department of the interior: home decor

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Have been repairing our couch over the past couple of days. Not sure how it's going to turn out
The couch is cheap, a few years old. It's a recliner, some parts leather, mostly vinyl (like I said, cheap). Anyway part of the vinyl on one of the footrests has worn down and has a tear in it about an inch long. I toyed with the idea of sewing it, but I'm not a great hand stitcher and it could end up looking like a horrific frankenstein scar so I went and googled around for repair kits instead. The one I got is for cars - it allows you to fill and paint the tear, rather than just patching over it.

You get backing fabric that you can poke inside the tear, then you apply adhesive to the backing and the tear and glue it all together. Then you fill whatever gaps with more adhesive, which dries hard and smooth. You can do that a few times til you've got it filled to your satisfaction, and then you paint it and then heat-cure it.

I'm still on the filling stage. A bit concerned about the heat-treating stage...some reviews say that part doesn't work right, that the tool they provide is garbage but we'll see.

Funniest thing to me is half the instructions are solely devoted to mixing colors ie "BLUE and YELLOW make GREEN, BLACK makes colors DARKER, WHITE will make colors LIGHTER'

luckily I don't have to go down that road, my couch is black :D

set the controls for the heart of the sun (VegemiteGrrl), Sunday, 11 May 2014 00:44 (ten years ago) link

one month passes...

Feeling pretty pleased with the way the new living room is shaping up

http://i.imgur.com/1xQzP5t.jpg

Hier Komme Die Warum Jetzt (Hurting 2), Thursday, 19 June 2014 17:59 (nine years ago) link

Couch looks much nicer without sheet draped over it, but you know, toddlers.

Hier Komme Die Warum Jetzt (Hurting 2), Thursday, 19 June 2014 18:00 (nine years ago) link

neat! that looks really cozy!

set the controls for the heart of the sun (VegemiteGrrl), Thursday, 19 June 2014 18:00 (nine years ago) link

i want to post pics of my living room - it's the most "nested" and content with a space that i've been. It's 99% there, just a little more art to hang, and one piece of furniture on the way. oh man, PLANTS - they've made a big difference. except i'm having trouble keeping some of them alive :/

just1n3, Thursday, 19 June 2014 18:14 (nine years ago) link

I dislike when furniture is lined up against the walls and prefer conversational groupings that use more of the inner floor space, but again, toddlers.

Orson Wellies (in orbit), Thursday, 19 June 2014 18:15 (nine years ago) link

I hear you. We tend to move things when we have people over.

Hier Komme Die Warum Jetzt (Hurting 2), Thursday, 19 June 2014 18:17 (nine years ago) link

I kind of like the way these modular orange shelves have become a mainstay for us, like we'll probably just keep reassembling them and shifting them around as needed and never throw them away (could eventually go in kids room e.g.).

Hier Komme Die Warum Jetzt (Hurting 2), Thursday, 19 June 2014 18:18 (nine years ago) link

The light coming in the window looks beautiful tho. Bright rooms speak to me.

Orson Wellies (in orbit), Thursday, 19 June 2014 18:19 (nine years ago) link

two months pass...

All right I'm back!! I'm in a new space and I have to pull together a living room and a bedroom this time.

Both are currently dirty white, so they need repainting even if it's just "white" again.

What to do what to do.

Orson Wellies (in orbit), Friday, 22 August 2014 15:20 (nine years ago) link

I'm not really into the "purity IS my statement" of all-white, but the room faces north and there's a tall building across the st that blocks some light, so I want to keep it as airy as possible. It just seems like such a waste not to use ANY color. Maybe I can get a very vividly colored sofa/rugs later on?

Orson Wellies (in orbit), Friday, 22 August 2014 16:20 (nine years ago) link

it doesn't have to mean purity

cross over the mushroom circle (La Lechera), Friday, 22 August 2014 17:14 (nine years ago) link

How do you feel about more of a buttery kinda white/cream? Or gray?

mom tossed in kimchee (quincie), Friday, 22 August 2014 17:20 (nine years ago) link

That's what I'm thinking! I don't like warm/cream colors much, so it would have to be cool/blue without looking GREY. But the light in here already tends to be kind of grey, so maybe I should go with a "truer" white and let the light do the rest? I need I DIED.

I also have a coved ceiling and all this picture rail, so I have to decide where the dividing line is where the color stops and the flat white ceiling starts. Also there's a big arch that fades in the wall. Do I just break off the paint in a straight vertical line?? I guess I could run it under the arch and around the other side into the dressing area (to the left of the pic).

http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e66/LimitedLiabilityGirl/CeilingProblem_zpsae4d6815.jpg

There's the problem spot.

