[long!] report from the gothic home decorating front
Trystan L. Bass
ugly in that '70s duplex way. But it's huge & has a great layout -- a
master bedroom suite (1/2 bath, sep. vanity area, 2 big closets), 1
bedroom for my husband's recording studio, & 1 bedroom for my
computer/sewing/someday guestroom/currently new cat quarantine area.
There's a giant living room w/a fireplace & lots of hideous brown/orange
shag rug, connected to a formal dining area. The kitchen is decently
sized, & there's a full bath, a washer/dryer room[1], a 1-car garage, a
small backyard, & a large front patio.
Needless to say, it needs *lots* of decorating work! Can't paint walls or
replace the ugly carpetm, but we are putting holes in the walls for
hanging stuff. Ideally, this will be a 1-2yr place, then we can afford to
buy a house in our beloved but tremendously expensive San Jose....
Last wknd, I started sanding 2 tall white bookcases that will go in the
living room, in preparation for painting them black w/a dark reddish
colorwash. These are yr standard particleboard w/laminate finish
DIY-assembly bookcases, altho I've had them for over a decade, & they're
s'what better quality than many you find today (which is why I'm bothering
to refinish instead of get new ones).
I highly recommend the book "Furniture Facelifts: A Paint Recipes Book" by
Liz Wagstaff & Mark Thurgood -- it has incredible detail about painting
over a huge variety of surfaces, even that particleboard/laminate stuff
(which no similar books cover).
Another furniture makeover will be for my old desk. It too is white
particleboard/laminate[2], & I've had it since high school. It's too small
for my computer now (it was intended for the Mac Plus I had in '87), so
when we moved, I replaced it w/a big L-shaped desk (also particleboard
DIY-assembly, but in black & maple).
Thus, the old desk is now in the bedroom as my much-improved dressing
table[3]. I've bought a ton of black marble contact paper, which I will
use to cover the base. Then I'll paint the top surface black & decoupage
paper printed w/poetry in pretty fonts on it, along w/paper cutouts of
architectural motifs. I'll hang a framed mirror on the wall behind &
surround it w/draped sari fabric (of which I will buy tons when we're in
India in January).
The whole bedroom will have a rather Indian feel by the time we're done.
Currently, we have a black iron canopy bed w/a black velvet comforter
cover from Newport News (www.newport-news.com; excellent quality & price,
highly recommended!!), black satin dust ruffle from Newport News (also
good quality & price), w/sheets in purples & greys (finally using the
wedding gifts!). The canopy bars used to be draped in black lace, but we
plan on getting sari fabric in purple/grey shades to drape there.
I'm ordering black velvet curtain panels from Newport News for the sliding
glass doors in the bedroom. Target has some great (& inexpensive) black
iron curtain rods & finials that will go beautifully there, & I'll use
more sari fabric for a valance.
Speaking of valances, I got a purple PowerPuff Girls valance at Target for
my study! It's painfully cute & now dictates a lot of purplely, glittery,
girly stuff in that room. But decorating will come much later -- right
now, it's full of boxes & our new cat, Toulouse.
The living room will look a lot better after Friday, when our new
entertainment center is delivered. We ordered it from Sears, & it's
gorgeous! Dark ebony-colored wood, tall & narrow (tho big enough for the
36" tv my hubbi wants ;-), w/shelves underneath, & w/doors to hide the tv.
The doors have a lovely cross beam design, reminiscent of Tudor houses,
but all in dark wood. The hardware is an elegant brushed silver. Wasn't
too pricey either.
The made-over bookcases will flank the fireplace, which already has a
giant 9-candle sconce mounted over the mantle -- this faux-silver painted
masterpiece was a gift from Sparky about a yr ago. We didn't have any
place for it in the old flat, but I knew we would in the future. It looks
fucking awesome over the fireplace!!! Below it, I put two silver
candlesticks, some ritual candles, & a glass oil lamp (all wedding gifts).
And we bought a black metal fireplace screen at Target[4] to keep the
kitties out of the hearth.
