apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Okay, I'll start!

Here are some pics - finished painting the living room, except the alcove where the black shelves are, which is going to be painted out in black at some point. Tired of painting now. (Also did the hallway to the bed/bathrooms, which you can't see in these pics.)

http://www3.telus.net/bcwomen/doodlebug/livingroom1.html

Thanks for kicking my butt, AT! I'll be going back to my regularly schedule life now. ;)

Dorianne!
I know I'm skipping ahead, but I LOVE your inspiration pieces for the bedroom! They totally "go". Good luck on that, though based on past successes, you need not luck. :)

And go give your mom a greta big kiss for her artisitic contributions. You two make quite a team!

ps: The Margaret Atwood poem made me laugh out loud. Uncomfortably, nervously, but out loud. :)

Dorianne-I'm impressed with how much you've done and the energy you've put into it. Wow!

I had a cat named Bunny--I've never known another one. Bunny didn't have big ears. It just seemed like the right name.

Also, I have a black cat that looks like yours. She's a bombay burmese--I found that on the internet. Check it out.

Aw, thanks, you guys! *blushes*

P2, I know my artist mama will thank you for that! In the late '50s, she was forbidden by her father from going to art school, so she didn't seriously take up painting again until the last 10 years. She is living proof that it's never too late to follow a dream!

Pixie, wow, another Bunny! Yay! I've looked at the descriptions of Bombays, but the vet and I are pretty sure she's a Siamese with some kind of black-haired ancestry. She has the personality, the "voice," and she even has the telltale "kink" in her tale that Siamese were bred for until the '50s or '60s....I used to think it had been broken, but apparently, it used to be a sign of good breeding, if you can believe it!

Grr...I keep doing this! I post and then remember something I forgot to post, so I post again and I look like a big attention whore!

Anyway. I just bought some Dylon fabric dye. I'm going to dye the white slipcover on my living room chair and my footstool. Olive green. (The sofa I plan on buying when I've got enough saved - from Sears Canada, not IKEA - is cargo green, so it'll work.) I figure if I botch it up, I can get replacement slipcovers from IKEA. But in the meantime, I have learned the lesson that white furniture and black cats do NOT mix!!!

Go Dorianne!
Forgive my ignorance, but what is melamine? I recently sanded, primed and painted (2 coats) a black laminant counter surface, making it sort of coffee colored. I'm wondering if I can/should polyurathane over that.

Dorianne--
The new Garnet Hill catalog has several bedding options that would work beautifully with your bedroom scheme. I hope you go all out with peacock blue walls... my new favorite gutsy accent color.

wooo-hoo, got rid of my bedroom's ugly old ceiling fan with a sleek new one from Ylighting, and used a new handyman electrician who was a doll. Anybody that needs one in B'klyn, send me an email!

Sharon: melamine is a hard plastic resin that is used for making dishes, countertop and cupboard laminate, and so on. Laminate surfaces may be made of other substances - I don't know a lot about this. But melamine paint is specially designed for covering laminate surfaces.

What kind of paint did you use to paint your counters, and are they your bathroom or kitchen counters? Kitchen counters take the most abuse, so they should ideally be polyurethaned. Bathroom counters may be okay with just the melamine paint. My friend who polyurethaned her (melamine-painted) kitchen counters says it does still scratch, but the scratches don't show like they do on the melamine paint. She says you can just sand it down once every year or two and apply another coat of polyurethane.

Patrick - I thought about peacock blue, but I'm afraid that the turquoise dress and the peacocks will get lost against a wall that is similar in colour. Does this make sense? Turquoise is one of my favourite colours (next to green, if you didn't already guess that!), and I would really like to make those objects POP! I am at a loss as to what colour to paint the walls, actually....the rest of my apartment is now light green-gray...though I'm very much open to dark and/or bold bedroom walls!

guido - yay! Congrats on the new fixture!

Shoot! I did it again!

