joey joejoe's Profile

This headline uses the word "pairing" incorrectly, at least with the photo shown.

And I bet they used computers/printers to generate/print the map pattern to begin with. And if that's true, then, really, what is the point?

Rsfish, the point is that people, like yourself, are already in the market for appliances but, due to the economic distress, may not be able to afford the purchase. So the government provides some help, and encourages environmentally responsible choices in the process. You say you're going to buy a new dishwasher soon, anyway. And, with this credit, you will definitely buy an energy-efficient one. What is the problem?

The status quo is: people buy new appliances and throw out their old ones. In most cases, this program changes nothing in this equation except for making energy-efficient appliances more appealing to consumers.

However, some states have introduced appliance recycling programs to go along with the stimulus program. Check out this article:

http://greeninc.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/08/04/refrigerator-recycling-programs-take-off/

Ultimately, if you don't want your old appliances ending up in a landfill, it is your responsibility to recycle them properly. We should applaud our government for encouraging the use of more energy efficient appliances, not blame them for creating more trash... because if we want to be honest, it is we who are creating the trash.

I find it funny that you guys sit around and critique extremely well-detailed works of modern interior architecture, as if your comments reflect anything other than the fact that you are all a bunch of bumpkins.

"Well, if this was MY house I'd paint two of the walls pink and let my fat cat shed all over the couch and... OH how about like a million throw pillows? That would be awesome."

lolz

Okay, I actually read the articles, and they all used hollow-core doors but treated the surface in various ways. So my criticism of the surfacing material is not as valid in these cases. But I still think having a hollow desk would feel strangely flimsy... like if you sat down in the middle of it the whole thing would snap in half. Or if you had a heavy computer monitor, it would fall through the desk in the middle of the night, etc.

The point is that you can get the best concert grand piano in the world for around $60,000. Anything above that and you are purely paying for decoration (exotic woods, carved legs, etc.). Paying $100,000 for this, you are paying bonus money for them to uglify your piano.

So, yes, I'd rather have an ugly piano with a great sound than a pretty piano with horrible sound, IF you have to decide between those two options because of cost constraints. In this case, you'd be getting an ugly-ass piano with as-yet-unknown sonic characteristics for the price of two world-class traditional concert grands.

Make an appointment with the landlord to discuss painting. Bring some photographs with you of beautiful painted brick (see bddw.com), and make the case to the landlord (gently!) that the wood paneling is terribly out of date, and painting it and the fireplace white would be a dirt cheap way of adding a lot of value to the space by making it more contemporary and clean.

If you can get him to agree, then you can go nuts with the decorating... anything looks good against white painted brick. One note - you'd want the curtains to hang down to just above the seat under the window. Cropped like they are in the photo is a bit tacky. Definitely invest in some nice pillows for the bench.

As an architect and a soon-to-be studio owner (who has spent quite a bit of time thinking about where the #*@!ing bed goes), I have what I think may be the best solution. Here goes:

You should rip out the "huge closet" on the left side of the dining room and build out a murphy bed in new custom cabinetry with a much smaller closet. The wall is about 8' wide, a queen-sized bed is 5' wide. I'd suggest aligning the bed with the "southern" wall, away from the kitchen, so you can circulate through the kitchen even when the bed is down. After structural thicknesses in the cabinetry, you'd be left with at least 2'-6" of floor-to-ceiling closet space, which really only NEEDS to accommodate your hanging clothes, the rest could be put in a nice dresser elsewhere in the apartment.

You'd do well in this scenario to get a dining table on casters, that you could easily roll a couple of feet into the living room to make room for the bed to come down at night. For example:

http://www.dwr.com/product/furniture/dining/tables/quovis-work-table.do?sortby=ourPicks

This way you could have a proper living room and dining room during the day, and a proper (ie, non-futon) bed at night. In a studio with a layout like this, you do not want to add partitions, even a curtain, because it will make you feel like a mouse in a maze. Tiny spaces should be left open at all costs!

Hope this helps. Good luck!

-Joe

If the wood is oiled, one shouldn't say it is "unfinished." Because it is finished with oil. Unfinished means left raw, which is not something anybody would or should do with furniture, especially in a kitchen. You can buy some types of furniture unfinished and apply your own finish, whether oil or varnish or paint or whatever. As some people have already noted, "unfinished" wood would get destroyed in a kitchen.

You should certainly not paint it white while leaving the backing wall an ugly cream color.