apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

So. Yesterday, I went by DWR and bought my little Lytegem lamp. I thought I'd just drop by rather than ordering it on the web so I wouldn't have to pay shipping, but lo and behold! DWR doesn't stock *anything* in their stores. Not only that, DWR could only FedEx the lamp to my house. Grrr. I paid my $12 in shipping on top of our lovely sales tax and grumped all the way home. Anyone else ever run into that at any store?

Did anyone ever figure out where to buy that orange coat hook that was posted here recently? (Can't remember what thread.) The manufacturer's site seemed to have no info.

Also, my kitchen floor does have asbestos. Phooey. There's a beautiful pine floor underneath that will never see the light now, because it's just cheaper and safer to put new flooring over the linoeleum.

None of the DWR Studios stock anything. All inventory is sent from a central distribution center in Kentucky . That is part of their business model.

Kentucky? I figured I could pick up this one though. It's only 15" tall!

Mary: As anon says, DWR stores do not directly sell anything. The exception is the occasional floor model sale.

I'd like to know what your experience is with fiddling with the Lytegem bulb. Can you tell us how it works out? Thanks.

Mary: Even if you wanted to pick it up, they would ship it your your local Studio, charge you the shipping and then you could pick it up. That is discouraged, however. Most Studios don't have any storage space and it seems at times that they couldn't be bothered.

Fiona, I was hoping you'd post more info on the coat hook. I didn't see a listing in the archives for coat hook (other than one that didn't have anything orange), and search didn't bring up anything orange.

Do you remember when it was posted? Or the manufacturer?

anon-- yeah, the guy "had problems" changing the shipping address. It's just lame all around... I like the lamp, but at this point wish I'd said no and found something else.

Not a direct correlation to AT, but I think we all should a moment to pause/reflect on the passing of Jane Jacobs. You can read plenty about her in the NYTimes, Gothamist, Curbed, etc., etc. If it weren't for her, who knows how many of us would have our apartments in the Village, SoHo -- or any other urban neighborhood that could have been discarded if it weren't for here vision, writing and tenacity.

She is our hero.

I do recommend the floor sample sales at DWR.
The upper east side one does them regularly and advertises on craigslist. Just search for DWR.com in furniture for sale and you will always find it.

Last year I bought a the outdoor version of the Deneb table and two benches as floor samples for something like 30%-40% off and paid $50 for a man with a van to pick them up and deliver to my address. Ppl have complained before about DWR shipping charges that are very high and that negate the savings on their 10% off sales so the floor sample sales save both ways.

I can highly recommend the man with a van company - I have used them a couple of times and they run a very tight, honest, reliable ship. If anyone is interested I can find the details again and post here.

Fiona, I think you mean the one at feizdesign.com. (It was also posted on mocoloco, if you look at their April archives.) It's not yet on their site, but there is contact information.

Odd, but there seems to be a correlation between Mary's DWR complaint and jamie's note about the new urban neighborhoods that were once warehouse districts. With the continued loss of less expense warehouse space in and around the city to expensive loft homes most stores have little place to stock merchandise locally and must ship from elsewhere. Just an observation.

Oops. Sorry I meant Frank's comment.

Hi. HELP! Based on Fiona's input I opened a Flickr account. I'm hoping you can help with my decorating/color dilema(s).

I'm trying to figure out what color chairs to put around dining table, color of rug and window rug in white. I find white a bit stark/cold? All I know is decorating is driving me nuts.

As of now (see pics) I have dark walnut floor, stone color sofa, 1 slipper chair (muted stripes of purple, grey, burnt orange, stone) and 1 ghost chair and dark chocolate wood dining table from West Elm.

Chairs, as of now are white T-back chairs from WE.(To me they look cold). Rug, want shag rug and can have it made from Home Depot, ottoman thinking it should be similar in tone to sofa -- it will be tufted ottoman with acrylic legs (to tie-in with ghost chair).

Many thanks. And, if this is not the right forum, let me know who/where I can write to.

