apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I wonder if AT might consider doing away with the flashing adds to the left? Makes it so hard to stay at the top of the website - as soon as I can I try to scroll down to get away from them. It's a huge strain and stressor, for a big computer reader, to have things like that flashing in one's vision. Surely it doesn't conform to AT's own philosophy to have them?

(Has anyone ever mentioned this before?)

Margaret Russell mentioned Apartment Therapy as one of her favorite blogs in her letter from the editor in this month's issue of Elle Decor.

i have a color question. i'd like to paint my walls a very faint blue, something like the link:

http://www.colorcharts.org/ccorg/resources/colors.aspx?companyid=124338&lineid=814

one of my walls is brick. the standard, deep red, brownish bricks, and its really nice. my question is - will the blue clash with the brick? are there rules about that? should i just do one accent wall thats opposite the brick? i remember reading that warm colors go best with brick.

help!

okay i just clicked on the link and its the wrong color. what i'm talking about is something like Sweet Bluette from the Classic Colors collection, Benjamin Moore. sorry.

greetings all,

my apartment has a small balcony, ok - it's a glorified
perch - 2ft x 8ft. i've been hunting for a small umbrella that i could clamp on it's metal railing. i know ikea carries one but i'm unable to trek out there...

any ideas?

darla -

I think you could probably get a white canvas painters dropcloth big enough for that and actually sew a hem in each end of it and put plumbing pipes or something in them and then run them down each corner of the balcony, and then you have your own whole canopy, instead of an umbrella. Might be cheaper, too.

Can anyone recommend a good source for medicine cabinets? Specifically I would love to be able to just replace the door if I could but I'd be willing to stick in a new cabinet if that's what it takes. I'm picturing a nice plain mirror with a narrow frame of dark wood if possible, or a nice plain frameless mirror if that's all I can get. Right now I have horrible ornate dust-collecting frames that should not be in a bathroom. Thanks!

There was a thread a few weeks ago about square metal planters from CB2 that had sold out . . . just as an FYI, Big Lots have similar ones for $9.

FLOR recall. More information over here...

http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml07/07545.html

Darla -Oprah is doing a show on updating balconies. It won't get you your clamp on umbrella, but it may give you some ideas on decorating the space. I think it airs Thursday (5/17).

As for flashing ads to the right - I grab the corner of the site and I move my screen as far to the right as I can, even though that means not using it's full wide width. They are annoying.

I think I'm going to do the Yestermorrow intro course "carpentry for women" in August. If anyone else here is thinking about doing it too, drop me an email at iloveupstate (gmail) dot.com

Okay, random question that probably no one can really answer, but here goes...

I want to cover the top of a sideboard with copper. I know there was a thread on here about covering a tabletop, and it was really helpful...but does anyone know if a thinner gauge than 23 gauge copper would work? The poster mentioned that bending it was difficult, and this sideboard wouldn't be used that much, but I would want it to hold up to some use.

What suggestions do you guys have for a headboard when the only place for the bed is in front of a huge window. And I'm not exaggerating. The room is 100" by 78" and we have a queen size bed. There is NO place else to put that puppy. The problem is, the base of the window is 21 inches from the ground. Our double pillowtop mattress and boxspring, plus a run-of-the-mill frame? more like 28 inches off the ground. Add a headboard to that and we're pretty much unable to open the window.

But to add insult to injury, the window is recessed so there's a gap between the bed and the window, rendering sitting up impossible.

I've almost come to terms with this being the way it has to be, but if y'all have any thoughts, let me know.

love your screen name. I feel that way myself sometimes.

my first thought is to ask why is that the only place for the bed. I assume one of the other walls has a door, but what of the other two walls.

My second thought is to not to use the "run-of-the-mill" frame. Just put the box spring on the floor, which would lower the top of the bed considerably. Not sure though that even that would allow you to open the window, but that depends on the window.

Third thought is downside one bed size (a very New York solution).

Thanks Jonathan.
It's the only place to put the bed because the bed is 60 by 80 and and the room is less than 80" wide, so there's no turning it in some other direction. The wall opposite the mirror has a closet, so we're SOL where that's concerned.

As for downsizing, I think we love our bed way too much for that be we probably will nix the frame.

CN - what about a non-solid headboard like the HEIMDAL from ikea? If you ditch the boxspring, it looks like the mattress may be about 21" high (this bed's footboard is 18" high), plus you can reach through the bars to open the window.

Darla, several other vendors who sell through amazon.com offer clamp-on umbrellas. Search there for "clamp umbrella" to see all of them.

You might also find one in a baby department, because they are sometimes used as attachments to strollers.