apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Here's one for The Ethicist: I have lovely picture frame plaster moldings in my new place. I had them in my old place too. Lovely! No doubt! But, ugh, I'm sick of 'em. And they make my already too narrow hallways just that much narrower. I'd like to take them down, in the halls anyway.

Assuming I won't die a horrible death for destroying some pre-war details, can anyone tell me how/who does this? Would a person who does skim coating be able to sand them down or what? Thanks

You need to remove the moldings first -- will be a bit sloppy -- and then have a skim-coater fix up the mess. Sanding them woudl be more work than you want to know, and would release more toxic dust that you would ever want to live with!

As pre-war details go, frame moldings are easy and cheap to re-create. But is is even easier to simply leave them be!!!

Considering the little ridge that paint makes at the edges of molding over the years, once you remove the moldings, there is no WAY they won't need to be sanded before skim coating. If you're afraid of plaster dust, forget it.

Personally, I think that those frame moldings are such an inherently important part of the interior architecture, I wouldn't dream of removing them, even though I agree that they really limit where you can put furniture. I managed to make it work, though, in my old apartment, and it was only 284 square feet!

As far as who is good at skim coating, usually which ever handyman in your building usually does it whenever there are leaks (surely there are regular leaks in any building that old, right?) will probably do it for you on the side for cash.

By the way, don't bet that they're plaster; those moldings are probably wood. I think that plaster moldings tend to be on ceilings in old brownstones, etc.

Someone in my old building decided that he hated how old and covered with paint his were, so he had them all taken down, skim-coated and had new ones put back in exactly all those same places.

Before taking the moldings down for space reasons, you might want to measure whether they're substantially deeper than your baseboards plus the stick-out-ness of any electrical plugs. I'm betting that your furniture has to go that far from the wall anyway.

That might not stop you from hating them, though.

Does anyone here have RCN as their cable provider? I just noticed that they're taking away the USA channel. They're already removed the Sundance channel and IFC. I keep seeing more and more home shopping channels or blank channels in their place. I'm pissed.

Random question: would anyone go on Trading Spaces, and if so, why?
I just found out recently that a childhood friend will be on TS in January. I am baffled. I occasionally watch TS for its train-wreck appeal -- Things I Would Never Do To My House, basically.
Thoughts?

me-
I think that for people who like a little bit of excitement in general, and who don't know how to create it in their own decor, it sounds like a wonderful idea.

If you already know how to work a look to your own satisfaction, you wouldn't dare.

Re the moldings: If its a pre-war building, I'd be more concerned about lead paint flaking down upon me as they are removed. And as for skim-coating, well, you need tons more done to the wall before that's even a though once you rip them off.

Curtis is right about the ridge that will be left, so you'll need to get rid of that, sand some more, then skim coat and paint. Maybe you could just do something to counter act the narrowing sensation. I'd be curious as to the solution you come up with.

I'd love to go on TS. I have this hideous bathroom wall tile that would be worth any embarrassment on TV to get rid of. They' pay for the reno although the crew couldn't fit in the bathroom. Did I say hideous? Well, its worse than that.

The only way to get rid of it is completely demolish the bathroom. While I know what to do, and how to decorate, I simply can't afford a bathroom demolition. Besides, it would be a great laugh.

The scary thing about going on TS is that you can't choose the designer which means you could end up with Doug or god forbid, Frank! Yikes!!!

The problem with Frank is that so much of his stuff looks West Texan and it's almost always (that phrase again) Shabby Chic, and the problem with Doug is that he's just mean and although his stuff is often elegant, he doesn't care what people want.

Does anyone think the TS designers are themselves on camera? Do we think there is entertainment value added?

Would I go on TS? Not after seeing the episode several years ago where they stapled several thousand fake flowers all over some poor woman's bathroom walls and ceiling. There seems to be a problem distinguishing between what might be a clever idea for a window display at Bergdorf's versus what might be a good idea for a room where real people live. It would be amusing if it weren't some actual person's home.

Go on TS? Never in a million years. I don't need 15 minutes of fame.

won't taking down the moldings affect possible resale value?

Go on TS? Not in a million years. I was deeply traumatized by the episode that involved sticking corrugated cardboard to walls with Liquid Nails. It looked horrible and could not be reversed without replacing the sheetrock. Those people irresponsibly paint sofas and pianos, too.

