Aaron's First Apartment

Aaron's first apartment was on 80th and Amsterdam, nestled over countless bars with outdoor seating.  It was deafening, and we put up the defenses of a fan and an air conditioner.  I'm being generous by calling this thing an air conditioner, it was more like someone stapled a panting puppy to the wall.

As this was his first apartment, we went with the traditional move here and did 100% Ikea furniture, and then went bold and got Pottery Barn curtains.

Neutrals.

All Ikea.

We've since banned all glowing rectangles from the bedroom.  This is down from three.

I don't think that prominently featured guitar was ever played :)

Neutrals and whites.  I think we're headed back to this palette soon.

And this was Aaron in his first apartment.  Old glasses, old haircut :)

I don't totally remember what the paint colors were, but I'm excited we painted the interior doors and all the trim a darker neutral.  I tried to make this room relaxing, soothing, and not gender-specific.  It worked out well, minus the street noise, lack of temperature control, and proximity to the 1-train, which is just awful.

What do you think of his first digs?

Mood Board: Modern Dining Room

Jonathan Adler Pendant / CB2 Vases / Eames Dining Chairs / Crate & Barrel Big Sur Dining Table / Royal Copenhagen Dinnerware

I imagine this dining room would be perfect for a newlywed couple; all the expensive pieces are neutrals and classic and will last forever and the cheap things are colorful and replaceable later.  And by inexpensive, I mean the dining chairs--you should find knock offs, the real ones are $400 each.

We need to talk about the Royal Copenhagen dinnerware.  I didn't register for this because I didn't think it was fancy enough, but I'm a fool, it would have been genius.  It's all hand painted, the royal family of Denmark has been using Royal Copenhagen dinnerware since the beginning of time, and you can (and will) use it for everyday dining because wee it can go in the microwave because unlike most china patterns, it has no metal!

We need a plant.

I called up our local florist and told them we needed a tree.  She corrected me and said we needed a plant. I wanted to argue, but held back.

I sent her some pictures of plants I liked.

A philodendron.  Designer: Kevin Sharkey.

A ficus.  Designer: Thom Filica.

A ficus.  Designer: Thom Filicia.

A fiddle-leaf fig.  Designer: Grant Gibson (is my designer crush in San Fran).

I realize these captions look impressive and I should give full credit to Estela at the plant store, for her plant-identification skills.

I told Estela that we have a history of systematically neglecting our plants, and so they die, and so we needed to factor in easy parenting when choosing our plant.  I was told I had the wrong attitude.

We decided on the philodendron.  She said it would be the most resilient.  I was expecting a plant to be annoying expensive, but it turned out to be far better than expected.  A McMassive, 7+ foot tall philodendron was going to run me about $300.

I asked for the plant to be potted in a nice looking basket, like the one above.  She didn't have what I wanted, so I ordered the Basay Basket from Crate & Barrel.

A sexy plant home.

When all was said and done, the basket was another $100.  I'm supposed to bring it to the plant store this weekend in prep for the plant arriving, but it is cold outside, so I assume I'll neglect to do that until it is absolutely necessary.

And if all goes according to plan, sometime next week we'll have a lovely plant in the living room.

It's scheduled to go here...

Estela would correct me here and say "It's not a tree.  It's a plant."

I cannot understate how much it bothers my father that the A/C vent is white.  It should be the same color as the walls, I know.  I'm mentally working up to fixing it.  Or I'll put a plant in front of it and hope to eliminate that issue.

So, what do you think of the plants? Any advice for not killing them?

Zero Waste, Zero Junk Mail

I went on a crusade this weekend to eliminate our junk mail.  There are a wealth of articles out there which explain how to eviscerate direct mail marketers from your life, but they're all quite boring so I'm writing this one.

It's taken me a while to stretch and nap and decide to tackle the junk mail issue.  It's mostly because our building places a large garbage can directly under my mailbox.  Only my mailbox.  All the other 400+ units suffer, having to walk multiple steps over to the garbage can, but me, no, I can just open my mailbox and sweep mail directly into the abyss below.  ::sweeeep:: ::swooosh, sound of falling mail::

Our junk mail.  Like a lamb, waiting for slaughter.

