It's getting red-hot up in this... kitchen.

I want a new trash can for the kitchen. I got a new kettle.  It’s red. And shiny. And wonderful. I mean, it’s not the Bauhaus kettle (see below for kettle perfection) but it was WAY less than $8,800 and no one will yell at me for boiling water in it.  Oh, and the hubs won’t let me buy Bauhaus things. He doesn’t like them. Or Eames chairs. Though it’s probably best that I don’t have any Eames chairs, or vertical bookshelves or the adorable Eames coat rack because then our house would have the same 3 pieces in it that every other designer’s homes have in them. They’re perfectly lovely things, but they’ve become a bit ubiquitous. (And, if I’m honest, expensive).

Anyway, tea kettles!

It’s art, see, so now you can’t use it. Which, since it’s from the Bauhaus period, is crazy-ironic.

As it happens, you cannot remove rust from a tea kettle with vinegar. It goes badly, don’t do it. I sort of destroyed the stainless steel tea kettle. So… we needed a new one. And I went into Marshall’s (like T.J. Maxx or Ross if you haven’t been), which randomly has a really good kitchen supply section. And excellent tea. Anyway, I found a RED KETTLE. It’s beautiful and it was only $25.

Somehow, I managed not to take a photo of it in my kitchen, so the stock photo will have to do for now. Anyway, if you want one JUST like it, it’s $25 here, too. I could actually do a dissertation on tea kettle design. This one's not perfect. It's good. Water boils, it whistles, the top flips open without burning your hand, water come out without turning the thing upside-down, and it's shiny red. It's $25. What do more do want?

But, but, anyway, I was reading Anna @ Door Sixteen’s post on beautiful things and she showed this trash can that she loves. And I actually love the cheaper version that she wasn’t as fond of because, wait for it, it comes in shiny RED!

We currently have an annoying flap-top trash can in the kitchen that gets dirty and is just kind of gross (think the metal ones at the zoo, but less retro-cool and more nondescript plastic).

So I need to convince the hubs that it is reasonable to spend $99 on a trash can. And that we should get a step-operated one again. (The last one broke and then he hated it. Mostly because it was broken).

I’m currently completely reveling in the red-ness of my kettle. It’s like a smile on my stove! I believe that a red trash can might bring me similar joy. Or at least, less disgust, which is really all I’m looking for just now.

Have a lovely day!

Windows and Discovering That You Don’t Hate Your Apartment

On my (extensive) DIY-To-Do list has been to cover one set of our windows with fabric. The window in question looks out onto the neighbor’s porch which is

1. weird for us
2. weird for them
3. just generally weird.
   

BUT being me and with life and work and love getting in the way, I haven’t gotten around to it. (Or a “round toit”, sold here).

I got the inspiration for this project from the rather marvelous Daniel at manhattan-nest.com. You should look at his blog. Don’t worry, I’ll wait. But don’t leave me for him, just because he loves Eames more than I do.

Aaaaanyway, haven’t done it yet. Haven’t found the fabric, haven’t found the time, yadda, yadda, yadda. BUT it turns out that this is GOOD news because (sound the trumpets) we’re getting new windows! That’s right, our landlord decided to put money INTO the apartment and give us new windows.

I suspect that they will be new, energy-efficient windows so they can get the tax credit currently offered for installing them. I have to say though, sometimes (a lot of times) it’s kind of nice having a big, professional company manage your apartment complex. I mean, sure, they don’t care about you, and unless you’re there forever, you can forget about seeing your deposit back, and the rent is more ridiculous BUT… but but but—they do get stuff done sometimes. They have money, they see the big picture, and they make good when you first threaten to sue over something so you don’t have to go through the motions of ACTUALLY doing it. Because, really, who has the time?

We were thinking about jumping ship because of the electrical violations… but you know what? We can deal.

We went to look at another apartment that was SLIGHTLY bigger and a townhouse to boot, but the SLIGHTLY bigger was entirely taken up by staircase, the half bath and the full bath added together weren’t the size of our current (admittedly amazing) bathroom, and the place just seemed smaller.

On top of that, there was no dedicated parking, which is RETARDED in southern California. Retarded, I tell you. I mean, my current dedicated parking place is in an alley which I walk past a couple of dumpsters and a gate that the entire apartment complex is in a war with (I’ll tell you about it sometime). BUT when I get home, I know where my car is going to go. When I get up, I know where I put the car. That’s huge.

Another aspect that was originally a pro that quickly degraded to a con was the “painted accent walls”. You don’t pick the color, they’ve just randomly painted two walls accent colors for you. The one in the living room was ok, it’s a non-obtrusive brownish color that would neither go with nor clash with much of anything. But in the bedroom the accent wall was SCARLET. Bright-red-freaking-wall in the BEDROOM, people. Who can sleep with that? And when I asked if we could paint over it, the lady said “Sure, as long as you paint it back red before you leave”. This is NOT the same as requesting you paint shit back to white when you leave. This is a brand-specific color that we’d have to find. No. No, I tell you. I will not!

Also, the neighborhood was pretty much on par with ours. So instead of “movin’ on up” we’d be, as the hubs said “moving a step over”.

Anyway, new windows! And, I’m going to paint our fabulous bathroom. AND I’ve finished TWO of the projects in the DIY waiting room. Yay!

Have a lovely day.

I'm still here

I really haven't forgotten about you! It's been such a busy week. I've been going to the gym EVERY night. I'm proud of myself, but it does leave precious little time to write. But. BUT. I am going to post on my fabulous new wall cubes tomorrow (they just need ONE more layer of tongue oil to make me a very happy camper).

ALSO, as I have a nicely empty Saturday, I am going to do the filing cabinet! (Yay!) I'm fairly certain I'm going with the black-bronze combination as it will fit with more rooms in the future (and go VERY nicely in the rooms of the present).

My very sexy husband put in a very sexy dimmer switch in our bedroom, so we no longer have to worry about our 60's-style-scarf-on-a lamp solution setting the apartment on fire. Unfortunately, he also found that the wiring in our unit is shockingly (dangerously?) sub-par, so we may die in a fire anyway. Or get electrocuted in the bathroom as it doesn't have an in-wall breaker.

My mother is now on a mission to find us an apartment with non-lethal wiring, but we shall see. I just finished the mural, damnit!

Also, happy Friday!