apartmentalist.

March 12, 2005

Wall of Sound.

dear apartmentalist,

i just moved in to a new apartment that i am sharing with an old work friend. the layout of our apartment is such that there is one common wall between our rooms, and a thin one at that. there is also a door on that wall that stays shut, but is very uninsulated. my question is: is there a good way to make an attractive insulator to to help with the noise between the two rooms?

thanks for any advice.

—eric

Hi Eric,

It's hard to say without seeing the space, but my initial response is to be sure to get an area rug, as that will absorb a lot of sound and prevent it from traveling through the wall. Can the room fit a small upholstered chair or bench? The more soft surfaces you have in the space, the better it will prevent sound from bouncing off the walls and floors and escaping. Think of other ways to absorb sound on that shared wall... Can it be padded and covered with fabric-as-wallpaper without causing a fire hazard? Can you hang a painted canvas? Can you place other furniture along that wall to add additional noise-barriers?

If the always-closed door is thin, I would cover that space or fill it with furniture or some sort of soft art. I've heard of people building shelves in permanently-closed door frames. This is great if the frame is deep enough to hold shelves at least 4" or 5" deep. Simple brackets on either side of the frame will hold nicely.

If you don't mind the clutter, you could also use over-the-door hooks and hang your coats and jackets on your side to catch some sound.

But then you have the additional concern of blocking out your roommate's noise. To that end, white noise CDs and machines are fantastic, and can be found rather inexpensively here, here, and here. If you're able to splurge, I really like the look of this.

Good luck with the new place, and thanks for reading.

Ask Apartmentalist is a weekly advice column. It'll appear here every Friday (or late Saturday, as was the case this week). Do you have a question about crafts, decorating, or your living space? Email Lara@apartmentalist.com.

Posted by Lara at 10:32 PM | Comments (3)

March 04, 2005

Yellow Is the Color.

All the decorating advice I've been reading lately (online, no time for bookstores, pathetic) about small spaces keeps suggesting that neutrals, greens and blues open up a space while all the warm colors I like make a room more "intimate." Just because I have smaller rooms, do I really have to sacrifice the colors I love (yellows and reds)? Thanks!
-N

Hi N!

Absolutely not! Brights definitely work in small spaces!

But I say that with a few qualifications. As I've mentioned in past columns, there are no rules about decorating your own home (although there are probably some local laws, if you're thinking of doing a "missile silo" theme). It's one thing if you want to inflict a love of chintz upon a corporate law office, but in your own house, you really can't go wrong. If you love it, it's right. It is all about reflecting your tastes and personality properly, and if soft greens and blues make you want to die of boredom, then please don't use them.

Of the colors you mentioned, yellow is really the most versatile for small spaces of any kind, and red is the most limiting/difficult to use. But I have seen all sorts of bright and warm shades--red and orange and yellow--each used really, really well in a variety of small spaces. (This book has several! Enter my contest and win it! You have seven hours!)

One way to keep from ovewhelming a small space is to cover 2-3 walls with a nice neutral like beige or eggshell, and then smack people in the face with a deep, very sexy accent wall or two. Anchor the room here and there with dark (black or brown) accessories or furniture, too (I find it helps).

If it fits in with your overall aesthetic, in a kitchen or a bathroom you could literally divide all the walls in half horizontally with a chair-rail element (you could make one out of wood molding or with a simple strip of paint-tape, depending on your budget) or bead board (inexpensive painted paneling works here too). Then paint the top-half of the wall a more subdued shade, and then cover the bottom with your favorite vivid shade. Or vice-versa, according to your fancy.

And, say you paint your whole living area orange. Just what exactly is wrong with intimate? Shouldn't your boudoir be intimate? Why not use color bravely?

My only suggestion if you do go this route: go all out. Make sure you LOVE the color and carry its theme and feeling a bit throughout the room. It's a good idea to have more subdued furniture with bright walls, but do make certain the wall color fits in with your stuff. Pick the color up in throw-pillows, in curtains, in candles, in vases, in frames, even in a rug. Don't go monochromatic or anything, just be sure to tie it all together in a way that makes sense to your eye.

A common mistake people make with bright color is to leave it hanging and let the rest of the room just stay blah. You want a sexy, cozy, red bedroom? Do it up right, and accessorize with Eastern elements. Pick a complimentary or contrasting color to set it off throughout the space and to add interest. Go red and white and be inspired by the very chic and mod Target aesthetic.

And hey, if it looks a fright or you get tired of it quickly, you can always paint right over it. Kilz sealer and primer always provides you with a clean, pure slate if it looks like a crime scene or the inside of a pumpkin.

