Ask MetaFilter posts tagged with decorating

Dude! Can I surf the waves in your area rug?

Fuzzy Skinner — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 17:50:33 -0800

What are your personal experiences with products or methods to keep your area rugs from moving around on your carpet? I have a 5'x8' area rug in my living room. It's sitting on short-nap carpeting, right in main area where the sofa, chairs and television are, so it gets a good amount of traffic. It's pretty thin and rubber-backed and lays down pretty well, but quickly develops "waves." I've looked at the various adhesive rug pads out there that are supposed to keep this from happening, so I know pretty much what's out there, but I want to know your personal experiences with any of these products. Or, is there some magical product or method that works better than the rug pads, but might not be as obvious?

Also: this is a rented apartment, so suggestions to remove the carpet or do anything permanent are not going to work.

Thanks!

My walls suck.

All.star — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 11:54:52 -0800

Any tips on decorating my new home that has dark wood paneled walls? I want to try and lighten the place up without actually redoing the walls since we are renting.

Creative ways to display flatware?

OLechat — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 13:31:41 -0800

Creative ways to display flatware? I was recently given a beautiful set of 1940s silverware, and I don't want to stick it in a drawer and pull them out once a year. We'll be using these all the time, and I want to find a nice way to display them, but have them easy to access.

Blue Vase Mystery

zenpop — Sat, 10 May 2008 14:10:49 -0800

One final attempt. Anyone know where I can find this blue vase? Or a vase that's similar?

I've spent months trawling different online merchants that carry crystal and 'fine' art objects for the home -- from Orrefors to Target -- to no avail. So, finally, I've come to the MetaMinds collective.

Here's the object.

Does anyone have a clue?

Decorating around decorative light switches?

Nematoda — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 18:11:51 -0800

I need some creative ideas for decorating the thin border of unpainted wall space surrounding some new decorative light switch covers. I've always fancied decorative light switch covers, and now that I have my own house, I decided to buy some. After buying several pretty designs off ebay of birds, flowers, and other things, I realized that the covers I bought are actually smaller than the original light switch covers I have. The new covers fit just fine, but there is a small border of unpainted wall area left around them. I don't want to return the covers, and I don't want to buy a whole can of paint to just cover a tiny little area like that. Is there any creative way to decorate the wall space around the cover?

Inspiration for painting and decorating rooms

Meagan — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 09:22:51 -0800

Looking for various sources of inspiration for painting/decorating a new apartment. I'm in the early stages of moving into a new and larger apartment, going from a one-bedroom to a 3-bedroom with two living areas and 1.5 bathrooms. How exciting!

Now that I have all these rooms, I want to paint and decorate some of them. I'm trained in graphic design, so I have a good sense of color combinations and shapes/flow, but I'm not terribly creative on my own. What I would love to do is page through a magazine or blog that shows room designs, so I can gather inspiration. I know magazines like this exist, but I'm not sure which ones are highly rated, or what terms to Google for.

I'm open to all styles of design, from retro to classic to abstract, all colors, all shapes, everything.

If you have any links, or book/magazine recommendations, please share!

Where are good places to buy inexpensive office furniture?

fracturing — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 09:16:37 -0800

I've already checked out officefurniture.com, IKEA, Office Maxand Staples. Can you recommend a place to get modern type office furniture, particularly desks for around $500 or less? I'm looking for either a corner desk or L-shaped.

cute diy boat decor, plz.

cior — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 19:52:18 -0800

I'd like to do some interior design/cozying to my sailboat's interior. Before charging off with a sewing machine and some rubber cement, I thought it might be good to seek some advice. Got any? Here are two photos of my current interior.

I really want to warm the place up a bit, make things comfortable and homey. At the same time, whatever I do needs to stand up to moisture and general boat skank. I've started by sanding down and coating the cabinets with teak oil, but don't know where next to go.

Any experiences to share? Any mods to avoid? I've been looking at CRAFT magazine and a few other sources, but not getting very far in terms of practical ideas that would work on a boat. I've also asked some sailing friends, but haven't gotten a lot of helpful advice -- their boats are either too new or nice to make an equation with my shabby environs.