The dining area will house most of the medieval decor from our old
basement flat's dungeon look. On the big wall alongside the dining table,
we'll hang my husband's crossed rapiers, plus his Mexican knight puppets.
The other walls will have more of our swords & some framed medieval
prints.
Need new curtains for the living & dining rooms. They came w/inoffensively
ugly white drapes. I'd like to use the same hardware, so if anyone knows
where I can buy dark-colored pinch-pleat drapes (pref. velvet or
brocade), let me know! I might try making them, but I've never done that
type of curtain before.
I'm a bit stymied about how to decorate the full bathroom. We want it to
be a relaxing oasis for long baths[5], but how? It's not huge, but not
tiny. Ugly brown-print linoleum. Off-white walls, fixtures, & cabinet.
Plain silvery towel & tp racks. We've got a clear shower curtain w/grecian
columns printed on it lengthwise, plus burgundy mats & toilet-seat cover
(all leftover from the old flat).
There's not too many good spots for candles -- just the back of the toilet
& around the sink, neither of which are very near the tub. I wonder if we
can put a dimmer switch on the light (altho the overhead light is also a
fan). Any ideas for how to make it prettier?
I'm hoping to finish the living, dining, & full bath rooms before 12/9,
which may be our housewarming/holiday party. Tons to do, but I'm always
happiest w/a project ;-> And, of course, pictures & how-tos will make
their way into Gothic Martha Stewart (www.toreadors.com/martha) at some
point....
--T.
[1] We are now the proud owners of a washer & dryer. You aren't *really*
married until you've either bought major home appliances or had a kid.
[2] If I never, ever have another piece of furniture like this, it'll be
too soon. The pieces I have were cheap, sturdy, & given to me by my mom
when I had nothing & couldn't afford anything. But I'm sick to death of
white!!!!!!!!!
[3] My old dressing table (pictured on my Gothic Martha Stewart site) was
simply 3 pieces of board nailed into a U-shape. I covered it w/black
fabric & burgundy lace, then put a mirror on the wall behind & draped
black lace around it. Looked awesome, but wasn't sturdy & had no drawers.
I've always wanted one of those beautiful, vintage dressing tables, but
since I already had the old desk, I figured why not try to reuse it?
Someday, if we have a big house & a little girl, the desk-dressing-table
can go to her, & I'll treat m'self to a nice vintage one. And if we have a
boy, I can repaint it, & he gets a desk. Reduce, reuse, recycle!
[4] Damn, but every time I move, I end up buying tons of new stuff at
Target!!! They have some particularly nice lamps right now, btw.
[5] Our old flat, where we lived for 3yrs, had 2 bathrooms, each w/shower
stalls only! Before that, I lived for 2yrs in an apt w/only a shower
stall, & before that, during grad school, I lived in dorms. So I haven't
had a full, soak-worthy, bathtub for 7yrs!!! The horror!!!
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Trystan L. Bass @-->--- www.toreadors.com
a.g.f.faq.chick gothic martha stewart
Daednu
> The whole bedroom will have a rather Indian feel by the time we're done.
> Currently, we have a black iron canopy bed w/a black velvet comforter
> cover from Newport News (www.newport-news.com; excellent quality & price,
Darn you! I just checked the site out and now I *need* that black velvet
king size chenille comforter cover. Mmmm. We have a huge oversized
hungarian goose down duvet and I love making it even more luxurious. We
have a few covers from The Company store. Right now we have egyptian
cotton and soooooft flannel. I think that chenille would make a
puuuurfect addition.
I'm lusting after the square baffled huge featherbed at The Company
Store, but it's a heck of a lot of money. We'll have to hold out for a
least a couple of months since we'll be travelling all over the place.
