department of the interior: home decor

bejewelled broom is A+

i just used it to clean and i'm gonna be honest -- it did make sweeping more fun

anyone know the name of this coffee table?
http://x-cdn.apartmenttherapy.com/51795dfb74c5b66adf0004d7._w.540._s.fit.jpg

That's a Nelson bench

this isn't really home decor because a person's gotta have a shower curtain if a person is going to use my shower so
we had to make a shower curtain

this is a close up of the place where we bent the pipe and made a little spacer to attach to the ceiling

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8253/8747465567_f7fd25952b.jpg

nicely done!

Wow, you've been on a "bender" with these pipes lately!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1114r

lolol

tbh that was the only one we've tried to bend

now i am working on the outdoors areas because i want to have my garden paradise in order for summer. did tons of weeding, hedge clipping, weed pulling, and marveling at the fact that i am now the owner of a rose bush that lives about 3 feet away from a gigantic smelly dumpster.

Oh, I thought you said you and your in-laws had used a pipe bender for something else recently. No?

Yay rose bush! I was just looking at rose bushes on Saturday, wondering if they can be grown in pots.

Do you have a lawn? I never want a lawn, unless it requires no more than 0 maintenance of me.

we have a tiny lawn and a little mechanical push mower, which we tested out yesterday. totally works!
i need to make up a plan for planting things, and soon because it's getting hottt out there.

yard areas (front and back) are mostly hedges and pavement/patio, with little areas of grass and some small strips in which to plant things. there's a little bench too.

omg u guys i am moving to a new place for the first time in five years, bringing basically nothing (for various reasons*), and am hoping to actually do a decent job making the place look like an adult lives there, how do i shot this

* cost of moving furniture across country likely > cost of new (cheap IKEA) stuff, also my sister is moving into my old spot after years abroad and may as well use it, also most everything i own is hand-me-down whatever and i want a clean slate

also nb i have not physically seen my place yet, a friend scouted it for me and she signed off on it ("it's cute!") but there are some unfortunate limitations

- NO OVERHEAD LIGHTING (except in the bathroom). i didn't notice this until after committing to the place, and it's probably not a big deal, but wtf
- large kitchen/dining "zone" with almost zero counterspace (like seriously, just a cabinet's width between sink/range). a butcher block/island will be mandatory
- hella baseboard radiators, including right where seems like the best place for an eNtErTaInMeNt center. will my vinyl warp? will i start an electrical fire? also along the bay windows in both the LR and the BR, which rules out curtains, right? why am i worried about curtains, what is happening to me?
- v limited cupboard space, and no shelving to speak of, save for the (thankfully) large BR closet.

my friend took pics, but sent them to me in some iphoto share-y way so i can only post the CL pics, and i bet they're not even online anymore

baseboard heat is a pain when you're trying to arrange furniture but it's not so bad, i've lived with baseboard heat for the past 5+ years and never had anything catch fire or melt

n/m

http://images.craigslist.org/3K33F83N75N35F35Hfd5c4a881af0a6cf19da.jpg
http://images.craigslist.org/3G83Ne3H45I15H15J8d5c6ff2f3e457b31924.jpg
http://images.craigslist.org/3F43J43H15Ld5E25J7d5cacaeb1289fcd1db8.jpg

anyway, 2nd floor, south-facing, lots of sun, not a fan of carpet but it's brand-new, so w/e. got the place because it's within my budget and, crucially, includes HEAT/propane. that is a huge deal in rural NE, friend of mine didn't do the diligence and stuck with $400/mo heating bills because she and her bf moved into a beautiful house from 1882 that hemorrhaged heat.

BR is reportedly 9x12, LR (both carpeted area and weird checkered stuff) would appear to be 18x16.

help me

n/m *I found pictures*, i meant

and someone put fridge-y in the corner because they repainted, it actually goes over by the outlet near the "kitchen"

it's cute!

guys i spent like 8hrs on apartment therapy and other design blogs yesterday, something is wrong, i'm scared

haha oh noooo

i know what a roman shade is know

*now

you're not kidding about needing workspace & shelving tho

modular wire shelving might be a pretty good / affordable option for kitchen, you can get it at ikea or at home depot or whatever, possibly restaurant / business surplus outlets?

nice spot gbx

not helping is the fact that my sister is staying with me until i move out, and she is nuts for this stuff, and is patiently waiting for my dirtbag ass to leave so she can undo everything i've inflicted on my current place. i'm supposed to finishing up a short research project and she's supposed to be finding a job, and we're both looking up ikea hacks and shit

she has offered to make me curtains, though (but won't the baseboard light them on fire??)

xp for real. currently planning on doing a pegboard over the stove and getting a cheap ikea butcher block. if allowed, i'd like to put up full-width shelving with L-brackets or something.

