apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

This is just me talkin', but I'd be tempted to get my OWN delivery guys (maybe some of the movers featured her?), but preferably big, beefy guys who don't talk, but only grimace, to accompany you to pay him. Don't give him a check. Give him a Money Order. He can't NOT want a Money Order! And then take it off his hands right then, and don't pay him for delivery. Just pay them.

THREAD COUNT NEWS

There was story on the local news last night about inflated thread counts on sheets. I think it was Good Housekeeping that got out the microscopes to find widespread misleading labeling practices - "800 count" sheets being actually 400-ish, with a dual ply thread being counted as two instead of one. The "600 count" was 200-something, made of three-ply strands.

I always thought those were fishy, but never knew the particulars of the fraud.

Um, I bought a 310 thread count sheet at Target at a great price but if felt like a 200 - too scratchy. Now I see why. Thanks guido.

The photo of that chandelier in flickr made my mouth drop open. That is absolutely spectacular!

I took the chandelier photo last night. I was walking from the bus to a restaurant to meet a friend and could see the glow from two blocks away. I literally ran toward it, I couldn't wait to take the pic!

with lori 2's permission, i think that AT should def. feature this on the site... such a great idea, it would be a shame if those "non-thread readers" missed this one.

you're welcome, anne

the thread count story also mentioned the lower thread count cotton can now be chemically treated for better texture . . . and the type of cotton is just as important as the thread count.
Egyptian long staple is good stuff.

The guy also suggested that if sheets were 500-800 count, they'd be heavy enough to be a table cloth, and not something you'd want on your bed.

I love to see the photo bar heating up . . . wish my phone had a camera now! To think I thought it would be a useless battery drain...phooey.

Wow, Lori2, your mom is my idol. How cool! At the very least, she should write a how-to book (I'm being totally serious)

And, yes, that chandelier is totally amazing!

continuing the lamp shade question... Is there a good place to get cheap lamp shades? I'd like to get several white drum shades to cover up my ugly ceiling light and I'd like them to be under 20 each. I remember there is a lamp shade store downtown near nolita but can't remember where and don't know the price range. Thanks!!

Doug in DC and jamie pup -

I have some pictures of the process of building the closet with the hidden doors using piano hinges. You can click on my name...

Oh, my goodness, am I first? Someone will probably beat me to it by the time I type this. I have a question which has nagged at me for a long time. Is there a standard for knowing what kind/shape/size lampshade to put on a lamp? In other words, how does one determine the appropriateness of which shade to use - or is it just using your critical eye? You see it on these home decorating show, where some designer will walk in and say, "Oh, those shades are all wrong for those lamps" (or for the room in general). I found a great shade-less lamp on the street a while back and brought it home. It's been in the closet and needs to be re-wired but, rather than ask about the type of shade to get for this particular lamp, I thought there must be some kind of guidelines to follow for any lamp. Like measuring circumference and keeping it within a certain increment of the circumference of the base? Or how to know when a straight up-and-down shade would be fine instead of one that curves out at an angle? TIA!

Lori that bedroom looks fantastic. Is that a Room & Board platform bed?

Brilliant Lori!
Love the whole layout with the closet behind the bed and the hidden doors, love the night stands and love the two hanging lights above the night stands. That soffit for the recessed lighting and the hanging lights was a great idea!

Lori2--
Gorgeous! Everything j p said!! :)

Diane I.--
I've seen some "formulas" for getting a shade right, but I think it is really subjective. The one problem I see frequently is that the shade sits too high, and doesn't extend down on the lamp far enough to cover the hardware (before the base starts to get decorative).

But sample several styles/sizes, and trust your eye... chances are, if it looks too small/top heavy/competes with the lamp, you will know it when you see it.

Lori: The bedroom looks amazing. Nice Job!
Janel

My bedroom is a converted garage, so it's a very long, sort of narrow room with a bay window on one end, and the closet on the other. The only way to really place the bed (that doesn't leave you weaving around it when you walk) is under the window. I'm fine having it as my headboard, but I'm kind of stumped on what to do with the windowsill.

My name links to a picture of what I'm talking about. Right now I just have my alarm clock tossed up there, as well as whatever I'm reading at the moment, but what else should I put up there? A lamp? A vase? I don't want to make it too crowded but right now it just looks... blank.

Help?

PS excuse the bad photo and off-center bed (that was taken right after I moved in)

Lori 2,

Very nice! Now I am wracking my brain to think if there's a way to do this in my bedroom (but I don't think there is, without moving a door).

Where did you get the nightstands?

Hi Lori2,
wonderful outcome! I might catch up the idea for my own bedroom...
Have a nice day everbody

Lori2--
Is that tone-on-tone striping of the false wall a paint/wallcovering, or is it a lighting/photo thing?

I would also like to know the answer to Diane's question. I have two lamps and want to replace the shades, but have been wondering the same thing - how do you know if the shade is too big or two small?

Wow Lori 2--that is so great! I want to do that too. How do the doors work?

martha says: "A lampshade should look proportional to the base on which it sits; as a rule of thumb, the shade for a table lamp should be at least two-thirds the height of the base." check the list of "good things" under homekeeping on her website. hope that helps!

