Cartoon Curtains

It's time, my friends, for you to play designer!

I cannot afford the talents of such an expert (although I have consulted with one of the best) nor can I actually afford the materials needed in order to accomplish this project, but I CAN turn it into a blog post...

Here is a view of my living room:


Pathetic... I know... but I didn't get the design part of the gay gene... I DID get appreciation of musical theater, HGTV and the attraction to men, but not the decorating or dressing parts.

So... as you can see there are no window treatments up there. Well there is one, a pull down shade that I bought at Lowes about 4 days after I moved in. This needs to be dressed up. "P" and I have different opinions on how to go about doing this.

As you look at these next images, disregard the colors, and the stripes and all... those are just there to get my point across (not that I am opposed to these colors or these patterns, but neither am I especially attracted to them either).

Option 1:


Curtains... floor to ceiling. In the photo above they are pulled over the window but left open at the door, but the could be pulled completely closed. I'm thinking curtains like these with the big grommets and thick pole (quit it).

Option 2:


Roman shades. A large upholstered box valance at the top of the window (to give the illusion of height... thank you Candice) and a smaller shade that covers the glass in the door. When I was drawing this I thought about putting a shelf over the door and putting stuff on it, but more than one person has already pointed out that tall things over a door might not be a good idea... so picture maybe a photo or mirror or moosehead there.

So what do you think? Option 1 or Option 2? So far the only professional designer to take a look at my rudimentary plans and I are in agreement. "P" likes the other option... I'll tell you which is which after you tell me what you like best!

Feel free by the way, to mock up your own mockup... I'll take all the free design advice I can get!


P.S. disregard the TV... that will magically be transforming into something thin and wall mounted in the coming months.

Amazing how getting an early start can really add hours to a day...

Yesterday I had pretty much decided that if I didn't do SOMETHING constructive this week I would feel like shit. The closet seemed like the obvious choice. On my way to P's I stopped in to The Home Depot to just kind of price things out.

I would love to have a fancy, custom, designer closet... but until that big sweepstakes win comes in I just don't have the spare dough to pay for all that. You can easily spend $1000 on a closet the size of mine. My budget is less California Closets and more Alabama Armoire.

P had to go out of town for work today, and so he had to be up hella early to catch his flight... I would usually stay in bed, but something told me that today I should follow his lead. I can't remember the last time I saw 5am when I hadn't STILL been up from the night before. I figured I was up, have the whole day ahead of me and am already feeling kind of inspired to do something with my closet so I might as well bite the bullet and git'er done.

I think I did really well for a first time closet designer! Here's the before shots:



Notice there is only one shelf/rod thing in there. My plan was to buy a similar shelf/rod system and install it up high and then recycle parts of the old shelf/rod system to use as a second level underneath.

Of course once the old shelf/rod came down I had to spackle up the holes it left behind and paint the walls (using the touch up paint my builder provided).

As it turned out, two pieces of the new shelf/rod things I bought were cut too long. They cut them to order for you right there in the aisle at The Home Depot by the way. I don't know if it was his mistake or mine, but I anticipated this and bought a hacksaw along with my new closet shelving. Took a little bit but I got em cut down to the correct lenghts.

So here's what the empty closet looked like before:


and empty closet After:



I really thought I was making good time! I was done with all that by Noon... but as I started to put stuff away I realized that while I had increased my hanging space area quite a bit, the shelf space really didn't grow. Mostly because the area up high now is QUITE high now. So I chose to store boxes I never need up there. So all the space where t-shirts and sweaters and stuff like that would have gone before had disappeared.

Ultimately I had to return some leftover things to The Home Depot. That errand seemed like a good enough excuse to head over to Atlantic Station and check IKEA just to see if they had SOMETHING that I could use for more storage. And they did. And it was only $40!

So here is the finished product:



The recycled lower shelf should have been about 5 or 6 inches lower, and then I could use the shelf space it provides, but as it is there's no room for anything because the clothes hanging above are just RIGHT THERE. Guess that's why I'm not a closet designer.

I MAY decide to lower that bottom shelf, but not today.

The whole thing cost me about $150, which I think is a bargain.

Now I'm off to have an adult beverage or 4 and enter some sweepstakes!

By the way, if you'd like to see the whole process from beginning to end you can check out the photo set at flickr. Why you would want to see all that I'm not sure, but if DIY is your porn, knock yourself out!