the real bugbear, though: BIKES. i've had a shed for years, and have been free of the indignity of storing those beasts inside. there's plenty of wall-space for hanging (i've got some special doodads in the shed), but hanging bikes over carpet seems like i'll just lead to tears

bad news: the nearest IKEA is over 2hrs away, and shipping is cray.
good news: i'm close to a college town AND new englanders with money and a couple auction houses. with patience, i think it might not be THAT hard to turn up cool stuff? i'll have about two weeks before i've got light-duty orientation for work, and about three weeks before shit gets real.

all i really need at first is kitchen workspace and a bed.

i have been wasting waaaaaay too much time on this, clearly, but it's the first time i'll have the opportunity/(modest) income to make things nice.

oh! and i was thinking that a picnic/farm table w/detached benches might look nice in there and apparently some dude not that far away will make them to order for $125-200. that's cheap right? how much do you buy a table for, i've never bought a table

is it the ikea in stoughton, ma? xp

imma just keep blogging: it's also right across the street from a rails to trails bike path that does 70% of my morning commute (~10mi). totally in the woods, runs by a big ol lake, looks really frikkin nice. and there's what appears to be a Serious Bike Shop just a couple miles away.

xp yup. i think that's the only one close to new hampshah

We got a couple of cheap sort of industrial mats from target for our bikes, they were like $10, but then I bullied Ytth into moving all the bike stuff to the garage (he's paranoid it's more steal-able in there).

haha ok, that's my "local" ikea as well

i dunno, i would probably go nuts in the furniture section of every thrift store i could find, then get some paint/spray paint to make it look less bad, but that's me. i'm not sure that's the adult look you're going for, but it would serve a purpose until you found the stuff you were looking for. also, it's yard sale season. people are always getting rid of tables!

no, that's kinda what i'm thinking, too, i've just never been too crafty.

i've since discovered that there might be a way to get some of my stuff out there for a somewhat reasonable price (still $$$, though), that i may just go for since i can always sell stuff to college students in the fall.

will someone talk to me about temporary wallpaper? generally i dig the look but i don't know anything about longevity or application or maintenance. was thinking some for bedroom wall(s), for a ~deluxe~ (but not brothely!) feel.
is this a terrible idea?

also has anyone ever used it to cover (rather than paint) furniture pieces?

No, and no. I like wallpaper fine but I've never used the temp stuff. And I don't think I'm really understanding how it could cover furniture...?

like contact paper, but not permanent? i dunno. it was just an idea.

i guess i could also paint designs with tape and all that but honestly? like that's gonna happen? i'm maybe too unmotivated to decorate any more than i already have.
today i planted some new plants and repotted some others. hopefully those will be good.

I think there might have been a whole post about temp wallpaper on the ” oh happy day” bog, I will try to find it

Well that was easy; http://ohhappyday.com/2011/02/removable-wallpaper-the-final-report/

thank u!

I made a vase; not sure this'll work
http://distilleryimage6.ak.instagram.com/26792888c56f11e2ab5722000aa821d3_7.jpg

very nice gbx!

I have some charcoal in my trunk (great place for it, eh?) and I guess I could put some in there -- does it get rid of the smell or just make it smell like charcoal? I have also heard that kitty litter works, but I haven't bought any to find out.

Also, it has been a few days and I'm still somewhat horrified that I used "gift" as a verb. Who am I?

― free your spirit pig (La Lechera), Wednesday, May 15, 2013 12:32 PM (1 week ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

anything carbon based will absorb smell effectively because carbon particles have a very large surface area. Same reason people light matches after going number two. I cant remember ever smelling charcoal. sounds like a great idea.

gbx, on the matter of curtains, if they don't go all the way to the floor, they should just brush the windowsills. Sill-length (which is still pretty long because those are huge windows) will be perfectly safe from the baseboard heat.

Your apartment looks giant and light and wonderful! Jel of the EIK.

bad news: the nearest IKEA is over 2hrs away, and shipping is cray.
― well if it isn't old 11 cameras simon (gbx), Monday, May 20, 2013 3:19 PM (1 week ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

This drives me crazy. Our closest IKEAs are Dallas and St Louis so I'm feeling your pain. Isn't Ikea stuff disassembled and boxed already. Why so freaking expensive. A lot of furniture stores ship for free.

Also, is your first picture the bedroom or living room?

first pic is living room---it and the kitchen are one big area, set apart by the faux-tiling and the carpet

"kitchen"

That kitchen could really use a (freestanding) island across from the stove/sink, which would add substantial countertop and cupboard space and still leave plenty of room for an eating table near the fridge. I'd suggest a new or used Ikea Varde except you don't have a nearby Ikea, but any ol' cabinets and worktop will do.