apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Oh, I hope someone can help me.

Not so long ago, there was a house tour (or something) posted. The kitchen was green and had a sofa in it I believe. There were some unique touches like a colander pendant lamp and drawer pulls made of spoons. Does anyone remember that?

Swan--
Was it this?
http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/ny/small-cool-2007-entries/22-42andersons-love-eat-party-021647

P(too) -
I love that one but unfortunately, that's not the one of which I'm thinking.

There were some photos of the garden included also - maybe a toy truck collection or something along the roof of an outbuilding. It totally sounds like I'm making this up...

Thanks for taking the time to look. This is really driving me crazy.

This is not exactly a design question -- more of a need to tap into the AT community's collective experiences with old buildings for some help! I am in the process of doing some much needed cleaning and maintenance on my grandfather's home -- preparing it for him to return from a long hospital/rehab stay. We only have this weekend to get everything done and no time for research -- so I figured I might get some one-stop down & dirty question answering here. Here goes:

1) Anyone know how to get old caulk off of melamine shower walls -- I tried Goo Gone and scrubbing, but there's lots of residue and I am afraid to scrape it for fear the finish will come off with the caulk.

2) Can I paint spline ceiling tiles? If so, what kind of paint is recommended.

3) I want to paint the metal baseboard heaters with high-heat spray paint. Has anyone done this -- The heaters are the kind that you can look in and see the heat part -- do I need to stuff something in there so the paint doesn't get in?

Thanks in advance -- I know this is probably the most non-glamouous set of questions ever asked on AT!

i asked this in an older open thread...but i'm hoping for some more ideas or recommendations?

does anyone know where i can find cool modern plant stands? i love the TALL bullet planter, here:

http://www.hiphaven.com/Pages/A_Retro_Bullet_Planter.html

however, that price is whack!

in my head i envision a "tripod" legged metal stand, but all i find online are fugly and chunky and usually wrought iron or some icky design.

the response i got was for a cool planter that cb2 no longer carries... it was perfect, too. and probably priced right :(

i spotted my second roach in the past week and am freaking out.

does anyone have any suggestions for an effective roach trap or brand? there are so many options whenever i go to the hardware store that i just get really confused.

kdkaboom, old ones show up on ebay. Not as shiny new as the hiphaven ones, of course, but this one is $10

http://cgi.ebay.com/EAMES-ATOMIC-BULLET-EGG-PLANTER-TRI-POD-STAND-NO-RES_W0QQitemZ180144188120QQihZ008QQcategoryZ86916QQcmdZViewItem

I found it! Yay!

robyn, thanks! that $10 one has $70 shipping, though, ahah. The other two ebay has are pretty pricey, too.

I'm not only interestred in the eames one, but definitely interested in things LIKE it...or, rather, a place to find modern planter/plant stands.

My fave source, jamaligarden, doesn't have any... :(

zzzap,
I lived in south florida in a trailer (i was there for an internship and the housing was free) so keeping out roaches was next to impossible; plus i think the roaches down there were exposed to so sort of radiation because they're mutant sized.

I probably tried every product available to extinguish my unwelcome house guests. I can tell you that no trap, home, motel, supersonic thing that you plug into your outlets does a thing. The best solution seems to set off a couple (depending on how big you home is) booms in your place. Be prepared to come home to a place that reeks of nasty chemicals but it is effective.

One question for you, do you live in an apartment building? If so chances are no matter what you do in your apartment, if the roaches are coming from somewhere else in the building they will eventually find there way back. I would contact the super so they can have a professional exterminator come to the building.

zzzap
I think roaches are a problem that many folks in NYC have. I moved into an old prewar building that wasnt kept up well. Anyway I found the most luck with RAID bait traps. I would get two types. There was one for adult roaches. Also there was one that did something to the roach eggs. The important thing is to put them everywhere ( bathroom, kitchen, bedroom and living room). Also be sure to replace them regularly- mark when you placed in new ones on a calendar.

Also make sure to keep your place clean- dont leave food out and make sure there arent any roaches near your foodstuffs.

And dogs will eat those roach traps, so slide them under things if you have pets.

Also if you live in a building you gotta block what may be coming from other apartments ie cracks, airvents etc. In the prewar apartment I had I discovered that roaches were coming out from the crawlspace behind the bathroom vanity and from the overhead light in the bathroom. Yuck yuck yuck. Anyway I taped up the edges of the vanity and put bait stations everywhere in the bathroom. As long as I kept my place clean and replaced bait- I was good. I would only see roaches when I forgot to get new bait stations.

more roach tips:
we ended up keeping most of our food in the fridge (perishable or not) so that there wasn't much to tempt the roaches
i was informed that roaches will lay eggs between pieces of paper so one important thing to get rid of is paper bags from the grocery store, roaches love them. (this convo is giving me the heebeegeebees)

kdkaboom - sorry, I only glanced at the listing and I hadn't noticed the insane shipping charge !

