My Boyfriend Has OCD

My boyfriend has a mild to heavy case of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.  Maybe it's his military background, or perhaps his upbringing, but the fact of the matter is, this guy needs things in rigid order. This goes way beyond typical cleanliness. I'm pretty sure he has a robot mind that maps visual data in lines and numbers and he extends his robot arms to correct flaws. The other day, for example, I caught him evenly spacing the folds between the opened drapes.  He opens them with a long dowel rod, then pops it between each grommet to get the drapes just right. Now I know why he insists that I don't do it. 

Peter's best friend, Jerry, the Roomba. When I'm away, they reminisce over epic cleanup stories.

My style couldn't be further from showing signs of OCD. I'm much more laid back about the way my space looks and in fact, prefer a touch of disarray (Mess Compulsive Disorder = MCD?). To me, too much order looks forced. Who has time to clean all day long? Rigid cleanliness should be saved for Red Eye photo shoots and visits from Grandma. Needless to say, our disparate housekeeping styles are a source of tension every now and then, but we're both working to meet in the middle.

Last night my boyfriend told me he was working on "curing" his OCD. When I asked what he meant he directed my attention to our knife magnet. "See how that knife on the left is turned the wrong way? I'm going to see how long I can leave it there," he says.

I smiled to myself wondering how long he'd be able to stand it.  I wish I could have recorded the turmoil that went down in his robot mind every time he passed that backwards knife and had to leave it that way.  (ERROR! ERROR! Disarray detected in knife department!)

Or maybe he fixed it the very next minute.  I failed to watch to see how long his experiment lasted. (He told me he had already been looking at it all day.) This was how the knife rack looked the next time I came upon it:

 

Peter had cleared the counters last night for their monthly oiling, so the righted knife was actually the last thing I noticed.  I was too busy staring at the gorgeous display of our temporarily displaced kitchen accessories.  Just look at those neat lines and well categorized objects. 

So much for working on that cure.  Hello to a lucrative career in shelf stocking. Does anyone else do this? Any tips for living with a type A or someone of opposing style?

We're In The Red Eye!

Looks like we made it into today's Chicago Red Eye on page 12! Thanks to everyone for the heads up!

To all of our new visitors: sorry for the unfinished state of our blog! Check back once in a while as we update!

So just some shout outs (hover over the text for links!):

Our art comes from Gallerie MK in River North.
The artists are Darius Labuzek, Voy Madeyski, and Joan's.

The furniture around the house is from West Elm, IKEA, CB2, Craigslist/Thrift Store finds, and of our own creation (mainly the shelving on the 2 walls, built from gas pipe and raw lumber.

Photos by Lenny Gilmore (Red Eye)

Thanks everyone!

We're Red, Going For Green.

Confession:  We haven't been recycling.  I know how bad that is.  So does Peter.  Ever since Chicago canceled it's recycling program, we've just let ourselves go.

Our awesome neighbors called us on it and needless to say, we were extremely embarrassed.  Both of us come from recycling households and we try to be eco-friendly whenever possible.

Pipe Shelving

EPIC FREAKING PROJECT!

STAIN!

SCREW!

DRILL!

HANG!

At some point I got fired as carpenter's assistant and Peter brought in the neighbor to help instead. I knew I should have gone union! In case you're wondering about the load bearing capabilities of a shelf system hung from the ceiling...

 

It's plenty strong.

Pretty happy with the outcome. Look at all that fresh shelf space, and there was no hammer drill required this time! The shelves never actually touch the wall.

Picking Paint Color

I was hell bent on painting the wall behind the bed super dark gray.  Peter, on the other hand, was a skeptic from the beginning.

The actual darkness was a bit shocking, especially at night. It was also a lot bluer then we anticipated. In the end, Peter was right. I'm saying it publicly for all to hear.

We went back to the paint store and picked a much lighter and warmer gray. (Sorry for the crap photos). Now we get to assemble the rest of that bedroom set we bought waaaay back when.

