Sink Handles

Good  news, Betty fans. At long last, the coveted sink handles have been put in place. There's a bit of a story to it, making what is a small thing non-trivial.

You may recall that I decided the sink itself is OK, and kinda unique in being a "ledge back" design. My only real complaint was that the chrome on the fixtures had stripped off significantly.

When I say, "kinda unique", I am not kidding. In my earlier quests for sinks, I only found a couple of models remotely like this. Fixtures were even harder to find. This whole notion of having the handles mounted on the front of the ledge seems to have been a quaint mid-century one, one that has fallen by the wayside.

I asked my super where I might find parts, and he directed me to New York Replacement Parts Corp. "If they can't get it, no one can." So I went (twice, as it happens, but only bc I didn't realize the part was adjustable).

I showed the clerk a photo of my sink. "American Standard," he said, almost immediately. I ended up replacing the entire set of pipes and handles. Also, I was limited to one design. American Standard apparently makes just the one set.

I found a plumber to come install the next day, and now I've got some better-looking handles.

Now, they're not great. They're not an "iron cross" and don't have enameled labels, both of which I would have liked. They're small. However, they're clean, a bit shiny, and apparently stainless steel, which ought to keep clean easily. They're a darn sight better than the flaking chrome and faded colors of the last set. So, I'm happier with these.

Coming soon: the main show. The larger bathroom model should be done in a week or so.

The Hole

Something else I got fixed recently: the loose tile and broken floor in Betty's bathroom.

When I first moved in, there were some loose tiles in front of the sink.

No long after, a few others got loose. I investigated with my knife and discovered that the cement below was broken and chunky. So, like any good and thrifty homeowner, I threw a rug over it and put it off.

Three years later, I decided I really hated that rug. I had to face the underlying problem.

I went on a quest for tile. Hoo boy, is that a post in itself. The short version is that I looked online and visited three different tile shops in NYC, everything from a boutique in the West Village to a Dal Tile showroom in Murray Hill. Turns out the individual pieces I have are not really made any move, and the exact thickness is no longer standard. So, I spent a few months entertaining the idea of replacing the entire floor tile, which led to considering the walls as well, and then I decided I just wanted to patch the floor in a creative way.

Here was my idea: the hole was directly in front of the sink, and so I thought a simple mosaic of different shades of blue could be used to make a simple puddle mosaic. I would only need a few pieces. This last piece was the most challenging: no one sells tiles in anything smaller than 55 gallon drums, or something equally ludicrous for my purposes. I just grabbed some sample packs and sketched out a design.

I got the building super to fix the whole - much cheaper and simpler than hiring a contractor. However, I ended with a simpler version of my original vision: a square of squares, light blue.

So, not perfect, not even brilliant, but serviceable. A few months later, the repair is holding up, and as I prepare to fix up the rest of the bathroom, it's a nice touch - something to point out hat is personalized and a little creative.

Bathroom Prep

Good news, Betty fans. I took a look at some of the more problematic areas of the bathroom, including the weird discoloration in the tub. But first, the easy stuff.

I've decided to keep the sink. While I've jokingly referred to it as my North Korean Prison Sink, it really isn't. It's a decent size, and the things I like about it are hard to find in a form factor that works for this bathroom.

First of all, basin-mounted controls and faucet. See how they're mounted on the "wall" behind the sink? I actually like that. I mean to keep the shelf area above more clear - normally my face towel sits in the middle.

There are some scratches in the sink, but not terrible. The real problem cosmetically is the fixtures. Most of the chrome has worn away, making it look like something out of Fallout or Bioshock. So, my quest is to find replacement fixtures that will fit, and have the superintendent's crew put them in.

Le Basinet

Second, the basin is on the deep side. I've used this as a slop sink more times than I care to admit. I can soak my smaller bits of paddling kit, not to mention paint rags, clothes, and whatnot - and the sink is still clean.

So, she's a keeper. Sink gets to stay.