...and I am tellin you...

...I'm not goin... to the Homeowner's meeting on Sunday. I should but I've been invited to an early Passover dinner and I'm not going to miss that in order to listen to a bunch of complaints. I am pretty happy with my place, aside from a few weird little oddities, which don't seem to be effecting anything negatively (yet) I really don't have too much to complain about.

I hope this doesn't result in: "I did nothing when they came for the floor complainers. I did nothing when they came for the soundproofing complainers. I did nothing when they came for the painting complainers... and then there was no one around when they came for me."

There has been a bit of activity 'round here lately. Some workers showed up at 8am earlier this week to paint the underside of my upstairs neighbor's deck... just grey, to match the concrete, but only a thin strip of it... not the whole deck. They are doing it to all the undersides of all the decks/balconies in the building. I THINK it is to clean up and protect some exposed metal where the base of the balcony meets the building.

I am also the proud new owner of a little balcony "set." P and I hit Ikea over the weekend and I found the perfect little folding chairs. Seems like my neighbors are trying to cram too much stuff onto our little balconies. I wanted to keep it simple out there, so the chairs are little bitty things, and in between P invented a table made of a ceramic pot placed upside down and the drip tray for that pot also turned upside down on top. What? You are having problems visualizing it? Well, um.. oh OK. Hang on.


Can't believe y'all made me put on pants and everything just to go out and take that photo. Happy now!? Geeze. It's all Ikea stuff... even the little cacti. Think the whole deal set me back 40 bucks.

Don't know if it comes across in that pic, but on my window sill, can you see the yellow dust? That's pollen that the city has been plagued with for days. Counts over 5000 most days this week. Doesn't effect me too much but man, it looks like Beijing during a bird flu outbreak with all the people wearing breathing masks walking around. The stuff is just coating everything too. CANNOT WAIT for some rain!

I have a new outdoor lighting issue that MAY be problematic... not going to jinx it by freaking out like I did with the Ted's sign though. Going to be patient. The city has finally put up the street lights in front of my side of the building. They are very tall and very bright and one is right in front of my unit. Down a bit, but right out there... we'll see.

This weekend a big shelving convention called the "Final Four" is here in Atlanta. I THINK it has something do to with shelving because everyone is talking about their "brackets." I DO need some new shelves so I may head downtown and check it out.

Overwhelmed

Need to increase 401k contribution.

Work's nuts.

Bills are piling up.

There are weird plumbing sounds in the bathroom when I flush.

There are weird muffled clanging sounds in the brown wall.

There are weird clunking sounds under my car.

Weird sounds are expensive.

Should I have an Oscar party?

Fighting a cold (I think).

Zero percent financing for 90 days is really not much of a grace period.

Laundry needs doing.

New shift next week.

Still need window treatments.

Have not been to the fitness center in a week.

Tax day is LOOMING.

When you gonna get that art project started?

House needs cleaning (bad).

Some sex would be nice.

Is it too late to send Xmas “Thank You” notes?

Told my shrink I would call him soon... 2 months ago.

The Pillsbury Dough Boy poked ME in the belly yesterday.

Bedroom closet needs a system.

Bathroom tile needs sealing.

Closet systems and tile sealant cost money.

The caulking around my windows that they fixed last week doesn't look fixed.

I'm not drinking enough water.

Need new shoes.


When did I become an adult?

The new chair

Two years ago, had I been shopping for a new chair it would have been one of those big ol La-Z-Boy, extending foot rest, cup holder in one armrest, hidden storage area for remotes in the other, pleather, vibramassage, enormo-chairs. Like an RV in your living room. So how did I end up with this?


The difference is two years ago I was not decorating. The things I bought two years ago were stuffs I NEEDED to live in a temporary space (a temporary space I stayed in not too temporarily for nearly 5 years). Now in the era of This New Condo the stuffs have become pieces, and I don't just buy them I shop for them so they can be incorporated into the design scheme.

I've always liked things modern, clean, simple. I like the things I see in DWELL magazine. It's only been recently that I've had the means, actually the DESIRE to try and create a space like the one's I see in that mag.

So there is my slipper chair (new term I learned whilst looking for what I described as, "something with no arms, kinda low..."). It's from West Elm and was purchased with a gift certificate from my Mom!

