Place Mark

Unconnected

I am experiencing only brief periods of internet access, as my Comcast connection is screwy, and as they cannot come to fix it until Friday. It is PROBABLY NOT THEIR FAULT, they assure me, which is, of course, soothing.

In any event, there's not much of interest to tell...I'm just plodding away here, to little noticeable effect. The mess, if anything, gets bigger as I unpack, as now the apartment is loaded with unpacked stuff, as well as zillions of boxes. Tommy the Junkman (as he calls himself, professionally) is supposed to be here shortly to take some of the unpacked boxes and papers off to be recycled. He did a good job hauling away my basement rubbish from the old place a few days ago...Angie's List is a boon.

I took an exciting break this morning- it is a gorgeous day, amazing for November, to walk to Home Depot (there is actually a HD right in the middle of this city neighborhood). Not a pretty storefront, but very convenient. I got some stuff I needed, and then...nose to the grindstone for me. I will actually be looking forward to work tomorrow- as a respite.

The first night I was here, the cats were truly freaking out, indignant from the trip in their carriers, and then from being locked in the bathroom while I was moved in. I left them to their devices, once the movers had gone, as exploring seemed to calm them down, and decided to calm myself by finding fresh bedding and making a nice, cozy, clean place to sleep in the middle of the bedroom, with a lamp and my book.  I was just about to doze off, with Anyanka at my feet, when Archie appeared.

My big, pale blond tiger-striped guy is truly known for his fluffy good grooming. "Your cat is so clean!" is an actual compliment he has received, more than once. I don't know where he'd been, but he was totally covered in soot, head to toe- especially his poor, grubby head. He leapt onto my nice, clean pillow, and snuggled in, purring. What could I do? I changed the sheets in the morning. Although most of the grime seemed to have rubbed off on the bed, he was still filthy about the head, and what is more,  he did not seem to care. PTSD. It is probably best that this poor internet connection prevented me from uploading the dirty cat photos. Not pleasant.

All three of us are much more laid back today. And I'm truly happy to be here.

Tip of the Iceberg

Just in case you thought I hadn't posted because I was immersed in holiday hijinks...this is what I'm doing.  (I've never used this particular corny iphoto device before, but somehow it seemed in tune with the exaggerated  boxed-in effect that is my life at the moment.)  And there is oh so much more to be done. Movers were excellent, and it went well.The stove is here, and I'm reconnected all around.

So far, the only two unexpected negatives are the kitchen sinks that don't drain properly (Hey, inspector guy-isn't that what you were supposed to notice?) and a cracked floorboard in the back corner of the living room- can't see it really, or trip when there's stuff in the room- but still.....As far as I can figure, it didn't actually crack until a painter knelt on it, but the floor guy probably should have noticed it was giving, and fixed it. I'm quitting work on the unpacking for the rest of the day, in celebration of the holiday, and of arriving mostly intact. Then til Monday, and beyond-unpacking is pretty much all I see before me. Happy Thanksgiving, all.

Shot in the Dark

I went over to the apartment tonight to drop off some frozen foods and to take a look at the painting in progress. I have no idea whether this is an accurate depiction of the walls in the 2nd bedroom. I couldn't find the light switch and I didn't want to run my grubby hands over walls that were barely dry. So I took this photo in the pitch dark room, with a flash, and you are seeing it for the first time, as am I. I am so glad I decided to spring for taking down the ugly wall mounted yucky bookcases- and delighted with all the blissfully smooth walls. This is the only room where the shutters are finished, rather than white-painted wood. The white ones are at the shop getting painted, and will be back soon.

 

The second photo is the living room. As it is mostly fireplace, it's mostly trim, but you can see the wall color above the mantle. It was taken with a flash, too, but in a lighted room, as was the one of the dining room, below:

 

It is a fabulously tidy job,of painting, far beyond the sort of paint job I could pull off, and I'm really tickled. I think it's going to look pretty good. (Gotta straighten that bottom shelf on the dining room built-in! Crooked stuff drives me crazy, perhaps a residue of my 7 pre-law-school, post-college years as a picture framer.)

I have two more days to get organized, and I'm a mite addled, and tired, but looking forward to being there.

Colors II

 I am notified that the painters will begin on Monday. In honor of the anticipated unfurrowing of my brow, I give you my best attempt at depicting the colors selected. Snatching squares of the colors from the Benjamin Moore website and elsewhere was unsuccessful.

Even on my own computer, adjusted to within an inch of my life, they didn't look right. By "right", I mean that they didn't look  like the biggish 8X11 cardboards I painted with my little sample cans to check out the colors. So, what you see above is an indoor, sunny-day no-flash photo of those test cardboards. They look pretty close to the real thing on my computer, but we are likely all calibrated differently, so who knows how close they are on yours?

One advantage of this ambiguity may be that if you think they look awful, you will perhaps attribute the problem to this technical difficulty ?I really do not know why they are so blurry, I was not trying to be artistic, they are only cropped and otherwise unadjusted.

The top color is "Cottonballs", for all trim, semi-gloss. Then, Tapestry Beige (the living room), "Timothy Straw" (the guest bedroom) "Stuart Gold" (the dining room and the back wall of the living room bookcases, which are otherwise trim color), and "Nottingham Green"(my bedroom, much of this color appears in my Chinese bedroom rug).

Answers and Questions

 I have been asking for, and getting some advice from the readers of apartment therapy. They have a feature called "Good Questions", only they are really quite generous, and your question doesn't have to be good, actually.

If you are brave enough to show them your design ideas you can get design advice, some of which, from pseudononymous (not, actually a word, I know- there must be a real one that means the same) comment leavers can occasionally be a little on the cutting side. Usually, though, the comments are  kind and often, they are useful.  I have mostly contented myself with simple, practical questions, but now I am wishing I'd asked for the design sorts of ideas, too.

