apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

There was a bit of DC discussion on the last thread and I posted the following there in the waning minutes before this thread opened, so I'll repost it here too, for all the DC-ites:

New store on U St, just east of 16th: RCKNDY (pronounced "rock candy") http://www.rckndy.com/

Also, since there's basically nothing on the site but hours and address, if you google the name, you'll get some hits on reviews of the store.

Just to be sure that whoever was looking for an upholsterer in the Washington area sees this, since it was also at the very end of a long discussion -- copied from my earlier post:

For upholstery -- I just used Spicer's in Alexandria, on a friend's recommendation, and they were terrific -- efficient, professional, fast. Their prices are comparable with other good upholsterers (not cheap but also not way out of line).
http://www.checkbook.org/sitemap/Washington_DC/Ratings_And_Articles/Upholsterers/detail.cfm?uKey=7510320

Pixie--re: one of your later posts on yesterday's thread--I always wondered if you were the same Pixie as the store! :)

Does anyone have any recommendations for good thrift/vintage/antique shops in Hudson Valley? Between Rhinebeck and NYC? I’m looking for stores that would have a good selection of mid-century things, but I'm also interested in places a la Olde Good Things. Not interested in really fancy shops, or precious antiques. I can make repairs and fix finishes so rough and ready places are good, too. Thanks in advance.

Desk, "Spruce", High Falls, Ulster County, New York. Great (I mean great) stuff. Prices were reasonable as well.

I think the name of a great store is "Ironfish" in Beacon, NY (north end of Main St.)--my wife and I got some nice things there a couple of years back and have since moved. I hope it's still in business...

Re. RCKNDY- It's very promising. One of the reviews included this sentence: "This bright, contempo store and its punchy merch could convince a Georgetown colonial fan to ditch the toile and move to a Logan loft." Precisely what we need, especially since I do think more local examples of modern aesthetics will increase the demand! (Sorry to inflict a fantastically bad sentence using both "contempo" and "merch" on AT readers, though).

Deborah -- thanks for the DC upholsterer recommendation!

Desk -- I can't vouch for whether they're any good or not, but there are a bunch of antique shops along Rt. 9 in Hyde Park, between Poughkeepsie and Rhinebeck.

God, I miss NY.

d in dc: hope I'm not giving Pixie of Miss Pixie's a bad name!

A few days ago, someone was looking for info on the artwork in the Grey's Anatomy hospital - I just learned that some of the hospital interiors are shot in VA Sepulveda Ambulatory Care Center in North Hills, California. Maybe that can help you track down the artwork.

so, i have half of my basement apartment in that hideous 70's wood panel wall stuff ( the faux version mind you) and my landlord painted over it before i moved in.

any ideas as to what to do to it? Im not a fan of wallpaper * even though i am ordering some from my job only for the wall in front of the closet*

im at a lost..if i had time and $$ i would remove it and put up dry wall. but i am on a budget.

so help help, save me from painted wood panel hell.

Hey all, I have been told that you can convert pendant lamps with in-line on/off switches into hard-wired, has anyone every tried? I found this:

http://www.cb2.com/family.aspx?c=120&f=3787&viewall=1

and it would be perfect for replacing my NASTY (see my flickr set, it is seriously gross) dining room fixture if I could figure out how to hard-wire it. Other than that this is exactly what I have been looking for, especially the price! Anybody have any experience with this type of thing? Thanks!

The Pixie of Miss Pixie's is very easy going. I bought an orange armoire from her recently - yes, orange! - and she and her white-collar assistant as she likes to call him - delivered to my door and helped me figure out the best place to put it. It's a great addition to my apartment, especially in terms of storage and height.

bellaknollie: put a large bookcase in front of it -- hang curtains in front of it -- cover it with an array of small shelves holding a favorite collection of whatevers -- wall paper it, but with a photomural --

Pixie: I just read your question about the Gap on the previous thread. I heard about the possibility of Gap going into the space not long after the building went vacant. I heard about the bank from a friend of mine who knows a developer in the city. Not sure if any of the information is valid. It's a great building with stain glass windows at the top of a wide staircase and I'm sure more than one business can fill the space. I don't know why it's taking so long!

