department of the interior: home decor

Chipboard, eh? You could slap some spackle on them, maybe? Or some other kind of filler, just to smooth things out some before the paint goes on?

you can cover them tightly with thin fabric so that they look wallpapered like so

http://www.housetohome.co.uk/imageBank/o/opener1.jpg

what about contact paper?

ooh yeah that thin fabric look is nice, too!

Could be difficult to clean though?

Yeah, you'd have to unpin and launder and iron/starch it. Or you could vacuum it occasionally if you have a little vac, I guess. But I worry about that black city schmutz that gets on everything in NY, perhaps you don't have this problem where you are!

J, I finally understand what you mean by "chipboard and veneer"! I don't know why that seemed so impenetrable to me yesterday.... Something like this? Which is particle board, btw:

http://gospelfodder.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/particle-board.jpg

I still don't think wallpapering it is the answer, but I'm not sure what IS. That stuff is hard to disguise.

yeah particle board is the right word, couldn't think of it! i have two these ugly beasts, maybe i'll try painting one first.

Amazing Post on Home Interior Blog
http://styleonartfactory.com/blog/

thanks

are vintage wall murals acceptable? or are they nothing but kitschy nostalgia? don't feel like i've seen these around since they were originally in fashion, but i'd guess that maybe they're hard to come by. perhaps i'm wrong. i'd kinda like one in my kitchen anyway, but my gf is completely not buying the idea.

this dude has a bunch:
http://ewmoore.co.uk/wallposters_pg1.htm

particularly want to eat cereal in front of this one:
http://ewmoore.co.uk/images/C211.jpg

those are hideous!

i dunno they're kind of amazing in a way

amazingly hideous?

the alpine one rules! you'll come around, son

it's only the mountain one that i'd consider.

the rest are pretty hideous, it's true. would have to that seventies national geographic photography style. alpine or forest. nothing tropical or cityscapes.

haha, why?

http://ewmoore.co.uk/images/C860.jpg

http://img829.imageshack.us/img829/1868/c860.jpg

We've had this debate before...she wants to hang an oversaturated tropical sunset, I want to hang some tasteful B+W landscape photography. Still unresolved, to nobody's satisfaction.

Hmm HHHMMMM. Now that I'm settled, sort of, I'm getting THE BUG again. Luckily for my DIY fix, my bedroom is a paint atrocity of butter yellow applied in a patchy sponge pattern, with an even oranger-yellow picture rail above.

The place needs spackling, sanding, priming, and paint. Thinking, thinking....

my place needs SO much work but we are trying to stick it out there as long as possible because it's pretty much the cheapest i'm going to find for what it is. what i need to figure out is: how does one cosmetically make a place that is in serious need of renovation look like it's not?

should i take photos of my kitchen for this thread? fwiw my kitchen is kinda awesomely kitschy in a 70s grandma sort of way despite a sad lack of avocado-colored appliances

Tza: Paint! ??
elmo: YES!!

i think there is too much shit/furniture in my apartment to paint. plus the paint is actually in reasonably good shape? i think i need a pro.

My scheme: walls in silver gray. Wood trim refreshed in gloss white despite its imperfections -- the impression of cleanliness is what matters. Bedding: Navy and white geometric/basketweave/ring pattern. Accents: a clear cool yellow for pillows, yellow to repaint the bedroom door(s), cafe curtains instead of full drapes to let in more light.

my bedroom walls are a mossy green, and the living room is a dove gray. kitchen is lighter blue. all trim is gloss white. maybe i should just put up curtains or change bedding or get new rugs.