Your new place sounds like quite a project, but if anyone can pull it
all together, we know you can. ;)
~Daednu
--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~ nobody, not even the rain, has such small hands -e.e. cummings ~
~ They are love's last gifts; bring flowers, pale flowers. ~
~ http://www.velvet.net/~daednu/ ~
~ That's *Mrs* spoiled evil princess to you! ~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
desire
"Trystan L. Bass" <trys...@NOTtoreadors.com> wrote in message
news:trystNOT-151...@192.168.2.37...
> I'm a bit stymied about how to decorate the full bathroom. We want it to
> be a relaxing oasis for long baths[5], but how? It's not huge, but not
> tiny. Ugly brown-print linoleum. Off-white walls, fixtures, & cabinet.
> Plain silvery towel & tp racks. We've got a clear shower curtain w/grecian
> columns printed on it lengthwise, plus burgundy mats & toilet-seat cover
> (all leftover from the old flat).
Well seeing as you can't paint...
Perhaps some light cotton lace would be able to be tacked to the ceiling?
I was wondering if this sort of material would hold up in a bathroom, and i
remembered that i always keep my satin and lace nightgown hanging behind the
bathroom door and it has shown no wear... So perhaps that would work to
cover the ceiling and provide ambience when your laying in the bath...
Another idea would be to hang prints/pictures in the bathroom, surprisingly
art does a lot for a bathroom and makes things look extra spify.. and eye
candy while you soak...
ivy, dried flowers and things can be hung/entwined around your mirror to
create a nice effect, along with entwining ivy around your towel bar... and
if you get excited maybe even around the tp ;P
this whole entwining idea also works nicely with ribbon around the frame of
your door...
two hooks on the back of the bathroom door are also nice if you have two
robes or such that are decorative...
and a pretty laundry basket or garbage container also can help bring the
room together...
Well, thats all the ideas I have for now, hope it helps :)
Amanda (who has a 70's duplex of her own :P)
Ice Princess
> ivy, dried flowers and things can be hung/entwined around your mirror
> to create a nice effect
And...light strings. I'm all about light strings, esp. when candles
are impractical. A string or two of lights, in a color complementary
to your other colors, strung along the top of the mirror looks
fabulous. Get indoor/outdoor safe ones and there should be no concerns
about dampness or safety (as long as you fasten them up securely and
don't do anything silly like plugging them in while you're in the tub).
> Amanda (who has a 70's duplex of her own :P)
Yup, me too. And the bathroom looks like a pimp's cocaine-bender
nightmare. So I've had to be extra creative in making it tolerable.
Heck, Trystan's bathroom sounds positively gorgeous compared to
ours. ;)
Ice Princess
--
*** The alt.gothic.fashion FAQ: http://www.toreadors.com/gothfash/ ***
Ice Princess icp...@blarg.net http://www.blarg.net/~icprncs/
Gothic Interiors: http://www.blarg.net/~icprncs/gothinteriors.html
"You look sharp inside your pointed shoes..."
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.
Trystan L. Bass
> "Trystan L. Bass" wrote:
> > The whole bedroom will have a rather Indian feel by the time we're done.
> > Currently, we have a black iron canopy bed w/a black velvet comforter
> > cover from Newport News (www.newport-news.com; excellent quality & price,
>
> Darn you! I just checked the site out and now I *need* that black velvet
> king size chenille comforter cover. Mmmm. We have a huge oversized
> hungarian goose down duvet and I love making it even more luxurious.
I adore the one we got. It's not the chenille one, just the plain velvet,
kind of a lux-feeling, non-crushed-looking panne velvet. *Very* cozy &,
just as I'd hoped, cat hair brushes off it w/ease (cat hair used to get
embedded in the fibres of the cotton comforter cover we had).
--T.
Demy
My mum was always making curtains when she was an interior designer ages ago
:)
All you need to do is measure your window one side to the other and divide
that by 2, then you need to consider how full you want your curtains for a
really full rich look I'd recommend no less than a width and a half of the
fabric :)
If you want really detailed distructions on making curtains, drop me an
email and I'll get my thinking cap on and I might even include diagrams! lol
Demy xx
demyn...@ntlworld.com (just remove the "nospam" to get me!)
