Design-friendly Dishracks

Our management company has begun slowly installing dishwashers in the units in our building. For a low monthly cost ($10-15), residents no longer have to scrub everything by hand. J and I are contemplating the addition, but it would be difficult to give up one of our few under-counter cabinets. Decisions, decisions!

In the meantime, I'm bearing with our Ikea Kvot rack and admiring the selection I saw on The New York Times today. Designer Richard Joseph picked out some of his favorite "dish drainers." I've included some of his and my own in the roundup below. Which are your favorites? While the Kvot isn't the most stylish, it does fold up neatly beneath the sink. However, extra points go to several of these that have a cutlery holder, which would keep my flatware from streaking so much. Any other good suggestions—or would you forsake it all and go with the dishwasher when given the option?

1. Ikea Flundra, $2.99
2. Norpro's classic Pine Wood Folding Rack, $15.99
3. Geo Dish Drainer at A+R Store, $48
4. Abode New York's High & Dry dishrack by Black + Blum, $59.99
5. simplehuman Steel Frame Dish Rack at Williams Sonoma, $69.95
6. Dish Doctor by Marc Newson at the MoMA Store, $70

Me, My City & Irene

(Photo by Gandee Vasan, Getty Images)

By now you all know that Hurricane Irene is barreling up the East Coast. There are enough sarcastic Facebook statuses, wannabe-viral tweeting, light-hearted jokes about stocking up on booze and cigarettes and "Welcome, Irene" parties, so I'll spare you. Best case scenario, Irene peters out and becomes nothing more than a rainstorm by the time she reaches New York. Then we'll laugh about how we over-prepared and how we "experienced" an earthquake and a hurricane in the same week. Some cities did get damage from both, so I don't find it that funny. But I'll spare you my treatise, because that's what the op-ed pages are for. They just announced MTA is shutting down the subway tomorrow at noon and all of the lowest areas of all 5 boroughs are being mandatorily evacuated. Things are getting serious, people. The NY Times is updating their information frequently, and here's a list of tips to batten down the hatches.

All that said, we are trying to prepare for the weekend as much as possible. Justin ran to the grocery store, which was a madhouse. I just heard from a coworker that Radio Shack is out of batteries and Duane Reade is out of water.

4 Years, 3 Apartments Later...

... also 1 marriage, 1 graduation, 1 bedbug infestation, zero pets, zero muggings, countless books, too many jobs and lots of love, prayers and dreams.

Today is the 4-year anniversary of my move to New York City. My roommate and I packed everything into a Budget Truck named Betsy and drove from Texas to Missouri, from Missouri to New York. We arrived on a Saturday morning at 6 am, after having spent the night at Howard Johnson in Hoboken. I started grad school on Sunday and things haven't slowed down much since. Lots of ups and downs, highs and lows, and every cliché I could throw at you, but in all seriousness, moving here has changed my life for good.

Top Tenant Irritations

In the spirit of easing the transition to adulthood, Apartment Therapy posted a compilation of their top 3 renter complaints, as well as hundreds of solutions.

The Top 3? Odors. Noise. Temperature. I can attest to all three at some point in my apartment life. Especially during my time living above an Irish Pub. Between the late-night music, the trash (and other liquids) outside my door, and the bugs, my roommates and I dealt with our share of typical annoyances.

(Photo by Gavin Thomas, via NYMagazine's listing)

Wood Floors and Character

Several months ago, Justin and I came home to find our neighbor's mattress in the hallway. We later learned that a pipe had burst on the terrace above us and flooded his bedroom. Fortunately, the walls in our apartment did not need to be replaced, but several weeks later, we discovered that water had seeped into our floors and caused them to buckle. The entire living/dining/kitchen area was covered with a swath of curved planks. When you'd roll a suitcase across the room, it would make a rattling thunk, thunk, thunk like a train. Long story short, our management company sent a contractor to assess the damage, and instead of pulling up the boards, he just sanded down the top 1/4 inch and then put on another coat of polyurethane. Bottom line: in the weeks since, the boards have started separating from each other. So when I saw a post today on Design*Sponge about wooden floors, I alternated between lust and envy. The folks at Exquisite Surfaces have done some incredible work with reclaimed, aged French oak. Someday, we'll have floors that we own, and we can have something like this. Enjoy!

Photos courtesy of Exquisite Surfaces

Roosevelt Island

This morning, J and I went to Roosevelt Island to check out the Riverwalk Court apartments. 

They were, in a word, glorious. Or sunny. Floor-to-ceiling windows, facing either Manhattan or Queens, and right by the river. This is the view from my favorite, looking towards Queens. The summer sunlight just flooded the place, and it's still fresh-paint white and untarnished. We're not in a place to buy or even rent (and we're not engaged or anything!) but it's fun to come get ideas and dream a little.

We've been obsessed with Roosevelt Island for awhile now. The island is a secret gem between the Upper East Side and Queens, with amazing views and lots of green space. The rents are relatively inexpensive, and residents get to be right up close to the water. Even Riverside Drive apartments don't get that close because of Riverside Park and the West Side Highway. There aren't a lot of amenities on the island—one dry cleaners, two grocery stores, etc. But there are several parks, a community garden, jogging paths all the way around, and two hospitals.