Slow and Steady but Mostly Just Slow.

Thus far, it has taken me roughly two months to redo the horrendous caulk job in my bathroom. What should have taken no more than a few hours has been stretched into a drawn-out, casual sort of affair, with long periods of rest punctuated by short, manic spurts of activity. So far I’ve succeeded in scraping away and replacing all the caulk around the top of the tub, but have been unsuccessful at working my way down to the floor. Don’t even bring up that spot between the sink and the wall or you’re dead to me.

I don’t know where this year is going, but I’m fairly certain that science has found a way to speed time while simultaneously slowing my mental processes and emptying my bank account. This might also just be an indication that I’ve been really busy and taking on any major project (or, let’s face it, even most minor projects) just seems totally out of the question and overwhelming. Hence, the caulk situation. Luckily school ends in a week.

As such, I’ve been trying to take this as an opportunity take care of some of those smaller items on my to-do list that tend to fall by the wayside in the excitement of things that are…way more exciting. It’s miserable shit, but it’s also teaching me lofty concepts like “following through” and “responsibility.”

Here is our original living room light fixture. I’ll just say it was probably one of the ugliest things I’ve ever seen and leave it at that. You don’t even want to know the horrors on top of that circle of glass.

BOOM, new light. New light that is actually old, seeing as I bought it off Craigslist back in AUGUST. Take that in for a second. AUGUST.

It’s a Kartell FL/Y Suspension Lamp. It’s huge and plastic and gives off nice light and retails for like $300 but I bought it for $60. Even though Max has all but outlawed the use of overhead lights, I like knowing it’s up there. Waiting. Ready for service in the rare moments when I can get away with it.

BUT THAT’S NOT ALL.

A long time ago, right after I painted the living room, I made the super crappy mistake of trying to pretend I liked curtains. This was a bad idea, seeing as I do not like curtains. Not for myself, anyway, or maybe only these curtains hung in this horrible way. I’m all about curtains for other people. I’m sure yours look great, for example, because you’re perfect. You know how to hang a curtain.

Yes, this was the best picture I could scrounge up of the curtain fiasco of 2011-early ’12. Apologies.

God, I hated those curtains. Because they were “temporary,” I decided I didn’t care that the panels were too wide, so the windows could only accommodate one panel each. Sure, I could have cut them in half lengthwise to make two skinnier panels like normal curtain-loving folk might do, but they were “temporary” and…too much effort. I’m exhausted just thinking about it.

Here’s a close-up. RITVA curtains from IKEA on an ugly IKEA curtain rod that seems to have been discontinued. That RITVA fabric is actually really nice, by the way, it just looked awful in my windows.

This entire curtain nightmare was brought on by IKEA’s choice to discontinue the fabulous and perfect and beautiful light of my life, fire of my loins that was the ENJE roller blind. Sensing the remote possibility that such an earth-shattering decision might be made by my favorite Swedish furniture manufacturer, I had hoarded all of my ENJE shades from my last apartment, but these two living room windows were too big for those salvaged sloppy seconds. So I had to wait. And wait. And wait. I heard all of this was brought on because the pull-chain constituted a possible strangling hazard for toddlers or something, but honestly? I’m not a huge fan of most kids, but I was a huge fan of those blinds. You see where I’m going here.

Oh joyous day when the ENJE returned to IKEA, but of course they went and bastardized a perfectly good child-repellent design with a new spring-loaded suspension system instead of a pull-chain, which seems like it would be infinitely more hazardous. So I bought two, brimming with excitement to go home and immediately rip down the curtains and throw up my new shades.

A good three or four months later, I finally got around to cutting them to size and actually hanging them in my windows.

Why is it so hard for me to take a decent photo on a sunny day? Point is, you can kind of make out where the shade ends, about six inches short of the actual bottom of the window. IKEA, you sneaky little bitch. While the ENJE was undergoing its flashy redesign, IKEA also decided to shorten the shades to a mere 64 inches, from what had previously been about 6,000 inches. What, IKEA, no more love for big-ass pre-war windows? Like, seriously, could my life be any harder?

