Anna Bananna's Profile

Well, here are a few additonal tips. I used to do quite some hitchhiking, backpacking, camping, as well as capital city hopping in Europe, and the following emerged from my experience:

-cut off all labels from clothes (lightens up your baggage, even if a little bit)
-choose stuff that is light and folds small - think silk and cashmere (they also dry fast when washed)
-for warm jackets - nothing beats good quality dawn
-scarfs are essential - they can be used in so many ways! and add variety and color to otherwise monochromatic set of clothes.
-if you need to carry towels with you, look around for one that is ultra thin - it will also dry ultra fast. I have one pure cotton, inherited from my mother, it's like a sleeveless bathrobe, best travel companion ever, folds to the size of small face towel
-If you are travelling through a variety of climates/temperatures, and don't want to carry many pairs of shoes, then consider packing/wearing a pure leather pair, and pack a sheepwool/sheepskin insole to slip in for cold weather, combined with woolen socks - much lighter and takes up less space than an extra pair of shoes.

I find it funny how many people hate the furniture because it looks like Ikea furniture, i.e. the Scandinavian clean&simple style. Well, to me it just means you don't like this style, the same like I don't like traditional American style furniture or houses. Also, recognizing that a piece is from Ikea probably means you are very familiar with their catalog and maybe visit it quite often. Well, I once heard that the only other book on earth that was present in people's homes as often as the bible was the Ikea catalog...so...
I mean, I don't care if it is an Ikea chair or an Eames chair, if it is comfortable and looks good. Mind you, also, I have fallen in love with an Eames chair just as I once fell in love with an Ikea one.

As others have pointed, the point of the photos is to see how you can do a makeover, or create a different feeling in a room by paying attention to the fabrics and small things. I know that very well, as I traveled much in college and changed many dorm rooms and apartments. Numerous times people would comment on how cozy and nice my dorm room was, and how different from everybody else's - even though their room had exactly the same furniture, the same wall color. The secret was a few fabric pieces (color!), something nice on the wall, a living plant or a vase with some twigs, maybe a few bottles transformed into candle holders, etc.

And again, it seems ridiculous to me to criticize the pics for using Ikea pieces, and not, say DIY stuff....well, guys, Ikea meant to show you what you can do with their stuff, and also to inspire you to use any other stuff. And sometimes you don't have time or resources for DIY. I will never forget my first Ikea purchase. My first day in Barcelona as a volunteer, I was really depressed by the look of my dorm room. I hated it and couldn't endure it for more than a day. What solved it: a trip to Ikea to buy colorful bedsheets that would match the all-beige room, a few empty wine bottles to hold some ivy twigs and 2 candles, and a collection of post-card size prints - reproductions of some 17 century botanical drawings. One of my scarves transformed the lamp, and another replaced the drab curtain. In a few days I had my dorm-mates coming to check out my room, because someone told them it felt so nice inside. I believe that if you change the way a room feels, that counts as a makeover.

quality rugs don't shed. Or shed very little in the beginning. However, quality handmade woolen rugs, if you consider the time and skill put in them, should cost you over $1000, that is, unless you go on vacation to a country where people make them and have been making them for generations. I love wool - it is probably my favorite material - I have woolen underwear - softer than silk; 30 or so sweaters, a flokati rug, woolen coat, etc. These days it has proven impossible for me to buy good quality woolen sweaters - even expensive ones get these little balls on them. And I know they shouldn't do that - I have a lambswool cardigan I inherited from my father - over 30 years old...had to patch it at the elbows as it wore off, but, as much as I wear it, it does not have a single ball. It is just that now everything or nearly everything is made/manufactured with built-in obsolescence. Sad.

Cleaning tips for flokati and similar wool stuff:

Where I come from - Bulgaria - flokati are very common, absolutely ubiquitous. They are called kitenik. The way to clean them is to wash them. In Bulgaria we have special places by very clean rivers in the mountains, where they are washed just with water. But living in the city, your best friend is the bathtub. First shake your kitenik/flokati really well to get rid of dust (you should be doing this every week, while doing your general floor cleaning. Never vacuum a kitenik!). Then fill up your bathtub with lukewarm water -neither hot nor cold. Add wool washing detergent (or shampoo, if you don't have a special detergent for wool). Let the kitenik/flokati soak for a while (30 minutes at least). Get in the bathtub and stomp around - or if this is not appealing, or you have sensitive skin, just put on a pair of rubber gloves and do some old-style washing motions. Drain water. Proceed with rinsing several times, again with lukewarm water. Drain as much of the water as possible. This can take a while and involves some turning around of the flokati/kitenik. Finally, air dry (outdoors with the sun and wind is the best). I usually wash my kitenik twice a year - once in the beginning of summer and once in early fall - making sure to get two days of warm dry weather. Alternatively, you can see if your dry cleaner's offer laundry services for fine woolens. I used their services once, but the dryer kind of ruined my kitenik, so I have never repeated.

Hope that helps.