apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

saw a rental possibility yesterday -- and am now wondering. . .it has those horrible ceiling (acoustic?) tiles. is there a way to cover them up or replace them in an inexpensive yet simple, chic way? (i'm in california so this wouldn't be a many-years-long-rental deal like in nyc.)

I asked this at the end of one open thread but didn't get any responses -- so one last hail mary attempt. I need to repaint some furniture that has a veneer finish. Any tips/suggestions? I just don't know if it's worth the effort (in labor and paint expenses) to fix up some cheap furniture that I plan to replace in 6 months to a year. Please help!!!

BC

do you know what kind of veneer? is it wood or laminate? (that's very important to know) either way you'd want to do a light sanding, a coat of the proper primer and then paint. any decent paint shop can walk you through the process.

me, I have been looking at the acoustic tiles in my basement for replacement. Supposedly it's not a hard job if you already have the tracks set up and newer tiles don't look bad. Have yet to delve deeply into the situation. One might also paint them I believe.

SCORE!

My company cafeteria was remodeled recently, and I asked what they were planning to do with the old chairs now that the new ones have finally arrived.

"Trash them", was the reply.

"Well, if they're going to be trashed, would it be okay if I got a couple?", said I.

"Sure, how many?" said the project manager.

"Would four be okay?" said I.

"Take all you want - just tell me how many and I'll put them on the loading dock and tag them with your name", said she.

Bottom line: I am the proud new owner of four white Bertoia side chairs. (Click my name for pic and the price for a new one.) I must say (a bit guiltily) she had no idea what she is giving away. There's got to be about 36 of them.

(I will worry about the nasty chair pads later.)

In addition to always being late (see yesterday's Open Thread 117), I apparently have a tendency to repeat myself.

Repeat myself.

So sorry for the double post.

Anne, you lucky, lucky girl! Congrats!

me, I once saw some that had been replaced by wood panels and looked amazing. I'd imagine that you could do any number of things like paint them, cover them with fabric, put some sort of paper on them, etc.

I recently bought a little house that has mostly been redone. My only real issue with it is that the kitchen has ugly pink tile with a wood trim. I'd like nothing more than to rip it up, but I don't have a lot of money. I know I could put in granite tile pretty cheaply, but I'm wondering what other easy, good-looking, and inexpensive options I have without totally replacing the counters.

Anne, you should've asked for all of them and sold them off! That's awesome!

A couple of weeks ago my boyfriend and I went to NJ (yes, Good lord, NJ!) to help a friend change all the ceiling tiles in her mom's veranda/bonus room. I don't know the exact dimensions of the room but it was probably about 25 x 15. I think it took four boxes of tiles (maybe 20 tiles per box).

Anyways, it's not complicated, but it was filthy, dusty work. One of the things that made our job more difficult is that, when our friend's dad built the room umpteen years ago, he did not build it to match the standard size ceiling tiles, so the tiles around the edge had to be cut. In addition, he wanted to make the tiles on all sides of the room to be the same dimension, not to have standard-sized tiles on one side and disproportionately small tiles on the other. So instead of having to cut the tiles on just one or two sides, we had to cut the tiles on all sides of the room. That part TOOK FOREVER and was pretty tiring.

You definitely need masks because there is alot of dust. I would recommend moving all the furniture out and cover the floor with a tarp, if you can. If you can't remove the furniture, at least cover it.

This is just me talkin', but I think that for something like ceiling tiles, it might look best if you did what one does for floor tiles: start in the very center and work outward so that the ones at the edges are equal, whatever size that ends up being. Furthermore, I think that I would probably want to do them on-the-bias to make the room look bigger, although that would make all diagonal cuts on those tiles on the periphery.

By the way, once you're done, you should probably add some crown molding, because besides how good it would look in general, it would also hide potentially uneven cuts.

AND... if you're going to add that crown molding, you should paint it BEFORE you put it up, and then just touch up over your nail heads once it's all up. What a sharp, pristine clean edge you'll have that way!

