The changing of the roommates fast approaches, with some issues that need to be dealt with. Our apartment does have a large amount of built-in cabinet space above the bathtub and refrigerator. This has come in very handy until now.
Herein lies the problem. In May, EvilRoomie will be graduating and moving out. My friend PocketGoth will be moving in, which brings up an issue with overhead cabinet space being very hard for her to use, being that she is only 4’4". Can anyone think of a way to set up storage that a) doesn’t look like crap, b) is the right height for both of us, and c) is affordable?
If necessary, I’m quite willing to paint and/or decorate by hand. Speaking of decorating, can anyone think of a way to reconcile our decorating styles? Mine leans towards modern/IKEA, hers towards victorian/asian goth. I collect blue glass, she collects plush Cthulhus, you get the picture.
I’ve brainstormed up a semi-Asian theme (complete with low Japanese dining table), but I defer to your advice here, because we’re just stuck.
Orientalia was pretty popular during the Victorian period. Oriental art influenced Impressionist paintings, which are part of that era. French Impressionist paintings show fairly plain interiors. Of course, these were poor artists, so it’s not exactly like they were all rolling in the money.
Does she lean more towards flowery, frilly Victorian or urchin-Victorian? Would vintage French posters a la Lautrec hit you both right, or is that too frilly for you? Think absinthe and Belle Epoque. Matisse might be inspiration for you, too, if you like those posters. They’re bold, not all lace and flowers.
As for storage in the bathroom, my sister has a corner shelf for the tub that has a spring in it, so it presses up on the ceiling and down on the tub and is held in place by that pressure. Kind of like this.
Regarding the kitchen, do you have any storage under the counter? You could store the commonly used items there, and anything else can go up above, though I’m sure you’ve already thought of that. Otherwise, we have a free-standing pantry with adjustable shelves that we got at either Ikea or Wal-Mart/K-Mart that holds a ridiculous amount of food. Again, commonly used items on lower shelves, and less frequently used ones on upper shelves.
I don’t want to suggest a stepladder, because, at 5’2", as I’m constantly falling off them whenever I’m forced to use one.
We already have a stepladder because she stays here during school breaks. It’s remaining for use of the main cabinet out of necessity. Our large storage cabinet is still out of reach even with the stepladder (it’s ceiling-mounted and even I have to stretch to get to it.) The bathroom cabinet is set up so that you have to stand on the edge of the bathtub and cling on to retrieve things (come to think of it, that’s hardly out of place in a a bathroom with wall-to-wall carpeting and an outdoor lamp on the wall). I can do it just fine, but she’d be inviting death.
Lautrec might work, actually. We need to cover up as much of the walls as possible. I’ll post a picture of some of our wallpapers to show you just exactly why at some point.
On a bright furniture note, I just made arrangements to purchase a bunk bed that can become a loft secondhand, so we have our guest room furniture. A nice coat of black lacquer and we’ll be all set. Cabinets can hopefully be scrounged from fleeing students in May.
What about a bench that she could stand on in the kitchen? I’m not that short, but chem labs aren’t built for chicks. My boss said that in grad school, they’ll build a platform for me to stand on. Maybe you could take that idea into the kitchen. A bench could moved when you used it. Then you wouldn’t need to find different storage space, but rather utilize what you’ve got.
Good luck on loosing the evil roomie, I’ve had my share and they aren’t fun.
I say you stay out of the decorating biz at let Evil Roomie do the decorating.
[ass hat off]
Seriously though, the only thing I can think of is go to Evil-mart (Wallmart) and buy some of those stackable drawers. They’re cheap and they’re pretty much big enough to fit just about anything in them. (As far as bathroom stuff goes)