So, our junk mail never made it upstairs, and therefore didn't count.  And then in a moment of bordem this weekend, I decided it was time to 

Planning For Battle

1. Register your mailing preferences with the Direct Marketer's Association.  If you do it online, you're off the hook for five years, but if you snail mail in your preferences, you get a lifetime opt out.  I was too lazy to do that.
2. Register for CatalogChoice.org.
3. Download the MailStop app on your iPhone, and buy 50 opt-outs for $14.99.  It's an emotional high, swear.

Five free opt outs!

"Success!" It's just so fun.

Battle

1. Collect your junk mail for a week, or more.  It's easier to deal with it in a big stack when you're working through the elimination game.
2. Sit down with CatalogChoice.org, get cozy, and start inputing your catalogs.  All these opt-outs are free, easy, and oh so satisfying!
3. After you're done with your catalogs, you'll have a stack of letters left.  Charities you donated to once seven years ago, credit card offers, etc.  This is where MailStop comes in.  All you need to do, is take a few pictures of the letters, and for 30 cents a piece they will do all the work for you by writing to the offender and demanding they remove you from their mailing list.  Bliss!

And that's really it.  I'm just going to rinse and repeat for a few months until the mail dies down to nothing.

Oh, and I'll end with this eco-friendly hug.  CatalogChoice.org will tell you how you are saving the earth as you go.  I saved a tree, already! And some insane amount of water.  So cool.

What have been your tactics for getting rid of junk mail? Excited to try any of these methods?

Mood Board Winner!

::bugles:: We have a winner! It's Katherine Shapley!

I have a small room most known as the "gnome hole"...it's tiny, but could be cute if I had the right pieces and the right touch. And I'm expecting a VIP to move in this June :)

Oh, oh oh, is someone designing a mood board for a nursery? Oh yes someone is! I don't want to frighten you all (Aaron) but I command serious knowledge of nursery furniture options.

I can't wait to see what Katherine has in mind. Traditional? Modern? Game on little gnome hole! We might need to add a picture of a gnome just to keep it true to form.

Gnome, Etsy

Stay tuned for the published mood board, coming soon!

Contest: Win A Free Mood Board!

One of our casual goals this year is to increase reader engagement though comments.  A friend and avid blog reader suggested I try running a contest to spark your engagement, and I thought it was a fantastic idea.

So, ::drum roll:: welcome to our first contest.  This is how it works.

• PRIZE: One mood board for one room in your home.  We'll discuss budget, and you can send me pictures of any rooms and furniture you would like me to draw inspiration from.
• TO ENTER: Comment on this post with the words “I want to win a mood board!” and…
• BONUS QUESTION: Tell us why your room needs a makeover!
• GIVEAWAY CLOSES: Tuesday, January 10 2012 at 8pm EST
• NUMBER OF WINNERS: One!
• PRIZE SHIPS: USA and Canada
• THE FINE PRINT: One entry per person.  We'll be using random.org to generate a random number between 1 and the number of entrants, and the random number will determine the winner.

Good luck!

And a special thanks to Young House Love for inspiring me with their contest format and genrally being my blog mentors.

Zero Waste All Purpose Cleaner

We tried making this cleaner as our first little ::hop:: into the world of homemade alternatives to disposables.  It was simple, inexpensive, 100% natural, and we owned 90% of the ingredients.  I was insistant on getting that exact squirt bottle from Ikea, even though it was plastic and we're trying to reduce plastics, whatever, it is adorable.  We went to Perelandra in Brooklyn Heights, which has an endless selection of scented oils.  Aaron is "the smeller," so he got to pick, and he picked grapefruit.

We went home and did our little science project, which took thirty seconds, and started using the cleaner with our microfiber cloths.  We were astonished at how well it worked.  It cut through stove grease like butter.

We've been using it for months now, and we're never going back.  We're done with antibacterial cleaner, and with marble cleaner, and with bathroom cleaner.  We're done with kitchen cleaner and window cleaner, and the other thirty three home cleaning products sold by Method.

ikea squirt bottle / essential oils / white vinegar 

bigger containers +  glass means less packaging, less pastic

and less waste

Bedroom Sheers

One of our ideas for the bedroom is to hang sheers from the ceiling around the bed, creating 15 ft. of drama.  We want the space to feel minimal and open, and we're a little worried that sheers might cramp the openness, but we've decided to leave the sheers to the end, and tack up temp sheers to see if we like it.