Looking for recommendations for chic/stylish natural gas heaters for a less web-ified friend.

Currently, in a small living room, there are two long baseboard heaters running along two of the four walls.

This is limiting furniture arrangement options. Not to mention they are UGLY.

Some of the more stylish options seem to be electric and not sold in the US (mostly UK stuff).

Any suggestions?

Anne--

Get ALL of them you can. Then sell the surplus. They are $#!%^ IDIOTS for trashing them.

Today was a misty morning in NYC. I had my digital camera with me so I snapped some shots on my way to work

http://elpispistis.shutterfly.com/action/slideshow?a=67b0de21b3367fe3a403&auto=1&idx=-1&m=1&d=1137169178682

Christine/P(too): the thought occurred to me, but for some reason it doesn't seem right to me to benefit that way. If I were to do anything, it would be to tell them that they have value and they *could* sell them, and then use the chair money for a charitable contribution.

I agree.... they are clueless about getting rid of these.

I feel a little guilty for getting four for free, since *I* know what they are; to them, they're just old white metal chairs with stained cushions.

Mostly, I'm just grateful that I will be able to enjoy these for a very long time.

I have NO sympathy for the majority of facilities people put in charge of making office furniture/design decisions. No reason someone who perhaps SHOULD be in on those decisions shouldn't benefit from the situation.

Anne - I you were to find all of them in the trash out back would you feel guilty for taking them then? I say get over the guilt and become the dumpster diver (a craft well honed in NYC) and take what you can. Do you really think that if you sat down and explained to them the value of the chairs they would do anything different?!

I you were to find = IF you were to find

me (the first one) - I guess it depends on how long you think you'll be there. If it's a short term rental I say live with the tiles in the ceiling or do something that will take little time and money to camouflage. You could tent the ceiling or put tatami mats or straw mats (try Chinatown for cheap ones) over the tiles. Then hang a paper lantern ala noguchi from the ceiling. You could even string little white lights on the ceiling before putting the mats or fabric over them to create a night sky affect.

'TAKE THOSE GOD DAMNED CHAIRS!
take them damn it!

what the heck? now 30-ish extraordinarily desireable pieces of furniture are going to end up in a dumpster?

it is the solemn burden of those blessed with good taste to protect the furniture of the midcentury from the deciples of mediocrity.... yes the people from the office might balk as you pull a u-haul up to the office cafeteria door.... but for God sakes they probably live with a hunter green sectional sofa with burgany throw pillows and JC penny Art on the walls.

Take them Take them Take them..... Hell, bring em to the local salvation army if you feel bad making money on them.

Think about it as recycling.... chairs take up a lot of land fill space.... see, take chairs=good environmental karma.

Re: the Bertoia chairs. Think of it this way, you're keeping the chairs out of a landfill! I can't believe they're just tossing them, not just because they're valuable, but because they would still be happily used by plenty of people and instead they're going to be taking up space in a dump. Sad and short-sighted. If you don't want to sell them, I'll bet you could find plenty of takers through AT.

regards,
trillium

anna - you were looking for a small side table? Look at this one that Maxwell posted in the Craigslist column:
http://newyork.craigslist.org/brk/fur/124882107.html

Think of yourself as a social worker who finds orphaned royalty. Marry them off to other royalty like King Maria-Therese of the Holy Roman Empire did (I think that was her name with her own children, and that's how she took over the world. And yeah, would you believe it? They called her King for some reason, like she was too powerful to be called Queen or something.

And in this case, by "royalty" I just mean people who will appreciate them, and treat them right.

Because I'm sorry, but I don't care how rich or how poor someone is, if they DO appreciate or understand good design, they should get have it.

Or think of yourself as the daughter of a Pharaoh and you're finding these chairs in the bulrushes. Etc.

Don't let the pearls get cast before swine!