Fuck that noise, even too-short ENJE blinds are better than the curtain disaster. Who needs those last 6 inches? IT TOTALLY DOESN”T DRIVE ME CRAZY!!! I SWEAR!!!

It drives me fucking insane.

Here’s a picture to hopefully convey how great the fabric is on these things, diffusing just the right amount of light and obscuring just enough of the outside world for you to both see it when you want to and pretend it isn’t there when you want to be naked.

Oh, and because I like to think of myself as a rebel first and a responsible consumer second, I totally harvested all the pull-chain pieces and brackets from my old too-small shades and used them on the new shades, discarding the weird spring-loaded system that I couldn’t get used to. Sticking it to the man!!!

I don’t really know why I’m explaining the intricate minutia of the differences between two versions of the same IKEA products and my basically n0n-replicable means of addressing my disappointment, but the real takeaway here is this: toddlers, stay out of my apartment. You have been warned.

BUT THAT’S NOT ALL.

Here’s something I know we can all rally around.

Shopping!!!

Craigslist. $75. It’s way more comfortable than the Bertoia, which leaves butts looking like belgian waffles.

The finish on the wood is kind of chipped up, so I might try to fix that at some point. Maybe. Probably never but I’ll add it to the list.

About Daniel Kanter

Hi, I'm Daniel, and I love houses! I'm a serial renovator, DIY-er, and dog-cuddler based in Kingston, New York. Follow along as I bring my 1865 Greek Revival back to life and tackle my 30s to varying degrees of success. Welcome!

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85 Comments

  1. 5.8.12
    Jenn said:

    Some sort of dropped valence? So it hits proper? That would drive me nuts, too.

    Work it. There’s a fix!

  2. 5.8.12
    Celina said:

    Seeing your post is the perfect grad-school-all-nighter break i needed! Good luck with the rest of the semester and looking forward to seeing what you’re getting into in the summer!

    Also, where was that hallway update??

    • 5.9.12
      Daniel said:

      It’s cominggggg. I hate myself. Taking pictures is hard and then I keep noticing little things I want to change before the *big reveal*. I need to just do it.

  3. 5.9.12
    Margarita said:

    Or you could DIY and hot glue a fringe of tassels at the bottom…. No one would be the wiser!

    (completely kidding!)

    • 5.9.12
      Daniel said:

      Dangly beads. Bedazzzzzzzle.

  4. 5.9.12
    Thea said:

    They still sell the original ENJE in Amsterdam. 250 cm long and with the toddler-strangling chain. I should have kept that to myself, right? Anyway…

    (In cases of emergency, you could ask someone you know to send it from here, or probably anywhere else in Europe. You seem like the kind of guy with friends in Europe. And in even bigger cases of emergency, I could do it. But I’m a worse procrastinator than you. Just a warning.)

    • 5.9.12
      Daniel said:

      Thanks!! I’ve gotten a couple of emails about them now, too…apparently the new design is only sold in the US, Canada, and the Domincan Republic or something, so it’s possible I might just cave and order from somebody in Europe. Apparently there are some eBay people who understand the demand for ENJE in the States.

  5. 5.9.12
    Elin said:

    That’s funny about the Enje shade. Here in Sweden we must be getting the old version or something, because I bought one last week-end which is 2,5 m long and has a pull-chain.

    I imagine shipping would be prohibitive, else I’d totally offer to go buy you a couple and mail them over :)

  6. 5.9.12
    Cristina said:

    I hate curtains too, so I can commiserate. Right now I live in what we can agree to call a huge fish tank (it’s huge for gold fish, we call it cosy), in which a whole front is made up of floor to ceiling windows, which look out onto a terrace in a courtyard with other buildings around it. My point being, I need curtains. So, I have them – and I spent *a lot* more than it is acceptable on ceiling-to-floor curtains (the ceilings are super high, also). They look good, but I still dislike curtains.