Also call your landlord so you can get a professional in. By law they need to provide an exterminator if you see roaches or mice. Then you can do all the tips suggested.

no prob, robyn! i still appreciate the help! :)




the roach thing:

we had it bad. the whole building still does, but we don't anymore. we filled every friggin' crack with spray foam. i mean every crack! caulk, spray foam, make these your friends. traps and chemicals don't do much over time......those are smart lil buggers, not only do they adapt, and grow immune, but they learn...ugh. i swear, the roaches in my building are frickin' einsteins.

the only way we get them now is if they come under out front door or find their way up the radiator line (but only in the bedrooms where we haven't renovated yet).

and hey, next time you SEE the roaches, don't run......watch where THEY run to. wherever they run to escape, that's where you need to spray foam a crack. i'm happy to say my apartment is the only one in the building that's been roach FREE for over two years :)

good luck!
katy

ohhh the spray foam is a good idea, they really are able to find any stupid little crack to get in.

Remember that this is the time when the weather disturbs them from their harborages (that's where they congregate when not hunting). It may be nothing more than the increase in humidity/heat that has caused this. I find screen windows in the bath and kitchen nix that.

Otherwise, get down on the floor, put your head on the floor and examine the walls from there. That's how pests see it. You will find gaps you can't see sitting or standing. Examine your wet wall. Get a bottle of good old' Borax and apply it to the baseboards along your wet wall(s). Pour a bit of Lysol cleaner in your toilet when it is unused for long periods. Poisons the water. Wipe down surfaces with bleach. Keep food in the kitchen. Your crumbs are huge meals to them. Also, roaches eat cosmetics and many things we don't. They will walk from your toilet to your food. So use tight seal containers only (i.e. RubberMaid, Tupperware).

This doesn't have to go on forever. Roaches are scavengers, not hunters like ants. They don't work in groups and they will move on to search elsewhere if your place is a bust. If you do see a roach, kill it. Just to be sure.

I gotta second kdkaboom. I also had mice in this same prewar apartment. I filled up every crack with steel wool. Stupid me, I had asked my landlord if I could use spray foam and he said not. So my only option was steel wool which I stuffed in every little crack and a lot of it too. And dont use the steel wool with soap on it. Steel wool didnt stop the mice but definitely helped with the roaches. The only thing that stopped the mice was steel wool and spackle. By the way I got all these tips from being friendly with the local guys at the hardware store. They have many tricks and tips- so be nice and they will hook you up!

I agree with Lady J...the humidity makes bugs do crazy things. I had a horrible bug experience yesterday. I woke up at 4am and my cat was staring at the pillow next to me. I jumped up so fast.......and there it was, a friggin' water bug...a 2-incher! SO GROSS. I was up for the rest of the morning, standing in the living room with a rolled up magazine, hopping from foot to foot, whining like a little girl, watching this giant bug speedy-crawl over everything and fly everywhere (when flying it was the size of a tennis ball!)

It was so horrendous...I have bug issues, totally, especially if they're in my friggin' bed! This one came up through the radiator line in my bedroom, and I'm on the 6th floor. They get ambitious, since in the summer our apartments are as sweltering as the boiler rooms they usually inhabit. I guess their preferred environment expands in the summertime. Needless to say, I am so itchy all over and am keeping my cats close by!! My lil killers.

Actually, one of my cats was SCARED of this bug. It was just so...BIG. ugh. shiver. gross. ugh.

But, it was a freak incident. That's the only bug I've seen in my apartment (aside from the random fly or, shiver, silverfish) in a long long while.

While we are on the topic of bugs. My new place has been pest free except for these centipede things that look like a caterpillar except for tens of long spidery looking legs. One of these dudes comes out everynight at about 8pm. I killed one and then another comes back. I dont have bug spray but when I used to use hair spray that worked well as bugkiller. Any other tricks?

Does anyone live near and visit a JCPenney's that has a furniture dept.? I would love to know the quality of this dresser:

http://www3.jcpenney.com/jcp/ProductsHOM.aspx?DeptID=40525&CatID=40669&CatTyp=DEP&ItemTyp=G&GrpTyp=PRD&ItemID=122fa4a&ProdSeq=20&Cat=dressers&Dep=Furniture&PCat=bedroom&PCatID=40529&RefPage=ProductList&Sale=&ProdCount=26&RecPtr=&ShowMenu=&TTYP=&ShopBy=0&RefPageName=CategoryAll%252Easpx&RefCatID=40529&RefDeptID=40525&Page=3&CmCatId=EXTERNAL|40529|40669

Anyone!?

