Plans

Well, it's certainly been a while. I've had to prioritize things other than Betty. Partly, getting a job, and partly, visiting a friend of mine who was sick upstate.

I've come into winter with lots of ideas but not cash. However, I've made some plans and some minor improvements.

First, I got some proper curtains and curtain rods to hang up in the bedroom. The living room curtains have been replaced except for one window. Basically, when I've got the cacsh I'm going to replace the hangers with something nicer, and go with the "thick" rods from West Elm.

Second, I've decided on colors. I just have to find time to paint, and then buy them. Maybe as early as January, but more likely February or March.

Hiccup

For the second time in three months, my sink overflowed. This time, they called real plumbers to clean it out. Apparently the problem was between the building and the main line . . .or it was the main line.

Last time, I got charged bc they replaced some of my plumbing. This time, I was clear that I'm not paying for it. It isn't my pipes. They should have done what they di last time - which is to clean the pipes in the building.

What happened was, I came home and noticed sediment in the sink. The countertops and tile floor were wet, but there was no water in the sink. I wrote a note and put in a work order.

After I came back, about fifteen minutes later, the wink started silently filling with water. I got out towels and called the super, the manager, everyone I could think of. Water was spilling out all over the floor. Eventually it stopped, and they mopped it up and got people up and down to stop using their kitchens. I finally got everything cleaned up and went to bed.

Half an hour later, my downstairs neighbor knocked and asked if it was flooding again. Sure enough, it was. This was around midnight.

Somewhere in there, I had a date. Like, with a man, at a bar, and he was interesting, but the sink business dominated my attention all night.

Let there be light !

I've ben terribly remiss - Betty's kitchen light has been fixed for almost two weeks. Here is a photo:

There are actually two, and they came together in a pack. Since the hallway light and the kitchen light are sort of in line, I decided to replace them both. I'm going to wait and decide later what to do with the bedroom light.

So, to recap, the fixture itself was bad - thankfully, not the wiring. A set of lights and a call to the super, and voila - new fixtures, much more pleasing to my eye than the old white glass globe.

I should admit that not much is happening with Betty during the summer - momma's off having fun outdoors, meeting friends, playing hostess and otherwise enjoying her first "summer off" in two years. As Fall approaches and we enter less inviting weather, I'm sure I'll get back to painting, fixing, and otherwise keeping up with Betty.

Bitch

Betty's being a bitch. She finally stopped lighting the kitchen.

Since the beginning, the kitchen light has been twitchy. After a minor adjustment, for the most part it worked. What I noticed was that after three or four weeks, it would start to flicker, and sometimes go off. I would twist the fixture, sometimes pulling it all the way out of the ceiling. Now, that is not enough.

I took a look at the wiring, and it was easy to see where someone else had already snipped a wire and re-connected it. I will admit I was nervous about messing with wiring, especially since my breakers are not labeled as well as they could be (I turned off the entire living room in addition to the kitchen). I did snip and re-tie the wire, covering with electrical tape, but to no avail. I still have no kitchen light.

I've put in a work order to have the super look at it. Meantime, it's summer, and between the living room windows and the entryway hall light, I have enough light to get by.

Lamps

I haven't posted the lamps I bought. They're not gonzo-fabulous, but they do help out a lot.

First of all I bought two of these for the living room:

They're great, and demonstrate once more how West Elm has come to dominate my decor. Basically, they sit on storage ottomans that are serving as end tables until I can properly furnish the living room, and provide badly needed light - there is no overhead or built-in light in the living room.

And then I bought this for my bedroom:

Also great, and sitting on my nightstand, a far cry better than a ratty old Ikea lamp that stepped me through the past five years. There are little butterflies on the glass, and it is managed with a rocker switch. It is so nice to be able to lie in bed reading a book before falling asleep, with a place to set the book and a lamp within easy reach.

I know, that makes me sound old, but I don't care. I like it. ALso - West Elm, on sale, $15. Can't beat that.

Metropolis

I finally got my poster hung up. It isn't framed - OMG, framing is expensive - but I think the Metropolis poster makes the room.

Metropolis is a movie that hits all the right notes. It's a little tedious to watch with modern eyes bc it is so stylized, but: German, German Expressionism, science fiction, a femme-bot, and class struggle are all well-represented. Since I love these things - and the color works - I got the poster.