While engaged in packing, avoiding packing, and fussing about when the painters are going to start already, I have been whiling away some mental time thinking about stop-gap measures for the kitchen. I can't afford to do much of anything about it now, but I'd been thinking that I might paint the icky pretend-wood laminate cabinets white.

I was unsure, though, about whether the paint would stick properly, and/or be wipeable applied to that surface. I got some good ideas on this, with concrete suggestions. But I was especially interested in a comment that suggested that I put some nice stainless hardware on the cabinets, and paint the walls a less contrasting color, instead of painting the cabinets. I'm kind of wishing I'd just asked what to do to to my kitchen in a more general way, to solicit more possibilities that haven't occurred to me..

Any thoughts on this?  I actually quite like the semi-emptiness of the space, and am planning on getting a stainless restaurant table/cart, counter-height, and putting it next to the new stove ,when it arrives, on the wall by the fire-escape door, across from the sink. It will be 24"X48"- which is actually quite a lot of extra counter space. The pantry is nearly as big as the kitchen...so there will be serious storage room in there.

Probably my favorite thing about the kitchen is the window arrangement around the door, so I'd like to show it off or, at the very least, not do anything to block the windows and sunshine.

Scratch and Dent

 I have  imagined myself, a cooking geek, working some day on  a huge restaurant-type stove, with many burners and two ovens, or perhaps a LeCornue, or even an Aga.  When the real estate inspector discovered that the stove in my apartment-to-be was not only not working properly, but possibly dangerous, I was pleased to be given an appliance allowance by the seller- deducted from the purchase price of the apartment. Of course, I was excited by the prospect of actually choosing my own stove. For the first time ever, I would be able to pick one for myself.

In the past, I've always inherited whatever stove came with where ever I lived. This was very exciting. But it did require some dream adjustment, since I was not going to be in the market for a ten thousand dollar stove, or even one costing half that much. But, I quickly got over myself on that one, and looked forward to getting something sturdy, with some longed-for attributes.

So I went to the Scratch and Dent shop (twice), and after considerable dithering, this is the stove I picked out. In the end there were two in my price range that had the bottom line features I wanted, yet did not have an electric oven. I would have been quite happy, indeed even happier,  with a duel fuel range, but it would have meant installing a different electrical arrangement, and paying a surcharge  to the co-op association. (Our utilities being included in the monthly fee, an electric stove is extra.)

I wasn't planning on a stainless model, which I felt might be harder to clean than enamel, but everything I wanted was in stainless, so I dropped that thought. I Got a pretty good deal...about 45 percent off- I didn't see any serious dentage, in fact, I think its quite pretty.

Which, truth be told, is one of the reasons I picked it over its closest competitor, a Kenmore "Elite", which was also very nice, and had all my requisite bells and whistles.These being: a convection oven, and continuous flat burners- so you can move pots and pans all around, rather than just setting them on each burner. There is also one huge burner capable of delivering powerfully searing heat over quite a big pot, and another which that can be set to keep a very low flame going- something that can sometimes be iffy with gas burners. And three (!) racks, and a warming drawer.

I had done some reading on consumer ratings on stoves, and found that for every stove in my price range, there were disgruntled buyers...so that wasn't much help. I imagine that, like cars, there are lemons among most models, and I hope I haven't got one. It is a Bosch, and I like its style, which is very simple, with metal knobs and not too many electronic controls. It's to be delivered the day after I move..I'm pretty excited about it.

Giving It Up

Well, sure, waste is not good, I know, and I am a great one for fixing stuff instead of throwing it out and buying new stuff, when possible. I preferred keeping my comfortable but very shabby, nap-friendly sofa to adjusting to a new one, so I had it re-upholstered, for just about the same price. Now it is all plump again, and I got to pick my fabric- a cat-resistant hard finished ribbed sort of thing, and got red welting all around. I think it's pretty, and the main color is approximately the color of Archie the cat, who is a blond tiger-striped guy. Hence, his cat hair doesn't show.*

But sometimes, stuff is just not useful anymore. When I bought my stereo, I was clueless, so I brought my clued-in brother with me, and he helped me pick out a Sony system at the Appliance Store. It had a turntable, which was cool, because I've kept a bit of vinyl over the years.  There was a cd player, tape decks, and a radio as well.  It has stood me in good stead for nearly 20 years. I am very fond of it. However, at the time I bought it, I lived in a big house, and had plenty of space. Also, at the time, miniaturization was still expensive. So we opted for a bulky group of components, in a case with a door. Spending the money on the sound, we reasoned, rather than cute tiny-ness.

I'd been dithering over where it will fit, with its big black speakers, in the new place. And then, my friend asked me why I was keeping it at all, in this age of cheap mini-systems and MP3s, and a light dawned. And then, my other friend told me about Freecycle , which had barely grazed my consciousness before. What a wonderful thing this Yahoo group is, which has so many local chapters, and lets you divest yourself of stuff without guilt!

Already my excess flower pots and planters are gone, and my old wooden trunk, with its cracked lid. My greengage plum tree in its giant planter is being picked up this weekend...and all by people who want to have and use this stuff. It's really just excellent. I feel positively buoyant and unchained, yet not irresponsible, or futile, or lazy. This system is a true boon to the overwhelmed person-in-transition, who has no car in which to schlep everything to Goodwill.

I'm going to get something small that will play my cds, and my downloaded whatevers. I'm keeping the turntable, though.

In other news, I bought a stove today at the Scratch and Dent, and I will tell you about this venture, which I enjoyed, and show you my bargain, very soon. I never got to pick my own stove before, and I am chuffed.

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*This is a mixed blessing, as obviously a person can get a lot of cat hair on his or her bottom without realizing it.