"Trystan L. Bass" <trys...@NOTtoreadors.com> wrote in message
news:trystNOT-151...@192.168.2.37...
Trystan L. Bass
> Curtain making isn't all that difficult.
I've made plenty of rod-pocket curtains before (it's the 1st thing I do
when moving in a new place ;-). But I've never made pinch-pleat drapes.
That's a different beast entirely! I'll prob. look @ the fabric store
this wknd or next to see if there's books/patters/how-to sheets about it.
I know it requires those funny-shaped hooks -- maybe the hook packages
have directions?
--T.
phobe
<icp...@blarg.net> wrote:
> Yup, me too. And the bathroom looks like a pimp's cocaine-bender
> nightmare.
He he! Why are bathrooms always such decorating challenges?
Our house came with a master bath painted...PEACH. Bright, virulent,
bordering on Good-Humor-popsicle orange. So shiny you could almost see
yourself in it. Even the ceiling was peach! With BROWN flowered vinyl
tile. Glass shower doors with gold butterfly decals. And a fake-Nagel
[1] painting that look like it came from an 80's hair salon. Needless to
say, the bathroom had last been redecorated in 1985.
I must add that peach is probably my _least_ favorite color. It brings
up horrible, "Gunne-Sax prom dress, cable knit sweater with stretch
pants and coordinated scrunch socks" 80's memories. Not to mention my
mother thinks it's a good color for me. This, as we all know, usually
spells doom.
Thankfully, it's not a rental -- so it is now matte tan [1], with black
trim, sisal carpet and a vaguely Japanese theme. The ugly shower doors
are gone, replaced with a black and tan cloth curtain. The FauxNagel was
in the trash five minutes after closing on the house.
Sparky
[1] Sounds dull, but it works great with the black. It's more taupe than
khaki.
[2] I loathe, loathe, loathe Nagel art...I'd rather nail a bagel to the
wall.
desire
"phobe" <webm...@phobe.com> wrote in message
news:webmaster-BF3D1...@enews.newsguy.com...
> He he! Why are bathrooms always such decorating challenges?
Well I still need to take pictures of the work in progress... but I own my
house too... When I moved in, the bathroom was white of course with the tan
faded to yellow lino and matching yellowish tile and no shower curtain, a
tub that had paint or something spilled in it and a horrible door
frame/door/lighting fixture
I changed all the fixtures in the bathroom... the towel bar was odly placed
over the tp dispenser so i bought a shorter one, so that access to the tp
was not a chore.. and lord knows after a late night out coming home to fuble
with a towel and lord knows what else on my towel rack is never fun.. i also
installed a cute pull out? towel rack over the toilet to hold my every day
towels.. i changed the sink faucets to cute steel ones with enamel handles
and put ivy around my medicine cabinet and put flowers and fake fruit and
stuff in the ivy... and then installed a new light fixture.. i also painted
my walls a light blue grey.. just because its not a huge bathroom.. and
installed a burgundy and blue and green border... my shower curtain is also
burgandy and blue and green etc along with my mats and towels etc... hrmm..
bought some cute little toothbrush holder type accessories and put a white
lace doiley on the back of the toilet and put a parge burgundy pilar candle
on the back as well.. i also added little flowers and ivy and stuff to the
top bar where the shower curtain is... i still want to stencil some ivy on
the vanity doors and perhaps i can get my dad to install a new countertop
for me :P (But the kitchen first!@#)
But I moved in in march and its been a long, slow, megerly funded project
with a TON of sponsership from my parents... ahh, being a student is
wonderful ;P
Amanda.... who had HORRIBLE dark fake wood panelling in her basement and
found that the color used in the bathroom really transformed the place.... :
)
Ice Princess
>
> > Yup, me too. And the bathroom looks like a pimp's cocaine-bender
> > nightmare.
