department of the interior: home decor

kitchen cart is a good idea if you have like a nearby room you can park it (we park ours in the laundry) that way you can hang extra big annoying utensils/big crockpot/dutch oven etc and/or put a microwave on top without it taking up room in yr kitchen.

Yeah I already have one but it might be too big? There is a little airy of dining room nook but probably all my shelves for food storage are going in there.

I already have what I thought was a pretty small kitchen, just in terms of counter space and built-in storage, but this new kitchen is... miniature! But at least I'll now have a gas oven.

Guys, give me some wall-to-wall carpeting alternative ideas (or really nice carpeting I guess) -- moving to a place where I have to cover 80% of non-bedroom floors and 100% of bedrooms. I'm aware of Flor, has anyone used it?

just1n3: Look for ways to use vertical space - shelves, hooks, hanging stuff from the ceiling in the closet. Look for unused space inside cabinets and use gadgets to make use of them.

And I like my Ikea storage bed, like in the pic below. There's a lot of space inside and under it.

http://chicago.apartmenttherapy.com/images/uploads/2007-04-13-bedstorage.jpg

ooh yeah je55e otm -- best thing we did for our kitchen space was install a pot rack -- hang the pots on the bottom, recipe books on top :D

How do you hang a pot rack securely? Like, I'm not v DIY inclined, I don't want it to fall on my head

Oh that bed reminds me: so our new bed doesn't have space underneath, but I saw a pic online where they used plain old cinder blocks as risers. My concern is that the bed might slide off - am I being overly cautious?

J, have you ever seen a picture of (my or other) magnetic spice racks? Here's an example: http://copiesofcopies.org/webl/2008/09/22/my-dim-weekend-spice-racks-and-camera-lenses/
I would advise against watchmakers' iens however, and look in the craft aisle of a dollar store or similar for sturdier magnetic tins that don't require magnets being glued onto them :)

The bonus is, if you don't have space on the wall to hang up a metal plate, you can use them on the side of the fridge as seen in the picture.

hanging pot-rack on wall -- use a studfinder (hardware store). this will help you find the wall studs or ceiling joists that you need to attach your rack to. that way you're securing the pot rack to the physical structure of the house and not just drilling into empty plaster/drywall which = bad times.
if you get a decent potrack it should have fairly thorough installation instructions as well. we'd never installed one before and almost 10 years later it's still standing.

Oh that bed reminds me: so our new bed doesn't have space underneath, but I saw a pic online where they used plain old cinder blocks as risers. My concern is that the bed might slide off - am I being overly cautious?

Did they have them set up vertically or horizontally? Vertically, it would seem like it would be bit shaky, but horizontally would be fine. If you don't put them on the very edges, it would definitely be fine. If you're worried, but one in the middle for extra stability.

If you've got wood floors, I'd put something under the cinder blocks to keep them from scratching up the floor. Maybe carpet samples.

i've used bricks horizontally as risers--it was fine.

Thanks! Yeah horizontally - it occurred to me that between the rough texture of the block and the rough fabric covering my bed frame, there wouldn't be much slip anyway.

And our bed weighs a million pounds so it's pretty hard to move.

can you not just buy a bedframe?

I could except that our new bed already cost over $2000 and this forced move is costing thousands (+ an extra$600 p/m in rent), so I don't want to spend more than I have to (also I hate bed frames). I picked up 9 cinder blocks fir $14 so I'm good to go.

I need ideas for a bathroom window:

The window is above the tub, and when you have the shower on, it sprays right into the deep tracks of the window - its metal and already pretty rusted. Also: the window has to be kept open at all times because there is no vent/fan, so some privacy would be nice (its on the 2nd floor but we have neighbors directly across. Its also a sash style window, if that makes any difference.

Does the window open in such a way that the glass still covers it? I remember here or elsewhere it was suggested by Laurel that I buy sticker type things to make my window opaque.. Wouldn't protect against rust though.

No it opens upward

GRRRRRRR I'm not used to Safari and I keep deleting posts when I hit Tab-Enter trying to submit!

If you want to leave the window open, maybe put up a curtain that you close when you need privacy and open for ventilation. That's what I have.

For rust - maybe brush and sand it, apply rust converter, then paint w/ oil-based paint to prevent further damage.

(not hitting Tab-Enter.....)

The curtain I used for my in-shower window is made from a cloth shower curtain, so it resists water, btw.

this isn't really related to interior decoration or design, but can someone tell me if this is...mold?

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3780/9701004689_33d5a7325a_n.jpg

I can't really tell anything from the photo but my first glancing impression is that it looks similar to fiber glass insulation

it's in the basement and it's coming through the spots where the paint has fallen off. it looks...foamy? i have no idea what to do about it since idk what it is.

Weird, I've never seen mold like that. Does it smell pretty damp in your basement?

I would probably get a respirator mask, take some concentrated bleach to it, and then watch to see if it grows back.

A cheap dehumidifier can make a huge difference in small damp spaces.

Oh have you touched it? Is it soft or airy or hard? Because it also looks a bit like that stuff that expands to fill holes in walls.

It's not that hole-filling stuff. It's like a white foamy substance that is coming out of the walls. We have a dehumidifier but it's in the other corner of the basement. I think it's clear that it's a foam-shaped ghost.

Not to freak you out but I'd probably see if there is some kind of mold specialist in your area who could check it out -just to make sure its not too toxic.

that's the logical thing to do but i thought maybe someone would know what it was from the picture.

Can you tell at all if it's organic or not?

You should film it for a week and then speed up the footage.

j - no, it's white and foamy and only on the moister side of the basement (the one i spend the most time in)
io - a+ idea

It could just be scale (calcium salts leaching out of the concrete due to moisture).

Ha! In order to zoom in some, I ended up setting that photo as my wallpaper

yikes! welcome to my basement!

i'll google calcium scale to see if it looks similar -- i honestly didn't know what to google so that's why i asked ilx

is it this LL?

http://inspectapedia.com/sickhouse/Effloresence.htm#H1

That is the stuff - we have that in our basement!

yeah i already checked calcium efflorescence and that is definitely it
looks like something we are suggested to fix from the outside, but i think maybe another dehumidifier would solve it temporarily at least
also gotta clean it up yuk

thank you for your help ilx! at least i can be sure it's not a ghost.

efflorescence certainly sounds it should be a ghost imo!

haha yeah. or 'that ghost left so much efflorescence behind!'

finally bit the bullet and commissioned some custom LP shelving from a local woodworker

3 feet wide with five 13 inch shelves

should make a pretty big dent in our need for storage, we've been dealing in crates and boxes for a bit too long now

okay this video is kinda corny but oh man i love this house

http://youtu.be/L7mKPRlTgvM

well i mean

topanga

yeah

thinking bout things

breakfast so rustic

maybe i'll blog after my nap

but for real v, if you like that house i highly recommend tracking down a book called HOMEMADE HOUSES, A GUIDE TO THE WOODBUTCHER'S ART which is chock fulla rough-hewn indoor-outdoor handcrafted living

https://www.etsy.com/storque/media/bunker/2009/03/3038026950_4b804054db.jpg

sorry, HANDMADE houses

"homemade houses" lol good typo elmo

http://smg.photobucket.com/user/helicoptersss/media/Picture23.png.html

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v211/helicoptersss/Picture23.png

yeah i love this stuff so much

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6152/6242226585_ab36833a11_z.jpg