Orson Wellies (in orbit), Friday, 22 August 2014 17:37 (nine years ago) link

I need ideas for two high-ceilinged reception rooms, separated by double doors which are usually open.
It's prob going to be some kind of grey but avoiding 'neutral' taupe kind of thing. 2 different shades or entirely different colours, perhaps.

All my cool wallpaper ideas have scared me off and I'm putting them into small rooms as I think it'll be crazy overwhelming in the big ones.

kinder, Friday, 22 August 2014 17:38 (nine years ago) link

I am a big fan of crazy wallpaper in a small room. Not that I have managed to put up wallpaper in any room, large or small.

mom tossed in kimchee (quincie), Friday, 22 August 2014 17:51 (nine years ago) link

xp we have very similar archways in our place and we took the easy way out and just went all the same color on both sides/underneath the archway. Anything else seemed like it would be jarring, but maybe there's a solution I'm not thinking of.

'arry Goldman (Hurting 2), Friday, 22 August 2014 17:56 (nine years ago) link

I wish I knew what that kind of arch was called so I could google it.

'arry Goldman (Hurting 2), Friday, 22 August 2014 17:56 (nine years ago) link

IO, we had something like that in our old flat, but we made it a very definite divide between 3 different surfaces (also there was a door immediately one side of it). Can ilx-mail you pics if you want.
I tend to avoid absolute whites as they look prison-cell-like in shadowy places. But there are all kinds of off-whites that you can't even tell are off unless you put a brilliant white next to it.

kinder, Friday, 22 August 2014 18:00 (nine years ago) link

Yeah, I feel the same way, Hurting. I'd actually like to stop the wall color at the picture rail and switch to the flat white above it, but then what to do on the arch wall?? Ugh.

Orson Wellies (in orbit), Friday, 22 August 2014 18:32 (nine years ago) link

gradient fade?

'arry Goldman (Hurting 2), Friday, 22 August 2014 18:50 (nine years ago) link

Possibly! Seriously!

Orson Wellies (in orbit), Friday, 22 August 2014 18:56 (nine years ago) link

Kinder, in your sitch with two rooms that have some separation but need to flow, I would think about, when you're standing at one end of the sight line, where are you moving, and what will make you want to go there? Like is the travel through both rooms in a straight line? Or is your most common path through a side door to a kitchen or etc? Examine your common pathways and then think about what kind of light or warmth or visual interest would draw you through them.

Orson Wellies (in orbit), Friday, 22 August 2014 22:00 (nine years ago) link

I like the idea of having one wall painted in a color or wallpapered in something strong but put it in a place where it's a focal point through the french doors, in one direction or the other. Gives the gaze something to fasten on and pulls you through.

Orson Wellies (in orbit), Friday, 22 August 2014 22:01 (nine years ago) link

Am interested in your pics btw! My ilx mail is my normal email so I should get it just fine. :D

Orson Wellies (in orbit), Friday, 22 August 2014 22:02 (nine years ago) link

Common wisdom for a north-facing room is a warm beige/light yellow, like quincie said. These shades all feel more traditional/conservative to me than the cool greys and blues do, but I only want to do this paint thing ONCE so I guess beige it is. (I don't want to get a grey paint up and then realize that it's all wrong.)

Orson Wellies (in orbit), Sunday, 24 August 2014 15:46 (nine years ago) link

I'm not actually painting NOW, I'm not doing that until our lease is signed, so in a few weeks. But I need CURTAINS and I can't buy them until I know what color the walls will be!

Orson Wellies (in orbit), Sunday, 24 August 2014 15:46 (nine years ago) link

just hang up a sheet in the meantime
(or hang up a sheet and leave it up there for as long as you live there, like i did)

cross over the mushroom circle (La Lechera), Sunday, 24 August 2014 15:49 (nine years ago) link

Haha.

Orson Wellies (in orbit), Sunday, 24 August 2014 16:46 (nine years ago) link

eleven months pass...

Does anyone have a UK bookcase recommendation? If all goes well with the new house i'd probably aim to turn one of the bedrooms into a library so i'd be looking for about 3m of continuous bookcases along one wall and maybe 2m along another. A modular system like the Ikea Billy one might be a good idea but it looks a little flimsy for heavier books. The cheap Argos one i have at the moment has stood up to a certain a amount of abuse (for example)

http://i.imgur.com/QY4OtzT.jpg?1

but it would be good to get something better, and maybe taller, if possible. Custom-built is likely to be excessively expensive.