Has anyone ever checked out this Thomas O'Brien bookshelf at Target? I love it online but am wary of buying it sight unseen after being so disappointed by the in-person quality of a credenza in that collection last year. Thoughts?
http://www.target.com/gp/detail.html/ref=br_1_1/601-9363168-5200163?ie=UTF8&frombrowse=1&asin=B000GT0FPA

Clarkbar look at the link on Parallel Shelving- you will see 2 people speak highly of the OBrien bookshelf. I have seen it in person and it looks pretty good. I would buy it if I had the space.

that Thomas O'Brien bookshelf is decent looking, but like most of the furniture in his Target line, cheap wood composites coated in a weak looking wood stain. as in scuff and scratches show the particle board underneath. the kind of thing that can't take any knocks and pings, like it will get in my home.
The long shelves have pegs on the underside that fit into holes on the racks. the little scuff pads at the bottom of the legs are plastic rather than metal. seen better quality at Ikea. it's not the worst i've ever seen, but these days i'm more interested in buying furniture that's going to have a little more staying power. i've been looking into making one myself with a the tools in our county woodshop.

Anne, I pass by a mall with a JCPenney on my way home from work, but I called their furniture department and they don't carry that line (the salesperson thinks it is web & catalog only) but she did tell me that she has sold quite a few pieces from that line via the store and she hasn't seen them returned ... if that means anything.

It is a nice-looking set and a great price.

i have an appeal to those of you with a better memory than mine! does anybody remember seeing pictures of a house on here (perhaps colors contest? smallest coolest?) where the people had painted their walls light and their ceilings darker? i want to say that it was somebody on the west coast, and the colors were on the bright side...but i can't seem to find it by looking through the the contest entries. am considering painting my (future!) bedroom a light tan color on the walls a dark grayish blueish color on the very tall ceilings (similar to the paint job at rice in dc, if anybody's been there!). i've read all the prior debates about dark ceilings, but am trying to find pictures of homes w/ dark ceilings to help me visualize :)

One other thing to consider, and maybe this doesn't apply in NY (I'm in Fl) but when it rains bugs come up everywhere. We've never had a need to spray our home for bugs, and I have found maybe 2 roaches in the almost two years we have been here. That is until this week. It has been raining non stop, so I have seen 3 inside, and a TON more outside. If it's been raining alot you might want to wait for that to die down.

carolynapplebee, I hear you about not buying disposable furniture. I have been looking for some modular/stackable shelving in solid wood that is not super expensive. My books have been in boxes for a year! I keep almost breaking down and buying crap made out of engineered wood but luckily catch myself. For me right now I need something flexible wood storage that needs to be about $600 total.

In my search I have found some beautiful stuff that is out of my price range. But if you wanna drool on simple styling wood furniture check out these sites:
The Wooden Duck http://tinyurl.com/ywbs5p
Driscoll Collection http://tinyurl.com/yntrly
Kiva from R & B http://tinyurl.com/yo7pnm

Back to roaches -- I had a huge infestation some years ago in an old building in Washington; I think my neighbor had sprayed and they migrated. I let off a bugbomb in every room (way more than recommended doses) and my cat and I moved out for 3 days. (I don't recommend sticking around until the chemicals dissipate) I took everything out of the cupboards and off the walls, vacuumed and swept up all the corpses (hundreds, it was grossissimo), scrubbed the walls, and then put down boric acid in every corner, crack and hole I could find, in the backs of the cupboards and so on. You get the picture. After that, I was really careful with food and cleaning up, and I never saw another roach -- I think the word was out that I was serious. The thing about roaches is that even if you kill them their eggs can hatch, so you may have to zap them more than once to be sure that no eggs develop. And it helps if you can get group action in an apartment building rather than just driving them from one unit to the next.

Tru - I think you have the kind that thrive on decaying plant matter. Is there a lot of gardening nearby? You should do a websearch to identify the breed. There's a kind that stings when startled. That kind also eats bedbugs, but obviously it would not be a good solution to bedbugs.

Lady J, you are right I have a house centipede. My landlord has a garden out back. But at this point they have probably climbed up into the house. Apparently they like a little damp and dead plant matter. I have lived in old houses before and have seen these. I was just suprised cause this is a new construction. House centipedes eat spiders and other insect larvae so they are pretty beneficial. I dont think I'll kill them anymore.

Great source for info on creepy crawlies. Check out the fact sheet on cockroaches http://www.uos.harvard.edu/ehs/pes_american_cockroach.shtml

robyn, what a sweetheart you are to make the inquiry! And yes, that does help me.