I've got a question about painting ceilings - what's the rule of thumb with painting your ceiling the same color as your walls? We're considering a blue-gray/ice-blue color for our bedroom walls and my wife seems to think the ceiling should be the same color (we have 3" white crown molding). Our ceilings are 10' high. Thanks...Matt

along those same lines... what is the rule on painting (or not) baseboards?

i want to paint an accent wall (ralph lauren's venetian red) in my otherwise off-white (flat finish; textured walls) new construction condominium. the baseboards throughout the unit are painted a glossy white, which i dislike, but is less noticeable on the off-white walls than on the dark red accent wall.

i am of the opinion that the entire wall, including baseboards, should be painted dark red. my partner strongly disagrees.

suggestions?

I believe this month's Elle Decor has an article about painting ceilings, and the color they should/shouldn't be in relation to the wall color. I read Elle Decor and Domino over the weekend, so I can't remember exactly which magazine it was in, but I am pretty sure it was Elle Decor. I currently have a rental and cannot paint ceilings, so I read the tips but can't remember them off the top of my head. Sorry that's a little vague - but hopefully will get you started.

I personally like baseboards to be showcased, unless theyre the cheapest most generic builder's choice, in which case there's not much to highlight, and paint those things.

Marwen is having its first-ever Art Fair on Friday, October 27th. It will be a great way to get some original artwork at reasonable price. Work is by Marwen students, alumni, artist-teachers, and staff and includes jewelry, prints, painting, sculpture, and photographs.

The event is from 6-10pm. A $20 suggested donation will get you an open bar and food by Spring, Green Zebra, and Custom House--a great deal.

It is going to be a great event! Hope to see Apartment Therapy folks there.

Visit www.marwen.org and click on events for more information.

From the Tribune about the fire in the Dexter building, a Louis Sullivan design:

For the second time in nine months, flames have gutted a historic Chicago structure designed by Louis Sullivan, the celebrated father of modern architecture.

A multiple-alarm fire on Tuesday severely damaged the Wirt Dexter Building on South Wabash Avenue downtown. Earlier this year, which marks the 150th anniversary of Sullivan's birth, Pilgrim Baptist Church, considered one of Sullivan's masterpieces, lost all but a few walls to fire.

Tuesday's blaze, the cause of which has not been determined, sent towering clouds high above Chicago's skyline. Rush-hour traffic was snarled by the five-alarm blaze, which broke out shortly before 3 p.m. Service was suspended on the Loop elevated train, one leg of which runs along Wabash. Hours later, firefighters were still pouring water on the building, which was expected to continue to burn overnight.

The fire also took a toll on downtown's vanishing stock of social landmarks. The Dexter Building once housed George Diamond's Steakhouse, a classic celebrity-watching site in the great age of Chicago nightlife in the 1950s and 1960s. Outliving that era, its trademark red carpeting was threadbare when the restaurant closed a few years ago. Fire officials said the building was not occupied at the time.

The Dexter Building was a less celebrated design of Sullivan and his partner, Dankmar Adler. A six-story commercial structure, it was built in 1887 as a furniture factory and showroom. But the Commission on Chicago Landmarks has called it "an irreplaceable link in the chain of work of one of the nation's most important architectural partnerships."

Preservationists expressed shock, and a bit of anger, at Tuesday's loss.

"Now that Pilgrim Baptist is gone, now that this one is probably gone, we're dealing with rarities now instead of an entire body of work," said David Bahlman, president of Landmarks Illinois, a non-profit advocacy group. "I think it makes what's left of Louis Sullivan even more precious."

Pushing for protection

Michael Moran, vice president of Preservation Chicago, wondered why that thought didn't occur earlier to city officials. Since the Pilgrim Baptist fire on Jan. 6, Moran's group has been pushing the city to extend an extra measure of protection to historic structures. He noted Chicago, celebrated around the world as the birthplace of modern architecture, attracts a considerable number of tourists who come to see that heritage.

"These buildings need a level of monitoring greater than that of the average building," Moran said. "They are at the heart and soul of what makes Chicago special."

The Dexter Building, at 630 S. Wabash Ave., was a loft structure, commissioned by Chicago lawyer Wirt Dexter. It was simple and unadorned, but it prefigured the architectural style Sullivan and Adler took to the more monumental Auditorium Building on nearby Michigan Avenue, now home to Roosevelt University.

The Wabash Avenue structure "shows the tendency toward straightforward simplicity and structural expressiveness," said Tim Samuelson, Chicago cultural historian and a Sullivan expert. It was a critical step on the route to the spare-and-simple form that became the hallmark of the modern skyscraper, a form exported worldwide from Chicago.

"There was what you would call a cleansing that occurred around the 1886-1887 period, with a simplification of design and forms," said Samuelson, who wrote the introduction to the book "Louis Sullivan: Prophet of Modern Architecture."

As it burned Tuesday, buildings adjacent to the Dexter Building were evacuated for fear the structure, its wood innards consumed by flame, might collapse. Columbia College suspended all classes Tuesday evening at its nearby buildings, and it will keep its facilities at 623 and 619 S. Wabash closed on Wednesday, spokeswoman Micki Leventhal said.

Fire Commissioner Raymond Orozco said he ordered firefighters to battle the blaze from the outside because he feared the building might collapse. Two firefighters suffered minor injuries.

Late Tuesday, the CTA announced Green Line and Orange Line service between Roosevelt Road and the Loop will remain suspended until the agency can determine whether the structure that supports the tracks was damaged.

Harrison Street and Balbo Avenue will be closed from Michigan Avenue to Dearborn Street on Wednesday, as will State Street and Wabash from Harrison to Balbo, said Kevin Smith of the city's Office of Emergency Management and Communications.

People with cars parked in the State Street garage across from the fire scene should come before 8:30 Thursday morning to retrieve their cars, Smith said. Those whose cars were towed from the scene can call 311 and a dispatcher will help locate their vehicles, which they can retrieve without charge.

Ward Miller, who runs a photographic archive dedicated to Sullivan's buildings, witnessed the blaze. Miller was deeply saddened to see it burn.

Wait till it cools

"We'll have to wait until the ashes cool to see what will happen to this wonderful building," said Miller, 45.

Opened in 1952, the steakhouse was a regular item in gossip columns for decades. But after Diamond's death in 1982, its fortunes declined. It was closed, then reopened--but this time, to disappointing notices from longtime fans.

Tribune columnist John Kass visited it in 2000, when Lorraine Phillips was operating it, with one waitress for a dining room that sat 600. "They're lucky if they sell one steak a week," he reported. Phillips appears to be the owner of the building, according to Cook County records.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chicago/chi-0610250177oct25,1,4490877.story?coll=chi-newslocalchicago-hed

Hi,
I know this topic has been visited (and re-visited), but I'm trying to organize our CDs!

Are there any large binders that fit 300-or-so CDs, are portable, and aren't plain and boring?

Currently we "store" them, naked, in big stacks and thumb through to find the one we want. Someday we may download everything, but I need a more immediate (but attractive) solution. Thanks...