Thanks for reading! And enter the contest!

Ask Apartmentalist is a weekly advice column. It'll appear here every Friday. Do you have a question about crafts, decorating, or your living space? Email Lara@apartmentalist.com.

Posted by Lara at 05:00 PM | Comments (1)

February 25, 2005

What Wood You Do?

I'm always acquiring furniture in different shades of wood. Is it cool to mismatch them, or only if they are stark contrasts, or only if they're close in color? Or should I spread them out in different rooms? When I buy things I never think how the color is going to fit into the rest of things I own, I just judge the piece individually. -CS

Hi CS-

It totally depends on the look you're going for. There really are no hard and fast wood-mixing rules unless you are a very strict decorator who likes things very uniform. I personally like to mix it up a little.

First off, I know that I totally hate matchy-matchy furniture sets. No offense to places like Rooms-to-Go, or to people who buy the entire window display rooms from Pottery Barn, but you need to inject your taste and your personality into the space in order to feel comfortable there, in order to feel that it's really your home. Buying sets/suites that come all together is fine, and can look quite lovely, but I find it so impersonal. Sometimes the bizarre things that match nothing else are the objects that make your house warm, unique, and 100% you.

I like to use different woods to distinguish spaces. Like, my whole living area is full of dark cherry-stained wood pieces, but just a few inches from all of that, I have a pale, pine wood dining table (it sort of matches the shade of my hardwood flooring) and bright red-stained dining chairs (these match other red accents throughout the living space). So I have these micro-rooms within a room, and because everything in there sort of goes with a few other things, it doesn't clash or look too busy. It works.

And our bedroom is mostly pale wood, but my boyfriend's desk is metallic veneer. It really divides the space somehow, into office and boudoir. And the dialogue is maintained by other silver accents around the room, in frames and lamps.

However, mixing can be done poorly too. You do want your room to hang together cohesively, and you want each piece to have dialogue with the other elements in your room. Nothing should stick out like a sore thumb. If you can justify its inclusion by ensuring that everything in the room corresponds somehow to a few things without clashing horribly with the other stuff, then you've succeeded.

If you have a menagerie of different woods and textures and finishes with no common theme (similar shapes/styles), your room could just wind up looking like a furniture store. There are a few solutions to this:

• Sand & repaint a piece or two to look more similar—be creative here, use red lacquer or even a crackle glaze if that is in keeping with your overall style

• Sand & repaint clashing pieces into neutrals like white or black or beige

• Keep things in one or two shades of wood, and weed out/replace the rest

• You can always re-stain items, too, or have it done for you by a pro

• Unite clashing pieces with creative accessories, like new matching metal hardware/drawer pulls, or twin vases and photo frame arrangements

• Like paint, but faster and less labor-intensive, fabric is a great cheap equalizer... Depending on your style and the function of the furniture you want to cover, you could do some creative draping with cool fabric here and there to unify the room

• Decor is all about balance, and balance is pretty intuitive... If it feels warm and balanced to you, it works, period

In the last sentence of your query above, ("When I buy things I never think how the color is going to fit into the rest of things I own, I just judge the piece individually."), you have totally hit upon the #1 reason people like me have a job. Of course you just buy whatever strikes your fancy... That is how we shop for anything else. The thing is, most furniture is a commitment. It's usually pretty expensive, and you'll see and use it every day, all the time. It's not like a shirt you can hide in the closet and wear occasionally when you're in a purple kind of mood, you know?

I see furniture and home accessories in shops that I really LOVE and WANT really BAD, but I have to literally force myself out of the store if I know that the object just will not fit into my space or a client's space. This requires so much control and discipline, it sucks. And sometimes I so regret walking away from wonderful finds.

If the desire for a non-matching piece is eating away at you, try not to do any impulse buying. Sleep on it. Do you love it enough to go back for it? Would you consider redesigning a room around it? Will it fit anywhere else in your world, like an office or a bathroom? Hell, you can also just throw it into the mix and see if it works. If you love it that much, who cares if it matches perfectly? The look of your living spaces evolve over time, and someday it might be the centerpiece of your entire aesthetic, the hub around which everything else flows.

Ask Apartmentalist is a weekly advice column. It'll appear here every Friday. Do you have a question about crafts, decorating, or your living space? Email Lara@apartmentalist.com.

Posted by Lara at 05:11 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack

February 11, 2005

Honey Put on That Party Dress.

Lara-

I love your new site!

