BestLeeha's Profile

We have loved CL for our most-recent move. We got some CB2 lamps, a teak MCM sideboard for $50, West Elm bar stools. But my find of the century is a Florence Knoll coffee table in chrome and arabescato marble for $180! I almost had a heart attack when I got it home and noticed the stamp.

We refuse to buy upholstered furniture secondhand though, because of the risk of bedbugs and other insect infestations.

Thanks for all your input on my question, everyone!

For the record, we don't want a real tree/plant because of the mess, the potential for fire hazard, and because we have cats who absolutely positively will eat (and potentially get sick because of eating) a real tree. We've previously had good luck with this not happening with fake trees, but we don't currently own one and were looking for a feasible greener option.

But I swear, Re-nest readers are the most intelligent of them all ; )

So, with that in mind, are there anymore non-botanical options?

Love the idea, hate the products. They literally sell a bunch of redesigns of things you already own--and not in the most brilliant way.

Otherwise, it's things that I can't believe people would buy (like a strainer/serving bowl--why????).

Then I suppose those of you who oppose shopping at URBN's companies refuse to shop at one of the biggest Republican contributors in the retail game: Target.

The problem with these sorts of shades is that they don't let much light through to light the room--they become de facto spotlights. This drives me nuts because it means I have to add more lamps just to get enough light. So, while they look amazing, they really aren't functional.

I have to say that, as a lawyer, I appreciate the issue of theft involved in this argument. I am constantly warning my friends and family about giving their intellectual property away for other people to profit. However, it is incomprehensible to me that some of these designer pieces can cost so much.

For example, Hable's canvas pillows: I can buy canvas for $4/yd and hand block it for maybe another $10 and a couple hours of my time. No matter how you price my labor, I get a product worth significantly less than the $125 retail. I appreciate the time and artistry it takes to make the product, but sometimes it's like paying $30 for a Caesar salad: you KNOW the raw materials don't cost anywhere close to $30 and so the price is mildly offensive. Nowhere is this more evidence than in modern lighting. To even argue that a simple floor lamp should possibly cost into the hundreds of dollars is beyond absurd.

There was talk of pricelining, using the example of Target's designer lines, but that almost never happens in the furniture industry. Trust and believe that if Herman Miller made a downmarket, $300 lounger, buyers would fight to purchase it like it was Tickle-Me-Elmo on Christmas Eve. Because, in this country, the average annual salary is $46,000. That means that 85% of the population will never even contemplate spending $5k on a chair, no matter how beautiful it is or how much it will appreciate over time, not because they're cheap, but because they can't. So then, why don't furniture makes solve their theft problem while increasing their own revenues by designing more affordable pieces? Then, people will be less encouraged to by knock-offs and designers will force themselves to be both creative and economical without resorting to MDF and plastic like the Ikeas of the world.

I have 2.

1) PA to Boston. Then BF picked out full-service mover while I was studying for the Bar. 24 hrs before the move, it becomes clear that this mover is not legit; when confronted about legitimacy, mover hangs up on us and tells us to go to hell. All other movers in 100-mi radius are booked, so we hire movers from DE to drive 200 mi to us to load a Uhaul. Uhaul is out of our truck size, and we have to rent a truck with a trailer. We don't sleep for 48 hrs, get delirious, get in a fight that takes a turn for domestic violence. Driving on 3 hrs of sleep in 4 days, we don't notice that no trucks are allowed on Meritt Pkwy in CT, and must terrifyingly calculate how much clearance we have under 5 low overpasses before the roof of the truck gets ripped off. We then get lost trying to find I-95. Our loader on the Boston end cancels and I have to schedule a new one from my iphone while sitting in line at the toll 2 exits from my new apt. Moved in and broke up with insane BF not long after.

2) Boston to DC. Get a new job in DC that requires me to start 10 days after the offer. Initial move is me and an air mattress in the new place. Fly back to Boston every weekend for 3 weeks to pack, which isn't enough time. On the night before the move, current live-in BF has a medical emergency that requires him to be hospitalized for 2 weeks. BF's entire family comes from all over the state and pulls together to pack our entire apt the morning of the move. Get in a screaming match with some guy about a dumpster I was apparently prohibited from using and cried so hard that he ended up helping me move stuff into the prohibited dumpster. Next morning, drove for 10 hrs with 2 cats in my car while quasi-BIL drove the Uhaul through a monsoon. Get to DC and realize that the Uhaul had a giant hole in the ceiling and the inside of the truck is basically cardboard soup. Uhaul later accuses me of never returning the truck when I made an insurance claim (though they later find it). Needless to say, I did not end up paying for the truck.

I clearly have bad moving karma.

Got a beautiful MCM teak credenza for this purpose recently on Craigslist for $50! Steal of the century given that new piece start at $300 if they're made of MDF.

My Dyson Animal. It was recommended to me by a friend with pets and heinous allergies, and I swear it is one of the best investments I have ever made. The suction is so amazing that I even use it as a lint roller and a broom.

My T-Fal toaster has also stood the test of time (10 yrs) and I have gone through my fair share of toasters.

We have the Essex sofa in paisley (the print show). We LOVE the fabric and it has been very popular with our friends. It's a great size and made of eco-friendly materials!

It was our first grown-up piece of furniture.