Fun desk chair?

lemonade — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 08:38:18 -0800

I need a 'decorative' desk chair. It doesn't have to be too comfortable, it only gets used for occasional filing. But it is in a bedroom, so I'd like for it to be fun and modern. Ikea is the only place I could think of to look, and I'd like some more options. Thanks!

Cheaper duvet cover

lemonade — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 06:41:27 -0800

I have been wanting to redo the bedroom in blue and chocolate brown, and I really really love this duvet cover, the king-size sky version, although I wouldn't mind if the blue was a few shades darker. Is there something similar but cheaper out there? And maybe made of a sturdier fabric...

Tips and trick for organizing kids' room!

amanda — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 09:18:52 -0800

I'm helping a friend with her baby room this weekend and am looking for tips about working with a limited space and organizing it for two kids! My friend has a step daughter who is 9 and visits them every other weekend. This room has been a combo craft/sewing room for mom and bedroom for the little girl. Now she's got a baby (girl!) on the way and needs to reorganize the room so that it can be baby room and accommodate the 9 year old. It's a narrow, small room and I'm trying to brainstorm all the ways we can make it work for both kids (I think the crafting is out).

Her husband is planning to make a crib so we know the size of that but everything else is up for debate. We've thought about buying the step daughter a different bed that would have more storage but what are some other ways to deal with all her kid stuff? And, what's the best way to keep baby stuff to a minimum? Is it a good idea to use a bureau for a changing table or do you need a traditional changing table? What are you pressured to buy for baby that is really not necessary and that takes up too much space? This is my friend's first baby so she is starting from scratch on all this.

Help me make my home beautiful!

elquien — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 16:51:26 -0800

What are your favorite home improvement/design/decorating websites? I just bought a new home, and I'm planning on redecorating (new paint, furniture, etc.) all of the rooms, as well as adding a new bathroom. I've exhausted the hgtv.com website, and I'm looking for sites relating to remodeling, decorating, room design, etc.

So, what are your favorites?

Help Me Feel Better About Not Wanting To "Go All Out" With The Christmas Decorating.

amyms — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 03:07:10 -0800

I feel guilty for not wanting to really "go all out" with Christmas decorating this year. I'll do the tree, of course, but every year I feel like doing less and less in terms of the "whole shebang"... My kids are basically "grown up" (ages 19 and 15) but I feel like I'll be letting them down if I do less than what's expected. The thought of totally getting into the decorating this year is exhausting. Can any other Mefites relate to this? And, if so, how did you deal with it?

Where to find old commercial

electric_counterpoint — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 10:15:17 -0800

What happens to letters from demolished buildings? What happens to old lettering on commercial buildings in general? Of course, the real question is, can I get my hands on them? Just occurred to me as I was changing my desktop wallpaper and saw several good looking images I'd snatched off Flickr from people who went on Tobias Frere-Jones' typography tour of New York a few months ago. Wouldn't it be cool to have a few old specimens up on a wall or something? Well, I thought it would.

So, what's the line on something like this? I'm not interested in buying some new letters custom-made, and my budget for the next few years will probably rule this out no matter what the cost. But on the off chance that the market for old signage is small, well, that would be good to know.

I should clarify that I'm not particularly thinking about actual signs or displays or marquees or .... I'm just thinking about actual letters, like so.

Really really really small.

allen8219 — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 19:14:18 -0800

How to make a SMALL bedroom livable? I just moved into a new apartment with friends, and while the place is overall very nice, my bedroom is very very small. 7 feet by 10 feet, with one small window on the narrow wall.

I have googled a lot of related search terms to get ideas for decorating... unfortunately the term "tiny bedroom" seems to refer to rooms about twice as big as mine.

Does anyone have experience making a very small space livable? Any photos, tips, or links would be super helpful, thanks!

Wake me up in style!