I'm interested to know your solution for clothing storage. I'm always amazed my NY friends have great wardrobes and no closets. I live in a good sized house and I am drowning in clothes—3 dressers, a closet, a coat closet. I'm a proud clotheshorse, but how do I keep everything from overwhelming the bedroom?

Thanks!
Heather



Thanks Heather!

Man, do I know your pain. I am also a clotheshorse and a SERIOUS shopper. I can’t even begin to tell you about the shoe situation. It’s intense. Ideally, I’d have an extra room I could convert into a huge walk-in dressing room, but alas, I have not yet won the lottery.

There are the standard solutions:

• California Closets-esque setup (Ikea has terrific inexpensive solutions, so does Lowe’s)

• Dual rods (upper and lower, a cheap way to have two closets in one!)

• Several plastic under-bed boxes (Target!)

• Plastic or cedar boxes of any size for stashing in an attic or up above the kitchen cabinets (see here)

• Skirt and pants hangers that hold multiple garments

• Those sweater-holder things and other similar stuff from Hold Everything or The Container Store

• Creative shelving/cabinetry (any hardware store)

• Over-door hook systems (Target, Wal-Mart, Lowe’s)

• The occasional footlocker/trunk/chest; this makes a lovely end-of-bed bench or low console elsewhere in your home (Ikea’s "HOL" is so reasonable at $69)

• Space efficient folding/rolling of clothing

• Vacuum seal bags are incredible! (look here, or search on Google)

• Fill your unused, empty luggage with bulky, rarely worn items

• Dressers with spacious, functional drawers

• Look at your hallway, if you have one... Can it hold a narrow dresser, wardrobe, or cabinet? This is a great place to stash stuff, and you really never spend time hanging out in the hallway, staring at it

• Look elsewhere in your home, too, and think about using some non-clothes-holding-type-furniture

• When all else fails: look into a storage facility

I stash my out-of-season stuff under the bed in big Rubbermaid boxes as neatly as possible. I hang rarely-worn dresses in the way-back of the coat closet. Valet hooks inside the closet door really help me get dressed without making a mess. Our utility closet (which is rarely used/fairly invisible to guests) has over-door hooks, so the inside of the door is covered with all of my lighter coats and hooded sweatshirts and rarely used purses. I also keep unused extra hangers in there.

That all sounds well and good, but here is one of my dirty (literally) secrets:

This hamper looks great, holds so much, makes sorting easy, and each compartment is roughly the size of a large wash load. When all my clothing is clean, my drawers and closets and boxes bulge, but during the in-between times, this hamper totally bails me out. Not that I’m advocating laundry laziness, but hey.

Most of all (and you won’t like this), it helps me to be a really hardcore editor. In RealSimple’s new The Organized Home, I read that women only wear about 20% of the clothes they own, and that rings so true to me. I hang onto tons of stuff that doesn’t fit me, clothes I’ve never worn, dumb old outfits that hold sentimental value, fantastic bargains that never really flattered me, I could go on. My tiny space makes careful, strict editing imperative. Every few months, I take a good realistic look at my clothing.

I give unwanted clothes to a friend, donate them to charity, or sell them to a consignment shop if:

• I haven’t worn it in two years (classic formalwear may be exempt)

• I am holding onto it in the vain hopes that I contract malaria and shrink to a size two, even though I was a flat-chested high schooler who ran eight miles a day the last time these things fit me

• The fit is unflattering

• It’s uncomfortable

• It’s horribly made

• It’s a hassle or too expensive to clean

• The silly trend has seriously passed, and won’t be back

• It matches nothing, or looks bad with all my shoes

• It’s impractical for my lifestyle (Those five-inch heels? Are just not a good idea for me anymore.)

I try each questionable item on, I walk in it, I sit in it, and I observe it from all angles in a full-length mirror. I hold onto the classics, the stuff that always makes me feel like a million bucks. I keep a few irrationally sentimental, never-wear items, but I get rid of as much as I can stomach. This gets easier with practice. At the sales, I try (oh, I try) to ask myself sternly "Will this be in the 20%? Will I really wear and love this all the time?" It helps to have honest, practical shopping buddies who will drag you back down to earth if necessary.

Whew, that was long. Have you all read this far?

Ask Apartmentalist is a weekly advice column. It'll appear here every Friday. Do you have a question about crafts, decorating, or your living space? Email Lara@apartmentalist.com.

Posted by Lara at 01:08 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

February 04, 2005

Cover Me.