- rsw ( a very confused and overwhelmed AT reader)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/rsw

Teabags post two days ago reminded me about this radio segment I heard a few years back about 'white' 'pink' and 'blue' noise in the home--how each different appliance, etc... emits a different pitch/note and if they aren't harmonic, you end up being annoyed without even knowing why. Anyway I couldn't find the story online, but the guy had suggested buying some sort of pitch fork (any musicians? what should this be?), unplugging everything, and first 'soundscaping' the noise from outside your home, then the appliances you absolutely need (fridge and AC?) then you should be able to find the note that is incongruent and replace that item with one that is. Sounds kooky, I know. I really want to try it though. Anyone know anything about this?

I attached this thing about the Huggins Binaural Pitch for a sort of aural example.

rsw - I like the white chairs and a white rug (and the white cat!) - is there any chance of getting your colour in elsewhere? like a purple wall, or a big purple painting on the wall behind the couch?

I think you've got a good start here, and the more white is good if you make your other colours more deliberate...

oops. here is the example:

http://www.s3.kth.se/~molin/Huggins_html/huggins.html

I can say something about the rug.

Consider a large enough run to sit the sectional on top off so that the backs of both sectional pieces sit on the rug showing about 2 to 4 inches of rug and with about 1 to 2 feet of rug showing on the front and side that you can see.
I have attached a crude pic that I just did to illustrate this.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/64483597@N00/135423365/

I think this works better for sectionals.

We did this on dark walnut floors and a light grey sofa with a deep red rug. The red actually goes well with the dark floor and goes really well with the grey which seems to be a similar shade to your stone.

Rachel,
Thanks. I have a purple bolster pillow on the slipper chair and will have pillows on sofa in purple and other colors from chair. I'd also like to addchrome vase,etc. on a tray on ottoman, and windows -- no idea of color, but would like to add a trim in purple or something.
rsw

this coat hook?

http://www.charmingunit.com/products_maze_wall_hanger_d.php

I think Rachel's got it. Even your cat is white, which suggests you LIKE white and might want to focus on using whites in a deliberate way. Adding a white rug with texture sounds like a great idea for warming up the whiteness without unwhiting it.

Attention DC people:
Great place to donate and buy books through 5/12 at 900 7th St, NW, benefiting the DC schools. Very near Gallery Place Metro/Chinatown side. Walk by Starbucks across the street and keep going a couple of blocks and it's on the left. Other locations below:

"We are happy to announce that our sale at 900 7th Street, NW, which was generously donated to us by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) and Akridge, opened on Friday, April 14. The sale will last until Friday, May 12. Hours: Monday through Friday, 10 am to 7 pm; Saturday, 11 am to 6 pm; Sunday, 11 am to 5 pm.

We will also hold two public sales on college campuses: the first one will be held on April 17 and 18 on George Washington University's Kogan Plaza (pending the weather) and the second will be at Georgetown University's Leavey Center on April 19 and 20. Hours: approximately 9 am to 5 pm."

http://www.turningthepage.org/

Whoops, sorry, the dates for the campus sales have passed!

Hi,

Am in the process of renewing my homeowners insurance, and thinking I should increase my coverage from the original minimum amounts. Any pointers on personal property, loss of use and liability? I'd appreciate your input!

RE:DWR/Shipping. Shipping from a central location (and charging for it) is part of their business model. Some shops (like Ligne Roset & Todd Oldham) do try to keep some items (like lamps & vases) in stock at their locations for customers who want to walk out the door with a new item in a box as opposed to buying a floor sample/demo model. That's just the way they have chosen to do business. I don't see a correlation between warehouse space and location of stores ( or Studios) . After all, we're not talking about sofas or case goods but a 15" tall lamp.

That's probably the only way that DWR keeps their prices from going even MORE expensive than they are, because if they had to stock everything they're showing you, there would be a whole lot more unsold stock lying around everywhere.

But for small things like the Prince Aha stools that my friend bought there, it was a little weird to not be able to walk out the door with such small items.

It's still better than ONLY seeing it in a catalog and not being able to interact with it in person before buying it.

jamie pup - do you think it's okay to just have front legs of sofa on the rug? If so, I can do a 8 x 10 vs. 9 x 11.

Wende - the cat was a gift (if you can believe that). I would have never gotten a white cat -- she sheds all over my dark clothes.

