apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

As new parents, our office is now half part nursery and we realize that soon, our computer will not be safe in our son's bedroom. We don't have the room to move the desk into our bedroom or anywhere else in our home. However a cupboard exists in our dining room, where there once was a passageway between two rooms. It was built after the fact and closes with one of the original matching doors (perfect to keep a child at bay). It has built-in shelves and an electrical outlet. Has anyone attempted to retrofit this type of a cupboard into a desk of sorts that could support our a small footprint computer (an iMac)? We'd need a way for a tray to come out so that we could sit without hitting the built-in draws with our legs and that would give us a platform to lay our keyboard. Does an over-the-door pull-down desk exist or a slide out tray? Any crafty ideas or examples would be great! We are also wondering about finishing the inside of the cupboard with a bold patterned wallpaper to set the cupboard apart from the rest of the room when it is open. We'd like to make it feel like its little own separate room.

http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee143/kelly001001/cupboard.jpg

Thanks!

This may not translate well without a photo, but...

My living room has BM Dill Pickle green walls; my other furniture thus far is a chocolate brown microfiber sofa and an orange armchair. There is lots of trim and molding in white, and also white built-in cabinets at one end of the room. I also plan on adding the white lacquer Parsons desk from West Elm and a brown wooden armoire.

My question: I want to buy a round glass top dining table from Room and Board with the Benson base in natural steel (which looks black), and four Jake chairs to go with:

http://www.roomandboard.com/rnb/product.do?method=get&id=846264&coll=377418&cat=42

Is it weird to go with black chairs, when there's no other black in the room? I like the idea of matching the base, and there's a lot of color elsewhere. Or should I go with the white chairs, to go with all the white trim in the room?

Thanks in advance!

Kelly

I retrofitted an armoire as an office and used the computer slides from Lee Valley to attach two pull-outs, one below the other. One was for paper, and the other for the keyboard. Using two allowed them to pull out about 21" from the front of the shelf, leaving plenty of room for knees. The pullouts were attached underneath an existing shelf that was about 33" from the floor, so that the lowest pullout ended up at about 27", a very comfortable keyboard height. The slide hardware allows you to use various widths and depths of slides to suit your situation. Hope this helps.


http://www.leevalley.com/hardware/page.aspx?c=1&p=48619&cat=3,40894

Hostess issues...

How do you handle children that come into your home (not your children) who abuse your furniture/belongings? I've spoken to the parent about it a few times (very politely I might add!) but given that the parent is a teacher - she believes she knows better than me. Most recent incidents include a metal knife rammed into the toaster oven (potential electrocution issue) and a popsicle wrapper wedged into the couch cushions. I should mention, this isn't a 3 year old - this is a 13 year old. There's always 2-3 big disasters that are found after he vacates.

Wow, I Love Upstate - That's not acceptable from a 13 year old! Have you tried talking to him directly? He's too old to be talking to his mother about, seems to me.

Wow, that's a tough one, I Love Upstate. I personally wouldn't allow a 13 year-old who couldn't behave himself into my home, unless he was a very close relative (and if he was, I would feel comfortable sitting him down and reading him the riot act!).

Oooo, I Love Upstate...gosh, that's a tricky situation. I suppose it depends a little on who the child belongs to. Is his parent a family member or close friend?

Need help with a question about tab top curtains: Two weeks ago, my husband and I made a special trip to another city to buy curtains at Ikea. We have very tall windows and the Ikea curtains fit the bill...or so we thought. After hanging them in our livingroom, we don't like the look of the tab tops. I'm thinking of altering the curtains so the tabs are invisible...has anyone tried this?

PrettyKitty, the curtains I just got basically have the tabs sewn down behind the top seam of the curtain where they act as the back of the rod pocket while allowing the curtain to fall more nicely than they would with a solid fabric rod pocket all the way across. Does that make sense? Fold 'em down behind the top seam and see if you can do it!

Upstate,

Just tell the parents the kid isn't welcome back until they apologize and can behave themselves. Period. You've been patient. You've been respectful. But its your house and you don't tolerate that crap.

If the kid happens to be cutting up in your house at the time you plan to issue this declaration - cut him off right there. I was raised to be subject to the rules of the host. If their kids got spanked/punished/etc., so did I.

Address some part of this directly to the kid. They should feel they're being held responsible.

Anne, thanks! That makes perfect sense. Thank goodness the Ikea curtains come with that iron-on fusable tape stuff. I might be able to get away without sewing...*fingers crossed*

Upstate,

I've been trying to google answers to your question and the advice seems to be, in your own home you're in charge. According to a couple of advice columns, you can expect other kids to follow your rules and discipline them when they don't. But (there's always a but, isn't there?) you have to be clear about what those rules are.

What everyone said is exactly what I was thinking (it's my nephew by the way) but I'm being made out to be a witch with a capitol B.

OK, I'm going to stand firm! Thanks all!

Upstate--

For me, the invitations would end. If the parents ask why, tell them honestly.

(ps: emailing you Tuesday!)

I'm with Patrick - if someone can't respect my home then they don't get to come again

Do you find the disasters after they've gone or while its happening?

If you see them doing stuff then a shout of "what the hell do you think you're doing?" so that everyone can hear establishes that you're not happy with what they are doing and lets everyone know they've been naughty

But at 13 years old they really shouldn't be behaving in this way - are there other issues here...

I'm with P(2) and Violet on this one. If the behavior is unacceptable -- for whatever reason -- don't invite them back.

As for telling them why if you're asked, two points of view: one, since you're already a witch with a capital B, why not go for it; two, something evasive about there not being a particular reason to invite them, why do they ask.

Personally, I think you're allowing yourself to be bullied and victimized and I wonder where else this has happened.

Upstate -- Don't forget that being a witch with a capital B can be a very effective way to prevent other people from turning their problems into your problems. That "b" is for "boundaries."

I once babysat two cousins for a weekend as they were my little brother's company. The four year old was constantly picked on by her brother and at one point the boys turned against each other and had the worst physical fight I have ever seen. Meaning the cousin was choking my brother and, while several years older, I was not strong enough to break that hold.

As they left I declared they were not welcome back so long as I lived in my mother's house. My mother (not knowing about the fight) was struck by my adamance. I haven't seen those kids since 1991.