apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Many people may be aware of this tip, but I'll share anyway:

If you sew for your home, check out places like Ross, TJMaxx, and Marshall's for down pillow inserts. Many of their decorative pillows come with a removable pillow cover with a zipper, with a great down and feather insert inside. These can be had for little as 7 bucks per pillow. It's an economical way to buy down pillow inserts. I usually reuse the removable pillow covers and sew wine bags with drawstrings. If the the pillow cover isn't removable, no worries, just stuff the pillow into your chosen fabric.

I have a question for A.T. readers. I've been wanting to paint my dining room wall in magnetic chalkboard paint but everytime i get the urge to go to the paintstore i change my mind.
Now I'm starting to like just a plain black accent wall. I am starting to notice my eye goes straight to any living spaces painted in black.
My question is how difficult is it to paint using such a dark color without being to messy. I'll be using painters tape but even with that the paint doesn't always come out even or smudges. Any tips on how to get the most complete even coverage?
I'd really appreciate your help!!

E.I.F.

You'll probably get better response from the Open Thread. It states above "(no questions please)."

thanks anne!

I read about this in a magazine recently:

http://blackle.com/

It's a search engine powered by google that saves energy by using a black screen. Interesting concept... not sure if you're saving a significant amount of energy, but it's neat-looking!

NO QUESTIONS PLEASE.

That's a little harsh, no? I mean, what if I have a question ABOUT a tip... should I just leave it roaming around free in my brain, or should I completely disregard a very polite request? That's two questions... Moderators must be MAAAAD. (or chuckling).

You can ask a question about a tip, I'm sure that's fine.

I have a tip: use white vinegar in your laundry when it has funky smells.

2T... blackle.com would have been useful in the past with CRT monitors, but nowadays, not so much the case since most people own LCDs.

Statistics indicate that LCDs are more energy efficient than a similar sized CRT monitor by about 25%. On LCD displays, white is typically the easiest color to produce (it just lets the backlight shine through). Darker colors, on the other hand, need cover up the backlight and therefore turn uses more energy. Even so, some LCDs are actually smart enough to recognize when it's displaying dark colors and will therefore dim the backlight to reduce wasted energy...

Theambershow,

I've heard that tip about vinegar in the laundry, and even heard of people using vinegar instead of fabric softener for towels. But it gets verrrry humid and hot in the summer here, and I just picture my clothes starting to exude a cloud of vinegar fumes.

Does that just not happen? Does vinegar rinse out really easily? Or should you run a second rinse if you use vinegar? I've always wondered about this.

Thanks!
Julie

Great customer service tip: The Shade Store. We ordered blinds from there and they hadn't shipped in 10 days, as promised by their website, so we emailed customer service. A real live person wrote back right away and said she was checking on it with their work room, then wrote back two more times in the next day with updates--they'll have them done by tomorrow, they've shipped now and will be there by Friday. My husband somewhat spastically wrote back and said, "Great, we're so excited to have blinds so we can stop flashing our neighbors," and they responded to THAT with a nice jokey email. It was so comforting to know that there are real people working there and being responsive--that seems very unusual with customer service these days!

I have two tips.

The first is an easy way to save water. Take a plastic 2 liter bottle and fill it with water. Place it in your toilet tank. Every time you flush, you save 2 liter of water! If you have a small tank, you can use a 1 liter bottle and still save water. The one liter bottles can be found in the same soda aisle at your grocery store (tonic/soda water). Think about how much water YOU can save over one year...SPREAD the WORD!!

Here is my second. It seems kind of obvious but before you make that big purchase at Ikea/West Elm/Crate and Barrel...etc..check out your local thrift store or Craig's List. Ironically, the quality will be a lot better and last a lot longer. The "used" piece that is 25 years old will probably last longer and look a lot better than the "new piece you have to take home and assemble. I was looking for a secretary's desk for my small apartment. I lucked out and bought an older piece at an estate sale for $50...dovetail drawers and solid wood. The one at the national retailer would have cost over $350, for particle board. I still see some on Craig's List for $300 to $400. Still a better deal than the alternative. I think patience is the key to finding great pieces. The two bonuses for this is that you can help recycle by using something that someone else is finished wth and you can help out your local small business. I love the national retailer too....much love ;).

I thought of third one... :)

Estate Sales....always a great place to find good deals and get lost in history. I find it best NEVER to go on the first day. I always go on the last day towards the end. If I go on the 1st day, I will always see something that I like that will be priced out of my budget. On the last day, you only see what's left and they are always eager to make a deal. An added bonus is that you'll never see "that great piece you could of had". They are usually run by a 3rd party person who is just looking to move the remaining items and has no emotional attachments. To find the best deals, go on the last day.