Gibbous's Profile

Since moving to Los Angeles, my boyfriend and I have engaged in a lot more CL transactions than we ever did in NY. He marveled recently at how positively the majority had gone, and I realized that this is probably because we (and most folks, I'd bet) seek out ads that sound as though you could have written them yourself. Subsequently, we've met a good many friendly, well-intentioned people with good taste!

I loved the look of "dressed up" plywood. It's such an inexpensive, versatile material. My partner is a carpenter and has made quite a few pieces from plywood with exposed edges and interesting joints incorporated. We get a lot of compliments and requests! It is true that you need to finish it carefully, especially in a room like the kitchen where it may be exposed to water. Danish oil is great for bookcases and decorative surfaces, tabletops tend to need more serious finish like a matte polyurethane.

If I don't have batting on hand, or there isn't a supply store convenient, I just go to the nearest 99 cent store and buy a cheap polyfill pillow for a buck. It tends to be a lot more batting than you'd get for the price from JoAnn's or similar.

I JUST did this over the weekend for my shop space - except I needed the whole 4x8' sheet of pegboard to get my stuff in order...

Pegboard is cheap, but the hanging hardware get pretty pricey! you can use use dowels to store thread spools, and there are ways to rig multi-tool storage with just a few hooks, or with wire!

We moved sight unseen from NY to LA to live in/renovate this house owned by a woman who was the twin sister of someone my boyfriend had done renovation work for in the past. It was totally terrifying packing everything to move cross-country on just a handshake (or an email, no less!) but after hours of Google-mapping the street and neighborhood, we were so smitten with the idea of having a backyard, driveway, and snow-free winters that we decided just to go for it. It was especially tough knowing that we were moving into a place that "needed work", but I think that ultimately it helped to have low expectations.

Too poor for a panini press, and a die hard lover of grilled sanwiches, I've long been making "waffle-wiches" in my hand-me-down waffle iron. Yes, it helps to have a layer of foil between the bread and the iron, in case any messy ingredients squeeze out, but they're great! Make lunch much more often than breakfast with my iron.

My boyfriend came with almost no belongings, and excellent carpentry skills, so I basically commissioned all of our furniture.

@AMANDARH - they are not hard to put together. I didn't put the casters on mine, but instead use it as a "leg" under my desk, with felt in the corners.

1,885 square feet is big. For NYC/Williamsburg, it is HUGE.

Don't forget, they poop a lot.