How To Decide Where Your Lucite and Cherub Lamp Will Go

My friend and former roommate Erin, whom I dearly love, is nearly driving me crazy. She’s actually the inspiration for this blog – I began sending her suites of furniture (This couch, with THIS rug, with THIS coffee table…) to buy off Craigslist, because she has been sitting in an almost empty apartment for two months, and it's nearly impossible to get her to commit to anything because she has a hard time seeing how individual pieces go together.

So I was looking for some pieces for her today (I sent about 20) and came across this awesome bent willow canopy bed. I love willow furniture – it transports me back to my 10-year-old self who dreamed of living in a forest with gnomes (that book was popular then) and blue birds lighting on my shoulder (Snow White made an early impact).

Anyway: it sent me off on a Craigslist tear – how does one decorate around such a statement piece? Such aggressive style – all that movement, busyness and twiggishness? (Full disclosure: I decorated my college dorm room wall with a giant tree branch, so twiggishness in anything, to me, is a plus.)

Obviously let the bed star. Don’t bring in ANY OTHER natural wood tones. And keep everything else solid and simple. Because: look! You'llscratch your eyes out if there is anything else complicated in the room.

And for God's sake, please use solid linens. This bed screams for white or grey, or a greyed out blue.

http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/mld/fuo/1948223752.html

I tried some mid-century modern dressers for contrast, but they just didn’t work. This simple wood dresser – appears to be painted black – offers the room a solidity to balance the beds craziness.

http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/doc/fuo/1942895292.html





And put this mirror over the dresser -- maybe resting on it, vertically.





http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/nva/fuo/1949115698.html

It similarly needs a simple, modern rug. If you went with something country – a rag rug – it would start looking Kountry with a K. (350 or best offer.)

http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/nva/fuo/1948865048.html

Now: something soft and upholstered. This couch is perfect, if a little expensive.

http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/doc/fuo/1949005813.html

with this side table
http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/nva/fuo/1948848907.html

and this table next to the bed. Its important to have both metal and glass in the room.

http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/mld/fuo/1948546209.html

and one each of these lamps on the tables.

http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/nva/fuo/1948505871.html

and then , because every room needs something totally bananas:

Elegant Lucite & Brass Table Lamp... with Cherub.

How can you NOT buy it? It will go on the dresser.

Here's another view!

Snap it up before I do because I need need need it.

http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/nva/fuo/1936861256.html

The best part: all three lamps have those pleated, cream-colored shades, so they look intentional, and will tie the room together.

UPDATED! How Else Studioren Can Renovate Her Kitchen

To Remind You:

So I was thinking about Studioren’s kitchen overnight, which from the floor plan appears to be about 7’ X 7’. I endorsed one idea in an earlier post – taking down the existing wall to the living room and making that counter a breakfast bar, getting rid of as many upper cabinets as possible and instead installing a wall of no more than 6-inch deep shelves as a pantry/glass cabinet. Open shelves can get a bit dusty and greasy, keep in mind, so you’ll need to keep the contents on the move – using - washing -- another argument for minimizing your kitchen accoutrements.
But as I mulled said kitchen, I thought: as long as she’s willing to take down that wall, let’s see what else can be done.


Stipulating: the designated dining area is too small to really be used thusly, so I am sacrificing it to be used as breakfast bar only. Formal dinners can be held in the main area of the apartment with some shifting of furniture. Most casual guests will eat, and certainly Studioren will eat, at the bar or on the couches in front of the TV. (that’s how I do it and since I am telling everyone how to run their life…. I actually have a formal dining room that gets frequent dinner party use, but other than that, we don’t use it much. This is going to change when I switch things up… the subject of a later post).

So here’s my new plan for Studioren’s kitchen renovation:

1) Bust through the wall into the living room, leaving a 42 inch opening in the center of the kitchen (which I am expanding to 7’ X8’).

2) Make the kitchen U shaped with a 24-inch efficient fridge to the left next to a 5-foot run of countertop (see rule number 1). Here's are some U-shaped kitchens.

I love the minimal use of upper cabinets, and the generous white back splash, the clean lines and the tight palette. The brown tile backsplash detail behind the stove is brilliant.