I'd love carpet to be a dark color for warmth, but it would be one big hairball at end of day. So, think it needs to be natural color, ivory/offwhite or white? And, i'm driving myself nuts over that decision.

Thanks. rsw

Hey Curtis,

You're right, furniture and accessory buying should be a tactile experience. They DO stock everything they show (with the exception of some upholstery which is custom order) just not in any of the Studios. Hopefully, some day they will try to keep on hand some of the smaller items for "pay and take" sales, but in the meantime....

Maggieinthewood, I don't know all the nitty-gritty details about insurance, but I do have a story:

There was a fire in my step-brother's building (he owns a condo there), and he's been living elsewhere in a rented apartment while the place is being rebuilt. There have been all kinds of complications, and everyone in the building has been displaced for over a year now.

Some of the displaced condo owners only had the minimum *structural* insurance(as required by their mortgages) and are in a really bad spot now because they're now responsible for mortgage payments on a place they can't live in *and* rent for a temporary apartment too.

Fortunately my step-brother is fully covered!

Maggieinthewood: Especially if you have an older home, this article from This Old house might be useful: www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/knowhow/managinghome/article/0,16417,459261,00.html. If the link doesn't work, just type in "insurance" in the search box on the site and select the article titled "Beef Up Your Insurance."

RSW -- The cat will magically shed to contrast with whatever you buy, so just resign yourself to vacuuming and choose what you ultimately think looks good. We have a black cat who sheds white all over black clothes. We haven't figured out how she does it, other than the sheer power of spite.

give yourself up to the animal hair!

I own a white dog and a black cat.

Literally, there is nothing that hides the shedding. I own stock in lint rollers.

Off topic, sorry! If it works, I've just put in a link to a very cool TV stand. It won't work in my space, but I've just scrolled through hundreds of pieces that don't speak to me, and I'm excited to find something that does appeal.

rsw, front feet of sofa on the rug will also work and we did this with the same sectional in out old place (bought the red rug for the new place) which worked very well. It was a large sheepskin type of rug (flotaki? - I never know what flotaki is exactly) so was an off white color which looked great against the grey couch but we had light oak floors then.

For the dining table we have a very dark oak table (cassina MIR for anyone interested in the actual shade they can go to cassinausa.com and look it up) and as I said dark walnut (actually may be teak) floors so this may look similar to your set up. We have black ultrasuede dining chairs with thin aluminim legs from MDF Italia and they go well with the table because the table is almost black, and also look fine against the dark floor because the alumimum legs add lightness and contrast. Perhaps the light legs, dark upholstery would work for you.

We haven't got a rug yet but are looking for one and, truth be told, are finding it difficult to find one that will look ok with everthing including the red rug.

Nora, thanks for the headsup on the condo insurance and Catherine, appreciate the link - the article gives me helpful guidelines.

what could be off-topic in open thread? but joan, your tv stand is very cute, very nice legs.

i hated my tv stand so much i got rid of the tv.

(sorry for posting in the wrong place)

Thanks, Rasil! I just had this urge to show it to someone, and since I'm at work, I knew the AT crowd would be most likely to include someone who might like it also. If I had a ton of money, I'd e-mail that seller and ask him to custom-build me something for my space.

(I'm often tempted to get rid of my TV, and have at many times in my life lived happily without one.)

Joan -- I'm with you on that one, but I've decided that it's just better to ignore it most days than not have one entirely.

my husband and I lived without one from early 2002 until my grandmother died in august of last year, when we got her 12" tv/vcr combo.

We definitely watch a lot more tv now, and I'm not sure how I feel about that.

It's disgusting how amused I am by american idol.

Thanks Jamiepup,
Perhaps light legs (chrome) and dark fabric may work. Decorator/friend wants chairs light to break-up the darkness, but light colors in NYC (screams dirty to me).
Rugs -- some decent flokati and shags at homedecorators collection online. Went to ABC remnants -- overwhelmed. Not sure where else to go without spending a fortune.
All advise is welcomed. THanks.

rasil, I've asked the same question myself - "what is off topic on an OT?

I had a friend who took a wad of shedded pet hair with her when fabric shopping to be sure the hair would match and wouldn't show on the sofa. I'm sure many others have done the same thing.

