apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I am first. No welcome for me. Or I am being mistaken for another Michelle? Should I change to M2 prehaps.

Morning,

First, thanks for putting out the best stuff from craigslist on the site here, i just look on AT now instead of searching through the hundreds of ads.

I have seen this question before, but not the answer - so here it is again -
Where can I go buy plexiglass and who will make stuff from it in New york/new jersey?

How much cheaper is it to go that route - for example - the set of 3 clear tables at cb2 are 199 which is a good price - i'm just trying to figure out if its worth my time running around to get them made. More importantly, this will give a good idea of where I can go ultimately to get Shoji-style sliders(like enrique's) made from. So I'll get to test out the craftsmanship before i give them a big order!

Thanks.

PeaceLamp,

I have been referred to www.plexi-craft.com by several people. I also understand they make custom pieces.

514 West 24th Street, New York, NY 10011
(212) 924-3244 (in NY, NJ, CT)
1 (800) 24-PLEXI (in all other states)

Just saw my previous post -- prehaps=perhaps

Canal Plastics is another place for plexi and they do custom things. Canal Street near West Broadway. I don't know the tel off hand. They'll laser cut for you and you can assemble if you want to save some money.

Z gallerie is opening in soho next month.

http://zgallerie.com/shop/custserv/store_locations.asp?zone=New%20Openings!

is it just me, or does anyone else get romper room flashbacks (miss molly's mirror) when i read the "welcome to torsten, ralph, geraldo, Marche and you, too, siouxe"?

Laurie, you asked me what color my kitchen walls are. I used BM AC-34 Cape Hatteras Sand on the walls. It has the same color as stone. Maybe I should stencil it to look like stone tiles (?)

When I had my own business the buyer for Z Gallerie would come to my booth at the Gift Fairs and look at my pieces, had someone write down things about each piece and never made more than a grunt when I said hello to her. But if I would wander into one of the stores a couple of months later I would see my stuff copied. After that happened a couple of times I wouldn't let her in my booth so she and her "boys" would stand right outside the booth and take pictures and notes. She stole my ideas all the time. There was nothing I could do about it.

Needless to say, I never buy anything at Z Gallerie.

Yikes. I'd offer to boycott them, but every time we go in (whisper to husband: "This place is targeted directly at people like us"), we leave without buying anything anyway. It's always niiiiice... but not quiiiiite... I'll bet we would have gone for the originals they copied.

this is off topic but still i'm about to reorder checks and am sooo frustrated at the lack of non-cheesy or boring checks available. Give me some sleek modern stationary cool checks - not winne the pooh! any reccs anyone?

anne, that's awful. Do you have any legal recourse against that? I'm sure many others have seen the same thing happen. I visited the store at Tysons Corner and had the same feeling as Wende - the store is marketed RIGHT at me, and yet...either because I know that, or despite that, it's not quite right. I feel the same way when I see the Nissan Murano ad on TV (the one where it turns into a raven).

YCH - I've taken that route on Hwy. 5 a couple of times and I know exactly what spot you're talking about regarding the cow "farms". I can't bring myself to use animals for anything because of the miserable lives they have and how they suffer at the hands of humans. Can't eat them, wear them, decorate with them, watch them being used to "entertain" us.

Hello all:

I just wanted to mentioned my bad/good experience with Inmod.com, an advertiser on this site. I ordered a Nelson Bench reproduction and it came with some significant manufacturing problems (chips and cracks). I was totally bummed and I sent Inmod a couple of pictures of these problems immediately after receiving shipment. I was expecting the worst: no reply, no resolution, etc. But in fact just the opposite happened. Casey from Inmod emailed me immediately and told me that they were looking into the problem with the manufacturer. An hour later he sent me an email offering me a full exchange or a $50 store credit (this was a $270 item) if I kept the bench. Their customer service was top notch. I have always hesitated to work some of these "reproduction" distributors because you never know what is going to happen when you have a problem. I thought some other people might feel the same and so I just wanted to post this one data point on Inmod.com. Thumbs up.

-will

Wallpaper Question-
Does anybody know where I can find somebody to put up a small amount of wallpaper?

I bought cole-and-son Malabar paisley (light blue paisley on charcoal background) for a wall behind a bar. Now I realize that putting up this kind of paper is more tricky than I thought, it uses wheat paste, its not already pasted. I'm not even sure exactly what kind of paste to get.

I'm also doing 3 small walls in my bathroom with a regualr vinyl paper with etched looking statue women, beige on white. Any suggestions would be much appreciated!
Debbie

http://www.cole-and-son.com/collection_detail.asp?SubID=94&ID=11

http://www.decoratetoday.com/products/wallpaper/product_detail.asp?ptn=DZ876E8&gensearchby=1&si=4

Hello AT All-Stars :

Since it's so balmy here in NYC this afternoon, I can't help thinking about outdoor furniture for my terrace this spring. What I am looking for is a stackable, modern chair with clean, thin lines. Interesting use of materials is a plus! Price is not that important, as I will only be purchasing a few. I'm familiar with and like Emeco's line (especially the newest chairs featured on this site), but thought there may be something slightly more unique. Any direction is appreciated!

Do the chairs you are looking for have to be new?

"Do the chairs you are looking for have to be new?"

Not necessarily, although I may want to purchase additional chairs when (and if) I ever have an outdoor space that can comfortably seat more than two... like when I move back to the Midwest, as I'll never be able to afford that in NYC!