Bless your heart. You just wanted to tell us about your lucky find. You didn't want us to give you a booty-pain project.

Last night I was going thru a stack of design magazines to clear some out of the apt. I came across the coolest piece of furniture. For anyone looking for a hideaway bed this is the ticket. Of course, it's not cheap but you'll have it forever:
http://www.bauerinternational.com/bauer.asp?id=2384&action=detail&catID=1446&parentID=1935

Screw the philanthropy angle, anne-- sell those suckers off on Carig's List for a tidy profit and use the windfall for your move! Don't make us come over there!!!! ;)

Wow, Anne! Total score. Lucky, lucky gal! You should find homes for the other chairs that you don't "adopt"--whichever way you decide to do it.

Actually, P2 is really singing my song. I wasn't trying to tell you to GIVE them to people who could use them, unless you just couldn't bring yourself to take money for them.

But DO bring yourself to take money for them. Because HELL yeah! OK, you've moved already? So now that you're outfitting your place, wouldn't it be great for SOME of it to cost less?

Let me just say that if you're too shy to deal with money in person then do it on eBay and you'll get money through PayPal and you can buy yourself stuff with it that way. Because you CAN specify on eBay that you'll only sell to people in your area, and that they must be picked up, or something.

That's how I bought my dining room chairs!

I'm sorry, but now I just can't stop thinking about those chairs. $9,420 worth of chairs (based on the $314 DWR price, which, since that's supposed to be "within reach" is already supposed to be something of a bargain, right?) for free? Wanna give people some kind of great deal? Fine! $100 each! You'd STILL have $3,000 to shop for stuff for your new place! That's like hitting the lottery or something.

Sorry to post so much this afternoon (and you know there's more to come!) but I just saw this amazing locker. Who was looking for a locker?
http://www.bauerinternational.com/bauer.asp?id=4543&action=detail&catID=1898&parentID=1935&summary_page=4

or . . .
if you just don't want to deal with guardianship of 30 chairs, list them in the free section of your local craigslist or freeshare.
Alert the public to a dumpster diving bonanza. And for god's sake don't leave your contact info. Anonymous alert for the design public. Or if you have a local Materials For The Arts program, call them. They pick up stuff like that in NY, and then some non-profit can sit on those chairs.

"it is the solemn burden" . . . indeed

companies seldom care about such things -- it's just not worth their while

New Tenant,
Thanks for sharing those photos! God, how I love New York!

anne, the first one:

i sort of think you have a duty to design to salvage those chairs. it kills me to think of them in a landfill. even if no one makes a profit, they still shouldn't be destroyed. it amazed me to find out that in my city, a bulldozer drives over everything at the dump and so there's no opportunity for anyone to even try to salvage anything. what a waste.

Wow - I just came back from lunch to find that I am stupid. :)

I never seriously thought about trying to make money off them. But then SOMEBODY just HAD to bring up the landfill!

They're not new chairs, so I couldn't ask $300+ for them. Some have dings.

But now - thinking about the upcoming move - and how much I really want to reupholster the vintage couch I inherited from my grandmother, etc. etc. etc.....

WOW. This could be a little windfall.

And I'm going to see what I can scavenge.

Booty.

Hurts.

But maybe in a good way.

(That was for you, P(too).)
(With special credit to Curtis.)

I will post more later on The Great Bertoia Reclamation and Resettlement Project of 2006 as details develop.

jen, i saw those wood panels, too, but can't remember where. they looked cool. (omigod, i just realized it might have been in the old, old days of "trading spaces," when the show seemed interesting.) i like that idea but doubt i'm creative enough.

on another note, someone's selling saarinen tables for virtually nothing -- but the one that's the correct size for me has a base that's painted gold. yuck. can i paint it?

