Donkee House

Before and After: Metal Shelf (Almost)

A couple of months ago, I got this little 3 tier metal shelf for a STEAL.  A $15 STEAL. It’s a solid piece – the only thing not perfect was the handles needed to be replaced.  Despite that, it was an easy decision at the end of the day because:

1. I need storage…always

2. I love metal

3. Dowels or handles are easy to replace

4. No rust, not rickety – SOLID little guy

5. It was $15

We brought it home and let it sit around for a while because I was lazy and indecisive.  I found a place online that makes dowels to specifications, but I haven’t ordered them yet because I wanted to paint the piece first.  Black is nice, but I needed something HAPPY!

So off to the corner hardware store we went and picked up a few cans of spray paint and went to work:

This was mid-spray when we realized that despite the hardware guy and some blogs saying that yes, we can use the spray paint indoors with all windows open, we suddenly realized we were standing in a misty cloud of yellow.  Teeny, tiny, misty yellow droplets of paint were starting to drop a cover on most of our apartment.  We decided to take this baby outside and finished it up.

It’s now sandwiched between our two huge bookcases working hard as storage for some of my fabrics – it’s overflowing right now, which is kind of embarassing…but what the heck!

The yellow came out soft, mellow and buttery.  The husband is not a huge fan of the color, though.  I like it for now.  However, we might dial it up a notch to a more highlighter yellow.  Not now…just thinking about it.  I’ll need a couple more months to sit on that one.  As for the dowels/handles…I haven’t ordered them yet…what kind and color of wood would best play off this yellow, you guys?

Underutilized Nook

OK, folks – here is the nook I was referring to from this post.  Prior to the renovation, there were three shelves in this nook covered with 50 years worth of paint, paint and oh, more paint.  On a whim and against better judgement, I asked the contractor to tear the shelves off.  I just couldn’t stand looking at all the globbed up paint!  In hindsight, I could have asked him to put in NEW shelving, but I didn’t.  I can be quite dumb sometimes…

Anyway, almost two years later, this is it.  It’s a good sized nook and it’s not really doing anything right now – a WASTE.  I put those two white boxes there (they house miscellaneous stuff, mostly) because I’ve yet to find a good home for them.

I consider this area of the apartment my arts and crafts space.  Our old dining table that we got from Craigslist is serving as the craft table and is currently piled with…stuff – fabric, thread, zippers, buttons, doilies, etc.  I didn’t clean it off and stage the pic because let’s be real…this is how it is.  I need to show the real deal so any ideas that you guys come up with works with my real life, not anything staged and impossible to keep up with.

Here are some more pics from different angles.  Have at it, people.  I need help figuring out how to maximize this nook!

That’s Mona the dress form.  She holds my most used scarves and will soon hold my most used belts.  You can see the living room with the TV to the left…

Opposite angle – see the front door to the right.  Yes, that is another pile of fabric in the hallway – those have not been laundered yet, that’s why they are by the doorway.  Yes, I need a good place for all my fabrics.  I have an allotted spot in one of the bookcases (not shown), but it’s all full up.  Ugh…

Empty wall – I’d like to put up some wall cabinet storage here, or a HUGE mirror…any ideas?

Coat and Catch-All Closet Organization

It’s starting to get cooler out and the blistery and icy winter is around the corner.  Never mind that the temperature has been in the balmy 60s for the last few days.  It’s NYC, so freezing snow and slippery icy sidewalks could be the day right AFTER a 70 degree day.  It’s been a bit Jekyll and Hyde for the last few years.

Trusting that winter or a cooler fall will eventually make their way here, we decided to tackle the coat and catch-all closet (serving both needs by default because there is no such thing as an extra catch-all closet or an extra square inch in NYC).

We set the closet up with Elfa shelving from The Container Store when we first moved in over one and a half years ago.  Since then, we’ve left it alone hoping that the coats, jackets, bags, dry cleaning haphazardly and hurriedly dumped in there on the way in the apartment and other random entities would sort themselves out without our human intervention.  Alas, no such luck…

So now we unabashedly show you our coat and catch-all closet in all its ugly glory…first pic above is what you encounter when you open the closet door…a gaggle of coats and jackets across all seasons mingling with plastic dry cleaning bags (some WITHOUT anything in them because either I or my husband were too darn lazy to take out the plastic and hanger after taking out whatever sweater or shirt in there…SOOOO LAZY we deserve a spanking).