These are some bedrooms that are rocking the draped from the ceiling look we're considering.

Domino

I like the rooms that do the pipes on the ceiling, no valances for us.  All these rooms have opaque drapes, but we're thinking of something more like this:

The Shade Store

What do you think? Acceptable drama or too much noise in a minimalist space?

2011 > 2012

I feel like I missed the appropriate window for a retrospective infographic on 2011, but since I have no glowering editorial staff, and therefore no deadlines, I'm leisurely posting it now.

It's been a big year eight months for One Brooklyn Modern.  We came, we saw, we conquered.  We launched, we decorated, we gained a following of people who are all good looking.

In the coming year, I would like try throwing out a few casual goals for the blog.  Goals, even casual ones, are new to One Brooklyn Modern.

2012 Casual Goals

• Increase comments.
• I'm thinking we should go back to Facebook comments instead of (or in addition to) Blogger comments.  What would make you want to comment more? What can I entice you with?

• Add more social features.
• More Like buttons, more Pinterest buttons.  It greatly frustrates Aaron to try to code these things, but he married me so he has to help.

• Post 3X per week.
• Casual goal.

• As long as it is casual, continue to be ad-free.

• Post about Zero Waste.
• Zero Waste has become evolved into a wonderful part of our lives this year, but I've been hesitant to talk about it on the blog because I wasn't sure if it was appropriate.  I don't want my readers to feel like they're being preached to or that they came here expecting to see interior design and got something else instead.  With that being said, Zero Waste has had such a positive impact on our home, and I think I should talk more about it.  Who knows, maybe I'll just convince you to order some microfiber cloths :)

• Add more pages.
• I've been meaning to do an About and Home Tour page forever, time to get on that...

Well, I think that is enough casual goals for one year! We'll see how we do.

What did you think of One Brooklyn Modern in 2011? Feedback welcome!

CharitySub

::screeches to a halt::

Ok, before we go on for another post about pillows and fringe, we need to take a small break for some do'gooder'ness.  Enter, CharitySub.  CharitySub was started by a few Brooklyn friends of ours who we never realized were quite so incredible until we heard they had started a genius collective giving effort.

I'm clapping for the idea, and for the production value of the video.  ::clapping::

And for those of you who don't have the attention span for a 1:04 minute video (Aaron), this is a short summary of how ChairtySub works.

How it works:

• Each month ChairtySub handpicks and highlights 3 non-profits, making a difference within a single cause. On the first of each month you will receive an email detailing the monthly focus. At the same time $5 will be charged against your credit card and deposited into our account.

• As a Subscriber you choose which of the three featured charities will receive your $5 donation that month. You can look forward to a whole new set of featured organizations next month.

• ChairtySub shares back the impact of our collective good each month, which you can pass along to family and friends. Nice! Even though individually we are donating a small sum, the power of the collective makes real change.

I'm obsessed.  It's such a low barrier to entry; for $5 a month we can collectively make a difference.  This month ChiartySub is focusing on is Childhood Obesity.  I watched the videos for the charities and chose FoodCorps because I love that they get kids involved in gardening.  Aaron picked FoodFight because he "liked the name."

Congratulations to our friends at CharitySub for launching such a great organization!

Minimalist Bedroom Redesign!

It's official, we're actually redesigning the bedroom!

We've decided not to take a vacation for our anniversary this year, and invest in the apartment instead, enter new bedroom stage left.  If you need a quick refresher on what the bedroom looks like now, see here.  We're a little tired of the dark blue, and Aaron had those antlers relocated to the office since it didn't feel serene to have something so foreboding hanging over our heads as we slumbered.

This is the mood board I've put together for the new room.

This week we're going to decide on paint colors and hire the painters to get cracking.  I'll also be scouting my favorite Chinese knock off places for the modern furniture.  After we've painted, we'll be moving the old furniture down to Aaron's parent's beach house, and coordinating the delivery of the new goods.  I don't know how long it will take, but no rush, goal is to get it all done sometime this year, likely by the summer.

What do you think of the mood board? Any suggestions?