At the head of the headboard

I want to put another gallery wall of pictures above the tufted upholstered headboard...but I don't have enough pieces to fill it out yet. In the meantime I'm settling for one painting centered above the bed. It's an old painting of a factory that I got from my friend Jan. It's got that WPA 1930s vibe to it, you know, like a lot of that art of the period that showed industrious America at work, symbols of production and prosperity, anything to counter the dire state of the economy in The Great Depression.
I really like the colors in it--browns, ecrus, siennas, grays--they're a lot of the same colors in the rest of the apartment. I hung it with two extra heavy duty Command hooks (my favorite product EVER) because even though the painting is fairly light in weight, I don't want to chance it falling on my head in the middle of the night and scaring the bejesus out of me...or worse, doing me physical harm!

The WPA-like painting above my bed

A close-up 

Letters "R" me

When I was a kid watching "The Mary Tyler Moore" show every Saturday night, what I loved best was Mary's apartment. Even though on some level I knew it was just a set, I still adored the architectural details...the 'sunken' living room, the floor-to-ceiling Palladian window, the built-in bookshelves under the stepdown, the tiny kitchen with the pull-down Tiffany window. It was all so compact yet chic. And I wanted to live in someplace like that when I grew up. Now that The Beautiful Wreck is finished I sort of think I do. Sunken living room? Check. Big picture window? Check. Built-in bookshelves? A gallery wall of art? A bed in the living room? Check, check, and check. But the thing that caught my eye and that I loved the most about Mary's apartment? Her graphic "M" plaque on her wainscoted wall.
There was something about that M that said this place was hers, it was a interior design statement that spoke to me even as a child.

Mary Richards and her "M" plaque

So it's no wonder that a million years later I'd recreate the same idea in my own apartment with the help of a friend. A few years ago my good friend Jim gave me an oversize "R" as a gift, I think he found it at a flea market. I don't think it was a real piece of vintage signage but the big 'graphic-ness' of it is what I like best. The R sits on the marble ledge of the big picture window in the main room, you can see it the moment you turn the corner from the entryway.
 I know that using letters like this has become very popular nowadays, some would even say passé, but it was a lovely gift and it harkens back to such fond MTM memories that I'll never part with it.

"R" is for Ron

Here's a wider shot of the whole room, the "R" on the
windowsill...i like the light in this photo

Forget it, Jake, it's "Chinatown"

My original poster for "Chinatown" (1974)

One of my prized memorabilia possessions is an original poster for the classic 1974 film noir "Chinatown", starring Jack Nicholson and Faye Dunaway. I had it framed years ago and it hangs in the corner behind my desk. Of course I love the movie but the poster is superb piece of graphic art in its own right. I bought it in the early '80s through the mail from a vintage poster dealer, I think I paid about $20 for it. Now, this was only six or seven years after the film was made. In the years since, it's become quite a collectible with movie buffs, as the movie's reputation has burnished over time. I did some research online recently, and depending on the condition of the poster, an original like mine can sell for upwards of $600 to $1000! Not a bad investment on my part, right?

Nicholson & Dunaway in a scene from the movie

Punching through the punch list, pt. 10

This new kitchen drawer front and handle were installed today

One teeny tiny little thing was done today (I actually can't believe one of the crew was sent to do just this): a kitchen drawer front and handle were installed. That's it. I'm glad it was done though. That officially makes the kitchen FINISHED. Just a few more little items to go...

Punching through the punch list, pt. 9

Will this apartment renovation ever be finished?
There are still several things left to get finished on the punch list.
The millworker came this week to cross one more thing off: the little shelf at the top of the dining niche. The way Steve, my architect, designed it was for the shelf to not meet the back wall, there's a space of a few inches there so that the recessed lighting can spill down the wall behind it..it's a nice touch. I think it makes that little space a tick more cozy. Since I got the bistro table I've been using that space a LOT for meals.

Orion in the sky (and the hallway)

It's such an eyesore.
And you see it the second you walk into the apartment.
The fuse box (and it's a big one) is right smack dab on the wall to the left when you come through the front door.