This one is more traditional, but also acceptable.

This next one makes me homicidal.

Seriously: if you don't have a lot of money, you can still have a nice kitchen. Get white cabinets to go with your white appliances and white counter. The eye goes to contrast, so the eye here is drawn to these crappy looking cabinets. The space on top of the cabinets is just inviting dust and tchotchkes. The lighting is terrible. The vinyl floor pretending to be slate? You're not fooling anyone. Just let it be vinyl, and embrace its vinylness. Have a white kitchen and bring in a bright yellow, or orange, or red floor or black floor. Paint the ceiling a different color -- or better yet -- wallpaper it something cool. I appreciate the instinct for art but those little framed pictures: how exactly do you propose to look at them? Bend at the waist? And if you are going to do a grouping, MAKE IT MATTER. Group a lot of them, not 4. Space them evenly. Use an odd number. (3 looks almost always better than 2) I had to get that off my chest. This is a BAD U-shaped kitchen. No offense meant to diynewlyweds. Ahem.

3) Here are two fridge possibilities. I have called for a door that hinges on the left only because the counters are to the right – when she is loading in groceries they will be on the counter to the right. Otherwise I’d have the door hinged on the right so she could easily grab a drink or a snack from the living room.
http://www.ajmadison.com/cgi-bin/ajmadison/LRBP1031.html
http://www.amazon.com/SUMMIT-FF1625SS-Counter-Depth-Top-Freezer-Refrigerator/dp/B000ZIIQTY

4) On the “curve” of the U, a 30 inch slide in, gas, continuous grate range, preferably in stainless but white will work too (if the cabinets around it are also white). Continuous grates are great because they let you slide your pans all round when you are getting your Top Chef on.

Here’s one that would be kind of a splurge, but I like how it looks.
http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_02231043000P?vName=Appliances&cName=CookingAppliances&sName=Slide-In&sid=IDx20070921x00003j&srccode=cii_9324560&cpncode=18-68824378-2
And here’s one in white for much less money that could work too…
http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=30+inch+gas+range+continuous+grate&rls=com.microsoft:en-us:IE-SearchBox&oe=UTF-8&um=1&ie=UTF-8&cid=5748381096886380617&ei=Ij6KTNbADYO8lQfA87XACw&sa=X&oi=product_catalog_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CCwQ8wIwAQ#
But if Studioren can cough up the cash , the first will be lovely to look at from the living room.

5) On the right as you walk in the kitchen would be another run of countertop with the sink centered. That counter could be extended a bit into a curve – more surface area – and poking another 12 inches or so into the former dining area. It’s enough room for 3 or 4 people to sit (look four counter height stools, not bar height stools) and eat or drink comfortably. No upper cabinets here, I beg of you. (see rule number 3). I will consent to upper cabinets next to and over the fridge. But only there.

6) As for the sink: the trend is for a deep sink (so you can hide your dishes in it from guests I suppose) but it’s hell on the back to wash dishes in a deep sink. You’re forever hunching over. A shallow, wider sink is easier to use (but splashes a bit more, and you can’t hide the dishes. But face it, everyone can see your dirty dishes anyway, and everyone expects to see them when they come for dinner. I am always unnerved when I go to dinner at someone’s house and the kitchen is spotless. Makes me think I am about to eat gussied up take out.) My father, the Tile King, built my sink to spec out of Absolute black granite and it is fantastic: 36 inches wide, 7 inches deep, apron front.

7) I don’t know Studioren’s height, but she should consider raising the countertops a bit from the standard 36 inches. I’m tall and mine are 38 inches tall and it saves my back. It was easy to achieve: just affix a run of 2X4s on the floor like rails and attach the base counters to them. Voila. The toe kick area will be taller – maybe 6 inches – but you can get wood cut to fit, or do like I did and install mirrors. They will bounce light into the room and make the counters look like they are floating. I installed sections of a wonderfully aged ancient wall stud I had removed to make room for a door. It was cut down to look like short legs for the cabinets, and those are in front of the mirrors appearing to support the floating cabinets.

8) For a bit more storage, I’d like to see the two 2-foot wide walls that bookend the sink/bar area covered from counter height to ceiling(almost) with 4-inch deep open shelves (with lips). And give it the Mason jar treatment (see rule number 7).