This could get really long winded so I'll just say that I THOUGHT I had an idea of the colors I wanted to use in this room. That chair was intended to be the blue anchor piece for a blue/brown/tan color combo I'd planned on implementing in the living room. Here's the inspiration pillow:


The more I thought about it though the more I realized that I am seeing that EVERYWHERE. I actually did shop for a long time for a chair that would suit my blue/brown/tan needs... but every one I found was either too expensive or not exactly right.

When this chair presented itself to me I was initially hesitant because, there is already a lot of brown in the living room... couch, tables, floor... and this, while lighter, is still brown. Given the circumstances though (what with the GC and all) I think it's a perfect fit.


Now, imagine a large, circular red rug anchoring that grouping and above the couch a large, framed photo of red bricks. Reds I think are going to replace the blues I had initially been so keen on.

So there ya go... the new chair. It's pretty comfy too!

...and YES that is a poinsettia. I KNOW Christmas is over, but I just can't bring myself to throw it away. It's alive, ALIVE!

Bathroom Style

What's missing from this picture:



That's my commode. Its a TALL one by the way. I honestly believe that if a short person had to use it his or her feet might not touch the ground. To the left is my vanity. To the right is my tub. Seems like all the components are in place, down to the requisite trash can from Bed Bath and Beyond. Certainly the builder took into consideration all the things one would require in a modern American bathroom. Look closely though, a vital component is missing. One that we don't always look for BEFORE we need it.

Yes my friends there is no TP holder in my bathroom. When did the toilet paper roll in the wall thing stop happening? Growing up, in all my bathrooms, there was a recessed spot in the wall near every toilet that had a little spring loaded bar in it onto which one put a roll of TP... something like this:



Do people not like those anymore? Are they out of style? They are so functional... they don't take up any floorspace like this kind:



And they are DEFINITELY less tacky than something like this thing:



So when did the recessed TP holder stop being standard equipment, and why? I'm very concerned that I'm not seeing the big picture or something... If the builders aren't installing them anymore there MUST be a reason. If I install the TP holder that I like (the one at the top) will I be ostracized or otherwise shunned for my poor taste in bathroom fixtures?

I honestly thought that it would be the big stuff that caused me to freak out... the mortgage payments or major repairs to appliances... a leak or something! That stuff I have been able to deal with no problem. It's the LITTLE stuff like the TP holder that is making me nuts!!!

Hi Ho!

It's back to work for me today. I had the good fortune to have the last two weeks off and have really gotten used to not working. Almost feels a little weird to be gong back to work. We (THEY really) are in the process of shaking things up as far as shifts and schedules are concerned and so when I go back today, I'll be going back to a very different schedule. Still the same hours and still pushing the same buttons, but doing so at different times than I used to. Your new schedule at any job can be a little weird to adjust to because you get to know your routine, you get to know the people who work with you, their peccadilloes and whatnot, the subtle differences in the machinery and all that... and then, your duties change a little, and everything is just a smidge off.

I used to be a fan of that show, SLIDERS. Ever see that show? Kinda hot dude who is now on Crossing Jordan was the star, his brother was "The Bachelor" one year. Anyway, on SLIDERS the premise was that they were moving between alternate realities all the time. So it always took place in pretty much the same location and always in the present day, but one week they were in a reality where the Nazi's had won the war, in another only Women were allowed to hold public office. Sometimes things would look exactly the same, EXCEPT that bugs were revered and could not be squished... maybe I made that last one up... the point I am trying to make is that when I get back to work today it will be like sliding into a slightly alternate reality. Everything will look the same, but at the same time everything will be just SLIGHTLY askew. A little like crossing the border from Washington State into British Columbia.

Plans for THIS NEW CONDO this week are to get the tile replaced in my bathroom, getting a poster finally framed & hung and returning the ladder that I borrowed from my neighbors.

I'm also going to look into some mirror related ideas I've seen lately. On Small Space, Big Style I saw a woman use mirrors for her kitchen backsplash... what do you think? I think it could be a less expensive alternate to stainless steel. I also saw a BIG use of mirrors in Polo by Ralph Loren at Lenox Square. They used really tall panels of beveled mirror to line the back wall of a really masculine bedroom vignette. My bedroom is not huge, so I thought I'd look into stealing that idea for my space. Speaking of mirrors, anyone know a good glass cleaner? The stuff I have been using leaves a noticeable residue on the mirror I have hung in my living room. When the sunlight hits it it looks really crappy.

Next time: my embarrasing hobby

Would you like a piece of resistance?