After months of arguing with myself, I finally steeled myself to spend $750 on the Papiro lamp at DWR. But my quote, prepared in the Santa Monica store, came up with a delivery charge of over $100, even if I had it shipped to the store and lugged it home! Cancel. It wasn't the principle of the thing, it was the money.

RSW, here's some fun homework for you. If it doesn't seem to be very fun, have a glass of wine and continue sipping until it is fun or your face hits the keyboard.

Decorating Dilemmas Solved:
http://tinyurl.com/jlrhe

Seeing the floor layouts, what they did, should help. Read all the text, in each layout, as there are many tips on size and positioning.

You'll notice on the left side under Tools and Guides that there is a link to Arrange A Room. An online interactive tool which will allow you to move your furniture around. You supply the dimensions of the room. They have furniture for you to add, and you can change the dimensions of each piece of furniture to reflect the actual sizes of YOUR items.

Yes, you can add rugs, and see how they look in varying sizes, which will be similar to the overhead shots shown in the BHG article, Jamie Pup's drawing, and Maxwell's drawings in his book, Apartment Therapy. Do you have the book? That might also be very helpful. These things above will help guide you towards the right rug size for your area.

Take a look at the effect of colored chairs and rug in an otherwise neutral room:
http://tinyurl.com/ngakd

You could do a similar thing with chairs that have legs colored close to your new table, and then picking out a chair style that has slipcovers. The parson's style chair is available in many forms, and varying styles, along with tons of covers.

Here's one at Surefit, with their covers:
http://tinyurl.com/gebkl

Then you zip over here to see oodles of covers:
http://tinyurl.com/gbkbo

Click on each one to see what colors it comes in, swatches are a dollar. And check out the pillows area too. You can match up the pattern and color of the chair covers to one of several pillows. Use on the sofa.

Parsons style chairs can be used as extra seating in the living room, or bedroom too. Especially when they're tied in with the overall color scheme.

Angela -- I'm tempted, but I don't want to have to find another light, and I can chalk $12 up to experience and just never do that again...

Thanks Andree. I'm going to check out the BHG site -- hopefully I won't fall head first into the keyboard.:)

And that would be advice above in my earlier post(not advise).

I confess I did watch American Idol last night, though tonight we only tuned in at the end to find out who left.

RE: Off-topic... I guess that wasn't really the right term; I just feel as though I'm interrupting a conversation if there's a nice back-and-forth going on. Maybe I should say "Excuse me," instead.

This isn't a design issue, this is a "home issue".

So the little sister is in some bust up with her boyfriend and now staying with us. The wife is acting all passive aggressive and angry at me. She said tonight that I ought to be "falling all over myself with gratefulness" that she is tolerating it. The sister is needy and a wackjob. And my contractor wants more money.

It's midnight and I have to get up in five and a half hours. This is a godamned mess.

I still have no bench to take my shoes off in the entry hall. And I need a new door for the bedroom. The carved door I had sent over from India doesn't fit, so I am giving it away to an Indian friend. I am not even Indian so what the f*ck.

Jonathan! Good to see you too! I posted a link to a folding wall mounted thing that was made of aluminum and reindeer skin. And I've tried to load the same page and it's home site several times now and it won't load. It's at this site:
http://www.scandinaviandesigncenter.com

I saw this one last night and thought of your home:
http://tinyurl.com/n4lao

It could be used for many things in many rooms, so if you got tired of it as a stool in the entry, use it somewhere else.

I worried that your wife's name was Janey and she posted on the L.A. site: http://tinyurl.com/ngyes

I'm never sure if you're exaggerating a little, a lot, or just have a wicked-good sense of humour and enjoy entertaining us with a never-ending story to make us:
A. Really glad we aren't married
B. Really glad we aren't married anymore
C. Really glad that someone else has a crappier home life

Weren't you two ever happy? Is it the stress of the apartment reno? I saw your pictures. I saw your non-existant bathroom. That alone would be very stressful for me. But I've also seen what you've done to the space and it's lovely. That would be calming, to see it does get done, and the results are fantastic.

All contractors want more money.