9) On the living room side of that same wall, install magazine racks (from floor to ceiling, if it works).
Or just put up these: http://www.amazon.com/Ollipsis-Holder-Magazine-Polished-Chrome/dp/B000CCDCII

***UPDATE*** I am thinking about the layout and the sink is probably currently on the wall backing up to the bathroom. Moving plumbing can be expensive, so if need be for budget reasons the sink can go next to the fridge, though that's not optimal. I don't want to move the range to the bar side, because that interferes with the guests at the breakfast bar... this isn't a cooking show, after all. The fridge could go directly across from where it is now, back to the guests. But the back of the fridge will have to be concealed, and something clever done with it, if it's going to sidle up to the bar. Perhaps (speaking of bar): Studioren builds narrow shelves up the back to serve as the bar? Backs them with mirrors. Installs a row of bourbon and tequila and scotch, then a row of low ball glasses and martini glasses? Then I suppose she would also need gin and/or vodka on the row above. But guests can help themselves to drinks. Hmm.

Who has other ideas? Let's give this Brooklyn grrrl an awesome, inexpensive kitchen.

How to Stock Your kitchen (The Non-Edible Edition)

Here’s what you need, at minimum:

· A stockpot for boiling pasta and lobsters (if you can stand their screaming. It’s like the Silence of the Lambs up in there)
· A saucepan or two. Heavy bottomed so it doesn’t burn the contents.
· A frying pan (I like them large and in cast iron. Non stick, naturally, really easy to clean. They go from range top to oven. You can make fried chicken, pancakes, cornbread – anything really. And they are heavy and the stuff doesn’t burn).
· A 10- inch chef’s knife
· A paring knife
· A serrated long knife (for bread and tomatoes)
· One or two cutting boards (I like wood but there are others that take less room)
· A whisk
· Tongs
· One of these
· A clutch of wooden spoons
· A metal spatula for flipping pancakes, eggs, steak…
· Silicone spatulas in various sizes
· Nesting mixing bowls
· Measuring cups (for dry ingredients) and spoons
· A 4-cup glass measuring cup (Pyrex goes into the microwave)
· A microplaner (for parmesan cheese, zest, chocolate, ginger…I use mine every day)
· A citrus squeezer, or a reamer. I like the squeezer.
· Parchment, plastic wrap, foil
· A tea kettle and/or a coffee maker of some sort.

How To Design a Tiny Kitchen (or rather, what to do if you only have a tiny kitchen to work with)

This one’s for you Studioren – and anyone else struggling with a tiny kitchen.

The challenge is to maximize space and minimize cost. I’ve designed a few kitchens in my time (professionally and for myself) so I know of what I speak. (Generally.)
Here are some good rules of thumb (some already elaborated on in an earlier post. Bear with me.)

1) Long runs of unbroken counter space are vastly superior to the same amount (or more) of small patches of counter. Ergo: one run of 4 feet long is better than 2 two-foot squares. Better yet if you can squeeze out 6 feet. You can line up plates, do a mise en place, set up a buffet, spread out the paper and read …

2) Corner sinks are tough to work with and should only be resorted to in the more dire of cases.

3) Upper cabinets are overrated (and expensive). They crowd the eye and if they are hanging in free space – over a breakfast bar, for instance, have a tendency to look like buck teeth. See?

Avoid. Only attempt the buck teeth maneuver if you are using see through cabinets (both sides glass) and/or the counters will be at least 2 feet above the counter and the counter is not hideous tile, as above But mostly, don’t do it.

4) Dishwashers are also overrated, especially in a small kitchen. Don’t bother.

5) Pantries, open or otherwise, are far more useful than upper cabinets (see rule 3)

6) Narrow shelves are best for storing staples (obviously not dishes). A few or more long rows of no more than 6-inch deep shelves – perhaps with a little lip on the front to keep things in place – will give you tons of storage, let you see everything you have on hand, and will remain neat. It’s impossible to do anything but line all your staples up like little soldiers with nothing lurking behind them… just no room for it. And glass ware looks awesome too, on open shelves. Keep everything grouped. All glasses on one shelf (or section thereof), all cans on another. Measure carefully. If you want to store your wine like soldiers too give it enough head room.

