ChanteuseAR's Profile

I've been considering replacing the standard bathroom door with a sliding barn door to make my tiny bathroom seem bigger...no door swinging to the inside, more usable space. Has anyone done this?

It looks lovely but don't try serving it to an Italian and calling it risotto, they'll tell you it isn't. True risotto does not mound as this one seems to do. Its supposed to be fairly runny.

I had the blackout issue too (neighbour in the house behind me has a floodlight that shines directly into my bedroom). I bought the curtains that I liked and then lined them with blackout lining from fabric.com. If you're handy with a sewing machine, it's as simple as cutting a rectangle a bit smaller than the curtains, sewing them on beneath the rings or pleats where the hanging hooks go and tacking it to the sides so the fabric isn't independent from the curtains.

If you're not handy with a sewing machine, use iron on bonding tape to join any seams or attach the fabric to the curtains (Fabric.com usually has this as well). I strongly suggest folding raw edges over and ironing them down for a more professional look. Adhere the fabric with the raw edges facing the back of the curtains. If you make a mistake, just heat it up with the iron, reposition it, and press it again (you'll probably need more tape to reposition).

I use this method as well as making pestos, or compound butters and freeze them. Also I blanch, shock, drain and chop herbs and put them in ice cube trays with no oil, for recipes that don't need the oil.

Oh, with regard to cleaning Kobenstyle, at one point Dansk had the following on their Danish website:

HOW TO CARE FOR VINTAGE DANSK ENAMEL PIECES (translated from Dansk's Danish website)

-In a pot large enough to submerge the piece of cookware you intend to clean, bring enough water to cover the piece to boil.

-Add 3-5 Tablespoons of Baking Soda to the water and allow the cookware to sit submerged in the boiling solution for 10 + minutes.

-Next, carefully remove from boiling water and wash in hot soapy water and scour with a nylon (not metal) scouring sponge.

-Rub with white vinegar to restore finish to the enamel after the item has cooled.

Granted boiling the larger pieces will be difficult for most people because you have to have a pot bigger that the piece you're cleaning.

Even Barkeeper's Friend can damage the enamel especially if there is already pre-existing damage or deep stains on the piece.

Creepy!!

My biggest regret, going with the in-house IKEA person for design. She (and IKEA's design software, which she used) completely screwed up the design and my upstairs rental apartment kitchen is a mess and unrentable.

She told me a pull-out base cabinet would fit in the design and it wouldn't so I have nowhere to put cutlery since none of their units with small drawers would fit in, there was supposed to be a cabinet above the window and instead of telling me they didn't make one that would fit, she just sent one that was too big.

The software doesn't take into account the 3/4" the cover panels add to the width of the cabinets and as a result the oven cabinet overshoots the kitchen wall by almost 2" and juts into the adjacent hallway.

I told her I wanted trim to fill in the 4" space between the ceiling and the tops of the wall cabinets and she sent 2" trim.

She didn't tell me that to have a cooktop so close to a tall cabinet I'd have to have the kind of cooktop that has a knob panel on the side and not the front, that panel serving as a buffer between the cabinet and the burners. I now can't use two burners on my cooktop because they're too close to the foil finish of the oven cabinet. She also didn't tell me that when all was said and done I would have LESS counter space than the 2' x 3' I originally had when in the design it looked like I'd at least have the same amount..

I'm saving up now to have it redone and I'm never using IKEA for a kitchen again (I have two more to remodel).

I think I'd like a frosted one better.

I have about 40 pieces of Kobenstyle in Turquoise, White and Apple Green (I'm currently seeking help for this obsession). It all started with a few unused turquoise pieces my mother gave me.

I won't cook in them though, they're used only as serving pieces. I also have what everyone seems to call paella pans. I have the original box and they're not paella pans...in fact, they're not even meant to be cooked in beyond warming food in the oven. They're buffet servers.

My bar consists of various kinds of glass lab flasks for decanters (having worked for a lab I was able to get them pretty cheap). I always make sure to have an interesting coloured liqueur in a few just to brighten the bar up.