All sisters are whack jobs and needy (according to my own brother). At least neither you nor your wife brandish firearms in the direction of said whack job sister requiring her to call the police out of fear.

You and your wife have a little bebe that is sucking up all this misery like a sponge (if it's not an entertaining story, that is). I would rather have been in a single-parent household than the one I was in. An orphanage. A foster home. A fabulous gay designer couple's home so I'd know what "Good Design" was before I could spell and would be able to coordinate things. Anything not to have been through what went on.

You should be happy. Or happier than you are. Maybe you could both talk to someone who won't pick sides, like a counselor. You'd be able to blow off some steam individually, and the counselor could assess and maybe help out finding out what the real underlying causes are.

Maybe it is reno-stress, and the pressure makes you snap at each other. Best to find that out now, no? Because you both hurt each other with words that have nothing to do with the renovation.

Like the contractor keeps wanting more money, it's taking longer and is more costly than you originally figured. But you can't piss off the contractor, because maybe they are very good at what they do, and you don't want them to quit. So you feel helpless and stuck and snap at each other. Just an example.

I'd like to hear from other folks what kinds of things they ran into during renovations.

Jonathan, I'm sure there are lots of other people that went through a bad time with cost increases, delays, stress, pressure, and arguing amongst themselves during renovation, or arranging a new space. And having a new bebe? That's another cause of stress. Contractors making noises when the baby just went to sleep. NOOOOO, DON'T WAKE THE BABY!

The work on your home WILL be completed. It will be just lovely, as I've seen from the other pictures. But I want your relationship to be intact and not need serious remodeling or be taken to the scrap heap as a result of the home remodeling.

I'm sorry this is long. People matter to me. People or animals that are in a stressful situation matter MORE to me.

Aha! The site loaded finally. Here's the aluminum/reindeer folding chair:
http://tinyurl.com/f9go2

Can't make a tinyurl for a site that won't load.

I like just the aluminum myself.

RSW:

Made you six pictures:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/96179754@N00/

Andree,
That is cool! How did you do that?
I'll have more time to review in detail when I get to work (hope my boss doesn't read AT).And, why are you up at 4AM?
rsw

It was MAGIC, RSW.

It's an old painter program. Not only is the program no longer available, but the company that made it is kaput.

Photoshop is what a lot of people use, to do the same things.

It took two hours to do those six pictures, and they aren't very good. I layered the table you have, your lamp, and layered in other items. All rugs and art are IKEA. The chairs are the SAME chair, from SureFit, with the Espresso legs. The beige is how it comes, the blue and golden colors are covers, also from SureFit.

I preferred the look of the round cream/white rug, and the brown/red/blue art item. I wanted you to see how easily you can change the look of the area with changing the covers.

Art is an excellent inspiration for color schemes. If you can find an art item you LOVE, then pick colors from it for your other items.

I went back in and did a very quick living room addition, just pasted a coppery colored rug, added curtains in that same color and colored the throw pillows.

I wish the pictures were better. But I figured they were good enough to give you a visual idea on how it would all look together. The scale may be WAY off. Like with the rug, I'm sure it is. And, uh, some chairs are missing legs and other parts. They will come whole if you buy them.

I really liked the round and square shapes together. Round rug, round table, boxy chairs, boxy art, round lamp.

Wasn't one of the ottomans you showed us in that orange/copper range?

I don't sleep well. So I try to do something to keep my mind busy.

You know guys, I think Jonathan just uses this site to vent and say all the things he'd rather not say to his actual wife, child and wack-job sister-in-law...

"All sisters are whack jobs and needy (according to my own brother)."

LOL!

Andree,
It's finally lunchtime, so I can view your pics.

Yes, the ottoman I had posted was in orange with lucite legs. BUT, I'd do a color more muted and similar to sofa color. uess I'm more monochromatic than I thought. I like to have a cohesive, non-jarring look. And, that's probably why bright white, vs. offwhite throws me.

I played on BHG Arrange a room for 2 hours last night. Tired today.

I like the offwhite chairs and carpet too. With bold art in brown/black frame. Cool! I need to learn Photoshop.