OK... last post about this freakin wall. This is going to be so anticlimactic... hell, I painted the thing and I'm over it. Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you... A Brown Wall:




















Ultimately, below the mirror I will have one or two small benches (preferably with storage) and maybe, just maybe, if I can find the EXACT right ones I will put some sconces (I HATE that word, especially when effeminate men say it, "SsssssssssCONssssssssessssss" not that there is anything wrong with effeminate men... just when they say THAT word. Want to know the WORST word for an effeminate man to say? You do? Oh good. Ready? *ahem* "Ossssssssteoperossssssssssissssssss" We now return you to outside the parenthesis) or some other light fixture on either side of the mirror.

I think it was a good idea to paint the HVAC register, you can barely see it.

Next projects? Not sure... the bathroom needs something, paint or cabinets or drawer liners or something. My computer location is really starting to bug me too. You might just be able to make out in one of the pics of the wall in the mirror, the reflection of my computer on the "breakfast bar" of my kitchen. That stuff needs to go. Ultimately I think the computer stuff will live in the bedroom, but I haven't bought any furniture for that room yet and don't want to put some big ol office "workstation" in there, big dilemma. My closet also needs attention. Actually the closet really, really needs attention. Hmmmmm.

OK... well tomorrow is Thanksgiving. My local family (Dad and his wife and her two children and some of their offspring) are leaving this morning to have their meal with her family in Tennessee. I am staying in Atlanta so I get to dog sit the worlds nicest, sweetest, happiest, dog. I'll take his picture so I can show him to you next time I post. My not-local family (Mom) is REALLY not local this year. She and some girlfriends are spending the holiday in PRAGUE! I'm very jealous.

In addition to my dog sitting duties tomorrow I will also be having a meal with my boyfriend and his whole (very large) family early in the afternoon, and THEN tomorrow evening will be off to a friend's apartment where he and his boyfriend are having some people over for another meal! All of that just to say... not sure when my next post will be...

Until then THIS NEW CONDO and I wish you a very happy holiday. Drive safely.

Intermission

While we're waiting for the Brown Velvet (#1011-10 of the American Tradition paints at Lowes) paint to dry... just a couple things I've learned about painting.

1. It's messy.

2. Getting the edges right is hhhaaaarrrrrddd, no matter how much blue tape you use:


3. No matter HOW certain you are about a color, it is going to look different on a wall than it did on the chip.

I'll never admit this to anyone in person, but I'm not really super happy with how the color is looking. It's definitely dark brown, but I get flashes of purple and even black. Let me say this... the FIRST time someone comes in here and says, "That Eggplant color on this wall is really nice!" or "Purple! Interesting choice." I'm putting the builder beige back up!

There is also the issue of a large mirror that I bought specifically to hang on that wall. It has a gold frame around it (which I could always *gulp* paint) and It looked pretty good on the builder beige but on the Brown Velvet it looks a little, um, a little Liberace:


My other dilemma has been what do to with the switch plates and HVAC register. I decided that the switch plates would stay white, since the switches and plugs they surround are going to stay white, but I painted the register to match the wall. Here's my logic: I need to see the switches because they are useful parts of the room, but I DON'T need to see the register because while it IS useful it's not something that gets a lot of attention, and it's 11 feet up. I have always thought it was kind of tacky to paint registers and switch plates (no offense if you disagree) so this is a big step for me. A word of warning, HVAC registers are a PAIN in the butt to paint:


OK... hopefully tomorrow I will be able to post some pics of the final product. Or at least the final step in this painting project. The whole PRODUCT still needs stuff, but the painting and rehanging of the giant mirror will be done.

Next time: the REAL Piece de Resistance (maybe).

the great paint experiment

...or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Brown.

The deed is done... or at least the non-finesse part anyway... a large section of THIS NEW CONDO is Brown. In fact, it is "Brown Velvet." I WAS considering "Fudge Truffle," but in the end the darker color won out. I've been scared shitless about doing this project. Not sure why... I mean, paint is probably the easiest thing to change if I don't like it... but it's also messy, and I am a klutz and this really could have been a disaster. I think it came out all right though.

Here's before:



After:



That's yours truly hiding behind the ladder... artsy no?

Depending on the light the color has just the slightest hint of eggplant in it which COULD be a big issue for me. Not a big purple fan here. So far I have seen the wall in afternoon sun and electric household light and just the fact that I THINK I might see some purple in there is bothering me... once the sun comes up again tomorrow we'll revisit that issue.