    All of this to say, though, that from the picture you took looking out the window, it doesn’t look like you *need* curtains. Do you have any neighbours that can look inside? If that’s not the case, I’d totally do without. Unless, of course, I were living with my boyfriend (as is the case), who’s a privacy freak and is all like “why are the curtains drawn, the neighbours will see us naked even when we’re fully clothed OMG”.

    Ah, does Mekko always look like she wants to cuddle? So sweet…

    • 5.9.12
      Daniel said:

      No, we’re on the fifth floor with no building immediately facing us, so our apartment is actually very private that way. The curtains/shades are really just to filter out some light, which is why the ENJE is so perfect. With NOTHING in the windows it can get super duper bright in the morning, which is kind of a killer for guests who sleep on the couch, or even for us since we usually leave all the doors open at night for cross-ventilation. Also, it keeps some of the heat out of the apartment in the summer, which is helpful for our energy bills and general comfort since obviously there’s no a/c in our building aside from window units, which we try not to use TOO much.

  7. 5.9.12
    Simone said:

    Hi Daniel;
    Not sure about the light, I hate all ceilinglights in general (when we replastered the ceiling I had all the lightspots plastered away) but love the new shades, I’m sure that the problem in length can be remedied somehow and will make them even better (but more work, I agree). I read about Max’ bulletinboard on his blog, I really love the way that looks. Maybe add a nice “Uten silo” (google that) next to it? Any plans for your prize jet?
    Have a wonderful day!!!

    • 5.9.12
      Daniel said:

      A few plans for the prize money, but we haven’t received it yet! I like the Uten.Silo… we’re still sort of futzing with that area…that whole side of the room just feels really cramped to me, but maybe at least clearing off the desktop would help. That is, if Max can be convinced that clean surfaces are beautiful things instead of opportunities for clutter. Which is unlikely :-)

  8. 5.9.12
    Lori said:

    Hi! Not sure about the curtains but wondering where your desk is from? It’s beautiful.

    Thanks
    Lori

    • 5.9.12
      Daniel said:

      It’s the Pratt Desk from West Elm. It’s been discontinued now, but you might be able to find one secondhand…

  9. 5.9.12

    I get so happy with MH pops up on my reader. Happy day.

    I am agreeing all over the place with this post of yours.

    1.) I too am a curtain hater in my own home yet find myself admiring others’ curtains. It is quite the phenomenon. I’ve tried it over and over and I hate hate hate it every time.

    2.) I went back to IKEA daydreaming about purchasing dozens of newly restocked ENJE shades for my extra wide windows and found that they not only changed the length but the changed the max width!!!!!! AAAGGGGHHHHH. So now I’ve resorted to Wal-Mart roller shades that make my house smell like camping tents. Gah.

    It’s a cruel world. :)

  10. 5.9.12
    Cassie said:

    I just feel the need to tell you that I’m so glad to have found your blog via AT. I have love for many design/decor blogs and magazines, but it’s oh-so-refreshing to read a design/decor blog by a dude who uses hyperbole and loves to fucking curse. Makes the purdy pictures that much more enjoyable, in my opinion.

    • 5.9.12
      Daniel said:

      Thanks, Cassie, that’s so nice to hear!

  11. 5.9.12
    susan said:

    Even if you never turn that overhead light on it is beautiful. Like sculpture for the ceiling. I second the idea of some sort of valance for those TOO SHORT shades. That’d drive me nuts as well.

  12. 5.9.12
    Chris said:

    “Butts like belgian waffles”. Heh. I’ve often wondered about those chairs’ comfort level.

    • 5.9.12
      Daniel said:

      Yeah…they’re actually very comfortable as dining chairs, but if you’re sitting in them for a long time like you would at a desk, they really aren’t idea. Max always ended up sitting on a folded up throw blanket.

  13. 5.9.12
    katie said:

    i too love the enje roller shade, glad to hear it’s back, although not too excited about the lenght/width reduction.

    i really like the light fixture, esp. in this space. i grew up in a house with no overhead lighing and it drove me crazy to have to fumble through dark rooms until i reached some kind of lamp.

