started my uncertainty about colours! I was also thinking of installing halogen lights, but maybe I should rethink that and stick with normal bulbs. That's for a later date, though.

Just called Ironmonger, and they wouldn't quote me the price because I am not a designer -- will we ever get rid of To The Trade Only??!?

And they don't stock the handles -- they order them in from Denmark. I may as well order them from Denmark myself -- it seems that it WOULD be faster and cheaper afterall...

I am so trying that xmas light thing, and I don;t even have a chandelier. Maybe I could find a cheap ugly one ...