The Hall Nook

It's not much, but I did get some work done on the hallway nook. I finally hung my Mongolian-themed art that I bought from a vendor in front of the Met Museum, along with some other things that represent some of my travels.

First of all, things are not painted. This is not the color I want. I just haven't decided what color I do want. I know what I want to do with the trim, and the doors, but the hall, bathroom, and bedroom? Can't decide.

One feature I like to point out is the built-in wall hamper. This is great. I keep my clothes laundry in wicker baskets, but this thing is for towels, since it is right next to the bathroom. I tied lining a bag in it but 1) it's difficult and 2) not needed. The towels hold their shape pretty well when I unload and 2) they're towels. I'm just dumping them in a bag anyway.

Here is some of the other decor. The wood slats I got in Costa Rica. The mirror came with the apartment. The "Roadside Rest Stop" is one of a set I bought at a highway antique shop in Oklahoma. The photo, well, that's got a story.

When I was in high school I worked next door to an office that investigated incidents involving US Army vehicles. This was in Germany. In the photo, a tank is driving off a bridge into the river; the solider who had stolen it drowned to death. He was joyriding and with the military police on one side and the Polizei on the other, he decided to escape . . .or something. Anyway the guy in the office gave me the photo and it's been a conversation piece ever since.

Voodoo doll gift from my friend LP, from when she visited New Orleans.

I could not find a good place to put these pictures. They are bucolic scenes in Mongolia, painted by a painter from that region who sells his wares in front of the Met. I love his work, and would like to get more if I could design around it. These are about ten years old, and among the first things I bought to decorate with.

The picture in the middle is a Navajo sand painting I bought in Park City, one of four. They're about the home, near doors, protecting me, or something. I used to have a book explaining what they meant but I don't have it any more. I put them where they make sense.

There's no light in this part of the apartment, or outlets, so I bought a battery-opereated light button. It works well, as an oversized nightlight at least.

Better

A week late, no complaints. I did get some art hung up in the bedroom, and he bedroom feels cozier now. It'a a place I can read a book before dozing off.

I bought a stud finder. Turns out that as far as finding studs before . . . I was way off. That, or the stud finder is way off. This is important because I want to hang a twenty-five pound shelf above the head of my bed. I do not want to wake up due to a crushing weight on my trachea.

Additionally furniture purchases are being put off. The building is organizing a flee market and I am going to try to get rid of some rolling shelves and a 4-panel folding wall. I'm tempted to get rid of the breakfast table as well, and use the overall proceeds to offset buying a proper table. That said, the breakfast table works well. It just won't suffice for my dream of serving a Thanksgiving dinner here.

Tonight, I went to a resident's committee meeting, and so got to meet some of my neighbors. They're an alright bunch. Regular folks, as far as I can tell. Just my speed.

Betty Bites Back

I got my first taste of real homeownership today: my kitchen sink was vomiting water.

When I did the dishes, the drain seemed a little slow, but it did drain, and I left a pot and a glass in. The sink was empty. I sat down to watch some telly.

Less than an hour later, I heard the distinct sound of water spilling. "Could't be me, " I thought.

Well, it persisted, and when I got up to investigate, I saw that my tiny little kitchen sink was pouring water all over my nice hardwood floors.

I didn't quite panic. I cussed a lot but had the presence of mind to check the faucet (not leaking) and start pulling water out in pans. The water level went down a bit and I started making phone calls.

Then it started pouring again. I dupmed more water and got more towels. While doing so, I noticed water frothing in the middle - it was coming up through the drain.

*That* was closer to a panic moment. It subsided - the water that is - and the super called. Ten minutes later he was up here.

Apparently the woman below me had the same complaint, and apparently this means that the drain from the building to the street is clogged, and so water backs up into the lower apartments first.

He's had two floors above me agree not to use their sinks. No one is home in the other two. We're on for 2 AM tomorrow morning.

Hopefully nothing more will spill out the sink. I've got it mostly drained and a tight cap on.

Adrenaline pumping and just an hour out from bedtime. Oy.

Long Weekend

When most people ask what your plans are for the long weekend, they

don't want to hear "working on my apartment". Even I, once I was into it, didn't want to. Saturday was originally forecast as rainy, with weather improving as the weekend went on. Instead, it was a gorgeous day, and the only thing that kept me from blowing off Betty was 1) I rode my bike yesterday and 2) I'll ride and kayak tomorrow, and Monday is open to what-evs.

