fj | The Drama Starts The Moment You Walk In The Front Door In That Place

In the division of furniture, Dean got two of the bookcases since he, well, has books. I needed the ones I had left to hold equipment in the office area, so I had no separation between the hallway and the sleeping area here in the loft. I went to IKEA and bought their panel curtain system, and went to town. I have something like 60 fabric stores in the surrounding 5 blocks after all.

This is the view as you walk in:

First of all, the exposed pipe- and duct-work means that you actually can't attach a long curtain rod to the ceiling, there's always some pipe in the way. In this case, it was a fire-sprinkler pipe. Now IKEA doesn't want you to attach the rod directly to the ceiling anyway, they do provide spacers, but they are way too short. I came up with all kinds of solutions in my head, most making me afterwards wonder what the hell I was thinking trying to do this DIY stuff myself -- software fingers, people! But while walking through Home Depot, in the plumbing section, I came across all kinds of PVC pipe fittings, many which screwed into each other. So I picked the right ends, took them home, and drilled holes through the center.

Here you see from left to right the IKEA spacer, and two pieces of pipe fitting, with the holes already drilled:

Here you see the order in which I would assemble them. I attached the IKEA spacer on one end of the fittings, attach the other end to the ceiling, and then simply screw them together, and hang the curtain rod:

Here's what it is supposed to look like one it is hanging on my ceiling ready to get the curtain rod. This is just a shot on my table that I turned upside down:

And here is an up-shot of it actually hanging from the ceiling with a rod. Drilling the holes in the concrete ceiling was difficult this time, so when I pounded in the dowels they got kind of mushed up. This should be ok with the epoxy that went in the drill hole in the ceiling, but it actually wasn't; I had to re-drill the holes and pound in new dowels in two of them. After two weeks of drying everything still feels wobbly. Just don't hang from the curtains:

Inspired by going to a Japanese paper import store in Santa Monica wih Martin, I decided to work with a number of translucent fabrics. In the end I am now using a textured very sheer fabric, a sheer linen-like weave, and one narrow panel of what I call hotel fabric, a pattern that reminds me of a pillow or bed-spread in a hotel trying to be upscale. The sheer panels I kept wide by using two of the IKEA panel mounts side by side, and bridging the space between the panel holders at the top with some twisted thick metal wire, kept in place by making a pocket at the top of the fabric between the two panel hangers by folding the fabric over and using fabric iron-on holding tape (no stitching for me please). The wire is caught between the two panel holders, spacing them forcibly apart, and making them act as one when I pull of push the panel-holder that has the rod attached. The panels are all on different tracks, so I can choose which overlap in what way.

Here is the view from the bed. Please ignore the plywood in the back, I need to take it to the container or convince Martin he wants it. Oliver is Special Guest Star in the corner: