ZuleikaD's Profile

An enormous number of the homes featured on AT leave me thinking "Nice. Clever. But not my style."

This has left me somewhat breathless and only able to say "Want. Want."

I absolutely love this space and its style. I can't imagine I'll ever be lucky enough to find a place like this to live (and if I did I doubt it would be remotely affordable), but thanks for letting me look.

I've just re-purposed my dining space to studio/craft space, and I think I've used it more in the last three weeks than I have in the 10 years I've lived in the apartment!

I bought a couple counter height chairs for the counter-height worktable, and the old chairs have been tucked into corners and turned into night stands. On the rare occasions I have people for dinner, I can deconstruct the work table and trade out the chairs.

I think in most small apartments all the dining table you need is a big end table like #9 above.

I thought it was meant to be a row boat... Love it and the idea, but more as permanent art.

Part of the point of a Christmas tree is bringing in live greenery to your home in the dead of winter, so fake trees always seem to be the centerpiece of a point missing party.

I'd love to see some tree and decorating alternatives that involve greenery!

Absolutely agree with Blandwagon! This is spectacular. I am jealous jealous jealous. I'd like to be able to do as much with strong color and have it work. My own personal style is a different era and different colors, but the lessons to be learned here are universal.

Amy, do you have any particular education or training in the arts or are you just fearless? Is there a lot of experimenting and re-painting or just a lot of planning?

I've got two sets of porcelain dishes from C&B, and they've held up REALLY well. I've broken a couple of pieces over the years -- but some of it has been dropped on the floor more than once. One set is about 20 years old and the other maybe 8. I want to emphasize that these are porcelain which is much more durable than earthenware, no matter where it comes from.

jplee, I have two pieces of furniture from Cost Plus/World Market. One is a solid wood bookcase that is in great shape -- the finish is fading where it's exposed, but it is smack in the window, and I've had it maybe 7 years. I'm thinking about buying another one.

The other is a wood folding chair that I've had for more than 30 years. No kidding. I got it when I was about 9. For years it was the only desk chair I had. It might as well be new its still so sturdy.

I think you can be confident in buying furniture from there.

I don't buy much at Ikea. I think a lot of it is overpriced and the quality is poor. I do have a floor lamp from there that I bought as a temporary measure (way too long ago). It works okay, but I've replaced the fuse in the dimmer switch about four times. The canvas sweater bag hanging in my closet was a steal and has held up well. I'd concur with others that its good for smaller items or stop-gaps until you can figure out what you really want.

I'm not being snob about it; I don't have much $$ to spend either. But I don't think Ikea is good value for the most part (except for the meatballs...). I think you can get better quality at Target and at a cheaper price. And I'm just as disdainful of the quality:price relationship at places like C&B and Pottery Barn. Most of it is way overpriced for what it is.

I love these shelves, too, and happened to come across instructions for some similar shelves at Instructables.com.

The shelves there are floor to ceiling, so there are no wall attachments as there must be for Shannon and Emmetts shelves. But it's still a good start:
http://www.instructables.com/id/Zero-Point-Shelf/

The Instructables version will work better for me as I've been thinking "room divider" anyway.

The method would work with any sturdy boards -- hard wood shelving, MDF, old stair treads, slabs of Ikea butcher block, old doors...

As a blogger audition: 3 cupcakes!

I've lived in DC for more than a decade (including a few in Georgetown) and although I've seen a few of our old residential alleys, I had no idea this one existed! So, thumbs up for giving us something new.

Great that there were links to shops, local and national, for some of the pieces in the house. I thought Georgetown Carpet was gone, but now I'll have to take a second look. I must've just spaced out.

And a huge hooray for showing us something that looks like someone actually lives there, has both respected the architecture of the building while making it somewhere to live in the 21st century, and has a style that isn't, for once, MCM.

Siobhan -- There used to be lots of residential alleys in Washington. A century ago they were home to African American laborers and domestics who worked in the same neighborhoods. Lots of people who were freed slaves that came to the city after the Civil War. They look charming now, but until recent revivals were pretty grim slums without running water. They were outlawed a few decades ago and most were demolished in one of DC's foolish efforts at urban renewal. So places like Pomander Walk are a little bit of DC's surviving history.

kls987, Paper Source has a bunch of stores and they have lots more paper in the stores than online. (Finally, something most of us have that NY doesn't have...)

Wig, I've been coveting wood flooring for my bathroom, too. The idea that I had was to just put down wood deck tiles. Because they're intended to withstand the elements outdoors, I figure they'll do okay in my bathroom, too. There's a whole compilation of sources in AT's "Top 10: Wood Deck Tiles".
http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/ny/top-ten/top-10-wood-deck-tiles-024438

As for my Curing: I had gotten started last Fall and then got derailed. I did a bunch of cleaning out of the kitchen cupboards then, so mainly, I just need to clean, which I'm doing today.

I picked up some of that cushion-y shelf liner to put in the cabinets with glasses, plates and in the silverware drawer. My kitchen has these old metal cabinets (probably from the 30s) and the banging and clanking was really getting to me. I put that in this morning.

I'm also accumulating a small list of things I'd like for the kitchen to polish it off: A new trash can, a cabinet organizer for large flat pans & trays, and some way to cover or contain the large pots, bowls and extra set of dishes that I keep on the top of the cabinets.

I thought about just plain old padded dish storage containers, but really, they are so 1963 -- and not in a good way. The vinyl is an upside since the top of my cabinets gets disgustingly greasy (old kitchen, no range hood), and it would be easy to clean.

White plastic storage tubs aren't much better.

I'm also going try to find a couple of small flowering plants to put in some small containers I already have to brighten up the window sill.

I'd try the landlord first. There are laws about noise transference in DC. I'd be surprised if your leases didn't specify that you have to carpet a certain % of the floor.

The best solution would be sound absorbers in your *neighbor's* apartment to stop the echo and reverb. Anything soft or upholstered would work. Curtains, quilts on the walls, carpets, sofas, etc.

As for blocking the noise from coming to you, you'll need to block the direction it's coming from. Since he's underneath you, that means carpets. A thick rug pad under a new or even your current carpet would help, too.

Good luck.