semolina's Profile

This seems nicer for an office, but very cold for a home.

i have a wood chaise lounge and a painted/powder coated metal bench (roxi-ikea) that both have cushions on them. just got em, but i keep the wood under a tarp (from home depot) and bring the cushions in when i can and store them in the linen closet. sometimes i get lazy, but i try not to make a practice of leaving them out. sun, rain, dew - nothing outside seems great for furniture.

i love smeg. unfortunately, as with most stuff that looks cool, i think it's about 2-3x as much as a more standard looking equivalent and i'm never able to bring myself to pay the coolness tax.

Yea, a good reminder not to buy things online where you need to see the fit and finish (furniture, clothes, etc.). Urban outfitters is mostly geared towards college kids so they usually have dormroom-style furniture. Not to say they don't have some cool pieces sometimes, but I'd be leery of anything over $50. It's no coincidence they didn't show this angle on their website.

"Yes, you'll save a bundle"

not so fast! I know plenty of DIY projects that cost WAY more than alternatives. I built my own industrial 'simple' shelving and after 10 trips to home depot it ended up costing over $300 due to lack of planning and awareness of physics.

Note that if your DIY attempt goes wrong, you might have to spend double hiring someone to fix or redo it. Consequently I wouldn't recommend DIY when the materials are expensive and you've never done it before.

There might also be serious safety issues with DIY. Custom painting/refinishing can be very toxic and involve special environmental clean-up, saws are extremely dangerous, mounting heavy objects incorrectly is trouble in CA, etc. etc.

I was die-hard DIY in my teens but often found it to be more expensive/difficult/time-consuming than the alternative and am more realistic about what I can personally do.

But just getting a professional is not easy either - that's a whole other discussion!

Having everything clean and taken care of makes all the difference. First priority is to fix broken things and refinish peely surfaces. I'd rather keep a style I'm not in love than do some DIY to achieve a look in a half-assed, hacky way.

i actually had a washer/dryer as a renter, but have no room for one in my condo. i don't mind though. it's just a few yards away and forces me to be a little more efficient about laundry (can't let anything sit, have to organize the loads). they have a big utility sink and an old fashioned clothesline area which is handy. having to shlep to the landromat is indeed the worst. :(

I say ignore em or be very short and blunt and close the door immediately, same with telemarketers. I always hemmed and hawed and tried to be nice and this would eventually make them extremely nasty since they felt I wasted their time knowing I won't give them what they want.

I think going to someone's home is an extremely intrusive way to reach people rife with the possibility for scams and crimes. It often feels like bullying, puts me on edge, and makes me extremely unreceptive to the product or message even if I would otherwise agree with it. I mean who knows if the people are who they say they are?

i've loved those saucer planters since i saw em at the wired living home. one of the best things there actually. reminds me of old tomorrowland...
http://flickr.com/photos/albaum/448573990/

kinda cool, you can even do other colors. but how do you get the fabric strips off and on again?