Can you possibly post a tutorial on how to make a slipcover for a chair? I have an odd shaped oversized chair that is upholstered in faded denim fabric and I would love to update it with maybe some chocolate brown suede-ish material. Thanks!
- Jenn (a military wife on a budget in Atlanta)

Hi Jenn,

Sure, I can point you in the right direction. I’ve made a few slipcovers, and every piece of furniture is different, every type of fabric is different. There are ways to do it cheaply and quickly (draping! staple gun! upholstery tacks! duct tape!), and there are more expensive and complicated (sketch, pattern-make, sew, and tailor; aka "croquis," thank you Project Runway.)

The cheap and quick way is best done on the fly, draping and tacking as you go. But if you want a more professional, finished look (and if you’re thinking suede-ish, you’re thinking professional) the best online chair-slipcovering tutorial can be found on HGTV’s website, right here.

Ignore the fringe, please.

Also, if you’d rather outsource your labor, fantastic slipcover options in all sizes, fabrics, and price ranges are to be had at Surefit. They even have suede fabrics!

Ask Apartmentalist is a weekly advice column. It'll appear here every Friday. Do you have a question about crafts, decorating, or your living space? Email Lara@apartmentalist.com.

Posted by Lara at 07:37 AM | Comments (2)

January 28, 2005

Paints & Sheets & Bedskirts. Um. Oh My.

Could you recommend good sources for bed linens? Also how would you define high thread count? 400 count and above? And please offer some advice regarding the eternal trauma of bed skirts! It is so difficult to get a decent one and I hate bed in bags.

Hi! Sure.

Word on the street is that Williams-Sonoma Home's new line of bed linens is superb (1000 thread count? excessive much?), but whoa pricey. Calvin Klein has great options too. My current favorite soft amazing sheets are plain old Wamsutta, and they are 300 thread count.

The thing is, thread count is only part of the fabulous bedding equation. Anything above 200 is really fine, but only in pure 100% Egyptian Cotton. For whatever reason, this makes a HUGE difference. My mom got a set of 600 thread count, 100% cotton sateen sheets last year, and they got pilly after about two washings. And she was out more than a hundred bucks. And it was sad. Apparently, Egypt does something super special to their cotton. Thanks, Egypt.

I, like so many others, am so obsessed with Dwell. They're 210 thread count, and yup, Egyptian. Most of all, the designs are awesome. Those are my hardcore wishlist sheets. They have "Lara's tax return" written all over them.

I too hate beds-in-bags. And I must admit, I am anti-dust ruffle/bed skirt. I think they are a little old fashioned, and cause more trouble then they're worth. In recent years I've opted for a platform bed that doesn't need one.

My last bed had a box spring though, and yes, the bedskirt was essential. I got this one from Bed Bath & Beyond and it totally did the job. I chose the white, so it sort of faded into the background unassumingly, as bed skirts should.

BB&B has a really wide selection of bed skirts, so it's easy to find at least one thing you like.

Oh, and an Apartmentalist reader has informed me that Ikea bedding is great quality for the price.

One last note: upscale discounters (TJ Maxx, Marshalls, Century 21, Filene's Basement and the like) have great markdowns on fabulous linens of all kinds.

Hi,

I love your website!

Would you mind telling me what paint you used on the following rooms:

Thanks so much!

Thank you! The first room is Behr's Blue Feather, and the second is Martha Stewart's Quaking Aspen. I gotta say though, don't use Behr. Grab the Blue Feather swatch and match it to another brand. If at all possible get Benjamin Moore paint, the best paint ever.

I've never had a good experience with Behr paint. When we used rollers on that blue room, it would dry as soon as it hit the wall, and when we immediately (seriously, like, instantly) recovered even a portion of the the same area, it would peel up and get all gloopy and gross. Like, roll up, fine coverage. Roll down, hey, what happened?

I also had a terrible experience with a Behr red that made my bathroom look like a crime scene. Streaky, drippy, bad bad news.

I really really love that shade of blue, though. And the Martha Stewart Quaking Aspen is so tranquil for a bedroom.

Ask Apartmentalist is a weekly advice column. It'll appear here every Friday. Do you have a question about crafts, decorating, or your living space? Email Lara@apartmentalist.com.

Posted by Lara at 12:53 PM | Comments (6) | TrackBack

January 21, 2005

Material World.

can i ask-- where do you go for crafts/fabrics/button maker kits? i've lived in brooklyn for over 5 years and i still miss big stores like JoAnn fabrics... thanks!

-anna

Anna:

I've had the best luck at the Rag Shop on 60th Street, about 2 miles south and west of Park Slope on the N, M, and D trains at the 62nd Street/New Utrecht Avenue stop.