>
I dunno. I mean, our whole place has a vaguely icky '70s look, but the
bathroom is just a *masterpiece*, with the distressed-brass fixtures and
gigantic clunky dark brown cabinets and silver-and-gold wallpaper that
has this bizarre abstract pattern that could be cherries or dead flowers
or male genitalia. Truly brilliant in its tackiness.
I've done my best to work around it, with very simple black and purple
and brushed silver, and that seems to minimize the horridness.
However, right after we moved in, we did add one special thing that
actually works *with* the bathroom.
It's a framed still of Chow Yun-Fat from _A Better Tomorrow_.
Trenchcoat, sunglasses, using a counterfeit $100 bill to light his cigarette.
Chow Yun-Fat makes *anything* better. :)
Ronda
trys...@NOTtoreadors.com (Trystan L. Bass) wrote:
> when moving in a new place ;-). But I've never made pinch-pleat drapes.
> That's a different beast entirely! I'll prob. look @ the fabric store
> this wknd or next to see if there's books/patters/how-to sheets about it.
> I know it requires those funny-shaped hooks -- maybe the hook packages
> have directions?
The drapery tape (tired can't remember the correct term) can be
bought at the fabric store and sewn on to the drapes and then
you just slip the hooks in to the tape.
There are spiffy books and information on pattern envelopes in
the home dec section of the pattern books.
When we moved in to this house the poor thing had also been
remodeled in the 70's. The owners who bought it next decided to
paint the entire upstairs with what I can only refer to
as road sign white gloss. It positively glows! The bad things was
they painted over old oil as opposed to latex paint and it peals off
easily. Been avoiding this project with a passion.
Down stairs we started bringing it back to the 40's era look
of the house from when it was built. We ordered in the big old
wood slat blinds in a warm deep brown shade and found a reproduction
30's-40's era carpet with an acanthus leaf pattern in a warm
taupe color. It look fabulous with the blinds. Don't even get
me started on the gorgeous old fireplace that they painted aqua
frosting cake color blue!
After two years I still
haven't made curtains for the rest of the house. Its one of goals
in January while the business is slow to work on more stages of
interior remodel. Instead of replacing the vinyl floor in the 70's
bathroom upstairs I may actually paint it and then seal it since
the foot traffic is minimal it should hold up. Thinking about painting
it to look like a stone or slate floor.
Maybe we need to all submit pictures for the 1970's bathroom of
doom contest.: 0 )
--
Ronda
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dragonfly Design Studio
http://DragonflyDesignStudio.com
Masks and historical clothing patterns.
me
>> Yup, me too. And the bathroom looks like a pimp's cocaine-bender
>> nightmare.
>
>He he! Why are bathrooms always such decorating challenges?
>
The people who lived in my house were on... drugs? The shower in the laundry
room is bright neon teal tile. No idea. The kitchen has pale pink tile and
boring dull gray floor tiles. The bathroom is brown. I dispise brown. I can't
wait to have my own place. Nothing will be brown. Nothing. The floor is tile
with little lines all over the place and the pieces are white. The tile is the
pale looking brown color. The wallpaper is white and brown patterned.. No idea.
The shower curtain is brown with boats. The curtains are brown terry cloth. It
looks like someone went... to the bathroom in there. Its sickening. It makes me
want to puke.
>[2] I loathe, loathe, loathe Nagel art...I'd rather nail a bagel to the
>wall.
<giggles at the thought> Maybe a brown bagel in my bathroom would make it
even.... 'prettier'.
Candle Graveyard
~my new sig~
crush
trys...@NOTtoreadors.com (Trystan L. Bass) wrote:
> I'm a bit stymied about how to decorate the full bathroom. We want it
to> be a relaxing oasis for long baths[5], but how? It's not huge, but
not> tiny. Ugly brown-print linoleum. Off-white walls, fixtures, &
cabinet.> Plain silvery towel & tp racks. We've got a clear shower
curtain w/grecian> columns printed on it lengthwise, plus burgundy mats
& toilet-seat cover> (all leftover from the old flat).