I ought to mention I considered getting rid of the soapdish and toothbrush holder - especially the latter. One puzzle about this place is that the toothbrush hold has slots for six toothbrushes. Let me remind you that Betty is 500 square feet, with one small bedroom. My downstairs neighbor has chopped hers into two bedrooms, by sacrificing half the living room, but still: That's either a toothbrush for nearly every day of the week, or Das Boot- style Kriegsmarine living arrangements.

So now the good news. The variety of stains in my bathtub have perplexed me for years. The tub is clean, just . . .stained. This stuff does not come out with scrubbing. After a little research, and a closeup using the Mk 1 eyeball, I think I have some new things to try.

First of all, I've decided this is a an iron tub with a porcelain finish. This is important to know because it rules out certain cleaning methods and rules in others. It also explains certain elements of the damage.

Second, I think I have two, possibly three problems I'm dealing with.

One is that the blue stains appear to be a very thin layer of glaze or paint. The don't come out with scrubbing, bu I am about to scrape them away with my thumbnail. Since there is too much work for my thumbs along, I tried a mix of kosher salt and lemon juice, using a soft shop rag. After about half an hour, I was able to get the most of the blue out of the left side of this photo. The ring near the front? The left looked like that.

Believe it or not, this is progress.

The next problem I have is stains near the back. These were less responsive, but I think I got a patch to lighten a bit. Over the next few weeks I'll spend some more time on this, and try some more aggressive treatments.

Le Tub

I had considered glazing the tub, and have gotten a lot of pros and cons on it. The idea of having the entire thing sanded down, filled in, and re-surfaced was really appealing, even with the long-term issues. However, I think someone did that once and that is why I have the issues I have now. In fact, I strongly suspect that someone glazed it that blue color, either to contrast the salmon tile, or to match and hide some mineral deposit blue stains - the third potential issue I've got.

Oh, fourth issue: blotches of white paint, either from painting the walls or a botched DIY glazing job.

So, that's the news. The bathroom's going to have some other changes, but they're at least a couple of months off. Meantime, these winer months I've had time to figure out what I want, and what I need to do. So now I know - and knowing is half the battle.

Shelf

I made a small change that's made a pretty big difference. After nearly four years, I finally hung the last shelf left over from when I moved in.

This is a wall-mounted shelf I got at West Elm. It's five feet long; two smaller cousins frame the opposite wall above the TV. This one though, I had a hard time placing.

The original plan was to have it directly opposite is cousins, about the couch. However, I hung two tchotchke shelves there, and never found a good place for it.

For awhile I thought I'd put it above the bed, above the headboard, but two counter-ideas prevailed: first, that wall is solid concrete and my feeble drill just made it look like Machine-gun Kelly took a shot at it, and second, the prospect of the shelf falling at nigh and decapitating me just did not sit well.

So, I put it above the desk.

I moved some photos to the opposite wall. My desk area now feels like a proper desk area, and not jus the desk sitting in the living room. I also moved a small breakfast table, making room between the opposite bookshelf and window for it.

The downside is that the table was my utility table - storage, where my purse sits, collector of junk. Now, it's a farther walk from the front door - but the upside is, it's closer to electricity, so it's a charging table.

So that's a change. It's a small one but altogether, it's opened up that space and made the joint seem less cramped.

I've got some more elaborate plans coming up, but they'll take a while to execute. Stay tuned.

The Mouse

A couple of years ago I had a mouse - a rodent, not a pet, someone coming out of the walls, and so I put down traps. Being soft of heart, I bought the no-harm type: a plastic box with a one-way lid. The idea is, the mouse crawls in, and he can't get out.

My boyfriend at the time kidded me about these.

"What are you going to do with a live mouse?"

"I don't know, set him free."

"Where," he asked. "Where?"

"The windowsill, maybe - no wait he'd crawl back in. Maybe the yard. Or over he fence, by the highway."

"A hawk will eat him."