7) Buy (cheap!) matching Mason jars – you can get different sizes – to store dry goods. (see photo above.) The uniformity will make your open shelves look organized and great. You can decant your cereal into them, your flour and sugar and rice and nuts and raisins and craisins and (most) pasta, and your bakers chocolate. Added bonus: no bugs can get in. Pantry moths are helpless against a good mason jar. And they are air tight so things stay fresher longer.

8) Solid surface counters are a good thing to splurge on, especially in a small kitchen. Reason: the cost for short bits is not prohibitive, they don’t stain or scratch, you can put down hot things without trivets, you can do all kinds of ridiculous crafts without ruining them, they clean up in an instant and they are good for resale value. But be careful what you select. I loathe loathe loathe that builder’s grade granite that looks all pocked and weird in brown and pink. Like this. Hate it. I'm sure someone loves it. It just looks like a polished curb to me (DC has granite curbs, way up in upper northwest, it does).

Spend a little more, go to the stone yard and pick out your slab yourself. Sometimes they have remainders from other jobs that can be cut to fit yours for less money. I like granites without a lot of movement or inclusions… ie, I like them plain (and generally black or grey, both with a honed finish. I also don’t like shiny counters).

Also check out quartz and soapstone and Corian, and zinc counters. You can buy zinc sheets online and have a carpenter make you a counter from reinforced plywood encased in sheet metal. The zinc will age and get a gorgeous patina but its look is not for everyone. But the 55 million French people who hang out in cafes and oyster bars seem to like them.) Stay away from slate. It chips. Butcher block is cool but can get moldy if you are not careful. And tile counters can get grody in the grout if you are not scrupulously clean. I know this because I am the daughter of the Tile King of Florida. But my mom has these enormous tiles on her counter – 2X2, and she’s scrupulously clean, so 30 years later, they still look great.

9) As for finishes: Kitchens are expensive to redo, so unless you’ve got money to burn and are not worried about resale, go with classic backsplashes (white subway tile, white mosaic tile, Carrera marble) that go all the way up to the bottoms of the upper cabinets you finally gave in and bought on the advice of the pushy sales people at the kitchen store or Home Depot (don't listen to them! Listen to me! Their job is to sell you cabinets! The more cabinets they sell the more money they make!I am bossing you around with only the best intentions, and certainly no promise of remuneration), and/or white or good quality simple wood cabinets, and stainless appliances or white appliances. People don’t seem to like black appliances unless they are selected specifically to go with some design element in the kitchen.

10) You can do different color upper and lower cabinets – darker on bottom. Say, charcoal gray and white (again stick with classics).

11) Do me a favor and don’t buy those horrific oak builders cabinets, especially the ones with almond formica on them. Shudders. And stay away from cabinets with fancy routing and designs. They are usually just bells and whistles to distract your attention from the shoddy quality of the wood or construction. To me, it all looks like poorly applied make up on a little kid. Minimize the number of cabinets you buy and spend a little more, and use (Cheap! Painted!) open shelving wherever you can instead. Brackets are easy to come by. Ikea sells them.

12) I am still not sick of broad expanses of chalkboard paint. It gets greyed out very easily, so prepare to repain it once a year or more if you like it crisp and black. the chalk marks just never really clean up.

13) Get rid of everything you don’t really need. Make your kitchen minimal but functional. It will be much more pleasant to work in there. My list of the essentials in the next post.

14) Before commiting to a lay out, use painters tape to outline where all the appliances will go and where their doors will swing -- this will let you make sure you have enough clearance to get around and to open them all the way.

UPDATED! How Studioren can spend $1,500 and outfit her whole Brooklyn apartment, with sticking just one toe (and a small moving van) into Manhattan

The first in a series.

Studioren asked me to give her the old How To Run Your Life craigslist treatment and some design ideas for her new Brooklyn pad, the floor plan of which is above. Here's the first suite, from the top 100 posts on Craigslist in each category.