It was on first season Trading Spaces, stained plywood to replace very institutional acoustic tiles, done by Hildy I think. I can't remember whether she also painted the gridwork. It looked surprisingly good in the end, though it is more of a project than I would undertake for a place I just intended to live in for a year or so. Maybe if I happened to own the appropriate tools already...

me(tfo)-
There's bound to be some way you can strip that gold paint off, but I'd be VERY careful how you did it, because the paint stripper might damage the hell out of whatever it is that they made those table with.

But if you do paint it, I would definitely use spray paint, instead of brushing anything on, because you really need to keep the smoothness going. Actually, if you could find one of those round exerdise disks that people used to buy to stand on and twist or some or other turn-table kind of thing, it would be good, so you could spray evenly all around it. It would KIND of serve as a lathe, you know?

One more thought: the whole situation is a perfect example of how modern-design-unconscious Dallas still is, for the most part.

And Kristian, you are right on the money with your hunter green couch/burgundy pillow statement: they are effin' EVERYWHERE here.

The first time I ever went to IKEA, it really felt like a film had been lifted from my eyes. I was still living with my folks, but I couldn't wait to decorate my own home in the colors of happiness that IKEA sold.

I had to wait 10 years from then to get one in my own town. But soooo worth it.

Those weren't plywood, they were luan, and it was in one of those grids where the acoustical tiles were the drop-in kind. And that's why the luan made sense, because it's light. And I am pretty sure that they DID paint the grid, something like black or something. That really, truly was one of the best things Hildy ever did.

Hey Kristian!

I'm going to Ikea this weekend to pick up those wine racks.

Need anything? ;)


Woo-hoo!

I'm off to shop Ikea (sung to the tune of "We're off to see the wizard")

Anne! Woo hoo! I am cheering here, you just can't hear me in Dallas..... This is going to be such a story to tell your grandkids. I would really like 8 of those chairs, so if you end up storing them in you basement or something, I'm sure that I will be in Texas some time in the next say, 35 years.

New Tenant... I actually do need some stuff from Ikea, but I (currently) live in Frankfurt, Germany and it's quite a haul from any of the greater NYC locations..... but thank you kindly for the offer. I hope the wine racks turn out fabulously.

Thinking about those damned chairs.

....and I want one of those portable dishwashers on wheels from compactappliance.com

Click my name if you want to see an adorable little dishwasher that will confuse and amaze your friends and family who live in McMansions.

Anne -
By the way, I don't know what kind of white those chairs are, but there are little bottles of appliance white touch-up paint that they sell in hardware and houseware stores and in Carol Wright gifts catalogs and stuff like that.

Might that be enough of a touch-up on the dings you're talking about on those chairs?

By the way, this thread almost sounds like a pet rescue thread. I feel similarly passionate about it as how some pet folks feel.

Attagirl, Anne!

Now, I feel like we're the chorus of secretaries in How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying when they sing to Rosemary, "Don't, Cinderella Darling, don't turn down the prince! Oh let us live it with you, each hour of each day...."

can't use this. a friend sent it to me.... amazing deal. DWR is having a huge floor sample sale.

http://newyork.craigslist.org/mnh/fur/125050537.html

Curtis: you are totally right about the pet rescue fervor - that *is* what this feels like. (I've volunteered in dog rescue but some of the more tightly-wound humans scared me off - too much drama, and assuming that all non-rescue humans were evil.)

Thanks for the paint suggestion, Curtis. If you were a reference book, you would be a bestseller! I will remember your suggestions for future use.

I will probably touch up the chairs that I take in, but I'll leave the others alone and let the buyer decide whether to touch up or leave as is. At least now I can tell them where to get the paint!

(Man, I'm not getting any work done today.)

Anne-
You wouldn't BELIEVE how much work you've just accomplished today by teleconferencing with all of us on this rescue! Ohhhh.... you mean work that you already had scheduled and which your boss wishes you were doing! Well... I can't help you there.

Whew, now that that chair situation has been resolved... way to go, Anne!

