apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Does anyone have any tips on measuring an entranceway to make sure a sofa will fit through it? I know how to measure to determine if it will fit through one doorway.

At our new place you go through the front door and then about three feet in front of you and maybe a foot to the left is the door to our actual apartment. The sofa we're thinking of would fit through each independent doorway, but I'm not sure how to figure if it will go in at the angle at which it would need to to pass from doorway one to doorway two. Does this even make any sense? Any tips or advice would be great, I would hate to order the sofa and then find out it doesn't fit :(

I would draw a very good floor plan of that area. Then measure carefully.

Or... you could make a cardboard mock up of the couch?

How tall are the doors compared to the length of a sofa? I've helped people move couches and in tight situations, you can usually stand the couch up on one end and get it through that way.

Are there any message boards/websites where I can get more information about renovation in new york city? We are hoping to begin renovating our apartment and I am trying to get feedback on designers/contractors and don't really know where to begin. Thanks!

or if it's too tall for the doorway, but not for the ceiling, you could move it in doorway one at a slight angle (if it's a very short hall way - if not move it reguarly) then set one end down and stand it up - then, move to the opposite side of the couch facing doorway two and flip it back down the way it's supposed to go, through the doorway. make sense?

niconyc
Brownstoner is big on renovation
and there are tons of resources on AT of course
doing a search of the contractors you are considering is a good place to start -- there's years of info tucked into both these sites.

I know people are sick to death of the bedbug discussion, but I have a question . . .
Has solid info surfaced about pets as possible carriers?
Most of my googling finds the miracle dogs trained to sniff out infestations.

The rest of what I've read makes it sound unlikely...
but
my dog visits an apartment that had a mini-scare. Someone's roommate got a craigslist mattress (new in town? SHEESH!), found a bug, and tossed the mattress. No other signs in the freshly renovated apartment, and the mattress was not in a room my dog has been in. But still, it freaks me out a little.

Thanks for the tips everyone, I don't have the measurements of the doorways with me but I know they're both probably around 6.5 feet high. The sofa is a bit longer than that. When I look at the doorways in person I feel pretty sure that the sofa will fit, but when I'm not right in front of them I get pretty nervous about the issue and so far I haven't found a salesperson who can figure out how to measure for it either.

Maybe we could do a cardboard mockup of it, Kah, at first I thought that was a bit much but now I'm thinking it might not be a bad idea to make a rough one and just see how much trouble it is to squeeze it through. It might at least give me a better idea of how the whole thing will work. Hmm..

If anyone has other ideas I'm open to it, otherwise I'll keep you posted!

Measure the width of the door and either the width or the depth of the couch (whichever is narrower), as an obvious starting point to make sure the couch can slide through the door.

Then measure the distance from the floor at the wall of the entryway to top of the door (basically the hypotenuse of the triangle formed by the height of the door and length of the entryway).

Next measure the length of the couch, but on a diagonal (eg, from the bottom left of the couch to the top right). This measurement should be less than the previous triangular measurement, and will let you know if you'll be able to stand the couch on end as you are pulling it through the door.

Then--provided you can slide the couch, on end, over to in front of your apartment door--just be sure to measure the width of your apartment door to make sure you can slide the couch through it as well.

Painting question: I'm in the middle of painting a very simple bed (Ikea Mandal) using a Benjamin Moore dark gray oil with a satin finish. I've been using a small mohair roller and have done several coats, however, before sanding there are always tiny bubbles and flaws. Normally I've used flat or eggshell paint to paint furniture, so lightly sanding imperfections out of the final coat was no big deal. But with satin, will I ruin the finish if I sand? Is there a way to avoid bubbles or brush marks? Any thoughts on how I should paint/treat the final coat?
Thanks!

Perhaps I am seeing things...but I just saw a circuit city ad slide clear across my screen, starting from the far left margin. I guess the promise of keeping the left hand margin free of ads is now a thing of the past.

I do accept that ads on AT are not going to go away, and I can live with that (and am happy that Maxwell et al are experiencing success). However, I find all of the moving and flashing ads eye sores, not to mention tacky. So sad that a site that was so beautiful to visit is now becoming cluttered with such unappealing visuals.

Lori 2, you might want to use AdBlock.
It has changed my webviewing for the better. You can switch it on and off in the toolbar.

hi. painting question. can people share with me their favorite tint of white paint? i'm painting my boyfriend's apartment (yay, it's beyond grubby), and am looking for something that's warm but with no gray in it that would work well with the red brick he's got throughout the place. i'm snowblind from staring at white swatches. thanks for any thoughts!

city loft by sherman williams...i think it's sherman williams

well my mom's whole interior is painted with city loft and it doesn't look like this http://sherlink.sherwin.com/swapp/color_visualizer/index.jsp?colorNo=7631
it looks more grey and more white when it has white trim. so probably not what you're looking for.

oh ha you said no gray. sorry.

Thanks, guido

ValerieNYC

My favourite white is BM's Cloud White. It is a slightly warm white, but not yellowish. I have it on all the trim in my apartment, and it looks fresh, but not clinical. If you want something a little richer, take a look at Mayonnaise.

ValerieNYC, I have BM White Dove, it has a yellow undertone but isn't obnoxious about it.

thanks, gals!

Valerie--

Did you check the site archives? "Which white" has been a frequent topic, and an actual post not too long ago.