apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Anyone have any tips for moving back into a university room from a small 2-bed house? Packing is making me crazy - how did I fit so many things in such a little house?!

tin_angel think zones. For example, the bed, you need sheets, pillows and cases blanket, alarm clock, tv, stereo etc. For the desk, computer, calendar, pens, pencils, etc. Bath - towels, soap, etc. Then figure out how much of each you need. Two towels, four bars of soap, etc. Then go from there as you adjust to the space.

Thank you VickyA!That's really helpful; I think it will be a good way of making sure I remember the things I actually need rather than worrying about my books and pictures and my cat! (He's being temporarily adopted by my grandparents!)

I saw a year-at-a-glance dry erase calendar something like this in someone's house yesterday. It was quite a bit smaller (maybe 2 feet x 3 feet or 3 feet x 4 feet) and just seemed so handy! Anyone know where I can find a smaller home version of the one pictured in the link?

Has someone already covered an ingenious way to hang pendant lighting in a rental where you can't open up the walls to wire the ceiling? I want to put a pendant light or chandelier over a dining room table in a rental. I'm pretty sure I can get the wiring converted so it just plugs into a wall, but I'm not sure the best way to hide the cord. I was thinking about a hook in the ceiling and incorporating the cord into the overall design, but my "client" (bf) may not go for such a bohemian approach.

teaforfifty,
the best alternative I've come up with is securing the cord as neatly as possible to the ceiling and down the wall and then painting to match the wall color. not sure if painting is a possibility in your rental.

Tips from yesterday's Denver Post:



Measuring up

A little design knowledge can be hard on friendships. But when you know that certain proven dimensions make home interiors look and function better, it's hard to keep mum. Just so you don't have to guess, here are some of those magical measurements.

Area rugs beneath dining tables should extend at least 3, even 4 feet on all sides. Leave 12 to 18 inches between the rug and the walls.

Chairs, when pushed against the table, should have a minimum of 3 feet clearance between chair and wall. Four feet is better. Five feet is ideal. When a person sits, he will need to pull the chair out 2 feet; you want another 2 feet for someone to pass behind.

Chandeliers should hang 30 to 32 inches above a table in a room with 8-foot ceilings. Add 2 inches for every foot of ceiling height, but don't exceed 40 inches.

A light fixture needs to be in proportion with the room. To find the size, add the length of two adjoining walls in feet. Divide that number in half to get average wall length. (A 12-foot-by-16-foot room has an average wall length of 14 feet.) Double that number to get the ideal size in inches of the fixture for this room. Here, the ideal fixture would be 28 inches wide.

Art should hang 8 to 10 inches above the furniture it's over, whether a table or headboard. Shorten the distance to 4 to 6 inches for larger pieces. Most people hang art too high, so forget the eye-level rule. Art should work in context with what it's next to.

Kitchen counters should be 36 inches off finished floors. Bathroom counters, particularly in kids' rooms, can be lower.

If someone asks your opinion, give it only if it's positive, or if fixing the problem won't cost money - or friendship.


http://www.denverpost.com/headlines/ci_6574293

teaforfifty - I don't remember where I've seen it (probably on this site some time ago) but someone embraced this exact problem by running the cord up the wall, then twisted it along the wall in an exuberantly loopy pattern -- the cord was transformed from being an eyesore to being a tres cool art installation.

Cord cozies - a piece of fabric of your choice sewed the length of the cord, slipped over the cord and then srugged. Stores actually sell them, I forget the industry name for it.