Not exactly an apartment question, but there are so many aesthetic-minded folks here (I was thinking of Curtis, man of all things vintage), so I thought I'd give it a shot:

We're repainting the shutters on our 2-story red brick Colonial (built in 1941) on Monday. It has white trim and the shutters are currently a very bland white. What color would you paint them? I am thinking black, but am unsure if that would be too stark of a contrast. And please don't say hunter green -- there are several similar houses on our street and the green looks so common. And what kind of finish -- eggshell, semigloss, etc? I also plan to repaint our front door and was thinking a deep, deep teal blue/green/something along those lines. Off to search the web for some ideas, but I thought I would throw out the question here first.

Anne/pet rescue fever:

I once had a run in with the cat nazis at Petco. I'd just moved into my apartment and wanted to adopt, but I had to have one of their volunteers come over to my house to get a tour before she agreed to it. My house was a wreck -- I'd moved in the week before and had stuff but no real furniture yet. I spent all afternoon cleaning and cat-proofing my apartment. The woman walked into my studio and said "I don't know how people live in Manhattan". She "wasn't sure" if she wanted to let me have them, and went off to think about it. I was a little shaken, but took her word for it. I think I'm good people -- if my first priority was having cats in the house rather than a couch, I think I'm the sort of person who would be a good cat mom. The social worker thought otherwise and when I asked her why she said that I was "irresponsible". Grrr. Needless to say, I never went back to them.

Re: Saarinen...

This is one of the things I just wouldn't paint by myself if I can avoid it. Take it to a car paint guy -- they'll do a much better job...

ooh ooh, let me get this in! I bought this table (name link) and can I use the Arne Jacobsen series 7 lime green chairs with that?

Abbe -

I found this, which says that people sometimes used yellow shutters on red brick houses:

http://www.oldhousejournal.com/magazine/2003/june/colors.shtml

and this, which clarifies that the yellow could be ochre (probably my choice if I were determined not to use white) or chrome yellow (which is VERY bright):

http://www.oldhousejournal.com/magazine/2003/june/color-combos.shtml

Depending on how specifically red your brick is, a grey might work, though, like this shutter source shows on its little swatch thingy:

http://www.homedecorations.com/shutters/custom%20shutters%206%20styles4.html#top

What if the trim stayed white, but you worked some black shutters? I think that works fairly well, although this picture is something of a McMansion:

http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-311160.html

Another handsome version of the white trim and black shutters is the Depew Ave. (bottom-middle) one of the pictures here:

http://ah.bfn.org/a/archsty/colrev/

Meanwhile, there seems to be a whole discussion about just such things on this Philly-based blog:

http://www.phillyblog.com/philly/archive/index.php/t-9455.html

Personally, I know you probably think it's boring, but black shutters with white trim would be VERY smart-looking, I think. And it would look so right for so long and you wouldn't have to hate yourself until you could afford to re-paint yet again.

I think that will give you the punch that the all white is probably lacking.

Mary - I have been working with animals for a long time and lead a group of volunteers at an animal shelter in Williamsburg. If you ever want to adopt, let me know and I'll do all I can to get you just the right pet.

They make tin ceilings that are sized to replace the ceiling tiles. Not sure about the cost.

I think those tin ceiling tiles are probably a little bit higher than a renter might want to pay. By the way, I saw a metallic looking very light plastic (I think it was) version on "I Want That" a while back, which might be searchable on the HGTV website.

The couple of guys they showed on there basically took only about a day installing theirs, though, so it might have only been the easy of installation that they were excited about; it might not have been the price point.

anne,

great job! even if you don't want to sell them all yourself, i'm sure a dealer that sells mid-century will happily buy the lot from you. sure you won't get the best price but you can get rid of all them at once.

but they do stack :)

Did someone here say that FLOR tiles don't work on carpet?

Working on this renovation budget. Can anyone help me with my windows? the windows themselves I'm not worried about (co-op may even pay for them), but what do I do about the rotting sills (sp??) and frames. I have four large windows in my brooklyn apartment made out of a pretty wood, I'm sure, but covered with lead paint.