>
> There's not too many good spots for candles -- just the back of the
toilet> & around the sink, neither of which are very near the tub. I
wonder if we> can put a dimmer switch on the light (altho the overhead
light is also a> fan). Any ideas for how to make it prettier?
>
i suggest sliver (yes, sliver, not silver) mirrors with candle
shelves. you can buy the long narrow mirror tiles from a home
improvement center. use carpentry nails (with big heads) to nail the
mirrors to the wall (you hammer the nails into the wall, leaving a gap
as wide as the mirror and then slide the mirror into the slot. two on
the bottom and a couple along each side is usually secure enough) and
then add little shelves at the bottom. if you feel up to it, you can
make mirror slivers, but you do run the risk of cutting yourself. get
a mirror you don't want. wrap it in heavy cloth (or an old towel) that
you can later discard. carefully smash the mirror. use a sander to
smooth the edges.
you can get candles closer to the tub a couple of ways, if the walls
aren't tiled completely to the ceiling. run shelving all along the
top, with mirror tiles along the wall, if you like. it won't make
enough light to read by, but it's nice. it's also generally out of the
splash zone, so the candles can stay when you're running the shower not
the bath.
the other thing to do is make detachable candleabra. you have to hook
them up when you want a bath, not a shower, cause they get in the way
of the shower, but they can be nice. we put tiny cup hooks in the
ceiling, and used home depot chain to make slings for tealights. it's
really pretty, but to be honest, after the first run, we almost never
did it again, because it was a project hanging them and taking them
down.
--
crush
Pocketwop
trys...@NOTtoreadors.com (Trystan L. Bass) wrote:
[snippety]
>
> There's not too many good spots for candles -- just the back of the
toilet
> & around the sink, neither of which are very near the tub. I wonder
if we
> can put a dimmer switch on the light (altho the overhead light is
also a
> fan). Any ideas for how to make it prettier?
Well, IKEA has some darn cheap candelabra thingies; there's
possibilities from there.
However, maybe you could rig something up with mason jars/cheap glass
votie holders, wire, and ribbon? Pottery Barn used to have (not sure
any more if they still do) horrifically expensive long poles, like
curtain rods, with individual rods hanging off that held candles. I
seem to remember that some were just pillar holders, and some had glass
candle holders on the rods. I'm not terribly smart at the moment, so I
apologize for not being more clear. Say, a long pole hung off the wall
like a curtain rod, with poles or chains or cord hanging at various
lengths to hold votive holers (rigging cord the way that cord plant
hangers work hanging plants from a ceiling...)
Attempt at drawing, since words are failing me:
------------
| | | | | |
* | | | | *
* | | *
* *
where the asterix represents a little jar with a candle.
---
The Pocketwop
[collapsible, portable, and convenient!
Get your own Mini-Ginny Pocketwop(tm) today!]
Ismene
L. Bass) scrawled in metallic purple eyeliner:
>
>There's not too many good spots for candles -- just the back of the toilet
>& around the sink, neither of which are very near the tub. I wonder if we
>can put a dimmer switch on the light (altho the overhead light is also a
>fan). Any ideas for how to make it prettier?
You can get stand-up candelabra for a good price. Pier One
often has them in the $60-100 range. I saw one at Target that holds
four votive candles and it was only $30! There's also one in the JC
Penney catalog for $40ish that matches an over-toilet etagere and a
towel rack.
Ismene
--
"How many warriors slated for the coming apocalypse you think are gonna be
using that hair gel? Don't get me wrong, you're out there battling ultimate
evil, you're gonna want something with hold."
SSTRUTZ27
I lucked out with my new bathroom. They had just redone it. It's frickin'
huge.....and very simple. It's done in a medium purple with hardwood floors,
and white tile in the shower/tub. It has a very pretty pedestal sink with two
purple pillar-cabinenty thingys on either side of the sink. BIG mirror with
dressing-room lights.
All the bedrooms have to be redone, due to the extensive use of girly
wallpaper.
New houses = fun
packing = not fun
KP
Moving today