FlyByDay — Sun, 07 Oct 2007 16:48:29 -0800

Who knew finding a tabletop alarm clock would be so hard? Frivolous question, but something I haven't been able to find myself despite significant research. Maybe y'all can help? I'm looking for a stylish tabletop alarm clock, one that lives somewhere between modern and classic. I've looked at all the obvious places: Crate and Barrel, Pier One, Macys, Target, Ikea, Restoration Hardware, Overstock.com, SmartBargains.com, Pottery Barn, several home design sites...and nothin'. Most of what they have are your regular few-buck faux metal clock radios, or - on the other end - gaudy cut crystal clocks better suited for wedding gifts. What I really want is THIS. But not for $176, but that's very much along the lines of what I want.

And please don't suggest I try to make something like this myself. I am not that handy. In fact, I am the opposite of handy. I am un-handy.

Suggestions? Help me wake up in style!

How to paint a moving water effect on wall?

riverjack — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 15:30:09 -0800

I want to paint one of the walls in my bedroom so that it gives the impression of flowing or moving water. The idea is to give a kind of mountain stream effect by: *putting river rocks along the edge of the wall by the floor *by making a small floor indoor water fountain with the same rocks for the middle of the wall. How can I get this effect on the wall? I've looked at some painting books for some ideas...frottaging and combing both looked like they had some possibilities, but it doesn't seem the perfect fit. I've also thought about some kind of effect on the wall and then painting white flowing lines across the wall over the effect so the effect alone doesn't have to carry the idea, but I'm not sure if I'm confident enough to freehand those by myself.

Googling this proved much harder than I thought so I thought I'd try the art and design mavens here. I love links to ideas - they're always helpful.

How do I get that Pier 1 look on the cheap?

katillathehun — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 21:24:06 -0800

I'm working on redecorating my apartment. Now, I'm a sucker for Bombay Company/Pier 1/World Market goods, but I'm saving my pennies for more important things. What are some inexpensive, do-it-yourself ways to give my apartment that "worldly," tastefully-exotic look? I already shop eBay and thrift stores. I'm looking for any suggestions you may have if you've done something like this, decorating blogs/sites/books/etc you've read and found useful for such projects, and any other ideas... especially if you've got similar taste.

I've found a few blogs here and there, but most of the ones I've seen either require tools I couldn't use if I had them (damn it, Jim, I'm a web designer, not a carpenter) or the end results I see on these sites really do look as cheap as they are.

Things to note if it helps: I'm allowed to paint my walls here as well as nail things up, I can't put stuff over my windows if they can be seen outside the apartment, and I have drab, beige wall-to-wall carpeting. I'm pretty much set on basic furniture. It's strictly home decor tips I'm after, and I'm not afraid to get my hands dirty.

Help me Halloweenify my house!

catfood — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 11:07:40 -0800

I need suggestions on inexpensive, not-too-tacky, fun Halloween decorations for the outside of my house. Right now, I am definitely making a fake cemetery (yes, tombstones with dorky/funny epitaphs) and carving a few pumpkins, but I want ideas for ways to Halloween-up certain parts of my house.

These are:
- The large living room window that everyone can see from the road.
- The front door and/or the glass panel next to the front door.
- Our mailbox.
- The two small trees in our front yard.
- Something to hang from the arm/bracket thingy next to our front door that we usually hang a plant from (I know they must have a name, but I can't think of it right now.)

Cheapness is a must, and I don't really like store-bought Halloween props (most are either too tacky trying to look realistic or too sloppy), so I'm willing to put some elbow grease into the mix.

I want our house to pretty much look appealing to trick-or-treaters but also give adults/teenagers a chuckle if they stop to look.

Wall painting effect

Mitheral — Sun, 26 Aug 2007 02:03:59 -0800

How would one paint a wall with this effect. It looks like a blue base that has a random pattern masked out. How would one apply the top coats get the soft multicolour tile effect?

I'd like my apartment to be really super cool.

Quidam — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 14:18:12 -0800

In a few weeks I'll be moving into a new apartment. I have the option of painting the walls (as long as they go back to white when I move out), and I'd like to do something really cool. What should I do? I'll be moving in with 2 other girls into a 2 bedroom apartment (I'll have my own bedroom). We want to do something fun and interesting with it, but we don't know what yet. I should also probably note that we're looking forward to this being a hang-out spot for a lot of our friends. We're thinking about maybe doing a wall of chalkboard paint in the living room. For my part, I'd like at least my bedroom to be more interesting than just a solid color of paint. Stripes maybe? Polka dots? I'm open to anything right now.