Rag Shop's site has detailed maps.

It's not as great as a suburban Jo-Ann's, but it has most of what I need. If they don't have it, sometimes I go into Manhattan's garment district:

• Paron Annex on 40th Street between 7th & 8th Avenues

• Daytona Trimming on 39th Street between 7th and 8th Avenues

If the staff questions you or acts like you can't buy things if you aren't in the trade (this has never happened to me, by the way, but a friend of mine once had trouble), tell them you're a student at FIT. The student lie also works well if you want swatches. Not that I'm endorsing lying. Or anything.

Other places in that area only sell by the HUGE BOLT, and are to be avoided unless you're covering six sofas, outfitting the cast of a school play, or clothing a small third world nation.

I've also had great luck finding craft supplies online at JoAnn's, Create for Less, Repro Depot Fabrics and even eBay. I also love Make Me Fabrics' vintage selection. Be aware that sometimes you don't receive exactly what you want, or you find that your goods are a little off color-wise, because you can't touch & see things in person. but if you have a very specific product in mind, the convenience can't be beat.

Ask Apartmentalist is a weekly advice column. It'll appear here every Friday. Do you have a question about crafts, decorating, or your living space? Email Lara@apartmentalist.com.

Posted by Lara at 02:30 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

January 14, 2005

Can't Live with Them.

Can you talk about or give advice for decorating with roommates? Like for example in my house there are three of us and although we are all nice people it's hard to get people to agree/do things your way/compromise--it's just even hard to get started, so we have a spare room with nothing in it, and our living room is also really empty by default.

And a related, smaller problem: how do I broach the topic of wanting my male roommate to take his Nintendo stuff and put it in the closet when he's not using it, considering he uses it maybe once a week (if that) yet it is always sitting on the floor?

All the roommates I've had in the past were pretty stubborn, and I didn't like most of their decor taste... One was a total slob in shared areas, and another filled the apartment with hideous furniture (like a gold velour suburban nightmare 1970s armchair that clashed with everything in the entire universe. I am still not over it.) and tons of knicknacky clutter. This same roommate would select & buy big expensive things out on her own. Ugly expensive things. Like rugs.

And then she'd ask me to pay for half.

Hey everyone! Don't do that. Unless all parties have agreed to this arrangement, pre-purchase. You don't want every apartment move to be like a divorce, wherein your roommate demands her $19.50 back for half of the blender. I think splitting the cost of shared items is a really bad idea in any context, unless perhaps you are married to the person. If you haven't committed to live with them forever, splitting stuff creates problems down the road.

It's better to say, "Hey, I am providing the TV (or whatever), can you provide a microwave?" That way when someone moves out, they just take their stuff, and there are no awkward conversations about who owes whom $14.95 plus tax for half of the wineglasses.

/end rant

Sorry about that.

Anyway, back to your question. You are way more justified in yelling at your roommates to clean up than in, say, yelling at them for having different/no/bad taste. You have the right to walk through your living room without accidentally sticking your toes into a week-old milky cereal bowl, but you don't have the right to force your roommates into replacing perfectly fine shelves because they don't match your table or whatever.

So there was very little I could do about the conflicting taste of my roommates without disrespecting the fact that these ladies paid a portion of the rent. I just pouted a lot, mostly. And held it inside. And then I decided to live alone for a year, reveling in the fact that I GOT TO MAKE ALL DECOR DECISIONS IN MY KINGDOM. I was a little lonely, but I never had to share the couch or look at someone's weird collection of religious icons.

With my boyfriend, sometimes I'll kindly provide him with a solution (usually some sort of storage paid for by me) to eliminate or fix the thing I hate. That way everyone wins. What if you bought your male roommate a nice canvas-covered box or some sort of lidded basket to keep his gaming controllers in? That way, the stuff can sort of stay out & near the TV, but you don't have to look at it. Is that fair?

As far as filling up your empty spaces, that is clearly a larger issue. If it really bothers you and you can get at least one of your roommates to back you up, then you should just get it started on your own. Share your plans with all your roommates, take their suggestions, answer their questions, accept their vetoes with a grain of salt, and if they're totally unexcited or ambivalent, pay for & execute the changes yourself. If the ideas are good ones, usually they'll love the end result.

That's what always happens in my apartment. He'll go, "Ew. I don't know." Then I build it/make it/move it and he's all "Oooooh, it's so nice!"

Ask Apartmentalist is a weekly advice column. It'll appear here every Friday. Do you have a question about your living space? Email Lara@apartmentalist.com.

Posted by Lara at 08:55 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack