A virtual tour of the new pad. Probably not safe for dialup

[ignom]

You all can give me redecorating ideas.

It's kinda dirty, especially the carpet and the white walls. There are a couple of rooms I didn't take pictures of because they are just normal.

As you can see below, the flowerbed might need little work.

[ignom]

The bedroom. I hate the maroon.

[meredith]

Nice. I'll let Chris Lowell provide the decorating ideas for you.

What is in that fridge drawer?

[ignom]

Nice. I'll let Chris Lowell provide the decorating ideas for you.

What is in that fridge drawer?

A giant, crusted brown glob, hardened to perfection.

[eo000]

looks great!  and i'll give you $2 to eat the brown glob.

[Gamplayerx]

Previous owners were big fans of the wallpaper border, huh?

[eo000]

what does the mini door lead to? wonkaville?

[ignom]

what does the mini door lead to? wonkaville?

My friend Mike (who is a cop) said it would make a good room to grow pot. There is even a light in there. I thought of opening a youth hostel. (There's another little room like that on the other side.)

[Gamplayerx]

I'd repaint the bedroom and take down that border.  It's too old and austere for you.  Maybe a more neutral color, like a sage would be nice - depending on what all you have.  Do you have a comforter or bedspread?  And dust ruffle?

I'm not so sure about the mirror over the fireplace.  Perhaps if you added some sort of border or framing for it and the entire hearth.  I dunno.  The tiling is pretty.

I like the ship bathroom. 

[nishi]

man, the very first thing i would do would be:

rent whatever is necessary to remove every wallpaper border in the house. a one afternoon job.

buy enough stay-kilz primer to cover every room. make it a complete do over.

the rooms are a nice size, though and i like the layout. gamp's right about the mirror over the fireplace - it needs.... something.

[ignom]

The comforter wasn't on the bed when I took the pic. I want to paint the bedroom a green or a blue or a neutral color. I don't know what color sage is, brownish? If a dust ruffle is the thing you hang from the box spring, i have one, but it matches a certain set of sheets.

I'm turning the other upstairs bedroom into a sort of "zen room," not necessarily a meditation room, but a room to relax, no real furniture or tv, though.

The ship bathroom is the only room I don't want to change.

The fireplace and the mirror I like a lot, i just don't know what to do about the white walls around it. I don't like plain white walls, but sometimes you can't avoid them.

[ignom]

What is stay kilz? the only border i want to keep is in the ship bathroom.

[Alice]

man, the very first thing i would do would be:

rent whatever is necessary to remove every wallpaper border in the house. a one afternoon job.

buy enough stay-kilz primer to cover every room. make it a complete do over.

the rooms are a nice size, though and i like the layout. gamp's right about the mirror over the fireplace - it needs.... something.

The problem with the mirror is that it's too high.  They didn't leave tile at the top to frame it off.  All it needs is a frame and it would look much better. 

The rooms are too old for you. What color furniture/accessories do you have?

[Gamplayerx]

Sage is a green - a soft, greyish green.  Very nice non-jarring color.  This is sort of sage-ish, but I'd probably go a little lighter and softer/more muted for a bedroom.
http://www.thelittlescrapbookstore.com/images/covers/Sage%20floral.jpg
And without the floral scrolling.

[ignom]

What color furniture/accessories do you have?

I have plaid furniture, mostly thrift shop 1970s stuff.

[ignom]

I sleep on my couch most nights, if you can't tell.

[dc]

What is stay kilz? the only border i want to keep is in the ship bathroom.

Kilz is a primer/blocker.  Apply a coat of it over stains or other colors so they don't bleed through.  And if you get the spray can of it, pay attention to the "ventilated area" warning.  That stuff'll get you high in an instant.

[nishi]

you have way too much maroon to get the spray can.

it's a oil-based primer, but it's different than oil-based paint - it has an elasticity build into it, so you can paint over it with either oil or latex, and it will go on to either oil or latex. like dc said, kilz is designed to make sure that things don't bleed through it. stains, colors, whatever.

you *can* get it tinted. so, once you decide on a color for a room, you can go to your paint store and get a gallon of tinted kilz primer in that color, and a gallon of regular latex paint in your color, and unless your rooms are really big, or that maroon is really hard to cover - and that's a possibility - you might not need a second coat of regular paint.

you'll need a separate set of brushes and rollers for the oil-primer than you have for the latex paints. if you want, i'll make you a list of what you'll need in order to get going.

are there a lot of holes in your walls? like - did they have a lot of pictures up and stuff?