Yes, I know it'll be a hassle to paint it back white later, and yes, for that reason it would probably be better to stick with the lighter side of the color spectrum. But I do think I want to paint it, as opposed to, say, hanging up fabric or putting a bunch of posters up. I like painted walls. I think it'll be worth it.

I've scanned through the multitude of posts tagged with "paint" and picked up some good tips, but I guess now I'm looking for anecdotes or ideas relating to apartment-wall-decorating that you've seen or done. Surely some members of the hivemind have done really cool things with their apartments/homes, or have stumbled upon friends' apartments with interesting things done to them, right? Any ideas?

Wholesale fruit in Boston?

frescaanddietcoke — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 09:17:02 -0800

Is there anywhere that sells wholesale (or at least large quantities of) fruit in the Boston area? In November we want to buy a large amount of fruit to use in centerpieces. (Not sure quite how many pieces, will depend on the fruit. But perhaps 10-15 tables worth of centerpieces.) Pomegranates would be ideal. Something else seasonal would be good too. Is there anywhere in the Boston area that would sell a large quantity of fruit at a discount off supermarket prices, would deliver to Cambridge, and would be able to set this up in advance? Or some subset of the above criteria would work too.

How to display a tea brick?

shiu mai baby — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 06:24:00 -0800

I need to figure out how to display a somewhat delicate tea brick in a shadow box I bought, without the brick disintegrating. I have a really cool tea brick. It looks just like the second picture on that page, measures about 9" x 7" x 1", and weighs about a pound. I have a very nice shadow box in which I'd like to display said brick. The inside of the shadow box has a bit of padding, and came with black quilting pins to, uh, pin stuff with in that insufferable casual-trendy Pottery Barn sort of way. These pins, however, were designed for photos and are made to be seen, and I definitely don't want that.

I want the brick to sort of float in the middle of the shadow box, but I'm stumped as to how to achieve that. The brick is pressed tea, so I doubt straight-up glue will work -- while it's fairly sturdy, the tea does break away in little dust clusters fairly easily. Maybe a series of clipped pins, lying flush with the corners of the brick? I don't know. Suggestions?

The other option is a planned chip pan fire...

twine42 — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 07:20:56 -0800

How do I revive a kitchen when we can't change it? We live in a rental house where the landlord has said we can make any changes we want. We painted the living room bright yellow as a test and he didn't even notice.

The whole house now suits us. Except for the kitchen, which is a depressing hell-hole. No matter how clean it is, it still looks and feels dirty. The floor is a scrappy lino. The walls are almost entirely covered in cheap wall units and any 'visible' bits are covered in what look like (damaged) cork floor tiles. The ceiling has been artexed and traps every spiders web, bit of dirt and kitchen grease.

So... how do we cheer it up? We have no problem with painting rooms, but I dread to think what's behind the cork. Replacing the floor means moving all the floor units. Making the cupboards anything other than their boring "once-upon-a-time-white" seems to risk making it even smaller and more depressing.

Help?

Extra info... it's a victorian house, dropped in the middle of the countryside. It's a galley kitchen with doors at both ends. Two people can work in there but three just turns into a game of culinary twister.

Help me make my rug obey

lpsguy — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 06:12:44 -0800

Help me make my rug obey. In our main living area we have a modern wool area rug (8'x8') laid over carpeting with a coffee table positioned right in the middle of it. The table is a clear glass square with a heavy square marble base (1.5 x 1.5'). We love the rug and the table and the way they fit into the living area. So what's the problem? The weight of the table pushes down into the rug and causes wrinkles all over and all the way out to the edges. I've cut various sized squares of wood to put beneath the table base but still the problem persists. I fear the wrinkles have become permanent. I can't imagine why supporting the table on a solid piece of wood (so as not to allow it to push down and dent the plane of the rug) isn't working. Any idea on how I can get my rug to lie flat under this table? Or am I doomed as long as I insist the table stays where it is?