Lori2: This is EXACTLY what I have wanted to do and having be able to figure it out. THANK YOU. It's quite beautiful.

Yeah, how do the doors work?

Hi Everyone-

Wow, thanks for all of the response and questions. I will send all of the compliments to my mother, 63 years old, who designed and built this bedroom. It is her own bedroom, not mine.

I posted these pics because Doug in DC had asked a question about how to do hidden doors in Open Thread 135. My mother used piano hinges to attach standard doors to the wall she built, and then used hidden magnetic touch latches for opening/closing.

The platform bed she designed and built using 2 standard doors from Home Depot, and the four pieces of plywood to make a rectangle which the doors sit on. After patching the "seam" created by the two doors, she painted the whole thing. The cost of the bed was less than $200. She was in NYC over the holidays and built one for me too! I painted mine white.

Fiona, she used the left over plywood to make the night stands, and attached them to the walls (the wall has two sides – the part facing the picture is MDF, on the side that faces in toward the closet is wall board).

P2 –
You hit on one of my favorite aspects of the room. She did the stripes by buying one paint color, but in both a flat and a semi-gloss.

Lori -
That's a beautiful and ingenious way to deal with a big room with no closets, and that's some HUGE closet now, looks like to me.

Amber

I would frame the window with some pretty drapes to complement your lovely bedding. I'm not sure i would put anything on the window sill - maybe just a vase with some flowers (I would go for silk - you don't have to keep changing them).

Re: lampshade issue - My thoughts are that the shade should be around 5-6" out from either side of the top of the base. It depends on where it is in the room on how high it should be. If you can see the hardware while sitting in the room the perhaps you need a smaller harp to drop the shade down a bit. And it also depends on what type of shade. If you're using a contemporary shade you might want it to be a tighter fit than if you're using a cone shape that is considered my traditional/transitional.

When you take it in to be rewired try out a couple of shades in the shop. If you have a car, take the lamp with you to the store to try out a few shades. Or, as P2 said, buy a few and keep the one that looks best in the room.

Lori - Hip Mom!

Lori2 WOW
That's a perfect thing for NYC studios. Your mom rocks!
Thanks so much for posting the photos.
Are there more details?

A quick and potentially obvious thought for the lampshade seekers, courtesy of my own mother.
Bring the lamp with you. It's the only way to really check out if you've got the right shade.
Of course this works less well for the majority of us who take the subway instead of a car, but . . .

Amber,

You could try lining the sill with votives. Also consider bamboo blinds and a glass vase with large banana leaves in it. Accompany this with a pounding surf tape and lull yourself to sleep.

Lori 2:

Thanks for all the info, the room is amazing. Now it's time to do some demolition and steal the idea. :)

grace
kmart?

I'm not kidding - they have a few lampshades, and where else would they be under $20?

OK, I looked everywhere in this thread but I didn't see any chandelier. I guess I missed something -- where is it?

Diane I., look at the group of photos near the top of any Apartment Therapy page under the heading 'flickr' - here's a direct link to the chandelier photo:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/45101836@N00/97158584

These photos change regularly; most are submitted by camera phone by Apartment Therapy readers. I'm sure there's a full explanation somewhere but I don't know where it is on the site... and I gotta get back to work, or I'd look!

Oh thank you, Anne! I didn't know what chandelier people were referring to and it was driving me NUTS! I love this site and have been coming here for about a year (or more?), but I have always found it extremely confusing to navigate. I appreciate your help!

Grace, I second the idea of KMart or Target. I used to design ShadeSlips which are slipcovers for lampshades and always went to KMart for the lampshades. You can (if I did it right) click on my name to see some of the slips.

I'm new to AT and want to apologize for switching gears on this topic. Does anyone have experience with installing undercabinet lighting? My boyfriend and I are looking to install a system that is controlled by one light switch. I'm assuming it needs to be hardwired? Also, anyone have any brands to recommend or war stories to share? Thank you!

Wow everybody!

Thank you for all of the kind words about my mother! I completely agree with what everyone has been saying. She is amazing. She is also the most wonderful mother and a perfect role model.

If people would like to see more photos, or close-ups, more description, or have other questions, please ask away.

And I am sure my mother would be happy to have her room featured on AT!

Regarding sheets and thread counts and all that...

There is a very good article called "Choosing Fine Linens" at Cuddledown's website. It explains many points about bedsheets and their attributes:

http://www.cuddledown.com/library/libraryproductmain.jsp?itemType=CATEGORY&itemID=933&catID=135

spamisevil:

You don't necessarily need to hardwire it. As long as you are using electrical outlets, you could use X10 or some other wireless technology to control it.

For a "what is X10": http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X10_%28industry_standard%29

For purchasing, try: http://www.smarthome.com/prodindex.asp?catid=2

And I can try to answer any questions you may have about it.

oh thank you Diane I. for bringing the lampshade issue back to life! I am still desperately trying to figure out what lampshade to get for my awesome lamp I got at target on sale for four bucks. The problem with Target now seems to be that they don't sell separate lampshades anymore, they all come with the lamps. So i feel like the only way to get one to fit properly is to drag my lamp from store to store trying to find the right one...!