Office Shelves

This is what will eventually be our work/dining area. Isn't it hot?

We thought maybe it could use a few shelves. Enter the hammer drill! This thing was so crazy loud it shook the whole building. The melodic sounds of drilling were apparent upon entering the building. By apparent I mean an eerie buzzing noise rang throughout the building like a bad dream. It was a little embarrassing how loud it was, so when I ran into a neighbor in the hallway, I denied having any knowledge about the strange sound. "Hmmm, management must be fixing something."

36 Tapcon brick bolts and lots of dust and noise later, we have a pretty bad ass shelving system covering the office wall. Photos later.

My Mom's a Bad Ass

In 1973 my mom was almost as cool as she is now.  She was a newlywed, art student and all around badass.  I wasn't born yet, but I know because of this:

 

She used absolutely no black to paint it.  For years this painting lived in the basement of the house I grew up in. Now its mine, ALL MINE! 

In the sunlight the colors really come to life. I love this, it's perfect, like it was meant to be in this space.

Bedroom Light

Peter, what the hell thing did you model this light after? Whatever, it's awesome.

My boyfriend follows design instead of football, I'm so lucky.

Duct Work: Ask and You Shall Receive

We were having trouble figuring out how to hang our new pendants over the pool table. The beam we wanted to hang them on was obstructed and we didn't want to hang them to the side, leaving them off center. Now that we spent the time and money to get the pool table's exact coordinates professionally calibrated, we can't move it. What's that pesky obstruction overhead? Oh yeah, just the HVAC duct.

We casually slipped this conundrum into conversation with the maintenance manager. His solution? "Lets just hack the duct up and move it over 6 inches!" Ask and you shall receive!

During the course of this project we also received a couple other surprises:

Noise complaint from the neighbors - check!

Smell complaint from the neighbors - double check!

I guess people don't want to hear the rip of power tools and the smell of burning metal during their work day. Weird.

Bedroom

Bedroom Bedroom Bedroom Bedroom Bedroom Bedroom Bedroom Bedroom Bedroom Bedroom Bedroom. WE GOT A BEDROOM!

Bedroom Bedroom Bedroom Bedroom

Bedroom Bedroom Bedroom, bitches.

Let's Go Swimming

The POOL is open. Dan the pool (table) man showed up today to refurbish our awesome vintage Brunswick Century. $350 to fully assemble everything, replace the hardware, laser level, repair and broken or work parts, and (the best part) lay down a new super sexy charcoal grey felt.

2 things to notice here: the total and utter squalor we're living in, and the fact that we care more about getting the pool table assembled than the rest of our home.

 

Furry. Grey. Sexy.

Bathroom Vapor Lights

You may have noticed some new lighting in the finished bathroom post. Thanks to The Expert, Peter has recently become quite proficient in wiring lighting. If you're really up for a challenge, which we are, the best time to wire lighting is after dark.  Once you turn the off the power source.

 

I was supposed to be aiming the flashlight at the light fixture, but this is what I was really doing while I was "helping" with the wiring:

 

Spray bottle spookiness. I'm so awesome.

Bathroom Bonanza pt.3

Trying to fit the modern bath style we wanted into our teeny tiny budget presented us with a giant sized conundrum. So after much creative thinking and scouring Chicagoland for a viable bathroom vanity option, we settled on another IKEA hack project. The Expert (Peter's Dad) is back to help us with the bathroom cabinet installation.

Our IKEA shopping trip consisted of ping-ponging between the kitchen and bath departments picking up a little of this, and a little of that. If you are an IKEA junkie like we are, these names will sound familiar, if not, you can head down to the imagery to get an idea of the process.

We knew we liked the LILLANGEN Single Basin Sink for its compact size and deep basin, but the cabinet which is normally paired with it didn't come in a size that would suit our space.  The other available cabinets were great, but either wouldn't fit the sink or the space. So we hopped over to the kitchen department to see what we could find.