The entryway to the apartment, the fuse box is in FULL view

The eyesore closeup

Steve, my architect, struggled with where to put it when the renovation was underway but there was no other logical place to put it.
He warned me about it and I said, "no problem, I'll just get a picture to hang over it".
Easier said than done.
I've been on the hunt for something for weeks now, coming up a cropper.
I'm also on a strict household budget so I didn't want to spend much.
So I fell back on the easiest (and cheapest) answer: I'd just do some piece of artwork on my own and frame it myself.
On monday my friend Doris asked me if I wanted to go to IKEA in New Jersey. I said yes because they have pretty good picture frames in all sizes for next to nothing.
It needed to be a good size to cover that big box. I found just the one I needed, a black wooden frame with a wide white mat.
But what would be the art?
Well, I think art in one's home should mean something to the homeowner in some way.
I was also thinking that I didn't want to spend a lot of time on this project. I just wanted it done.
A collage seemed like the way to go. Paper cut-outs. A Matisse-like graphic image done with colored paper. Quick and easy.

The Matisse inspiration

And I knew just the subject: my favorite starry sky constellation, Orion.
Years ago, I saw a cool print  of Orion with the stars in formation and the hunter with his sheild super-imposed over it. It was in an antique shop and I waffled over the price. I passed. But then the next day I had a change of heart because I really wanted it. Back I went to the shop but it was gone. "He who hesitates is lost" I thought.

The stars of Orion in the night sky

Orion, the Hunter

So this time I thought "I'm gonna make my own Orion". See, when I'm out in Long Island where the stars are actually visible at night, Orion is such a striking constellation to find. And he only comes out in the Fall and Winter, again, my favorite time of year.  I also love a song by Shawn Colvin titled "Orion in the Sky" (the lyrics are beautiful and moving..."But I love you baby/And I know you and I/Can find a way to heaven/ Just like Orion in the sky/ He's the long lost hero/He's the guardian of your son/But can he protect us, baby/From all the sad things we've done?")...you can hear it here.

So I had my subject. I bought a pack of construction paper and created my masterpiece in an hour or so.

The artwork now covers the ugly fuse box

I picked up the lemon yellow of the hallway lamp in the star cut-outs, and made the hunter himself blue on a background of gray, a lighter shade of the wall paint color. I think he came out pretty good..it's like he's protecting the electricity of the apartment, The Guard of The Beautiful Wreck.

The finished piece

Someday when I'm flush with cash again I may replace it with something better, but for now I'm happy with it (and it only cost me $20!)

Punching through the punch list, pt. 8

Well, I thought today was going to be the last day of workers finishing up things at the apartment...think again.
They did come today and a couple of things got done, but there were problems with the electrical dimmers and one of the kitchen cabinet drawers was not ready to be installed. I'm told it will all be finished later this week. After all this time, what's a few more days, right?
Here's what got done today, the soap dish was installed above the bathroom sink. It matches the bronze finish of the faucet.

The new soap dish

And FINALLY, the flat screen TV is working! All the ugly wires peeping out from all sides are GONE and the set sits flush up against the wall...clean, minimal, and perfect.





Now I can finally watch my DVD's from my collection...like my complete box set of "The Dick Van Dyke Show". Heaven.

Punching through the punch list, pt. 7

A worker came this week to continue chipping away at the list of things that still need to be finished.
The medicine chest got a bronze metal trim all the way around. It creates an edge that lets you open the door more easily. I think it looks good.





The last couple of kitchen knobs were installed, the ones on the cabinets above the stove exhaust hood.



The recessed lights over the dining niche were installed and put on a dimmer switch.



If you can believe it, there's still a few more last things that need to be done next week. I think Rome was built in less time than it's taking to finish this apartment!

Let's table this for now

I finally solved The Dining Niche Dilemma.
I found a dining table that I truly love and think it looks great.
The search led me far and wide, to endless furniture websites, Craigslist, Chairy.com, eBay, 1stDibs, thrift stores, antique stores, yard sales..and I ended up with one of the first ideas I ran across, a clean, graphic bistro table at CB2, the "Hackney".
Here's what I love about it:
--it was the perfect size, only 28" in diameter. It needed to be large enough to hold a dining service AND I wanted room to place a book, or magazine, or laptop alongside it in case I wanted to multi-task while eating.
--it has a solid marble top. There's a lot of marble in this apartment, you could say it's a thru-composed design motif, so this little table fits right in like a glove. Just steps away is the marble mantel, so the repetition of material is a plus.
--it has the subtlest of bronze/gold accents, a metal band right above the silver base. Again, the dominant metal used throughout the apartment is an aged bronze, so that element is repeated here too.
My finances are a little stretched right now (when are they not, LOL), and this was very much a splurge purchase...BUT I really, REALLY needed it. I was so very tired of making dinner and dragging the food all the way across the apartment to my desk. ENOUGH! I'll eat ramen noodles for dinner for a few weeks, I have a lovely new little table to eat them on :)
Here are some pictures of the piece...