Still a work in progress, the tape and tarp have to come down, there are some spots that need touching up (maybe even a full second coat) and there is a big ass mirror that goes on that wall that has to go back... but gonna let what is there dry overnight before I start undoing all that stuff. Normally I'm a very impatient person so I'm pretty proud of myself for holding back.

OK... see y'all later.

Next time: Le Piece de Resistance!

kitchen accomplished

Ever since I moved in to my place about 2 months ago HGTV has become like CRACK to me. "Small Space, Big Style," "My First Place," "Curb Appeal," "Divine Design," "Design Star," and now "Making of a Design Star" (DAVID COME MAKEOVER MY BEDROOM), all the incarnations of "I Want That," TiVo records them ALL. One of the things they repeat over and over and over is how important the kitchen is to the overall feel and resale value of one's home. Kitchens and baths are pretty much all they talk about on HGTV anymore. My kitchen is part of a larger room that includes a space where a dining table could go and then my living room. So if a kitchen off by itself in someone's home is IMPORTANT to the average homeowner imagine how an HGTV addict could obsess about the kitchen in his main room!

For my first real home improvement project I decided to do a little tweaking in my kitchen. First I switched out all the white sockets and switches and plastic surrounds with black sockets and stainless surrounds. It's a small touch but I think it really improves the look of the room AND it was pretty cheap! I think the whole project cost just under $50. It was a good education too, I learned a lot about wiring and how things like switches and plugs work. It's pretty simple to swap out the old hardware, you need a flat head and a phillips head screwdriver and a pair of wire cutters. I bought my replacement hardware at Lowes. Make sure the power is turned off to the socket or switch you are working on (I turned off ALL the power in my entire kitchen for my first couple of sockets, then figured out which breakers control what). I only shocked myself once! You also need to make sure you buy the right replacements, there are 15 and 20 amp switches and sockets and they are not interchangeable... look in your breaker box to determine which kind you need before you go to the store. Here's what the old one's looked like:



And here is the new look:



MUCH COOLER if I do say so myself. The one pictured is a GFI socket... I had two of those in my kitchen and they require a little more attention to detail than the plain ol two plug sockets. Really glad I had some touch-up paint around because the metal surrounds were just a little smaller than the plastic ones, so I had to do a little cleanup around sockets where the paint stuck to the old faceplates when I removed them. Hopefully my wiring work won't result in some horrible fire or electrical outage... but if or until that happens my sockets and switches are gonna look HOT!

The other thing I did was inspired by HGTV and a trip to Ikea. Next time you spend the day at your local Ikea take a look through the lighting section when you are on your way out... it's usually just after the textile area and just before the mirrors, art and outdoor area. They sell some pretty cool lighting for under your counters, or inside cabinets. Kind of a pain in the ass to install because you have to actually work UNDER your cabinets to install them, like a mechanic under a car. They will also probably require you to drill at least one hole in your cabinets to make room for the cords (I drilled two but ended up only using one of them, dusty affair by the way, drilling holes in cabinets). If you are a cord nazi like me, you will also want to consider buying some kind of management tools to hide the power wires. Luckily the builder took the possibility of under counter lighting into consideration when they built my place and I have an outlet INSIDE a cabinet, so that helped a little with the cord hiding, but you'll still need a way to conceal the lines underneath.

The effect is pretty dramatic. Here's before:



And after:



Pretty cool, yeah? Between the lights and the sockets and switches the whole project cost about $110. The most expensive part being the lights from Ikea (but I used a housewarming gift card from my mortgage broker to buy those). A couple of notes: the lights tend to get quite warm... I doubt they'd get hot enough to do any damage, I mean, they are DESIGNED to be screwed into the bottoms of cabinets, but after they have been on for a while they are definitely too hot to touch. Ikea sells a different lighting product which is a strip of LED's which I considered before buying the ones I bought that would probably be much more energy efficient, cooler and easier to install, but I doubt they would put out as much light.

Only thing I'd like to do is run a stainless steel backsplash along the wall under the cabinets, but that's a project that can wait till I can afford to pay someone who knows what they are doing to do that!

The question now is what do I do with all the OLD sockets and switches and faceplates?



Seems like such a waste.

Tomorrow THIS NEW CONDO takes the train.