bellaknollie - my sister had those in her trailor (i know but in Auburn - everyone knows about Alabama/Auburn football, right? - it really was very normal for kids to live in trailors while going to school down there) and now in her apartment - we've covered them up with the tapestry type things you get from hippy stores (and this also applies to anne in reno's question/suggestion in her flickr set for her living room). i think they are gorgeous and they're like art you can wash! we have the epitome of the bowling alley apartment - except the kitchen splits off to the side and then connects again in the hallway - and we shut off the guest bedroom that connects to the dining room (which connects to the living room) and we coverd up the door by using one of these. if you didn't walk in the apartment looking at the door and were just in the room, you'd never know there was a door there. i love them. i'm going to be getting more to hang up elsewhere.

and also, anne in reno, i have a hideous pendant lamp in my dining room and i bought a big paper lantern pendant from ikea, took the ugly thing off (including the chain) and it looks MUCH better.

You'll find some good junking along the west bank of the Hudson as well, in Saugerties and Catskill. And, if you have the chance, drive up to Andes (Delaware County).

Elizabeth in AL, I have been looking at IKEA options but are they hard-wired? I was so hoping to find a nice pendant with a drum shade instead (the Ikea look is a bit jarring with the style of the rest of the house, inconveniently enough). Can I buy just the Ikea fixture and stick a drum shade onto it possibly? I might have to make the drive again to check them out but it's 2 hours minimum so I was hoping to be able to make something work that I could get online.

my studio is in am L shape..you walk into the living room/ bedroom and then off to the left is the ktichen then bathroom.

i should take a before pic for you guys to see.

Jonathanb- i have...tonsssss of fabric ( the type used on panels in offices) so your idea seems super feasible for me at the moment. and free since i have the material at hand. but will it be too much overkill on fabric?

Elizabeth in al- i made walls once out of fabric...i get bored easily and like to create rooms..so fabric room dividers are all good in my book.


im thinking the wall that is behind my bed putting flor tiles on it....

yea, nea?

I don't know if it really works, but I've seen people on tv dec shows putty the grooves in paneling to flatten the whole thing out.

ikea is a 2 hour minimum for me, too.

i didn't get the light itself - i think it's not hardwired, anyway (there is someone that had a house tour here recently that used it in her dining room, i'll try to find the link) - i just bought the shade, used the existing light, took off the big glass and metal shade thing and the chain and then kind of fastened the shade to the existing wire. does that make sense?

i'm on a budget and i didn't buy this place so i figured if you can't tell that i used a twisty-tie to hold my shade in place, the better off i am for it.

bellaknollie - i think flor tiles are a fantastic idea! some people may not think so, but i think it would be cool!

i'll take a picture of our second bedroom for you to see - i really like it. *but you'll have to excuse the mess - i'm terrible at unpacking - i still have 3 boxes left after 6 months - and no storage*

anne - did you see this?

http://chicago.apartmenttherapy.com/chicago/good-questions/good-questions-affordable-modern-hardwired-pendants-027835

I just did Elizabeth and I am psyched! I am going to get that ugly fixture out of my house!

yay!

does every apartment dweller in nyc have a certain spot in their building that is dedicated, in an unspoken way, to items too valuable to just chuck (or not valuable enough to sell, or just plain 'i wanna get rid of it, do you want it?')...?

i'm just starting to notice that every building i visit has a spot where discarded items of interest tend to converge (whether in the lobby, garbage area, against a certain wall, etc).

in my building it's a random 'dead space' by the steps down to the basement. it was a quik'n'easy way to 'donate' a few odd'n'ends.

i think it's pretty neat. that's all.

We have a space like that in my building here in DC. When I was in NYC last week, I noticed a giveaway spot in the apartment building where I was staying.

Elizabeth in AL - the puppies are gorgeous!Thanx for the link!They're so cute!

i know i love them! thanks!

kdkaboom - there are those spaces here in Toronto as well, and we have an understanding that if you leave something useful on the sidewalk outside your building/house on a non-garbage pickup day, it is up for grabs! i have been fascinated and impressed with the amount of reusing that happens in this city, and most big cities. it would be impossible to do it like this in the burbs.

yesss, it is impressive reusing...and guilt-free stuff-chuckin'! :)

i'm happy to hear that from dc to toronto it's happening!

