apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Please help! My boyfriend and I moved into an apartment. The bathroom isn't big and we don't have a medicine cabinet. The only storage cabinet is underneath the sink. We need more space and we don't want to put the stand that goes over the toilet. Any suggestions....

Thanks so much

Is your landlord cool with a reasonable number of holes in the wall?

If so, my first thought would be to buy a hanging cabinet -- either a real vintage medicine cabinet or one of those endless little cabinets helpfully produced by Target -- and hang it over the toilet or wherever else you have wall space.

If you can't hang things, I'd shop around for an over-the-toilet stand that doesn't scream, "Me so tacky!" They do sporadically appear, like rainbows, only they don't vanish as you approach them.

In today's Chronicle, homeowners sue condo developer for under-representing square footage and not fixing defects:
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/08/21/BAGGCKM68R1.DTL

I'm not sure if this is the development where the realtor-gal asked what we thought, and I replied that it was the worst quality of construction I'd ever seen.

deedie415 -

Floating wall shelves! There are plenty of nice ones around. You can use these for the more attractive items such as towels (even t.p. can be stacked in plain view and look fine). Other things can go into small bins, pretty containers, etc. Leave the under sink space for the truly bulky and unattractive items. Also try stackable shelves under the sink to make the most of that small space.

Picking up Chilanga Mama's comment in the Slink thread about places looking different before they're "staged"... does anyone else ever, when bored, play "let's stage the apartment"?

I've never gotten as far as putting bows around the towels like model homes -- or trays of drinks on the bed. But it's kinda fun, especially since an apt doesn't really allow room for my other pastime, "let's take all the furniture out of the room, clean it, and rearrange it from scratch."

Ha! I don't think I've ever "staged" the apartment, though I've gone through and done a few serious culls to appease the interior designers in my head. ("We don't need THAT, and THAT, and THAT...") My husband kind of dreads it.

Would you say that the aim of staging is to show off the space itself, rather than the furnishings?

Wende, you make me laugh. I'm not sure I've staged per se either, but we have done an MTV Cribs-type tour of the house where we show where we "kick it" and where we "chill."

I am the type who will move something a quarter of an inch and marvel at what a HUGE difference it made in the the overall flow of the the entire house and wonder how we have been living with that obvious error.

V. funny.

Do you remember the NYT story about the actors hired to pretend to be the perfect family living in a model unit?

That one really cracked me up.

BTW: We've decided to stay put in our tiny one-bedroom rental for another couple of years (assuming our upstairs neighbor keeps his promise to stop exercising his first amendment right to yell offensive things aimed at us).

I'm getting rid of some of our bulkier furnishings (arm chairs, overstuffed couch, overstuffed ottoman) to make room for the resident toddler. I'm also getting rid of the rug an ex-beau picked (more his taste than mine).

ANy tips on finding a furniture consignment place for stuff that is most definitely NOT hip, mid-century modern?

I'm also hungry for ideas on kid-friendly but cool-looking rugs, creating a living room to be shared by adults and the kidlet, toy storage/play spaces, etc.

We're probably getting the Room and Board "Eugene" sofa in kid-friendly microsuede Brown(love "Jasper" but loose cushions do not go well with pets or kids), keeping my Paul McCobb chair, and possibly (maybe perhaps) getting this Target coffee table:

http://www.target.com/gp/detail.html/sr=1-1/qid=1156530026/ref=sr_1_1/602-4028607-2482264?%5Fencoding=UTF8&asin=B000A3A0NO

I have never fully staged my house but about every 6 months I have the massive urge to rearange everthing just for a new look and inevitably everything gets cleaned and there's the fresh flowers, candles, etc all over the place afterwards. So much fun, I feel the urge coming on again;)

A little off topic, but I need some help from the AT community!

My friend is fostering the absolute cutest five kittens you've ever seen. They are keeping two, and--wouldn't you know it--their two favorites are not *my* two favorites. Does anyone out there in SF or its surrounds have enough love for my dearest arnold jasper and his sister clementine? They will be adoptable soon soon soon, and I'd feel so much better if they didn't have to go to *complete* strangers.

You can see pics of arnold jasper (grey tabby with the 1/2 mustache) and all of his siblings here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/21532939@N00/sets/72157594219174649/

Yoop! not sure why my link failed, but you can click my name here for pics :)

Mama Chilanga - I've been having pretty good luck selling stuff on craigslist lately. I've laso been really pricing it to move. Now is the time that students are returning and trying to furnish their apts.

The main reason I haven't gone the Craigslist route yet is the fear of having to coordinate my work schedule, the toddler's nap schedule and potential customers' viewing schedules...

I know there is a furniture consignment place in Burlingame that will come to your house and, if they like what they see, take stuff back to their showroom. If it doesn't sell, they put it up for auction on eBay... but I can't remember the name of the place and I think they only cover the Peninsula....

coordinating for selling stuff on Craigslist really isn't that hard, most people who want your stuff are really willing to go around your schedule, I usually just give people a time to come (like say, 7pm) and then it's their job to make it. Being a frequent Craigslist buyer myself, if its something I want I'll get my butt out there to get it. A note - posting pictures almost always ensures responses.