apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

IKEA has now started charging for bags when you check out so my tip is to take bags with you.

The amazing blue Ikea bags are sold for $0.59. Get one and use for laundry, groceries ... and more Ikea trips!

Pouring hot water (probably boiling works too, but I was impatient) works miracles on removing candle wax off glass candle holders. Shined up all of my candle holders in 5 minutes with an old towel.

A cotton cloth and a dry iron will remove watermarks from wood surfaces. NO STEAM! Saved me a fortune in refinishing a 100 year old table.

Dollhouse, can you elaborate? I'm intrigued.

2 tips
- if you are in the Austin area and looking for a modern storage/studio to be built, these guys rock.
http://www.lonestarcabins.com/index.html

- also, i got the new ikea bed frame Mandal with under bed storage. it took a while to put together but it's very sturdy, if anyone is looking for something with storage.

A few fun websites I really like:

For unique & fun home accessories (and free shipping):

http://www.BrightandBold.com

For personalized gifts (and reasonable shipping):

http://www.cafepress.com

If you move furniture off carpet and find one of those large impressions, simply pop an ice cube on it and wait until the next day. The carpet fibres spring right back up.

Moira--
Sorry I was so vague. Tired when I posted and assumed people could read my mind.

For those white watermarks on wood surfaces, place a cotton cloth (I used a fabric napkin) directly over the stain and with a dry iron (NO STEAM!) press down for several seconds on the cloth. Remove and check the stain. Keep doing until the watermarks are completely gone. It could take a minute or two to get the stain out completely.

I did this technique on my husband's great, great grandfather's dining room table and removed some pretty big and deep white watermarks.

I don't know how many of you are aware of instructables, but is is a great website for cool DIY projects.

The link below is just one example of such a project for a cool lamp.

http://www.instructables.com/id/E9TA9AH137ET2JYI75/

Ikea is donating the entire cost of the bags to the Forest Fund (or something similar) so it's all for a good cause (though the signs say that they want you to eliminate plastic bag use, if possible.)

Thanks, dollhouse. I will try this!

Electric plate warmers: http://www.platewarmer.com/products.html I'd never heard of them (I'd always warmed plates in the oven), but my husband's family always used them and now we have two. Love them!

Remove candle wax drips from furniture with a credit card.

Repeat the same for wax on fabric, THEN pour hot boiling water on candle wax drips on a precious tablecloth. Wash and most of the wax will be gone.

Remove ballpen ink mark on clothing by rubbing glycerin with an old toothbrush (can buy glycerin at drugstore)

I'm hoping somebody has a tip for my dilemma.

I would like to make an upside-down tomato grower for my balcony from a 5 gallon plastic bucket.

How can I "dress-up" the bucket to make it look...not like a bucket.

My thought was to spray paint it with that faux rock paint from krylon in hopes it would be somewhat camouflaged. It's a black steel and concrete balcony.

Any tips?

Can you use an attractive receptacle that's not a bucket? Koziol makes a plain trash can in beautiful colors.

I've actually gotten ballpoint pen ink out from a cotton quilt with Shout Wipes. I assume it would work as well on cotton clothing, and perhaps other fabrics too.

Ikea has trash cans for a couple bucks that would probably work better than the bucket. Last I was there, they came in red and translucent; they're kind of a concentric ring design. I've seen someone on ikeahacker.blogspot.com (a GREAT idea site) using them as planters, so...

Here ya go:
http://ikeahacker.blogspot.com/2006/06/going-potty.html


On an unrelated note: when you need to decorate on the cheap without destroying the walls (ie. rental apt.), get creative! My roommate and I are both art directors and wanted to do something original and off-the-wall in the living room of our East Village apt. We started digging through what we had and stumbled on some paint color swatches and tape. Things went from there. A couple of our creations will require repainting, but most of what's up will come right down with little trouble.

Our results are here: http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p157/munckee/random/xmas%20party/IMG_1097.jpg

Oh, and excuse the x-mas decorations in the pic above. That's not the normal arrangement of our living room; we were trying to maximize space for an impending party. And yes, it actually snowed in our living room.

For ink stains, I've always used hairspray. Just coat the affected area in hairspray and wash as usual. The ink doesn't come off on other items in the wash either.

Dollhouse, I am trying that tip tonight. If it works on my busted table, you are my new hero!

Tried to see if dollhouse's neat tip would work with a really deep, black, water stain on my wood floor - the result was not so great. Didn't lift much of the black, and then I left the iron on too long and now have a slight burn mark as well. So my tip for this thread is to be very careful trying to remove watermarks with heat, and to follow the instructions above carefully!