I spied those couches for a good price -- $500 for a couch and love seat. I love them but they are in Manhattan…white leather loveseat and couch. They remind me of the go-go boots my Uncle Phil’s girlfriend wore (in 1970) (she let me lace and unlace them) and I think they look fresh and clean. To wit: http://newyork.craigslist.org/mnh/fuo/1942543906.html

Put this awesome dresser along a wall. It's a splurge at $525, but I think it's lines complement the groovy couches. http://newyork.craigslist.org/brk/fuo/1939512443.html

Next, the walnut bed frame is clean and gorgeous. Up close, it looks like it needs oiling or something, but I love the wood grain. It's $350. http://newyork.craigslist.org/brk/fuo/1936525724.html

Dig this crazy rug. It reminds me of 1st class airport lounges in the 60s-- very Catch Me If You Can -- and it’s only 60 bucks. The ad says its 10 X15 INCHES but I trust they mean feet. Very Spinal Tap. http://newyork.craigslist.org/brk/fuo/1936386481.html

And this side table and this lamp, for next to the bed, maybe. $40 for both. Depending on the quality of the wood, Studioren could paint the table white, grey or black or a color from the rug. Or the wall color to make it disappear. http://newyork.craigslist.org/brk/fuo/1942924660.html

This white table, always with a good bunch of flowers in the center, to drop your mail and keys. It can double as a buffet or dining table when necessary. $25!
http://newyork.craigslist.org/lgi/fuo/1942699315.html

And this coffee table, for the couches. It might be a bit small at 36 inches. But the color should be great with that rug and it's shiny. $35 http://newyork.craigslist.org/brk/fuo/1943127245.html

If my math is right, all this for $1,535. (I’m guessing she already has a mattress, and I still need to find her bar stools for the breakfast bar).

So the layout: see if you can follow along with the photo above until I figure out how to transfer a drawing here.... and this is just one of several possibilities.

The couch and loveseat will make an L near the window at the bottom of the floor plan. The L will be closed to the kitchen -- that is, the love seat (or couch, whichever fits better) will have its back to the kitchen.

The dresser would go on the left wall in that grouping, essentially finishing the square. Coffee table in the obvious spot, leaning towards the love seat... an ottoman (not yet identified on craigslist) is probably needed in front of the longer couch. The lamp and corner table completes.

The rug, obviously, anchors that grouping. (If the 36 inch coffee table is just too small, go to Pier One or whereever and get a 4-foot round glass table top and pop it on the coffee table. She'll still get the shape and color but some of the fabulous shininess will be lost. sad face.)

The bed would be back on the back wall (beneath where it says K Line) -- with either the long side hard up against the back wall and the headboard on the left wall, or with the long side hard against the left wall and the headboard against the back wall.

To separate it and soften the room, hang an easy canopy from behind the headboard, across the top of the bed, and down the foot of the bed. Use some fantastic upholstery fabric -- it's usually 54 inches wide, and works well with a 60 inch wide queen-sized bed.

The white table should go next to the bed -- but not as a bedside table. Sort of centered in the room so it acts like a foyer table: fresh flowers, drop keys and mail.

Another option: keep the headboard on the left wall with the long side up against the back wall, and get a dresser (a different one, perhaps lower) for the foot of the bed to serve the same purpose as the white table.

She's going to tear down the wall between the kitchen and the living room to make a breakfast bar -- which I heartily endorse. She needs bar stools... still looking for them. I found 3 gorgeous ones but I couldn't tell if they were $150 for all three or for each. So I'm still looking, lest I bust the budget.

You're welcome. :) I'll do another suite as I find good stuff in Brooklyn (with one toe in Manhattan).

Here's the truth though: you Craigslisters are WAY more expensive in Brooklyn than down here in DC.

Pam

@studioren...leave a comment after you've looked at this so I know a) you've seen it, and b) I am on the right track

How Saroy Should Decorate Her Living Room

OK, so Saroy in Houston over on Apartment Therapy is trying to make her large TV disappear a bit in her new living room. Here it is currently:

So I’m looking for a sideboard that it can sit on, giving her storage underneath and something substantial to make the tv on that big white wall make sense.

Boy howdy, there are some slim pickins on Craigslist today.

But I found some options in the credenza category. Budget: $2000. Ha! I scoff at $2000.