Who do I hire to address this thing? Will they strip out all this framing and rebuild or what? Can anyone make a guess as to what this will run so I can put it in my budget?

Curtis, you are goooood. Black it is, definitely! I have always thought black shutters would look very smart, but I just didn't want them to look excessive in this one-horse town in which we temporarily find ourselves. My house is very similar to the one at 237 Depew on the link you posted, only much less grand (only 5 windows on front, no front balcony railing, no dormers, simpler window trim and only one double chimney). The molding style on the curved porch (mine is squared off) is also used throughout the inside of our house on built-in moldings. Thanks for posting all of the links. I was waylaid by someone waking from her nap and the newly-discovered snowfall outside this afternoon, so I hadn't gotten a chance to do a proper search. :)

Anne, we just put down FLOR tiles in the living room (area rug) and kitchen (wall-to-wall). All of the company's printed materials recommend not putting it on carpet. Seems to me that the tiles would shift or pop up when you walk on them(even though they are obviously rubber-backed) on carpet of nearly any thickness. And of course the adhesive wouldn't hold on carpet since they are made to be removed if you need to clean them or if you want to use them in another space. By the way, did I mention how much I love this stuff?

i have a problem. i bought a slate coffee table for a client and it was delivered without cleaning and care instructions, and... UNSEALED. naturally, it stained super-fast. the nice folks at stone source suggested a product called "k2r" to lift out the stain. from a little googling, i think it is some sort of fabric cleaning spray. does anyone have any idea where i could find some of this stuff? (if the stain doesn't come out, i DO expect the manufacturer to replace it!) they also suggested acetone. i know its the end of the day, and the thread is pretty full, but... help?!??!? thanks in advance!

Wow, Seema (hello!) K2R is a blast from the past. I remember it as some sort of serious stain remover (for upholstery and carpet), in something akin to a toothpaste tube. It was (if memory serves) a gritty paste.

Try Walmart, Target, Gracious Home?

I have also heard of acetone cleaning grout of slate tiles, but dear god wear gloves. Nasty stuff.

of slate = OFF slate

Just had a great experience with HighTower Group --- they have fantastic furniture from Scandinavia. Definitely worth checking out

http://www.hightoweraccess.com

They also are the company behind POP Wood Panels -- they were just featured in DWELL and Wallpaper

http://www.poppanels.com

Be good...
Annie
"aspiring design goddess"

http:www.interiorsearch.blogspot.com

Mary -- A home tour before you could be allowed to adopt a stray cat?!?!?

My word! And here I thought that the Petco Nazis requiring that our new cat have a stay-at-home parent was over the top. At least they didn't demand a home study, a credit report, and three character references.

anne from big d, as me said you have a duty to 20th century design to save those chairs from the scrap heap. if you feel guilty about the money, tell your company the resale value and if they don't care then take them and sell them guilt free. check ebay for a reference price.

thanks patrick (hi!)- i'll try those places. wish me luck!!

To be fair to the Petco people, I think they do home inspections (in theory at least) to avoid a cat being tortured by 4 hyperactive toddlers and/or be adopted by people intending to feed them to pit bulls reared for the fighting rings.

But Mary's experience does seem extreme--especially because I swear my cat loves it when our house gets messy. The more paper and magazines, the better!

Please sell the Bertoia chairs... to us!

At any rate, do rescue and sell them. To the project manager they are worthless, but people used to toss out Shaker furniture and paint over priceless art, too.

It makes me sad to think of something that would make so many people happy being wasted.

I agree that some corporate facility managers - have absolutely no idea of what the value is of product they virtually throw away. I've seen buildings of midcentury modern classics virtually thrown away or sold off for pennies on the dollar. Some companies even put extra furnishings in storage for years -- paying rental charges and then after years of paying to store it.. throw it in the garbage... Go figure.