Here are more pics…

The floor of the closet – the items strewn delicately about:

- to the left is a drying rack for items that we wash, but need to hang dry – necessary for warm weather delicates.

- a backpack that the husband RARELY uses.

- a grey canvas bag containing a painting from Senegal that was a gift and a Van Gogh book that weighs about 10 pounds that was also a gift.

- An air mattress rolled up in its own black storage bag for guests.

- A black plastic bag with about 5 or 6 wide belts that I had been intending to donate for more than half the year…just waiting to accumulate more stuff so I can make one big trip to Goodwill rather than many numerous small trips – that’s what I keep telling myself.

- to the right, in the neon green plastic bag is a boogie board – I didn’t even know we had one.

- little white tied up plastic bag.  No clue what was in there – made the husband open it up in case a huge skunk jumps out of it.  Turned out it was a too big vintage wool top and skirt set I bought from Zachary’s Smile months ago.  In a bag intended for donation.  Good – so the Goodwill pile is getting bigger.

We have a tall and deep closet, so we extended storage capacity up high.  The top shelf houses a few board games, kadima paddles and a Charlie Brown Christmas Tree.

Second shelf houses a few rarely used bags (straw one for the beach and two traveling bags – one black and one canvas and red), a frisbee, Scrabble and Cranium – my favorite game of ALL time – just don’t make me do the humdinger.  Spy the chrome rod right under the shelf?  See below…

We installed two hanging rods since the closet is so deep.  The idea was to hang out of season coats and jackets in the back and in season ones in the front.  But as you can see in the first pic, things got a bit mixed up.

The floor of the back of the closet is home to our three suitcases.  I can see one, maybe two right now.

The right side wall of the closet.  We installed a set of hooks for hats and such – can hardly even see it!

One more grand shot of the coat and catch-all closet…

We took almost everything out of the closet and added a few more items to the Goodwill bag.  We disassembled the plastic bags and hangers and re-arranged the top two shelves.

We stacked most of the games (ones we don’t really play anymore) on the upper left corner.  We put the beach and travel bags up top also.  The air mattress found a home on the second shelf along with the backpack, backgammon, chess, Scrabble and Cranium.

Spring jackets went to the back of the closet along with the drying rack.  Mine were on the left, the husband’s on the right.

The suitcases remain in the back of the closet.

We added a nylon hanging sweater bag, but using it for my bags instead.

The couple of bags I use more often are on the hooks.

Our fall and winter coats are on the left side, giving me access to the bags to the right – I have enough room for at least a couple more bags!

All the donation items are in one big bag and will be brought to Goodwill tomorrow, the painting will be put up tomorrow as well and the Van Gogh book went into one of our bookshelves.  The closet floor is now free and empty and I can walk right up to my bags!

Until next season!

Before & After – Living Room & Bedroom Curtains

These are the windows in our living room.  For New York windows, they are of decent size and we fortunately get pretty good light during the day.  Aside from the double cell blinds we had custom made from Select Blinds, these windows have been sitting bare for more than a year.  (Never mind the air conditioner, I wish it was not there to obstruct the window, but it’s an ugly necessity for an ugly humid New York City summer).  A couple of weekends ago, the husband and I made the pilgrimmage to the Ikea in Red Hook.  We went mostly for under cabinet lighting for the kitchen, but ended up solving our curtain dilemna instead…

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Bathroom Renovation

Bathrooms are my thing – they are the most important room for me in a home.  Before booking a room for vacation, I have to see what the bathroom looks like first before I can commit.  I don’t need anything fancy (although fancy bathrooms are always nice!), but a good bathroom starts with being CLEAN.  I don’t want to be grossed out and have my hair stand up every time I walk in there.  I hate to step out of the shower and HAVE to put my clean feet into a pair of slippers right away because the floor is too gross.  Maybe it’s a germaphobe thing – the way I see it – the bathroom is one of the germiest rooms in a home – it’s got the doorknob, the toilet flush, the sink, the sink handle(s), it could get damp in there, especially if you don’t have a window or adequate ventilation. That all makes bathrooms prime party spaces for bacteria and germs.  Because the bathroom is so potentially germy, a clean bathroom is a relief for me.  Getting yourself cleaned up in a clean space makes total logical sense, right?  Getting cleaned up in a dirty & germy space doesn’t. Continue reading…