This one looks nice and plain – hard to tell if it’s terrible wood from the picture. But I like the shape… sort of Shaker. And cheap! $135

http://houston.craigslist.org/fuo/1938303811.html

This one is classic and lovely. I love the rich wood and just $250 .. but maybe a little bit small? However, surrounded by art, it could work.

http://houston.craigslist.org/fuo/1930783292.html

I’d paint this one something fantastic …Kelly green in high gloss. OK, credenza: choice 3. Squint and imagine it in glossy green.

http://houston.craigslist.org/fuo/1923885912.html

Or pull a color out of that wall of art I demand she puts up around the TV. Comme ca:

Since I’ve saved Saroy so much money (her budget was $2000) how about springing for this delicious nutty sofa? I love it, and it should fit, given the dimensions of that room. Everyone can sit around having cocktails, talking about the jet age and then plotting the downfall of Alexis Carrington. It spans that many decades. I super heart it.

http://houston.craigslist.org/fuo/1940634951.html

The cool couches are coming fast and furious. This one is $1500 and requires cigars.

http://houston.craigslist.org/fuo/1940634951.html

And perhaps this marvelous vintage quasi arc lamp.
http://houston.craigslist.org/fuo/1931381115.html

This coffee table…only $100
http://houston.craigslist.org/fuo/1931381115.html

And hello, this lamp on the other side of the round leather couch. Across from the arc.
http://houston.craigslist.org/fuo/1877588468.html

and an area rug: 8X 10, a little battered.. just the way I like ‘em.

http://houston.craigslist.org/fuo/1940559150.html

the whole room for I think under $2000… and that is how to run your life, Saroy. :)

How Evan in Chicago Should Decorate His New Apartment

Over at Apartment Therapy, Evan is looking for furniture and design suggestions for his new place in Chicago.

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/chicago/good-questions/help-with-the-design-of-my-first-apartment-good-questions-126171

It's a small place so he should minimize the number of pieces but make each of them comfortable and functional and of course, great looking. And all from the latest 100 posts on Chicago's Craigslist.

First, a generous, neutral couch: $349

http://chicago.craigslist.org/chc/fuo/1933501995.html

Now a coffee table. Ideally it would be round because the apartment is so square, but I like the sparkly and lightness of this too. And the price: $100

http://chicago.craigslist.org/chc/fuo/1933992064.html

This one is round, and can be painted if Evan doesn't dig the wood tone... Also $100. It's 42 inches in diameter, so six people on cusions can sidle up for Chinese takeout and watching Mad Men, which depresses me in its entirety. Thank God for Gloria Steinem.

http://chicago.craigslist.org/chc/fuo/1933122129.html

This chair is only $25, and is sort of hilarious in an Archie Bunker way, and could work because Evan has one orange accent wall.

http://chicago.craigslist.org/nwc/fuo/1934253982.html

But I vastly prefer this one. It's white leather with nailhead trim, and $200, but I have no idea where Oswego is. I think Evan is going to be taking a road trip. Because seriously: quilted leather. Yes please. With that chrome table? Heaven.

http://chicago.craigslist.org/wcl/fuo/1934172213.html

Now, a rug. This one is fantastic and 8X10 and $50!

http://chicago.craigslist.org/nch/fuo/1930401513.html

I think Evan should put his bed in the corner (unlike Baby, whom nobody puts in a corner). And it should have a tailored canopy to separate it from the rest of the room -- sleeping in a tented cubby is so nice -- and it should be a fantastic pattern -- with either the colors drawn from the r ug above, or get a neutral rug and do something like this, which would work beautifully with an orange wall and open the way for pale blue accents:

Next he needs a bunch of book shelves -- all different sizes and styles, but all painted the same color (preferably the prevailing wall color, or if they are on the orange wall, orange. I want them blending in, not standing out, because they are not special. Here are two:

http://chicago.craigslist.org/chc/fuo/1934213513.html

http://chicago.craigslist.org/nwc/fuo/1926424948.html

or just get this one.. which has the added advantage of being white. A flat screen TV can go on the desk.

http://chicago.craigslist.org/chc/fuo/1931898449.html

He has a breakfast bar so doesn't need much more -- perhaps a place to put his tv, an ottoman.

I clearly need a hobby.