Anne- Way to go on the Bertoia Chairs!

I just recently found 2 saarinen marble side tables for $25 each on craigslist in Austin...So congrats!

One thing to mention about the Bertoia Chairs if you were to restore them, is having them powder coated.
You can take them to any auto body place or look for "powder coating" in the yellow pages.
They will sandblast and powder coat them (normally all at once). Most places keep different colors in stock so you might be able to custom powder coat them to your liking.

This is not expensive and your chairs would last for another 50 years!

So, please edify me. What's the big deal about Bertoia chairs? What do they look like (I'm betting they're modern, knowing this crowd)?

Hi all, I guess I posted this question on the wrong thread (118? 119?)...

Has anyone ever ordered furniture from homedecorators.com or novica.com? Just wondering about their quality. Imports can be dicey. Thanks!

I have a question for the New Yorkers in the audience. Does anyone know why the Hell's Kitchen Flea Market wasn't there yesterday (Sunday)? I'm sure the answer is because it was freaking freezing yesterday. But I went down there looking for some deals and it was like a ghost town. I saw a few other bewildered market goers wondering what was up. I went home and checked the website and there were no notices or anything. Ok, just curious.

Malaika - I'm sure it was because it was freezing. I go there a lot since it's only 4 blocks away but I knew that it was would be a wasted walk (short as it is) because I was sure it would be empty. Nobody in their right mind would sit out there for 8+ hours in this weather. But try again because it's a great flea market.

Diane - look at Anne's (the one from Dallas) first post in this thread. Click on her name and you'll see the chair.

I'm a NYer tranplanted to South Carolina and I can't stop laughing at today's posts. Thanks for easing my homesickness.
Peggy
PS: All the Thomas O'Brien lamps are reduced at Target. Much better buys than his furn.

HEY! hey anne dallas, i'm in dallas! hook me up, sista!

I wasn't going to admit this but I was born and raised in Dallas. It took me 37 yrs to escape but my dearest friends are there. Dallasites stick by you, and sometimes to you, forever! Enough Dallas bashing. Back to design.
Peggy

It was a little rough getting turned down for a pet, but the Kitty Kind people got their come-uppance on salon.com a little bit later:

http://www.salon.com/mwt/creature_feature/2003/05/12/hello_kitty/index_np.html

...and I adopted my downstairs neighbor's 16-year-old creamsicle tom cat, whom I first met during the blackout. If anyone is interested in adopting, the BARC is a great shelter with sane staff and volunteers...

Mary - BARC is the shelter I work at. It's a great shelter and I'm there every weekend. If anyone wants to adopt let me know.

I got my two beautiful kitties at barc 2 yrs ago. barc rocks!

Sorry for the personal post to Margaret but -

I've been there for 3 yrs. so I bet I know which kitties you got. What were their names at the shelter. I'm always wondering how the cats are doing once they're adopted.

peggy, i too was ashamed of dallas. as soon as i graduated high school i moved to chicago vowing never to come back. my husband brought me back kicking and screaming. love my midwestern friends. like dallas pals- they never forget you. now i'm trying to get over my bitterness and sink into loving dallas. there is a new hope here. love and respect for design is popping here and there. maybe, just maybe, i won't run away. (sorry to turn this into a dallas support group.)

I have nothing to say about Dallas, but do wonder about J.R. Ewing from time to time.

So, Me. Is this a suspended ceiling? I've had stunning luck ripping out lowered ceilings and then paying the dif in heating bills.
I've also sprayed accoustic ceiling tiles a flat warm dark grey. It's cheap and they all but disappear. Good choice if this apartment is not a lifer.

Anne - Thank you. I always forget to click on people's names. About the Bertoia chair, um, it looks uncomfortable to me. Sometimes I like modern stuff, but not very often -- this chair definitely wouldn't appeal to me, even with a cushion (unless you knew you were only going to sit for a few minutes). But what does appeal to me is saving a few from being tossed and someone getting use out of them if it's something they really like. So, bravo, Anne from Dallas!