Amber,
As for your bedroom....how narrow is the room? How much room do you have if the bed is perpendicular to the window? I ask this because if your closet is opposite to the window and you place your bed with the head on the same wall as your bedroom door it may work.

You could place your dresser on the wall opposite your bedroom door, near your closet. Then place your bed on the wall with your bedroom door, sort of kitty corner to the dresser. This would create a little dressing area to the left of your bed. You could just have one nightstand between bed and bedroom door.

Then by your window you could place a chair opposite the door or something to fill in that space

I had a similar room myself and while it seemed at first too narrow to place a bed, it actually worked quite well.

Question to all,
Do you know what payment policy is industry standard for furniture -- full payment prior before store will deliver or full payment at time of delivery.
I purchased a sofa from a small retailer in NYC (on 21st St). He stated it would take 2 1/2 months, and now it's 5 months later. He wants me to come inspect the sofa and give him full payment (by check only) before he will delivery the product.
So, do I pay full amount and still have zippo to show?
Is that normal???
My experience has been awful, and he has a horrible review on your site (but did not see it until after my purchase).
Your help is much appreciated!!!
Riva

Riva--
I think you are somewhat lucky that he is letting you come inspect the sofa. But do you know your recourse should the sofa be damaged in transit/final delivery? That could be the only hitch.

I know some places (like Crate and Barrel) will run a deposit to place the order, and charge the balance when the piece arrives at the local warehouse. Some cusotm orders oftne require a full payment prior to palcing the order.

Perhaps pay with a credit card you know has purchase protection? Or a check, which you can stop payment on, should the item ultimately arrived damaged.

I wouldn't give anyone I didn't trust a money order!

Stop payment on a check is a valuable protection -- and let me tell you from experience, it pisses off merchants that don't really want to live up to their end of the bargain.

Patrick, Curtis, Guido,

Thanks for your response.

He does not take credit-cards and will only deliver AFTER the check (bank or personal) clears.
He might be playing hard ball since my attorney sent him a letter last week.

I thought of moving companies, but have not had time to do that (I'm already looking and writing into this site from work).

I may go there today/tomorrow WITH someone and inspect sofa, but not give payment and have a conversation with him. Talk about how he has broken his committements and full payment was contingent on having assurance taht the sofa would be delivered in 2 1/2 months and not five. There is no level of confidence since he failed to deliver several times.

Have you ever heard of this?
Riva

Riva, I just hope it's a fabulous couch.
Sounds like Curtis had the right idea.

I don't think you'll get any sympathy or compensation about the delayed delivery -- and if you can possibly NOT look for any emotional satisfaction from the transaction, I think you'll be in better shape.
Eyes on the prize - you want the couch.

Riva, fess up - who's the retailer you're talking about? This experience will keep others away if we knew who it was.

Maybe you should get Arnold Diaz from "7 on Your Side" or one of those kinds of folks?

Well, I went down to the store at lunch (Schrager Home). What an awful man he is.

I TRIED to be unemotional. Asked him to work with me as stated in my earlier emails. OF course, no budge. He referred to his contract, which I signed. But, his contract is ambiguous (sp?) since he states two diffent payment options (one in his hand writing stating payment in full prior to delivery) and one typed onto the contract stating payment at delivery. I ran it past the lawyers at my office (a large reputable institution) for their advice and was told it's not clear.

After going round and round in circles, and my hands shaking, the bottom line for him was no sofa without check and fir me no check without sofa.

So we agreed that I'd go their tomorrow, when the delivery truck was there, watch them put said merch on the truck , pay him and I'd sit in truck to bring sofa to my home.

It did get personal -- he had to bring up fact that I went to his store 20 times to see the sofa and never did he spend so much time for a sale. BS. I went a few times prior for me to see it, never asking for his input, and then after with a decorator to match fabrics from other items since he NEVER gave a fabric swatch even after the order was placed.

I asked again today about guarantee on pillows and frame. He gave me verbal info (and I have a witness), but I need to get that in writing tomorrow before leaving with the sofa.

He may have issues with his contractors, but this was the most awful experience ever. And, I am going to have to restrain myself from hurling insults at him tomorrow (my lawyer found personal stuff about his business and life in the public domain that is not good). I just hope I still like this sofa when it's all said and done.

AND thank you everyone for your input.

I wrote a comment on the Schrager Home section of your site last night but did not use my name, since he will look there. But once sofa is home, he is being sited to BBB, NYS consumer fraud and protections and to reporter friend at NYT and CNN. Who knows, maybe something positive will happen.

Thanks,
Riva

Please excuse all my typos

Riva,
Curtis is always right. TV works. Ask Asa or Arnold or whoever!

I had a local TV consumer reporter intervene in a situation years ago, and it was the only thing that worked. There was an ambiguous technicality about the guarantee in my case. It turned out to be something that was not legal. Get the consumer reporters info off the station websites, and keep every shred of paper.

And for sure write him up to NYC Consumer Affairs - sometimes they are working on a particular area of fraud or bad business, so it has potential to be effective.