I wear my Redditor loathing with pride (ShariVari), Thursday, 6 August 2015 11:41 (eight years ago) link

http://smg.photobucket.com/user/j_bdules/media/Picture004.jpg.html

we had 2 Ikea Billy bookcases at my old place--they were fine. my roommate bought both used on craigslist several years prior. (one's the LH bookcase, other not pictured, but was similarly loaded)

JuliaA, Thursday, 6 August 2015 14:46 (eight years ago) link

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v616/j_bdules/Picture004.jpg

JuliaA, Thursday, 6 August 2015 14:49 (eight years ago) link

i use billy bookcases with the extra shelves on top and the corner wedge bookcase thing, all bolted together. the shape gives it more stability (i hope) and it looks kinda classy.

adam, Thursday, 6 August 2015 14:55 (eight years ago) link

ikea sells a set of little v-shaped brackets that you use to keep it together

adam, Thursday, 6 August 2015 14:55 (eight years ago) link

Excellent. Thanks both.

I wear my Redditor loathing with pride (ShariVari), Thursday, 6 August 2015 15:25 (eight years ago) link

Does anyone have any positive / negative experience of Colortrend, Zoffany or Little Greene paints?

I wear my Redditor loathing with pride (ShariVari), Monday, 10 August 2015 07:21 (eight years ago) link

no negative. i recently put up a image of Binoche in Bleu and a white print of forest snow side by side, square. i like them. in my living room.

surm, Monday, 10 August 2015 07:24 (eight years ago) link

<3 that Binoche poster. I used to have all three of the colours in my room at university.

I am trying one of the "premium Giclee prints" from Art.com for the first time. If the quality is good I might get more.

http://i.imgur.com/hvAuNKf.jpg

I wear my Redditor loathing with pride (ShariVari), Wednesday, 12 August 2015 19:47 (eight years ago) link

yeah i like that site. that's pretty. i cropped the Binoche so it's just her head, it's square. i'm p proud of it. that and my framed shot of Britney shaving her head are my babies.

surm, Thursday, 13 August 2015 00:00 (eight years ago) link

A+++ for Judith and Holofernes!

Orson Wellies (in orbit), Thursday, 13 August 2015 01:59 (eight years ago) link

I've always had a bit of a crush on that Judith, which probably is something a therapist would like to hear more about

five six and (man alive), Thursday, 13 August 2015 02:27 (eight years ago) link

big fan of the conversation pit
my dad owned well-thumbed copy of terence conran's the house book from the 70s
which for some reason i was fascinated with as a child, one of the picture books i'd pore over, over & over
prob permanently imprinted my interior design aesthetic

drash, Wednesday, 19 August 2015 23:33 (eight years ago) link

(or imprinted something or other)

drash, Wednesday, 19 August 2015 23:36 (eight years ago) link

also a big fan of the pit

i am moving into a new place in a few weeks, thinkin baout interior design

jason waterfalls (gbx), Wednesday, 19 August 2015 23:49 (eight years ago) link

I've been in one of those conversation pits. It's in this Dublin hotel (although I don't think it was a hotel when it was designed)

http://www.number31.ie/gallery/

Acting Crazy (Instrumental) (jed_), Thursday, 20 August 2015 01:50 (eight years ago) link

Houee I grew up in had a conversation pit, though nowhere near as nice as the ones in the above links. Also it had a railing around the seating areas which spoiled the effect some and made it look more like a mere sunken living room. I still loved everything about it except the scant headroom in the room below. Would really like one in the home I live in now.

I so love The House Book.

Lee626, Thursday, 20 August 2015 06:07 (eight years ago) link

I've always had a bit of a crush on that Judith, which probably is something a therapist would like to hear more about

iirc, Holofernes is a self-portrait of Cristofano Allori, Judith is his mistress and her servant is his mother - which is probably something a therapist would have been interested in discussing with him as well.

I wear my Redditor loathing with pride (ShariVari), Thursday, 20 August 2015 07:44 (eight years ago) link

two months pass...

Going with this ludicrous wallpaper, I think. In moderation, though.

http://i.imgur.com/idc6I90.jpg

Al Ain Delon (ShariVari), Tuesday, 3 November 2015 07:17 (eight years ago) link

is that the Cole & Sons? I think I posted somewhere I wanted to cover bookcases (with doors) in that. Never did it. Still might! It'd go in a grey room.

kinder, Tuesday, 3 November 2015 08:29 (eight years ago) link


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