[dc]

you have way too much maroon to get the spray can.

it's a oil-based primer, but it's different than oil-based paint - it has an elasticity build into it, so you can paint over it with either oil or latex, and it will go on to either oil or latex. like dc said, kilz is designed to make sure that things don't bleed through it. stains, colors, whatever.

you *can* get it tinted. so, once you decide on a color for a room, you can go to your paint store and get a gallon of tinted kilz primer in that color, and a gallon of regular latex paint in your color, and unless your rooms are really big, or that maroon is really hard to cover - and that's a possibility - you might not need a second coat of regular paint.

you'll need a separate set of brushes and rollers for the oil-primer than you have for the latex paints. if you want, i'll make you a list of what you'll need in order to get going.

are there a lot of holes in your walls? like - did they have a lot of pictures up and stuff?

But it's no fun using Kilz without the buzz from the fumes....

[ignom]

There weren't many pictures on the maroon walls, but there were a lot on the white walls.

Maroon is too negative of a color for me. I need something somber. I guess sage might work. I definitely don't like any shade of red in the bedroom. The kitchen I can handle for a while. But I hate just white and I hate off-white.

[dazie]

I painted one wall terra cotta and the joining wall olive.  (Thought it was going to be "sage-y-er")  It looks really hip. 

Don't be afraid to use lots of colors!

[Bennyhana]

THey do make a latex version of Kilz now, but with the saturation of that color, you're probably better off going with the original stuff; I've heard that it still works better.  Just don't get any Kilz in your hair.  Ever.  Never ever.

[Dry then Catch]

Sage is a green - a soft, greyish green.  Very nice non-jarring color.  This is sort of sage-ish, but I'd probably go a little lighter and softer/more muted for a bedroom.
http://www.thelittlescrapbookstore.com/images/covers/Sage%20floral.jpg
And without the floral scrolling.

awesome i painted my living room sagey half a year ago.  now i know it was a good decision

[Dry then Catch]

what is that thing at the bottom of your vegetable crisper ig?

[Alice]

I would recommend not going with a sage in the living room.  That color, along with your furniture, will make your room look outdated.  I would suggest finding a color in your couch that you like... that isn't the most prominent color, and painting your walls that.

Also, if you want to elongate your room - paint your longest wall a color, leave the other walls white.  Or, paint all your walls a color and paint your ceiling the same color but two shades lighter. 

For your living room, I think I see some blue in the couch.  That might look good (666699).  Or maybe the rust color (CC6600).

I'm using HTML colors cuz it seems easier to explain it that way then try to name the color for you.

For your zen room, I'd recommend a chocolate brown (996600) for whichever wall is least interrupted byt windows and doors.  And for the other 3 walls, go with a beigey tan (CC9966).  It'll be very calming and relaxing.

For your bedroom, if you want chill - I'd go with the sage (99CC66) everyone is recommending.  Seems like a good idea to me.  I almost did that in my bedroom here, but went for the exact opposite.

If only you had moved in like 5 months.  I'm going to be taking interior decorating classes soon.

[Jessie]

We need a decorating party at ig's house.

Of course, I'll just be manual labor, because I have no idea what any of you are talking about.

The only think that caught my eye was the little door and the fact that there's a fireplace.  I like fire.

[nishi]

i finally found a place online that has color samples. also, you can "paint the walls" of their sample rooms and get a sense of what some of the colors will look like (there are several sets of samples, from different manufacturers)

http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=pg&p=Promos/paintvizsplash.html#

they also have a pretty good general guide on painting:

http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=howTo&p=Improve/GidIntPnt.html&rn=RightNavFiles/rightNavHowTo

[nishi]

and another good link there:

http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=pg&p=HomeDecor/paintProjCtr_index.html&rn=none



don't get freaked out reading about all the prep. it doesn't take as long as it might sound unless your house is old, which it is not, and spending a little bit of time spackling and sanding and prepping and all makes an HUGE difference in how the room looks when it's done.

welcome to home ownership!

[cnamon]

The only advise I can give is make it feel like home...sounds logical, but a lot of times, people decorate and paint and do all this stuff and their home is not inviting.  Have fun with it.  Put up pictures that says things about you.

[Jessie]

I think having plants makes a home homier.

[Jessie]

I think having plants makes a home homier.

Not the kind Mike meant, though.

[Alice]

I think having plants makes a home homier.

All my plants die.  I blame them though.  They don't run up and paw me or bark at me when they are thirsty.  Lazy bastards deserve to die.

[ignom]

Thanks for the help so far!

I need plants for my flowerbed, what should I put in there? I need something I don't have to water and lasts for a really long time.

[Jessie]

I think having plants makes a home homier.

All my plants die.  I blame them though.  They don't run up and paw me or bark at me when they are thirsty.  Lazy bastards deserve to die.

