NeoGrec's Profile

I've been inside. For a book party years ago. The room with the pool has an open fire. Sweet.

1. I wholeheartedly agree with both Boomer and Deborah about the luxury mattress nonsense. I did, however, fall in love with a mattress recently when visiting the in-laws in San Francisco. It's made by a small firm called McRoskey who do the manufacturing on site behind their showroom on Market St. The mattresses are kinda old-fashioned (basically just springs -- jeez, they even make their own steel coils! -- and cotton wadding) but that's the attraction. No weird synthetic contents or hi-falutin' gimmicks. I spent about 20 minutes lying on one and it was divine. They have 4 levels of comfort (firm to soft) and all run $1,850 for a Queen, although you gotta add about $600 to ship to the East Coast. Very tempting. But that's totally at the top end of my budget.

2. Re. storing books, I have to mention my current bug-a-boo in shelter mags (see the current issues of Elle Decor) and furniture catalogs: turning books around so that their spines are not visible. I realize styling for these photos is a big deal nowadays but it's just so damm philistine to treat books as solely a visual decorating gambit. It makes me crazy.

3. No comments about the Park Slope brownstone reno? I can't believe this story wasn't on brownstoner. Figured there'd be a huge flame war about what one can and can't do to an intact brownstone. I've no problem with modern renos but I do question the exposed brick look (couldn't they at least have painted the brick white, otherwise it's so 70s/80s) and the exposed ceiling beams (what does that do to sound transmission?).