That said, I didn't get a lot of dramatic changes done. I re-organized the storage locker and move more stuff down there. I put away crap in the living room so, except for a couple of pieces I plan to Craigslist, I see what it will look like.

I got out to West Elm and bought a night stand and two lamps. The night stand is from their "Madison" line, which seems on the way out, but is exactly what I've wanted for two years. The lamps are basically cube-canvas, about a foot high, and are the kind of thing I like. There was another lamp, on sale for $19, marked down to $16, that's basically a glass vase with butterflies on it.

I ought to mention, I also received a late-shipping five-foot shelf from West Elm, but not the brackets meant for it. So, we play the waiting game.

I got some things hung. Ideas on what remains.

I finished painting the hallway. I forgot to buy a new paint tray, and was stuck at home waiting for the nightstand, so I did it all with a four inch brush. Not too bad, and a slightly different texture than the areas where I used rollers. Still, it matched, and that allowed me to hanf art and a set of coat hangers.

it doesn't interrupt the flight path from the entry as much as I had feared - it's actually quite workable.

I also got some work done in the bedroom, which had been largely ignored. I had to have a nighstand net to the bed - it was driving me nuts to reach up three feet every night and morning for my glasses, or to check the alarm - and it also bothered me to not have a lamp within arm's length from the bed. So, the lamp and nightstand solve that issue.

That being said, here's the story on the nightstand. Good points: it's been marked down in price, from $200 to $150, to $99. Further, West Elm is having a sale for the Memorial Day weekend of an additional 15% off, so even paying for delivery ($40) it's still just over half what it started at. So Yay!

Except - some assembly required. That's OK, I'm actually pretty handy. The components weren't labeled really well, though I will say that West Elm consistently labels screws well. Assembly was straightforward with one sizable exception: the feet.

It's really hard to write about this in a civil tone. I spent an a=hour alone just on the feet, and in the end, could not finish the job with the parts supplied. Basically, the feet of the nightstand are cut blocks that are attached by 40mm bolts the go through the blocks and screw into plastic-lined holes.

The problem was that when inserted through the blocks, it was nearly impossibly to get purchase against the plastic. The bolts had about a quarter-inch of clearance past the feet, and sure enough, worked when free of the blocks. However, when run through the feet, no purchase. I got one bolt out of eight to go in using the allen wench supplied. None of the others went in. The heels of both my hands are bruised and sore from repeated attempts to get any of the other bolts in. Even replacing that tool with a ratcheting driver I had with a bit that matches the tool did not work. In the end, I only got the feet on by substituting some longer wood screws. It works, but it's not perfect, and that's an hour of my life - not to mention frustration pushing me to source like a sailor with Tourette's - I will never recover.

So, that said, now that it's assembled, I love it. I don't know what I'll store in it. Right now, I just need the lamp, clock, and book.

So, with that don, I hung up a map of North America pre-US, along with a Navajo Dei sand painting. I'm not superstitious, but I like to place Dei's in the major rooms of the apartment - you can pick them out in the living room, Kitchen, and the nook leading to the bathroom and bedroom. Like I say, I'm not suspicious, but after seeing both Paranormal Activity and Paranormal Activity 2, I'll take all the protection I can get.

Anyway, I got quite a bit done, but experienced a fair amount of frustration, loss of time, setting me back on dinner, and then I broke a glass in the sink, and now I am just planning to be outside like a sane person for the rest of the weekend.

Updates & Delays

This week I had a guest, so little got done. That said, I do have some new photos to share.

Here is the new "baker's counter" I put together from Container Store. Unfortunately the wood shelf does not sit quite level. Further investigation revealed that it's either a warper metal shelf underneath, or gremlins. I reseated it and it's better, but still a little wobbly when I apply weight. That's OK since it's mostly for storage.

Here is the kitchen in full glory - as it were. You can see the pot rack and all the appliances. As previously described, the fridge and stove are new. The fridge is an LG with bottom-freezer (awe-SOME) and the Stove is an Avanti 20" with a 10K BTU burner. The other burners vary. It's interesting to have a stove with different energy burners.