I've often said that Timothy was lucky to have been born knowing how to cry.

[nishi]

Thanks for the help so far!

I need plants for my flowerbed, what should I put in there? I need something I don't have to water and lasts for a really long time.

how much sun does it get? and is that black stuff mulch or some kind of black gravel?

[Beefy]

I like the shower curtain.

[ignom]

how much sun does it get? and is that black stuff mulch or some kind of black gravel?

It's mulch or woodchips or something like that.

I don't know about the sun, I haven't been there enough during the day to notice. I'm sure it gets quite a bit.

[nishi]

for shrubs, you might look at juniper



bayberry




and butterfly bush




some junipers have more horizontal growth and some are more vertical. so that part of your garden stays green all year, i'd recommend both. talk to a local greenhouse about which upright juniper, so you don't end up with one that's 20 feet tall.


you want a mixture of shrubs and plants.

[BigDun]

[Youphoric]

[Jessie]

Youph, BD, beautifuk.

Just beautifuk.

[meredith]

Youph: time to shave!

ecky- ecky- ecky- ecky- pikang- zoop- boing- goodem- zoo- owli- zhiv

[nishi]

for the plants, perennials are more expensive (much), but you only have to plant them once. annuals you have to plant every year. so, when establishing a garden, it's good to start with some of both, and over time, reduce how many annuals you have to deal with by planting more perennials each year. unless you find that you like to garden, which some people discover that they do.

here are some of my favorite perennials that would work in your garden and that don't require upkeep:

false indigo:



stella d'oro daylillies:



brazilian sage (this is a terrible picture, but i couldn't find a better one. it gets about 3 feet tall, and has deep cobalt blue flowers - it also attracts hummingbirds. i can send you a start from my plants)



blue oat grass:



red hot poker (and how could any self-respecting junto-ite NOT have this in their garden, i ask you??)



and coreopsis:

[Youphoric]

Youph: time to shave!

If only I was that tan!

[nishi]

if you wait until fall, you can get trees, shrubs, and perennials (usually) on sale, and they can be planted - in your area, i think - probably into november.

let me know the measurements of those spots and we'll figure out something.

[ignom]

I bought a condo instead of a house for the sole fact that I hate mowing, I doubt I'd like gardening.

[cnamon]

I bought a condo instead of a house for the sole fact that I hate mowing, I doubt I'd like gardening.

Its nothing to it if you have perinnials!  Just water them until they root and they let nature take its course.

A lot of the flowers have started to bloom...I'll take pictures tonight of them.

[attachment deleted by admin]

[nishi]

I bought a condo instead of a house for the sole fact that I hate mowing, I doubt I'd like gardening.

i hate mowing more than death, and i, like most people, came to gardening later. it's more pleasing than you might think. playing in the dirt is MUCH more fun than pushing a fucking lawn mower. plus, there's a lot to be said for walking out your door with a pair of scissors and coming back inside with fresh flowers.

you can also grow a lot of herbs in that plot, and then you have them for cooking. also enormously gratifying. rosemary, basil, sage, thyme, savory, parsley, oregano - all would grow beautifully there.

[Jessie]

I bought a condo instead of a house for the sole fact that I hate mowing, I doubt I'd like gardening.

Its nothing to it if you have perinnials!  Just water them until they root and they let nature take its course.

A lot of the flowers have started to bloom...I'll take pictures tonight of them.

That blue one is really neat!

[nishi]

I bought a condo instead of a house for the sole fact that I hate mowing, I doubt I'd like gardening.

Its nothing to it if you have perinnials!  Just water them until they root and they let nature take its course.

A lot of the flowers have started to bloom...I'll take pictures tonight of them.

that is so cute!!!

[Jessie]

I bought a condo instead of a house for the sole fact that I hate mowing, I doubt I'd like gardening.

i hate mowing more than death, and i, like most people, came to gardening later. it's more pleasing than you might think. playing in the dirt is MUCH more fun than pushing a fucking lawn mower. plus, there's a lot to be said for walking out your door with a pair of scissors and coming back inside with fresh flowers.

you can also grow a lot of herbs in that plot, and then you have them for cooking. also enormously gratifying. rosemary, basil, sage, thyme, savory, parsley, oregano - all would grow beautifully there.

I want to grow my own herbs.

[Bishamonten]

I second the Herb Garden.  One of the things I'm most looking forward to when Nesh gets here is that she always has an herb garden and it really makes great cooking. 

[Alice]

[Beefy]

"...you say 'erb' while we say'Herb'... cause there's a fucking H in it!"

[Youphoric]

"...you say 'erb' while we say'Herb'... cause there's a fucking H in it!"

heheheheheheee