The cabinets in the kitchen department are all one standard size. Read: too big for a bathroom vanity. Luckily, my lovely boyfriend was willing to put some sweat equity into getting this thing done right.  More on that later. Finish choice was a no-brainer. We're both suckers for gray and wanted the vanity to look nice and contemporary. The AKURUM two door base cabinet in Abstrakt High Gloss Gray was an easy pick. The fact that we found the perfect wall cabinet to match the vanity certainly sealed the deal. The counter tops are NUMERAR. Again, from the kitchen department.

Peter and The Expert in their makeshift wood-shop amid the rugged terrain of our apartment. 

The base cabinet was too tall for comfortable sink height and too deep for the minuscule space we have in our bathroom, so the boys got out their power tools and hacked away at that sucker.  I just stood out of the way and giggled while the pair cussed like sailors. I'm so helpful.

And the (semi) final product! Eventually we'll have to add some art and such to make it a bit less sterile. We're so relieved to finally be able to brush our teeth in the bathroom, not to mention doing makeup, hair, etc.

Bathroom Bonanza, pt. 2.

We've been without a bathroom vanity since moving in and brushing our teeth in the kitchen is starting to wear on us.  Not to mention putting on makeup, drying hair, etc.  It's time to look for a vanity.

I did a little Google Image Search to drum up some ideas:

Love the floating vanity style.  I wish our bathroom was this big.  Dammit.

Seeing two sinks makes me want to cry.  I can only wish.

Slick!  Ground control to Major Tom.

Although we dislike this bathroom as a whole, there's a quality we admire in the slick style and glossy panels. It feels a bit futuristic and we could do just one section, but again, we need more storage!

Really nice, simple, minimal - but no storage or counter space.

Awesome.  It has everything: counter space, storage below, and the raised feet are a nice touch.

So with these images in mind, we're feverishly searching through bathroom stores and online to find a vanity that fits our style and minuscule budget; a task we are finding to be next to impossible.  How can a simple vanity cost as much as a bank of kitchen cabinets??.

Home Depot's only budget option.  Meh.

Our management office suggested we first look to Home Depot as it is where they get all their furniture, fixtures and building materials at a discount.  In order to fit the budget we need to get a pre-assembled floor model. Which means not being able to choose finishes, hardware or faucet style.  Being the aesthetically discerning and design-oriented couple that we are, this doesn't seem like it's going to work out.  No offense Home Depot.  We love you otherwise.

Community Home Supply's option.  Ugh, no storage or counter space?  How do people deal with this?

We then explored the showroom at Community Home Supply.  A business that is well known and loved by Chicago designers and residents. Located in Chicago's North Center neighborhood, this place offers a great selection at a reasonable price.  They even offer design services to help you out with your entire kitchen or bath makeover.  Unfortunately, even these unbeatable prices cannot fit our microscopic bathroom budget.

So moving on. . . We looked around the internet to see if there were options that would work, and there are, within budget... until you add shipping.  What a maroon.  NEXT!

Since IKEA has recently become our second home, we also shopped the options there.  The GODMORGON series is beautiful and well thought out, but expensive and nothing smaller than 40".  Our maximum allowable vanity size is 30".  Damn.

IKEA GODMORGON.  Awesome, but 10" too long.

Yep.  We are very fond of this basin.  Its super shallow with nice counter space to one side. Unfortunately, IKEA does not make one short enough to fit the space in our bathroom.

IKEA LILLANGEN.  Cool sink, useless cabinet.

This cabinet and sink would fit really well into our space, but neither of us is thrilled with the idea of displaying items under it.  Also, we're trying to maximize the space we have available and want room on the counter top for setting things down. At this point, everything we like is way over our limit.  Even the sinks we don't like seem to be out of price range.  The sink basin alone can break our budget.  We're going to have to get really creative.  Stay tuned. . .