TS is something I watch in order to yell at the television.

I'm with you, Wende. I stopped watching TS ages ago because it just stressed me out to see all of that horrible stuff that would require homeowners too much work or money to undo. I recall an episode where Dough turned a bedroom into a train car and that just pushed me over the edge. And, yes, Diane. So many of the ideas seem more suited to a retail window display.

I shudder to think of someone I know going on TS. I watch it for entertainment value only. Remember the wall of feathers? Seriously, I KNOW these designers wouldn't want to live in some of the spaces they create, so why in the heck would they make other people live there?

Wall of feathers was Hildi. She's Doug's equally evil twin. I don't hate much of what she does, but they both can be pretty irresponsible when it comes to giving a rat's rosette what home-owners think. They decide ahead of time everything that's gonna happen, and if you don't like it, too bad.

I wouldn't want anyone in my family to go on TS. It's the sort of design intervention you wish on people when you're stuck in an airplane with a screaming baby.

I'd only go on Trading Spaces if they agreed to do my front room which is completely bare save for some Ikea storage wardrobes. I figure anything they'd so would be better than having a virtually empty room, although removing thousands of stapled flowers/feathers or other such nonsense would be terrible.

Mary- as for only wishing the horrible designs of TS on people who you're stuck in an airplane with that have a screaming baby I would have absolutely agreed with you a few months ago. I always wondered why they didn't just shut the baby up! Now that I have a baby, and he's a screamer, I can honestly say at times there is no stopping him screaming.

Reef
Reef

Somebody mentioned bathrooms, but I've never seen a bathroom re-do on Trading Spaces. Ever. Kitchens? Yes. Bathrooms, no.

HEY! FInally saw the TiVo'd Martha where Curtis makes his big debut! Curtis, you were great, and got a LOT of story into a very small window... good for you!

She seemed genuinely interested and sincere about how you turned your eBay paint-by-numbers find into the mural, too!

CONGRATS!! (on the debut, but also on getting into the show, being picked from so many stories, AND for the nice giveaways!!)

Reef--

No worries about crying infants on planes. And anybody who gets all worked up about it really needs to chill. Sure, it's not optimal, but that's just the way of the world. And we were all babies once. It's no more pleasant for the parents, I imagine...

Now crying/bratty toddlers and up... THAT'S an entirely different story!!! ;)

And rudeness/obnoxious behavior by adults has ruined more flights for me than any little baby ever did...

I second P[too] on this one... I've seen some really bratty and rude behavior from so-called adults, and I've been on planes where I didn't even notice the kids until we all got off.

There's that one infamous bathroom redo on TS that involved the plastic flowers stapled to the walls, spray painting the bathroom cabinets gold and then cutting holes in said cabinet's doors so that they could have red acrylic panes put in, with those tap-on tap-off lights behind them for "drama".

I like Hildi for her crazy, but I can't imagine hiring her to do a room in an actual house.

in re: crying babies
women and men react in completely different physiological ways to the sound of a crying infant based on evolutionary processes
women tend to actually become mentally anguished at the sound of a crying baby, whether they love or (like me) really do not like children one iota
i was on a train with the boyfriend and a screaming child, and i just wanted to die, it was like fingernails on a chalkboard to me, but to him, it was nothing

Bratty toddlers drive me insane no matter where they are but my maternal instincts kick in big time when I hear a baby cry. I don't mind sitting next to a mother and baby on a plane. As a matter of fact, they should make an announcement at the gate that the seat next to mine is reserved for just such a duo.

Hmm, maybe I lack maternal instincts. I love kids, but can tune one out no problem (if I know someone is tending to them, of course). Screaming for hours? I am oblivious, but husband gets anguished.

Fiona, I'm envious of your calm. On a 10-hour international flight, I was seated one row behind the bulkhead -- which means the row in front of me was the one where the clever airline fastens the baby baskets. Think seven babies! Think six sets of parents who spent the entire time bragging about how their babies yelled and did not ONCE think that giving a breast, bottle, or pacifier might pop the little darlings' ears. By the end of the flight, I was ready to elope with the daddy who limited his baby's shrieks to take-off, landing, and intermittent baby emergencies that no infant would bear stoically.