Here's a good hot or not -- 5.5' Knoll Cherry table for $175:

http://www.beecavecontract.com/g8x2.htm#F15

bryan.nyc--
One of my favorite outdoor chairs (or any kind of chair, for that matter) is the Toledo...

view/purchase at (among other places) hivemodern:
http://hivemodern.com/products/?view=sub_product&sid=695

And you DID say price was not sucha biggie, right?!

Well the Gramercy Garden & Antiques Show is going to have old and new stuff for the outdoors (indoors too). It is taking place March 3, 4, & 5 at the armory on Lexington and 26th Steet. In the interest of full disclosure: I work for the company that is producing the show. But I would suggest it anyway. You could also start checking out the flea market or some other antiques shows. My brother also has some nice Knoll chairs - but I bet they are expensive - you could investigate. Good Luck.

bryan.nyc: I love p(too)'s suggestion. On the low-end, another option is IKEA's polypropylene "Urban" chair (esepecially in the light turquoise color), which I think they would mix well with Kartell outdoor pieces. http://www.ikea.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?topcategoryId=15564&catalogId=10103&storeId=12&productId=52936&langId=-1&parentCats=15564*15652*15657 ($39.99/ea.)

But if you want to go with a more organic material, here's a wooden folding chair that I absolutely love. Made from reclaimed wine barrel wood, these oak chairs aren't necessarily MoCo; but they do have really clean, interesting lines. I think they are gorgeous and would look fantastic in a modern context. http://mcleodchairs.com/index.html ($125/ea.)

shra:

I agree with you. I haven't purchased checks in the US for like 6 years, but when I have in the past, I would go for either the earth-toney "map" ones, or just plain mustard with no pattern whatsoever. I know neither of those choices are particularly sleek, but at least they aren't "deer sipping water from the stream."

shra...

I used to have the "bugs" checks from coolchecks.com (formerly known as Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Banknote). There was something very satisfying about paying my rent and car payment with cockroach or stag beetle checks. Now that I pay most of my bills on line, I just have plan boring checks for the landlord. There really should be some better ones out there.

This is off topic, but has anyone seen the latest Elle Decor? I just got mine in the mail yesterday and I just have to say that Miles Redd is a god! Any opinons on his work?

Another art source, especially for tiny showcase appreciators...Giant Robot SF has a bunch of artwork for sale right now during their 2 year anniversary show. I love looking at the Brendan Monroe stuff.

http://www.gr-sf.com/artshows.php

regards,
trillium

I had these checks from "checks unlimited" online, called "retro graphics" and though they're far from being design award winners or elegant, they're fun and ne'er a horse, cat, or bald eagle in sight. Now I have boring ones, the cheapest available...because I so rarely use them and have had to throw out checks every time I move.
http://www.checksunlimited.com/CheckDetail.aspx?vpid=320

I don't know if everyone knows this, but I walked by a Hold Everything store yesterday and discovered that the company is going out of business. Their stores are being cleared out, and everything is 25% off. The catalog will stay open a little while longer until they finish selling their inventory.

Lord,Jimmy! Hold Everything is going out of business you say. Is that the whole company or just the NYC location? Isn't it owned by Williams-Sonoma? Maybe they intend to concentrate on their new W-S Home stores. Does anyone know the inside scoop?

I theoretically love Hold Everything in the same way that I theoretically expect that I'll be rich enough not to have to do a spit-take when I see the prices.

The take everything that appears in the Carol Wright gifts catalog for $5 and plate it with very good chrome and charge more for it, and it probably lasts longer, but I tend to have a hard time justifying the prices often enough that if they have good deals, I tend not to even darken their door to find them.

By the way, that was me that took that photo in the St. Francis Thrift Shop which is in the basement of the Holy Name Catholic Church on Amsterdam and 96th. That whole mid-C modern shelf/desk unit was marked down to $30 as-is. What you can't really tell in the picture is that the piece on the floor to the left of that main shelf unit is what I think is kind of a secretary or desk unit thing, which has a drawer under it.

So, I think that there is probably a vertical side piece that's missing from this whole thing, which I think could be VERY easily reproduced by a decent carpenter to match one of those other sides or something.

I hope that somebody on here ends up telling us all that it was perfect for them and that they went and got it and did just that very thing.

Update on the dinner--I got clear glass vases from the 99 cents store, they had so many containers but nothing to put in them! Anyway, I cut swirls of yellow and gold ribbon to put inside and put votives on top. The effect was negligible until they turned off the lights for the movie. Thanks for everyones help--home decor i love, a stylist im not.

Bryan.nyc: For outdoor chairs, you might want to take a look at a company called Topdeq (you can find them online at www.topdeq.com), which specializes in office furniture and accessories. Take a look under the category called "cafe chairs" ... there are some very stylish ones that could serve well outdoors, and some of them are quite reasonable.

Jimmy -- Yup, Hold Everything is owned by Williams Sonoma. They've been phasing out the bricks-and-mortar stores for a few years. The last time I looked, they were simply closing the stores as the leases expired. I think the plan was to stick to catalog and online sales.

Is microfiber the same thing as ultrasuede as far as sofas go?

Yes, YCH, it is. I love it.

bryan.nyc and P2,

Check out this listing on Craig's List, http://newyork.craigslist.org/mnh/fur/131482168.html . The seller calls it a "Helen Aluminum chair," but it looks just like the Toledo chair, and it's only $100 for a pair.

Googling "helen aluminum chair" gives lots of store that sell it new for $158.

For outdoor chairs, I like the bellini (http://www.dwr.com/productdetail.cfm?id=0044) or air chair (http://www.dwr.com/productdetail.cfm?id=0765). Go plastic!

k--

Thanks for the tip!

Any recommendations for a quality Nelson bench reproduction, preferably in maple?