Anyway, we are still soliciting opinions on the orange.

The lonely corner. I have a few ideas. I still have a fantasy of putting an actual dining table - small, but still a table - here for guests, but my actual guest this week points out that eats up a lot of space. I do want a hutch, as I have since I was little - to me a hutch is the true heart of a home, in a spiritual since, as opposed to the practical heart that is the kitchen. Anyway, for now the $99 breakfast nook from BB&B will do. It acts as storage, and has a drop leaf that makes it a decent table for a company of two.

So here are the walls - again - as posted last week. I'm still thinking about where my wall art and photos will go. In the meantime, I do like stacking my nieces and nephews under the watchful eye of a small Navajo sand painting.

So, the desk. There's no good place in the apartment for the desk, and so it may move. The empty space, if the desk stays, will likely be filled with a framed something - photo, art, whatever.

Also, I'm thinking about the speakers. I may get ambitious and actually punch two holes in the wall to snake some speaker cable through. If I can run cables through the wall, rather than on the outside, I'd rather do that. Honestly, even though it's near fifteen years own, I have a ridiculously sophisticated speaker system for an apartment of this size.

Well, that's all that's fit to print this week. I do have some more shelves that that were on back order from West Elm - those may go over the desk, or in the bedroom.

Also, I got my Metropolis poster - the German Expressionist science fiction film, not Superman's birthplace. Still pricing out framing. It may ultimately be cheaper to send back and buy a framed copy.

Stay tuned.

The Bounty

Here are pictures of the latest improvements. Shelves are up and decorated, clutter is (mostly) stowed, and the baker's rack is in place.

One of the new shelves:

Photos of my niece and nephews:

Shelves on the other wall. The black boxes are speakers. I'll hook them up eventually.

The "Baker's Rack". You can but it as a kit at The Container Store. I already had the main poles and a couple of shelves - I only bought the wine shelf, wooden butcher, and ledge shelf.

The living room wall. Notice the lack of junk on the console.

Continual Improvements

More pictures soon, promise.

I made a lot of little progress this week. The main thing was getting the storage locker in the basement. This allowed me to clear out an entire closet (two, if you count portions of the other two closets) and then to put other stuff away. The only moving boxes left are books - and those will have to wait for bookshelves, which may be a ways off.

The storage locker is 4x5x8. It's a metal bin, floor to ceiling, with a door that opens out. I assembled about half of my metal shelves; the other half are down there in a disassembled state. I've got it mostly organized - CDs here, hats there, sweaters and coats hanging from a pole. I left room for my bike. Since it's a folding bike, I just had to leave a little nook to collapse it into.

The result is that I have a much better sense of the spaces upstairs (in the apartment). The bedroom closet is large, but mostly on depth, making it kind of long-term storage since many things would get double-parked. The front closet is tall, and I'm not sure what I want in there. I have enough space for a dining table, but not a large on, and maybe no with a hutch. There are three candidates for "bookshelf" wall, but I'm not sure which will be best.

Finally, I'm just about at the end of my budget, so some furniture ideas I've had - a nightstand, side tables, bookshelf - may have to wait.

Storage

No real news, but kinda good news: I got my storage locker. Turns out there is an additional fee but I don't care. Sometime this weekend - this week if I get ambitious - I'll be setting up my old Metro shelves down there, and then moving stuff down there.

This should free up the front closet, which is where all the shelves are now, and that in turn gives me a place to hang my coats and dresses (and if I am luck, my skirts, which are currently hanging off a towel rack which is hanging off the bathroom door).

So - all that stuff you see cluttering up the living room? Buh-bye. Then, I can get a better sense of the space, finish off the main areas, and start to think about what I want to do in the rest of the apartment.

The Transformation

I'm not finished, but I've made enough progress now that I want to show off the living room.

Here is what it looked like before I bought it: a renter's bachelor pad, spartan and bare:

The first order of business was getting the floors done. Once that was complete, I cam in with a bunch of supplies from Home Depot and set up shop.

Once I got the paint up, I moved in, and after some effort, got a flight path. I used masking tape to play around with ideas of where to place the shelve:

And now, shelves. I picked these up at West Elm, all in, about $300 - with some more to come. I moved the desk out from around the corner - I want to leave that area to the right open as a dining area eventually.