  14. 5.9.12
    R said:

    I installed the older/original enje roller shade on my toddlers nursery window BUT I’m not a terrible mother putting my baby’s life in danger. I just made sure to install the anchor (included with the blind) to secure the pull chain to the window frame so there is no choking (noose) hazard. Common sense. It’s stupid people with kids who installed these blinds and didn’t read/follow the directions that messed up a good, perfectly working blind design for us all.

    How wide are your windows? Ikea used to sell a similar plain white fabric as the enje but it was a single long roll for their panel curtains. You could just buy that if it’s wide enough and then there’s no messing around with valances or banding, etc….basically keeping the simplicity of the original enje.

    • 5.9.12
      Daniel said:

      Yeah, it’s a shame that people couldn’t be trusted to just FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS on the plastic anchor thing.

      I’ll look into that fabric! Maybe there is hope! (IDK how wide my windows are…43″ inches I think? Maybe 41? I can’t remember off hand…)

  15. 5.9.12
    R said:

    You could even try looking for replacement fabric at a marine supply store. There’s all different kinds of sail cloth & canvas. Some much more light weight than others and it could have the same light filtering properties as the original enje fabric & various weights. I just don’t think many home design fabric retailers will have any fabric options at a reasonable/economical price.

  16. 5.9.12
    Bernadette said:

    Those ritva curtains are evil — I fell for the lure of their nice fabric, only to get home, hang them, and have them look awful. Something about that fabric doesn’t work well with windows. They’re now used as the perfect liner fabric for my sewing projects.

    • 5.9.12
      Daniel said:

      Right? I think the fabric is too heavy/stiff or something. Maybe it would help to wash them a bunch of times first? I don’t know. That ship has sailed. (I did totally keep the fabric, too, for possible sewing projects down the line. I have no idea how I’d possibly use it all, but it is really nice stuff…)

    • 5.14.12

      never wash them! i had those curtains in beige. after washing you´ll have folds, which you cannot iron. you´ll have white stripes, where the color is washed out. after around four years, the fabric was that sunbleached, that i also bought enje shades (the good old european version).

    • 5.12.12
      molly said:

      i completely agree. i picked them based on the fact they were the only gray option in my price range and i actually thought the subtle texture was nice, but they will not hang right! i have washed them 3 times already (over 6 months… i think that is a lot?) and they still hang there all stiff and sucky.

  17. 5.9.12
    Mary said:

    hahah great.

  18. 5.9.12
    marlene said:

    love this post because you are funny.. but mostly because you are a little nuts :)

    • 5.9.12
      Daniel said:

      Only a little?

  19. 5.9.12
    Kelly said:

    I fucking flipped my shit when I saw that IKEA discontinued the roller shades only to replace them with the stupid cordless kind that never.fucking.work.

    I have huge pre-war windows with awful tan/beige roller shades. They work fine, they’re just dark and ugly. I was giddy when I saw the IKEA blinds on some blogs and they all had the cords and for under $60. FUCK YES. Then I saw what they did. I don’t have kids, so I don’t give a shit about whats safe for them or not. What are kids doing in windows anyway? This is not fair.

  20. 5.9.12
    amourette said:

    I had the exact same issue with the ENJE shades. I stuck it out with hideous ‘temporary’ shades while I tried to figure out what to do when all of a sudden the ENJEs came back only to find out they were too short (I also live in Brooklyn). Still better than what I had before. Anyway, thanks for sharing, when I look at my not-quite-covered windows, at least I know I am not the only one. haha.

  21. 5.9.12
    Monica said:

    $75! Wowzers. Truly a chair to rally around.

    Since the Enje is pretty perfect (aside from the length deficiency and spring loaded whatever), something must be done to the window.