There are ways of having a monochromatic look that is successful, but all I ended up was living in a bowl of oatmeal with cream. There was nothing to pull the attention anywhere, it was "oatmeal blindness" (similar to snow blindness, without the snow). Eyes LIKE a place to focus. Eyes and minds LIKE to look at SOMETHING. Probably a good reason to do the fresh flowers, as Maxwell suggests in his book, Apartment Therapy.

You can do the off-white carpet, here's the link to it:
http://tinyurl.com/7r353
I told you the size was off, the actual size is 7'7", but putting in that size would look like the moon rising in your dining area. I don't know how to do it flat...other than making an oval, I just used it to show you the colors.

The chairs you can leave off-white all the time. And there are oodles of patterns out there, you can get off-white covers, so you can remove them for washing (and your chairs will keep looking like new!).

Change the covers seasonally or for special occasions. Too hot? Add the blue cover. Too cold? Add red. The art will be your guide to cover colors. Check out IKEA cushions and cushion covers in the Textiles area online. Those will allow you to change out your colors too, over on the sofa.

I liked this nubby textured rug:
http://tinyurl.com/g5cwh
But didn't see it going well with the striped chair.

Here's Carpet Magic:
http://tinyurl.com/h6kpe
Same furnishings, window coverings, wall color. Change the rug and a few accessories, and you have a new room.

Those three pictures alone have made me squawk about getting a neutral sofa anytime I have the opportunity.

Have you looked at the FLOR carpet tiles at all?
http://www.interfaceflor.com

Mix 'em, match 'em. Put down mostly off-white shades with different TEXTURES. Pull up a few and put down some color or pattern in the open spots.

Advantages of using FLOR carpet tiles are that you can remove one that was spilled on, and wash it off in the sink. Yeah, it says so right on the website. And some brainless twit drops their stoagie on the carpet? No problem! You can buy just ONE carpet tile to replace the damaged one, you don't NEED a whole new area rug.

Not long enough or wide enough? Add another row of carpet tiles. They aren't cheap-cheap, but considering the advantages, they may well be worth their weight in gold (or in gasoline). Order the catalog while you're there.

Yeah, I was fanatical about Arrange A Room too, and spent weeks inputing measurements of various home plans to see if the plan was useable. Oh, sure, it looks swell, until you realize you have to climb over the sofa to get in the room.

It's something else mentioned in Maxwell's book, Apartment Therapy. The room planner.

Hello All--I am in love with a rug for my entryway...but my front door catches on it when it opens...could someone give me any suggestions on what to do.....could a handyman remove the door, shave and rehang? I appreciate anyone's advice. JulieW

Andree, Thanks much. I'll review all tomorrow when I'm awake. Thanks for all of your help!!

JulieW:

I don't know if you'll make it back to see this, but you can check with someone, of course. What you end up with is a new problem. You'll have a non-fitting door. Drafts, that is, and any wet, snowy weather sneaking in underneath. If you try to add on insulation on the door base, then you pull up the rug again.

Use the rug elsewhere. Maybe more inside your entryway out of the reach of the door.

What kind of surface is under the rug? What kind of rug is it? How is the front door catching on it? How MUCH of the rug catches? I mean, is the rug simply too lofty for that application?

Over at http://www.InterfaceFlor.com their carpet tiles are stuck onto the solid surface flooring via "sticky dots". The dots are not supposed to harm the solid surface, are supposed to be removeable and reusable to a point.

Here's a link right to the page where you can order the dots:
http://tinyurl.com/ht4u2

Another idea, depending on the rug and floor you have, is to get one self-adhesive vinyl floor tile, and adhere it to that corner that lifts. Or get two tiles, cut them in half into triangles, and use on all four corners to keep the corners from curling up.

The dots from Interface Flor may well be fine and keep you from having to hire someone to hack your door...plus $2.50 is going to be a lot less expensive than hiring anyone.

Oops. Message board problems. It kept saying I had the wrong code and then that the page wouldn't load. Um, I'm on Safari browser, if that helps. Sorry!!!

you are so helpful Andree! I am now checking our Flor site.

hi--
i was curious if jamie pup still had the info on the man with a van company. or if anyone else had a mover to recommend.

thanks