Author: rick

It’s no secret that IKEA is a gold mine for affordable, hackable home decor. And in its massive catalog, there are a few tried-and-true favorites that always seem to rise to the top. These classics are classics for a reason: From the storage-packed BILLY bookcase to the endlessly customizable BEKVAM spice rack, they’re all super versatile in terms of both function and style. While there’s nothing wrong with re-visiting the hits, there are plenty of equally great IKEA products that fly under the radar. Seasoned DIYers know where to find those hidden gems—and what to use them for. Here, 7 of their favorites you might have overlooked.

Underrated IKEA Products | Apartment Therapy

Megan Leihgeber has been renting her Austin home since August 2017. The 650-square-foot 1970’s bungalow is a one-bedroom, but it’s just right size for the artist, her boyfriend, Ian, and their three large dogs. “I found this listing and called the listing number right when it popped up on Realtor.com,” she says. “We signed two days later.”

The Best Rental-Friendly Decorating Tricks to Make Your Whole Home Look Bigger | Apartment Therapy

“Moving anything is stressful, but when it comes to moving a piece of furniture as large and cumbersome as a sofa, that stress level can skyrocket without proper planning. According to Weisshappel, that means a lot of measuring. “It takes some math to see if your sofa will fit,” she explains.”

How to Move a Sofa or Couch | Apartment Therapy

It was nice to see Apartment Therapy’s “Small/Cool Apartment” Contest make a comeback this year, because we think it’s one of the best places for sourcing ideas for how to make the most out of your city apartment.

Have a look around at this year’s winners and contestants, and feel free to click on the “Ask A Handyman!” link at the top of the page to find out if we can make one of these solutions work in your San Francisco space.

“We spent a few hours going through each and every space and making a detailed, itemized list of what we wanted to change. Everything from a new silverware organizer to a bigger couch to fixing a scratch on the wall got listed, room by room. When we finished the entire audit, we were left with dozens and dozens of to-do items, but none of the tasks felt like the jumbled, overwhelming mess that existed in my brain before. Instead, it felt like a game plan—something actionable and concrete that we could make progress on slowly but surely. Instead of feeling rushed to make a room feel perfect, I felt like we had a plan. Sure, it would take a while to get through all of it, but for the first time, I was looking at a physical list of everything we wanted to get done. And at least I knew that if we went item by item, we’d get through it.”

Sound art installation simulates sinking of Millennium Tower

“… the San Francisco Art Institute (SFAI) hosts Postcommodity’s newest piece, The Point of Final Collapse, an audio installation based on Millennium Tower’s gradual sinking and leaning, which will aurally simulate the movements of the skyscraper using data collected between 2008 and 2017.”

San Francisco sound artwork simulates sinking of Millennium Tower – Curbed SF

If you’ve got a quick question for a handyman, click on the “Ask a Handyman!” link just above this post. “How do I reset the GFCI outlets in my kitchen?” or “How can I speed up the drain in my bathroom without snaking it?”

We may be able to save you a visit from a handyman with an answer to one of these questions!

While we endeavor to honor the city’s “shelter-in-place” orders, we understand that some jobs just can’t wait. In that spirit, we’re keeping the the workshop open to service your homes, offices and retail/restaurant spaces.

More importantly than anything else, we’re washing our hands a heck-of-a-lot more than we used to, and we’re used to washing our hands more often than anyone outside the culinary or medical fields.

We also value the importance of communication at a time like this, and we’re placing an even higher premium on talking to customers in order to understand their priorities, their concerns, their schedules, and their budgets. Whether we end up working for someone during the “shelter-in-place” order or just making scheduling arrangements for a time when things get back to normal, we are eager to listen to your needs and respond with a variety of options to meet them.

Please stay healthy San Francisco. Please wash your hands and stay at home until we’re through this thing.