  22. 5.9.12
    Raven1025 said:

    FYI-The whole blind redesign wasn’t Ikea’s fault. There was legislation passed, so no one is allowed to sell that type of blind (with the loopy chain thing). At least, not in the US. Hence, the reason our cool European friends can have the perfect shades, and we are left with the weird mechanism.

    I think my issue with the curtains in your situation is that I would have liked them mounted above your moulding, so that they would have a nice uninterrupted line, which I think would have worked better with the Ritva. It is lovely fabric, but pretty unforgiving.

    Congrats on winning the contest…can’t wait to see what you do with the dollars!

    • 5.10.12
      Jamie B. said:

      So why does Canada have to suffer?! Arrrgh.

  23. 5.9.12
    Furpants said:

    Just when I thought I couldn’t love you more, you go and write this hilarious post.

  24. 5.9.12
    Colin said:

    You Franken-hacked your old Enje hardware onto the new rolls? You’re fucking nuts. And I worship the ground you walk on.

  25. 5.9.12
    Diane said:

    What did you do with the Bertoia chair? Not that I want it but just curious. I read this post to my 83 year old mother and she cackled. Cackled! Thanks.

  26. 5.9.12
    Erin Fay said:

    Love you Daniel. You speak what I think. Same exact situation with Enje. Why ruin a perfectly amazing thing? The stupid spring loaded thingy never ever works right. And mine are not wide enough. And I hate curtains. You are amazing and I can’t wait to see what you do with that moolah.

  27. 5.10.12

    Can I take a second to say I love the ceiling in your living room. It’s wonderful.

    And your curtain issues are nothing like ours. We are renting from a woman in her 80s that is now in assisted living. Her daughter didn’t remove the curtains and the valances, and they are exactly what you’d imagine an 80-year-old might choose for curtains. We are hoping this place is temporary, so finding curtains to fit these windows hasn’t seemed worth our while, but now we have been here for more than 8 months. Whoops.

  28. 5.10.12
    Katie said:

    This entry totally speaks to me. I’m moved into my first house and despite living in countless pre-war apartments with amazingly huge windows that I have successfully found window coverings for, this standard home is proving impossible.
    I need black out rollers for my nursery, but the measurements for the windows seems completely at odds with standard roller sizes, and while personally I love drapes and curtains, I can’t seem to pony up the big bucks for beautiful drapes for each room.

    Ok, complaining aside, I’m loving the overhead pendant – beautiful! And your DCM chair is a freakin’ amazing steal! Damn, you have some serious thrifting skills!

  29. 5.10.12
    Anne said:

    Oh, I’m so glad you posted about the new Enje shades! I bought one a few months ago, intending to cut it down. But then I realized it was the new style (which is not addressed in all the customize-your-Enje online tutorials out there—I am a person who needs a tutorial) and wasn’t sure I’d still be able to cut mine to fit the window. Happy to know I can!

    • 5.11.12
      Daniel said:

      Yes, you can! It’s the same general principle.

    • 5.16.12
      ananda said:

      Would you mind elaborating on how to cut down the width of the new enje? I can’t figure out how to remove the end or even which end to remove. Thanks!

    • 5.20.12
      Daniel said:

      It’s really just the same thing as the old ones, you might need a pair of pliers or something to get the end thing loose. One side has the spring and will sort of snap back eventually if you fiddle with it, whereas the other side does not—it’s probably easier to remove the side without the spring, but either one will work!

    • 10.31.12
      Michelle said:

      HOORAY! Like Anne I’ve been scouring the internet to figure out if the new Enjes can be shortened. So glad to hear they can!

  30. 5.10.12
    loveit said:

    what’s the neon red box next to the desk? (i’ve been paying “spot the difference” between the two pictures…)

    • 5.11.12
      Daniel said:

      It’s a little plastic side table/magazine rack that’s turned the wrong way because it doesn’t really fit the room.

      (THANK YOU IT’S TOTALLY RED MAX SWEARS IT’S ORANGE AND HE’S WRONG.)

    • 5.14.12
      loveit said:

      definitely red, and also very pop-of-neon-for-the-spring trendy. i like!

  31. 5.10.12
    Christie said:

    Honest-to-goodness, Daniel, I don’t even have a list. And I’m older than you. And my apartment, well, I wouldn’t even ENTER it in the small-cool contest, never mind winning for awesomeness.

    Because it’s a mess. And I have beige carpets that my cats are currently tearing up. And vertical blinds (I mean, better than venetian, but still).

    So, while you’re writing about procrastinating about caulking, I’m procrastinating about writing about procrastinating about caulking. (That made sense, I swear).

    But you give me hope. Hope that someday, I will get my husband’s computer back out of the living room and into the study where it belongs (once we get his brother out of there). I wish my problem was caulking.

    I digress. This was meant to say, “Never mind about the caulking, you’re wonderful and inspirational just as you are. Thank you for writing your wonderful blog”.

    And then it sort of wandered off. But there you are. Thank you.

  32. 5.11.12
    Heather said:

    Daniel, you are so, so, SO hilarious. I can identify with on so may levels (other than the fact that I am a 37-year-old girl from Texas). Small apartments are MY THING, which is how I ended up here in the first place. My husband and I had 7 child-free years in Chicago. One of our tiny flats was featured in the now defunct Home Companion magazine and then HGTV came and filmed our second one. (I said really horrific things like, “I get all my furniture out of the dumpster!”). We moved to Africa for a few years and I did my thing there. Now I’m doing the art thing.
    It is so fun to see what you do and to see it through YOUR lens. Such a talent!

    • 5.11.12
      Daniel said:

      Thank you, Heather! I want to see these apartments!

    • 5.11.12
      Heather said:

      I’ll send you some pics. You will die! I’m a maximalist.

  33. 5.11.12
    Wanda said:

    I like the white IKEA curtain very much :) actually I loooove every kind of curtains, because of my privacity… And your ceiling in the living room – absolutely gorgeaus and unique!

  34. 5.11.12
    Kelly said:

    why was my comment removed?

    • 5.11.12
      Daniel said:

      Oh, it wasn’t! I just hadn’t gone through and approved new comments yet. I found a stray dog two days ago and my life has. been. consumed.

    • 5.11.12
      Kelly said:

      ah gotcha, sorries!

  35. 5.11.12
    Hannah said:

    I LOVE THAT LIGHT.

    It looks so huge on screen, but I just looked at the website and it’s 20″ diameter. Too bad, I wanted to curl up inside and live there.

    Everything is looking lovely as usual. Good luck with finals! I just finished yesterday, it’s a great feeling. A temporary feeling until summer classes start, but a great feeling nevertheless. :)

  36. 5.11.12
    Daria said:

    Just a suggestion from someone who has nothing to do with design. Could you move your shades 6″ down, so you instead of having a gap at the bottom of the windows you have one at the top? It may be less visible that way.

    I totally love all your posts, and I’m so looking forward to see what you will do with the AT prize!

  37. 5.15.12

    Wow? Another dog? Are you going to try and keep it :)

    Love the Kartell light, unforch our ceilings are waaaaay too low for anything like that, guess I’ll live vicariously through you a little bit longer…

    Mrs E

  38. 5.15.12
    Ms. Tweetley said:

    For removing the caulk, have you tried caulk softener (3M at Amazon, McKenica at ACE, others too)?

    • 5.20.12
      Daniel said:

      No, it’s really easy to remove with a razor blade so I haven’t looking into any special products…I don’t even have the right tool!

  39. 5.15.12
    Megan said:

    Heyyllo!! So I’m embarrassed to admit this but I have read every single post of your blog but never once commented. In fact, this is even more embarrassing, since I read your blog in, seriously, like one sitting, I dreamt all night in your sarcastic, witty tone of writing! AH!! Does that freak you out? Tell me you know what I mean!!

    Regardless, you have a great blog and I wish we were friends! I’m using a lot of your projects as reference for my husband’s and my next place, a rental in Boston. And I plan on taking your approach to painting, “It’s easier to ask forgiveness than for permission!”