Just wanted to say I went to a great exhibit at the Smithsonian Renwick Gallery here in DC on Modernism in American Silver. Great tea services and candle sticks and flatware and martini shakers, all in moderne deco mid c modern styles. SOOOO fabulous. I started playing a game where I tried to decide which piece I'd choose if they all of a sudden decided to let me take one home. I couldn't choose because there were just too many! Just as well seeing as that wasn't going to happen.

this actually ties in to this thread, though, because they were all on loan from DALLAS! Nothin' wrong with any city, Peggy, so no shame!!!

anne,
please do let us know how you plan to move those chairs. i am desperate for a pair, if not four. i love the idea of reclaiming old and underappreciated chairs instead of buying them brand new.
you are one lucky gal!

Dallas.

I love it because it's my hometown. It's kinda like having a drunk, bigoted, redneck uncle. You love him because he's family, and he can tell - or be the source for - some great stories.

Sometimes he can cause embarrassment or heartache, though. And if you weren't related to him, you wouldn't choose to spend time with him.

Related: when I was younger, I always thought I'd live in New York. NYC was always where I envisioned myself living out my grown-up life. Alas, my reality is far different than what I had imagined. Not that it's bad - just different. I means I have to make a bigger effort to learn about the rest of the world.

I am so glad to know know there are other Dallas people here who appreciate AT. Of course, I've yet to run into one in real life!

Hmmmmmn. Dallas happy hour, anyone?

Anne (TFOID) -
I'm from Louisiana, but lived in Shreveport for the longest time of any of it -- 10 years, high school, college and then one year -- this coming summer it will be 20 years that I will have lived here in NYC; am kind of contemplating something like a wedding cake with the Statue of Liberty and myself on the top of it, together (he he he he) for my 20th anniversary.

Honestly, one thing that I like about NYC is that in a way, it's kind of like one big college campus where everything is accessible, so I find it to absolutely NOT be overwhelming to navigate, even though it is the big city. I felt that pretty soon after arriving here, in fact. I visit my relatives in the South about 2 or 3 times a year, and that really is just enough for me.

a dallas happy hour sounds fabulous. yay for a design dallas revolution. in edvidence of the chairs there was a drive for design at one time here. for some reason it fell of for a few years.

Mary -- My boyfriend and I had the exact same experience with a petco-visiting group called Marin Cat Connection. We had our hearts set on this cat and, after a lengthy interview were told that we were approved and that the cat would be delivered the next day. Just like in the salon article we were asked several trick questions such as "Under what circumstances would you ever give up a cat?" I answered honestly -- financial ruin, or severe illness (making it impossible for me to care for said cat). The correct answer was "I would NEVER!" Anyway, it soon became clear that the "delivery" was just a chance for them to evaluate our living situation. At the time we were living in a very charmless (yet clean and safe) apartment. It was not in the nicest area of Marin, but it certainly wasn't the ghetto. She took a quick look around and found fault with our window screens. We offered to get them reinforced and she said to call her back later. Within a few hours we had gone to the hardware store and gotten reinforced screens. We called back and were put off. She kept avoiding our calls and finally left a message saying that the animal behaviorist treating the cat thought she just wasn't ready for a home yet. The cat did have issues, but she seemed really comfortable with us and I think it was just her bad impression of our neighborhood. We later adopted from another group who seemed shocked when I offered to send pictures of the cat's potential habitat for their evaluation ("Why?"). We are devoted cat owners (heck, I once lost my health insurance due to a job change but still maintained my cat's Veterinary Pet Insurance policy). I know these groups must deal with a lot of scumbags, but that's no reason to be prejudiced against every potential adopter who doesn't live in a mansion. Anyway, thanks for that funny salon link -- I'm forwarding it to my fellow Marin Cat Connection survivor.