Hanging Judge

I've started hanging things. Pictures soon. Yesterday, it was a pot rack hanging from my ceiling; today, I hung some shelves from the wall. I seem to have a knack for finding joists; that, or fooling myself.

It is a bitc# though. Getting things lined up, especially the four hooks for the pot rack. On the shelves, I had to completely re-do one set because I was off by about 1/8 of an inch. The idea was to mount brackets and then slide the shelf on. I couldn't slide the shelf on.

Sales

It's true, a salesperson is never available when you need one, despite swarming you when you don't.

I spent the better part of this afternoon shopping for Betty. I ending up buying less, retreating from feeling overwhelmed. I had thought I'd buy a replacement faucet ad maybe a light. Those are my most pressing needs. But, I started to think through design, and what works and what doesn't, and quickly became overloaded with all the things I wasn't settled on, so in the end I bought a curtain rod at West Elm, some cheap drapes at BBB, and some drywall anchors and closet lights at HD.

At home, I discovered that the studs are not evenly spaced with the windows. Knowing what I know now, I'll red the window treatments to be symmetrical, using anchors to drop in drywall screws where there are no studs.

Reconsidering my furniture arrangement. I may move the desk back where the movers put it, in the living area, which seems weird but less weird that having it in the dining area. I saw a great table at Housing Works today. I definitely want a dining area, even though it will be hard to pull off in this space.

I took a stab at painting the hallway . . .and ran out of paint. At least I got enough color up to have a clearer sense of where I'm going. The radioactive orange of the kitchen is survivable and I am moving that re-paint job to the back burner, so to speak.

Betty continues to be disagreeable about the kitchen light. I will definitely replace but will take a stab at repairing it first. I think it's just loose. If I can get it to work consistently, I can take my time to design right.

I found a pot rack that gets great reviews on Amazon. Going to order it and use a gift card my parents sent me.

Stasis

The good news is that I got a little more work done. Last night was the last major bit; tonight I got my trashcan mounted under my sink (it's a pull-out unit on rails).

Next projects: the faucet, which is OK as long as it's on medication, and perhaps the kitchen light. I'm a little worried about interacting with electricity, but I've seen it done and will consider it.

Also: I've used masking tape to play with where I will place things on the walls, and sixed out some additional shelving options for the kitchen.

Home

Welcome to my new blog. It's all about my recently-purchased co-op apartment in Manhattan. I've nicknamed her Betty, for reasons that will eventually become clear.

Previously . . .

I started apartment hunting on a lark in summer 2010. I was about to finish my last year of business school, the market was low, at the time as low as it could go (since then, things have stayed more or less the same, which is bad in economic terms). Anyway, I looked at perhaps a dozen in person, many more online, and kept coming back mentally to an underpriced unit at the bottom of a hill in front of the George Washington Bridge.

I won't give out my address, or even describe in much detail which building I'm in, but I am sure clever or local readers will suss it out. By October I signed a contract; it would take six months to finally close, in part because while still in school, my student loans were not fully consolidated and it was hard to get a definite statement on what my payments would be. I didn't meet with the board until February, and then we had to let the bank formally commit and eventually sign off. I formally took ownership in April.

Since then, I ha the hardwood floors sanded and polished, and I painted two rooms myself. I will have to redo the kitchen because it is way to bright, like the inside of a radioactive papaya. I spent all weekend unpacking, and only finally cleared a good flight path Monday evening. At this point in time, I'm waiting to hear about some building storage, and once I get that, I can move things out of the closet, allowing me to put other things away, allowing me to finally get things into a working order.

I also bought appliances; the refrigerator had to be replaced, and the stove, while workable, just seemed like a good idea as long as the nice men were replacing my refrigerator. I've reduced the crime against humanity that was my kitchen to a misdemeanor; it will be a while before full rehabilitation.

The bathroom is in decent shape; if I had my druthers, I would redo the tile, and there is loose tile in the floor. The tub is cast iron, long, and deep; I love it. It's an odd shape, but relatively high ceilings; I think I'll put in some shelves.

I talk to Betty. We are forming a relationship. The kitchen light is a little twitchy and that may be the first somewhat dangerous task I take on. I spoke up about it, when Betty put the light out while I was doing dishes, and she promptly put it back on. I am not a superstitious person, but it is useful to talk through these minor irritations.