    Thanks for the inspiration!
    Megan

  40. 5.17.12
    Paula said:

    Hey Daniel,
    It was last year that I first stumbled across your blog, led here from another version of your FRACK Hack on a local blogger’s site. So I checked it out, sampled a few of your offerings and thought to myself ‘cool’.

    Then your broke out a circular saw in your kitchen and did magical wonderful things with it, and I thought ‘wow’.

    It only took a couple of weeks for me to make up my own project that would force us to break out our neglected circular saw, because hey. Me Too.

    And after you entered (and won) Small Cool and I saw all the whole package, I am now addicted to your blog. It’s been what, nearly 10 days? Hmph. I know you’re a student and contest winner and dog owner and no doubt your life is rife with responsibility but I have to say, what about us? Anything new on the horizon?

  41. 5.18.12
    Judith said:

    This has nothing to do with your apartment, but I kinda started running (kinda = how knows if I’ll get my butt in gear again and again. Also, running away just to circle and come home again? What was the point again?). We’ll, I’ve done it exactly twice. And yesterday, while the walking made up easily half of the »running«, the title of your post kept rattling around my brain.

    Slow and steady but mostly just slow.

    Perfect.

    I think this will be my running mantra. If, you know, I’ll manage to keep up this supposedly healthy but somewhat pointless activity.

  42. 5.18.12

    I love my RITVA curtains. I have them in natural, in three different rooms of my house. I even pull them off the windows and use them on my photography backdrop because they are the perfect textured look for portraits. I agree I don’t love them in your windows, though. I think they look better hung outside the window trim, rather than inside like you have them there. Even though you are not a curtain lover (I totally get that!) I would probably get a big ass whopper of a rod, or make your own with piping, across the entire width of that wall, above the window trim. That would be amazing and light-filtering, if the curtains are long enough to pull it off. But of course, that would hide the lovely window trim. Eh, forget it! Long live the roller shades.

  43. 5.21.12
    Paul said:

    What’s the story behind your coffee table?

  44. 5.21.12
    Furpants said:

    My dear, you have ignored us long enough. Post please! Don’t make me beg, my knees are shit.

    I’ve determined that you are David Sedaris 2.0. I hope you take that as a compliment.

    • 5.24.12
      Milly said:

      Yes please!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

      I have clicked on this site to see if it has been updated so many times, that it became easier to simply list you as a favorite!

  45. 5.23.12
    Michelle said:

    Dont go needlessly spending a ton of money on shipping roller blinds from Europe!! Just chop of the metal bar on the bottom off the fabric, sew on a 6in strip of fabric in an awesome color or pattern, and reattach the metal bar on the bottom of that. Problem solved and totally looks like it’s meant to be that way :)

  46. 5.26.12
    Em said:

    This is all completely awesome, I totally love you and this blog! But, I am still weeping over the fact that you didn’t answer all of my questions from your “ask me” post. WAHHHH. I am crying like a little bitch all day, I can’t sleep and all I can eat are Tostitos chips dipped in Twinkie filling. I need to know what you would take on an island. And who you think would win in a post-zombie apocalypse battle. Answer, please, for the love of all things holy! Toodles, Em

  47. 5.27.12
    Snail said:

    Oh Daniel, Daniel, Daniel. I have an overblown favorites folder on my bar; yours is always the first site I check. Alas, there has been nothing, for so long, and I am bereft and forlorn. I suppose I could just sign up for your RSS feed so I could be notified when you posted and not have to put myself through the trauma of hoping, clicking, page loading, and the subsequent unmitigated disappointment. I could subscribe, then forget you, and wait in blissful ignorance until notification of a new post pops up like a beautiful gift in my inbox. But I can’t, because I don’t do fancy shit like “subscribe to an RSS feed”. I’m old skool, Daniel; I like to do things with more deliberation. Or I’m just crazy and weird. We may never know why. The point is, I’m sure you’re definitely not busy with dogs and work and school and boyfriends and dogs and trying to have a decent social life, so why aren’t you posting? My theory? You’ve absconded with your winnings and have forsaken us all, lounging on a beach somewhere like a skinny little villain. For shame.

