TooManyTchotchkes's Profile

I have finally managed to get a handful of plants going for about two or three years in my apartment. You know how? I literally looked up plants that are difficult to kill. The best has been my golden pothos. It has done amazingly well. I can even space it and let it wilt, and it will come back with some water. The philodendron and ficus elastica have done well too. Of course, I've gone through three bromeliads and on dieffenbachia, the latter of which made it almost a year before deciding it didn't like me anymore. But the tough plants make me look like I know what I'm doing.

For my couch, I took the legs off and stood it up on end and angled it through a teeny back door. Don't know if this will work or not for you. ALSO, I just go with a queen air mattress with built-in pillow top that I got via Costco a couple years ago. It stores very easily and leaves a lot of space in my office. When inflated, it's the same height and size as a regular bed, not some camping escapade. According to guests, it is also infinitely more comfortable than my sleeper sofa ever was. If you free yourself of the "sleeper" option with an air mattress, I think it opens the door for many more options for a regular sofa from places like CB2 and West Elm (depending on your style).

Man, a lot of people don't like pink. Well,I LOVE it. I suspect the sunlight is making it "ring" a little more neon than it really is too. But this room went from Ashwell to Adler, and I'm all for it. The "after" is more chic and smart to me. The before was very sweet, but a little vanilla. I think I've gone through a very similar design "paradigm shift" in the past few years, so I truly appreciate and applaud the move.

DEFINITELY REPURPOSE the dining chairs if you can! Paint and reupholstery can turn them into Jonathan Adler-inspired kitschy chic/Draper glam. I would actually get rid of the table and maybe go with a sleek glass top and brass style - something to set it off a little. The lamp is oddly fun too - maybe it goes somewhere else creative or gets painted.

I have used two can converters: http://www.thecanconverter.com/store/index.php
to put in a small chandelier and an overhead track light in my apartment. Warning - it's not as easy as they make it look, and we had to be creative with a couple fixture situations - but the end result is amazingly custom.

I lived in Silicon Valley in the 70s - parents built a house in about 1968. Very much in the land of Jobs and Woz. Even saw the Apple headquarters being built. But I dare say that Apple products are more reliably and robustly built than the Eichlers. As hip as the Eichler designs are - and they are hip - they have headaches with the in-slab radiant heating, bad insulation, leaks, thin walls, fire threat - etc., etc. People today often forget part of the allure was that they were comparatively CHEAP. Perhaps you got more design than you paid for but definitely not more construction quality, from what I recall. I think Apple actually does better with the combo of design and affordability by not going so low with the prices that stability is sacrificed for style...Eichlers can be tough on the remod...

I already have all three Star Wars posters from Handz on Etsy. They rule. Right now I'm fascinated by these retro "propaganda" style videogame posters - http://www.thinkgeek.com/homeoffice/posters/de7f/

FYI RE: RUGS - I found it easier at my last place to go for rugs that have a stiff quality or even outdoor-grade material - seagrass, polypropelene, wood blocks, bamboo. They were easier to clean and didn't "buckle" as much with the carpet underneath. I suspect you could also put together stronger wooden style bathmats in some spots - although you would want to avoid creating a tripping hazard.

Very lovely. A little more Elle Decor/Architectural Digest than Apartment Therapy, though! More of an inspiration post and not very relatable on my budget. The condo alone (sq. footage plus location) is something I could never even conceive of as long as I live...

Don't worry! I'm part of the IKEA club, too! (The cost of living in L.A. and its environs is expensive enough...) It's all about getting it to blend and flow functionally with more special and unusual things - which it can do and you have done well. In fact, you're sort of "curating" your dad's furniture and your own persona art and special finds by having a little plain ol' IKEA in the background.

And then if you adjust styles (or even move places) it's certainly not a tragedy to throw an Expedit bookshelf on craigslist. I suspect you hit the Burbank spot most often with an occasional trip to Covina? :) I think Burbank may be the best store in the area - but, man, the whole parking lot/loading thing is annoying there!