How to paint in a room full of stuff: move all the stuff to the middle. Buy 10 cheap shower curtains from the dollar store and/or the cheap folded drop-cloths from the hardware store. Cover everything in middle of room, and tape into place. Work around it.

xp those colors sound REALLY NICE!

what i would love is a renovated kitchen/bathroom and refinished floors (my parquet is SO sad). sigh.

they are not bad! i think what would really help would be to have less furniture but that is a whole other battle :|

You know, I think sometimes that "less furniture" is the answer and then I see a room like this:

http://g-cdn.apartmenttherapy.com/2612905/060611KristinCollinsHouseTour_05_rect640.jpg

and even though the busy-ness of that kind of room would drive some folks crazy, it works surprisingly well. I guess it really is all about color, scale.

To elaborate:

http://g-cdn.apartmenttherapy.com/2612945/060611KristinCollinsHouseTour_09_rect640.jpg

http://g-cdn.apartmenttherapy.com/2612915/060611KristinCollinsHouseTour_06_rect640.jpg

yeah, i think the tall ceilings relaly make the difference. i have not-tall ceilings and a LOT of black furniture. i thought it was so great that all our furniture matched when we combined possessions, but now i kinda wish there was a bit of variation.

Ohhhhhh black. Yeah. Can you spray-paint some of the furniture?

honestly, it's all ikea and that seems like way too much work for this stuff. i prefer black... just in a larger space?

You and absolutely everyone else!! :D

There are some good spray paints, apparently. You could refinish a set of something in a weekend probably. And if it's just IKEA, you won't mind taking a chance with a paint job?

Picked a 4-legged round footstool from the curb on my way home last night. Totally mid-cent, upholstered in robin's egg blue vinyl with those cigar-shaped wooden legs that everything had. Am totally gonna recover it! But in WHAT, that is the question....

Kitchen needs a complete overhaul. I won't use it unless I am wearing dark sunglasses to shield the hideousness. When dad was alive the entire drywall ceiling came down in the middle of the night. Dad didn't, uh, do the upstairs plumbing right and it just caved. We need a new one. Surfing about kitchens is a nightmare!

Look at this fabric almost every day and want it for cafe curtains/half-windows.

http://tonicliving.com/items/flatironyellow%2Ejpg

lovely!

so: Missoni for Target collection? http://www.fashionologie.com/Missoni-Target-Preview-Pictures-18689603
wld not buy the clothes, because i'm a snob like that - real thing or bust imo - but the kids clothes are cute and the housewares and pillows and things are pretty great for the price!
(of course, Canada doesn't have Target... in 2014 tho! lol)

i actually think they did an awesome job translating missoni to a lower price point, this is prob the most successful target collab yet. that said, missoni not really my cup of tea stylewise but i still think it's p great

isn't dr3w dani3l into missoni? paging dr. dr3w!

I get paid on Fri and have made a list of all the tools and supplies I want so I can patch, prime, and repaint my bedroom walls and woodwork. The total is like $260 incl spackle, primer, three kinds of paint (wall, trim, ceiling), a stepladder, and assorted tools. Oh and a hand-sander for the woodwork.

Gonna do it while my roommate is out of the country, because I fully expect TOTAL DISRUPTION and my entire wardrobe in piles in the living room.

wow! i've been needing to paint for oh 6 years and have been saying i will for 2 years. soon, soon...

Missoni is def my cup of tea and though i appreciate the translation of the patterns to a lower price point, i just personally don't usually go in for cheap knits (haha i say that as if i own/buy expensive knits all the time! lols) - maybe i'd have to see them in person to really judge. i really like the plates and cups and bowls though! and the bedspread and pillows!

linking bcuz img is lol hueg but i v much love the missoni hotel kuwait's uniforms:

http://plussixfivepsf.tumblr.com/post/6029392184/official-uniform-at-kuwaits-missoni-hotel

They're totally amazingly great, yes!

i still need to take photos of my kitchen! it keeps changing. and by changing i mean "fully manifesting the experience of grandmothering during the late 1970s"

Want to see. Now.

laurel i promise promise pinky swear i will get some photos up soon. but you can look forward to:

crewel embroidery of woodland vignettes
mrs butterworth
ducks!
boy scout mugs
pyrex pyrex pyrex

among other things

I am very excited to see your work, elmo.