    • 5.29.12
      Daniel said:

      “Skinny little villain” HAHAHAHA, you have me pegged!!

      Sorry, sorry, sorry! I have been traveling and I’m a crap blogger who doesn’t do things like line up posts or take pictures of anything before I leave.

  48. 5.27.12
    Erin said:

    If you ever get around to fixing the DCM chair (no pressure at all), please share the process! I also have a chippy, fabric-snagging chair from Craigslist that I love, but I’m too afraid to tackle the problem blindly.

    • 5.29.12
      Daniel said:

      I will! I don’t know how I’d do it quite yet, but probably just sand + an opaque black stain? Followed by danish oil? I haven’t really thought it through…

    • 5.30.12
      Frank said:

      Hi Daniel! Love your blog. I’ve fixed up one of these before and I used India Ink (super easy!), let it dry for a bit, and then did a couple top coats of Wipe-On Poly. Both of these finishes dry really quickly so the few touch-ups I needed to make were done within an hour. Hope that helps!

    • 5.31.12
      Daniel said:

      good to know! thank you!

  49. 5.29.12
    Mariah said:

    I miss your posts! Last time I checked you were waiting to get paid by AT so you could dive into whatever fun projects you have in mind next. I hope they finally awarded you so you can go back to doing what you do best!

  50. 5.30.12
    Kari said:

    Hi Daniel! After following Lauren/Kyle/Bailey/Felix/Zerbebaby over at Chezerby forever (I used to live in Seattle) one day last week I thought to myself… who the heck ended up winning all that moolah? So I checked out the AT contest page and moseyed on over to your blog.

    Let’s just say that a few days ago I started with the March 2010 archive and worked my way up from there. Yes, a few days ago. Don’t judge me!

    Just wanted to say Love!! And I live in Northern VA so if I see anything while thrifting that I think you might drool over, I’ll holla. A few months ago (days to me!) you had mentioned the Treasure Trove in McLean. I know exactly where that is, I used to live a few blocks away. Now I am out near Chantilly (YAWN! HELP!) but there should be some good thrifting out here away from the city.

    Ever been to Leesburg or Middleburg? Lots of potential thrifting out there! I need to venture out into the country soon.

    p.s. your baby puppers is so beautiful. Congrats!!

  51. 6.5.12
    Denamite said:

    I’m so glad someone’s finally talking about how uncomfortable the Bertoia chairs are (yes, I’m afraid: even with the pads). Belgian waffles, indeed. Nice to look at, though.

  52. 6.5.12
    Alex said:

    I suck at curtains. Suck. I blame this on living in apartments and condos my entire life and only having blinds. We got a house and I still have to change the sad excuse of a nightmare curtain job that’s hanging in our bedroom. Thank God I read this, I thought I was the only person who was like do I really need curtains? We have simple cellular shades in our living room main window. No curtains. I wouldn’t have it any other way. Don’t get me started on IKEA’s roller shades. Esp the blackout ones that curl in the middle.

  53. 6.25.12
    Jody said:

    Actually, the old shades are still available in Sweden. Isn’t that odd? Maybe your American toddlers are more into that whole strangeling-thing than ours.

    Anyway I’d prefer the ones you have, let’s swap!

  54. 8.1.12
    Jessiejack said:

    thanks for a hilarious post!

  55. 4.8.13
    Emily said:

    Hi. After reading your blog post about the Enje in your hallway, we bought some Enje shades at the Ikea in Red Hook, only to discover after putting them up that they are a full 12″ short on our brownstone windows. I then noticed this post. Ugh. Does anyone know how to order the longer Enje shades from Europe (or anywhere else where they have them) and how to get the most economical shipping? If there are several of us in Brooklyn, we could even go in on one order and split the shipping. Let me know what you think.