That disturbed me. How could I be morally complicit in the life of another mammal? Never mind the fact that I do eat meat and am thus morally complicit in the industrialization of animal slaughter.

In any case, it wasn't an issue - until this week.

After I awoke, I made coffee and breakfast. While I started my morning routine, I heard a rustling, one that would not go away. At first I thought a mouse - a different mouse by now, since my scientist friend pointed out they only live about a year or so anyway - was in the trash, but then I realize the rustling was coming from underneath the wine shelves.

About where I have placed the trap - right in line with the flight pattern they (I must use plural now, given the updated life expectancy) use. Sure enough, there was a mouse in the trap, and he could not escape.

Now, what do I do?

I thought about releasing him on the windowsill. Too close. I settle on the yard. I was dressed and ready to leave anyway for my morning shop. I'd deposit him on the traffic island in the middle of the street in front of my building. But what to do with the trap?

My building super was out front. Pleased I had caught a mouse after two years of effort, I presented my find and asked what I should do with it.

"I'll take care of it," he said, and took the trap.

"Well, what are you going to do with it?"

"Oh, put it in the kom-pack-tor," he said in his Polish accent.

I was torn. There was a little more back and forth but what he said made sense. This was a rodent after all. And maybe he would survive, like Princess Leia and company in the bowels of the Death Star.

"Oh, OK. " I didn't want to carry the trap anyway, though my vision of a little mouse, roaming free on the exit ramp of the George Washington Bridge, was a little the worse for it.

Brown

So after a great deal of research, I decided on a new color for the doors.

Brown.

Ewww, she said. Brown, like something that comes out of our bodies, like mud, like dirt, like disgusting. But I picked a nice brown (Behr "Espresso Bean"), something cool and regal enough to take down the brilliant yellow and deep green that most of the door-facing rooms have.

Here is the original light blue - a sky blue, perhaps robins egg. It was OK, but made the overall scheme feel like something out of Dr. Seuss.

So, I wanted to do this right. I didn't go to the trouble of sanding, because the doors were actually in pretty good shape. However, I did remove them from their hinges - not always an easy task considering both I and the previous owner had painted over them.

I laid them out in my living room, using chairs as sawhorses, with plenty of plastic laid down.

Laid out for painting.

Here is a before and after, of the cubby closet.

And now, the bathoom and hallway closets.

At a distance, the front door.

So, I'm happy with these colors. I need to touch up certain spots, and I want to replace the fixtures - that has been the plan anyway, so I didn't worry about splashing pain on them. Having taken them off to paint, I now have confidence in being able to replace them.

Betty's Bath

I've taken the first step in what will be a gradual updating of Betty's bathroom: I painted the walls. They're now the same "Happy Camper" green as the bathroom. Despite this being St. Paddy's weekend, I chose the color a couple of months ago, replacing the boring plain white that was in there.

The bathroom has been a challenge for me, in part because I want to stay close to the mid-century period of the building, and I kinda hate mid-century colors and designs. Lafayette Gardens was built in 1951, making it technically postwar but not quite Jet Age. The result is lots of boxy shapes and bold colors. Thank God most photography was in black and white. If more of our family photos from that period were in color I'd probably be less enamored of it.

So, in this room, the first thing I wanted to do was replace that pink salmon wall tile. However, the tile is in good shape, and in the past three years it has come to seem acceptable, so I looked at the other colors I've used and realized the green in my bedroom sets it off nicely.

The shower curtain needs to be replaced, but seeing it in the photo here, I think that kind of pattern sparks the room a bit.

Other things I want to do: replace the sink (not pictured). I'm debating whether to get a pedestal sink or go with another wall-mount. I also want to replace the medicine cabinet with one a little bigger. Both are a challenge because they're narrow and next to the wall - there isn't a lot of room.

The floor tile is similarly acceptable, but there is a 1x1 patch I need to redo, and that will also required new concrete in the floor. I think a leak a long time ago wrecked it.

The easy stuff: shelves. I want shelves, to put toiletries and the like.