(random: i lived in boulder, colorado, and when the semester ended at the local university, the DUMPSTERS behind the dorms would be FULL of brand new stuff - bikes, stereos, you name it.)

how much fabric is enough is sort of a personal taste question. I'd pull the fabric flat so it's a wall treatment, but using the fabric as curtains or floating panels -- perhaps overlapping -- might work as well.

If I did pull the fabric flat against the wall, I might frame the pieces in molding strips.... or just floor to ceiling from crown to baseboard.

just a thought....

oh wow - i bet that works in any college towns - thanks kdkaboom!

in case anyone missed a lot of cuteness (it did start out as somewhat of a design/home question...i promise)

MY NEW PUPPIES!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/71238833@N00/

jonathanb-

i will see how a few panels look up.

I got the fabric when i went to our plant in east greenville, they were cut wrong for office panels ( and by wrong i mean they were 1 cm off) so i took them all...i have sooomuch fabric in my house i could open a small shop ..hahahhah

i think flat against the wall might work better than bunched up ..dont want it to look to theater like.

i like the alternatives to this issue.

i did think about filling in the little grooves..but i dont have patience..

Ahem, I am not sure it requires "patience." It requires a puddy knife, some spackle and a piece of sand paper. Geez.

Kurt, who are you to judge? Do you know how big her apt. is and how much puttying and sanding she would have to do? Maybe you should chill out. Nothing personal but that sounds very presumptuous to me.

Sounds like a lot of patience to me too. Geez.

I like to keep my fruit in a bowl on the table. Problem is fruit flies. They seem to arrive with the addition of a peach or nectarine. I don't see them with bananas or apples and I allergic to citrus. Any body have any suggestions to dealing with them other than putting the fruit in the refridgerator? Thanks!

And it's a "putty" knife.

@VickyA:

If you could put a small bowl -- custard-size would do it -- with water and a bit of dish detergent next to the fruit bowl, it will do the trick.

The flies go for the dish detergent apparently.

Ok, might have to add this to tomorrow's open thread but now that I have the fixture/wiring thing (well, have ordered it), can anyone recommend a good source for a nice plain drum-style shade in the style of my inconvenient favorite?

http://www.cb2.com/family.aspx?c=120&f=3787&viewall=1

Any help, yet again, would be awesome. Thanks!

oh. I thought Kurt was channeling tweetiebird, who thought it saw a puddycat.

elizabeth in AL-

Your puppies are adorable!!!!

kurt....if i sat /stood there with a putty knife and spakle filling up all the ridges from the wood paneling...i might go a bit insane...since 90% of the apartment is cover in it.

if it were one wall..maybe but my whole place. um no.... i do not have the patience..i would get bored and tired and aggrivated..it would be more time efficient if i either made something to cover it or stuck something to it ( ie flor tiles, etc) ...

I saw flor tiles used in a home office on the wall as a pin board. It was 4 different colors of green tiles and looked great.

What/how big is a custard bowl?I have the same fly problem and I want to try the detergent thing!

Anne in Reno - try ww.alluminaire.com
They will make pendant drum fixtures to your specifications & pricing is reasonable.

A custard dish/bowl is just a small bowl. Would hold about 6 to 8 oz. One of those put-your-spices-in-here-so-you-look-like-cooks-on-TV bowls would probably work too.

Bellaknollie -- Would the paneling be less offensive in a better paint color?

If you use a thick-nap roller, the paint goes in the lines without fuss. Often rooms with little light get white paint when they really need a paint with a sunny tone.

right now they are a boring beige color..painting them might not be so bad. but i doubt the grooves will get filled.

damm my landlord and his cheapness. all of this could have been solved had he just taken it down and put drywall.

im definatly going to the the flor tiles on the wall behind the bed. im digging that idea.

the rest..well..i have to really see..painting it might not be so bad after all..hmmm

good thing yolo paint isnt that expensive.

For fruit flies, you can also try using a wine bottle with just a little tiny bit of wine left in the bottom. The flies are attracted to wine (and anything else with vinegar), so they go into the bottle and then usually will drown in the wine after not being able to escape. You can also try an empty bottle of any size with a little vinegar in the bottom, cover the lid with saran wrap, and poke several holes in the wrap covering.

robyn, thanks, I have checked out alluminaire.com in the past and they are gorgeous but not in my price range (unless they have a sale section or something I didn't find).