I dyed the slipcovers of my chair and footstool, and I'm kind of freaking out. Input would be appreciated. Especially if you know anything about fabric dyeing.

http://www3.telus.net/bcwomen/doodlebug/dyedchair.html

Dorianne-I like that color. It depends on how it fits in with everything else.

looks like you did a nice job with the dye, anyway

fabrics certainly take dye differently, and you don't know what kind of finish or treatment something like an Ikea slipcover has on it already

I haven't dyed anything for years and years so I can't offer much advice past doing a patch test on a hidden piece of fabric if you decide to change it -- I remember doing an "antiquing" thing with brewed black tea for dye with my mom when I was a kid! Could work to dull/darken your color if you still hate it once you've lived with it awhile.

But I think it's a nice color. You might be unintentionally dragging yourself into a world of new color.

Dorianne--

I'll echo the sentiments that, without being able to visualize your original dye intent, your slipcovers look pretty great. You can dye my slipcovers anyday! Wait, that sounded lewd, and FOR ONCE, that was not my intent. ;)

I find that on my own projects, I NEVER like the result immediately at job's end, but usually a good night's sleep, or other distraction before I revisit my handiwork, makes all the difference. Hopefully that is the case. But if lightness of the color is the only issue, can't you re-dye (assuming you want darker)?

As far as peacock blue bedroom contrast, it depends on what kind of mood you are going for. I like deep dark restful but rich bed areas, so I like the idea of using an adjoining wall color to "celebrate" the colors of the items, but yes, that would yield a pretty much all-blue environment, with low contrast among colors. But I like that end result.

The other route would be a redder color (so, eggplant or cranberry or even a very warm bronze) that contrasts in warmth but matches the deep jewel tones of your items.

The third scenario would be to go warmer AND lighter (perhaps a mango or coppery color, as a direct compliment to the blues, but since you'd be varying value (ligh/dark) and "temperature", this may end up more contrasty and less restful.

On all of these, given your starting items, with their touch of the exotic, I see less of a flat color and more of a glaze-over-color effect. Easy for me to say, when you'll be doing the multiple steps! :)

I'd also head to Morroccan and Mexican books, the work of Mexican architect Luis Barragan, or the work of Brit-colorist Tricia Guild for color inspiration.

Or, buy a real peacock feather and let that motivate you!

I had to go look at Dorianne's dye-job (the rest of the apartment is also great -- spent quite a while admiring the photos the other day)... laughed out loud at the remark about the pimento pillow. My first thought at the green was "oh, how pretty!" -- but I liked the photos of the bright green counters at first sight, too.

There was one year in grad school poverty when I habitually bought white blouses at thrift stores and dyed them more interesting colors... and green NEVER came out the shade I expected. I think green dye may be like green paint in being difficult to predict and match.

Hey, thanks, gang! I think I've stopped hyperventilating now...

Pixie, I think it'll be okay - my place has a lot of green. I'll just bring in a few more things in that green and hopefully it will balance out...

guido, I think you are right about me dragging myself into a new, colourful world! I have lime green in the kitchen, but never my calm, peaceful living room! But I'm kind of already planning where else I can dot the colour....heh. Clearly my soul has been crying out for some warm, citrus-y greens!

patrick - LOL! I've never heard it referred to THAT before!! Hey, but you should come to Canada and help me decorate. It's a 10X10' box with light grey berber that I can't get rid of. I was thinking blueish-purple, myself, but I'm kind of nervous about it with the light carpet. I certainly don't mind dark walls. I do face south and it's hot here in summer, so I'd like to stick to cool colours....maybe you are onto something with the peacock blue.

I love peacock feathers! Oh, just come to Canada, darn it! ;)

wende, you may be right about the green thing. I trust your experience as a dye-master!

Dorianne,

How did you dye your slipcovers? I just bought a white couch at IKEA with removable slipcovers and I wanted to dye it, but I've never attempted it before and I'm very nervous. Any advice?