apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I love reading this site. You guys make me smile with all of your comments.

I was the one with ghost chair questions. Anyway, based on your input, I've decided NOT to put ghost chairs around the West Elm dining table (I'll do the t-back chairs) but will put one ghost chair in the living room.

I also saw this cool ottoman with acrylic legs. (Really liking the acrylic thing lately, although when I was 12, when acrylic was a big thing, I hated it). What do you think of this in leatherette fabric?

http://www.haziza.com/Dataview/Dataview.asp?Id=1281&CId=17&P=

I realize that "beauty is in the eye of the beholder" - but, will someone - calmy, unemotionally, and rationally - please attempt to explain to me the recently seemingly increasing fascination with "mid century modern". Having lived through that era the first time around, I can see no reason to idealize it and want to return to it. I see so many of these "ugly-the-first-time" furnishings returning like bad dreams in a "My Parent's House" nightmare. Surely our talented crop of young designers can save us from repeating our errors.

Oooh! Nice ottoman rsw...

My mom's house [built in 1972] has a lot of milky acrylic and square lines -- I should share that site with her, although it might be too rich for her blood...

Windwolf,

Nostalgia?

Windwolf - having been alive then too, I tend to agree, although there's some stuff from that era that I do like, but not the whole era per se. The first time I saw a mid-C furniture store a number of years ago in CA, I was kind of shocked. Maybe because it made me feel old. But I think more that it seemed so unlikely to me to want to sell or buy that old junk. A lot of the overall vibe is rather dull and depressing to me, kind of soviet-bloc-like. A lot of the furniture looks really cheap to me too.

I'd be interested to hear how many people who experienced it the first time really love it/are fascinated with it this time or what your true take on it is.

Oh yeah, I esp. don't like teak - not just because it's endangered, but also because it carries that weird, mid-C vibe for me quite a lot. There's a mid-C store just down the block from me that I stop in from time to time, thinking I can surely find that little sideboard for the bedroom I've been wanting. There's been more than one item I've found there that would fit the bill, but I can never bring myself to buy it and finally had to conclude that the teak/mid-C stuff really irks me.

..um, what happened to the kitchen link usually at the right hand side of the AT page?? it's been gone for a couple of days now..

kitchen link is now under the title bar, along with links to chicago, LA etc.

I look at midC and think,
"wow my parents were cool?"

naturally, this puzzles me

maybe it's some haute design
that became more available
as some of our folks gave it up
one way or another

Windwolf, I would begin by questioning your initial assumption: that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I would venture to say that in fact, there is a degree of "pure truth" to good taste. Let's put aside all of this relativist nonsense and admit that processed American cheese in little plastic wrappers IS absolute crap. Let's admit that Ethan Allen, although well made, IS stuffy.

hey leeds
music: KoS
(Canadian)

Jonathan,
So, what are you saying about mid-C?

I love mid-c for several reason -- first, always loved it in my youth (was born in 57). So much of it was truly American design (not to be confused with the kindred danish-modern) and related to the also truly American architecture happenning concurrently; I cannot say this about our mcmansions today and the overstuffed crap needed to fill them -- nor of the derivative (or "retro") stuff being designed today. Second, the stuff was built like a brick you-know-what, and is a great value for the money. Third, it can be easily integrated with an eclectic array of other furniture items. And I love that everything is raised on legs -- so easy for cleaning.

And for the record, I see mid-c as 50's and 60's -- if it appeared on the Brady Bunch, it's another beast altogether (although rapidly becoming an equally popular beast!!!)

I wonder too if there's a "high mid-C" and a "low mid-C," and we might be discussing different things. Is there any common definition or description we can use?

Windwolf, I have the same feeling about '70s fashion, which is back in, at least in the high school crowd. I have no desire to live through that again. (I didn't like it the first time, either.) But my sister, who's much younger than I am and teaches high school, thinks it's just the coolest thing.

Jonathan,

You may be right, but I think people should submit less to the tyranny of taste and more to whatever floats their boat.

Am NOT a fan of Mid-C furniture. Looks clunky to me.

Like Windwolf (cool name, BTW), I also can't figure out the newly found fascination with Mid-C stuff.

Whenever I see mid-C furniture listed on Craig's List here at AT, I open the file in order to see what a mid-C piece is supposed to be. Let's just say I've been UNDERwhelmed by what I've seen.

I definitely prefer the 50's aesthetic to the '70's aesthetic. There is something about the 70's - hideous hair, nasty browns and oranges, horrifying carpets, people swapping their wives, dudes with facial hair and ugly medallions. i hate all of it

Let me be quick to add:

Except for the people I live with of course, who must submit to the tyranny of taste.

Here's Good Eye, a mid-C store here in DC (lots of orange, Jonathan):
www.goodeyeonline.com/

thanks PeaceLamp, missed the memo, again!

guido, KoS - totally! There's lots of good music coming out of Montreal these days (Arcade Fire etc,etc) I have to look up The Show, friend says it's something I'd like...

a.m.:Billie Holiday in the'office' where friend was & me with baby bash/yerba buena+ in living room. *peace & quiet when I left* Total opposites!:)

Dare I admit it:

1) Jonathan made me laugh out loud -- for the second time ever -- with his observation that " processed American cheese in little plastic wrappers IS absolute crap."

2) I agree with Jonathan about mid-C

Neat! Looks like a big square cloud floating in the middle of the room. It's HUGE! Say...what are you planning on doing with that? Seating? Table? Both? Decorative square cloud?

That is FOUR FEET SQUARE. Wow. You can seat four people. Will it HOLD four people? I mean, if it was pressed into service as lots of additional seating, will it collapse? Or is it meant only as a place for feet (take yer dang shoes off first)?

If it's both seating and a table, give it a whirl in a showroom. Try out ye olde glasse of water on a tray and sit next to it. If the glass falls over and the cloud dimples fill with water, then you can choose whether or not you want it to be a chair OR a table.

Which fabric and color are you thinking of? They have soooo many choices.

Did you see this chair?:
http://www.haziza.com/Dataview/Dataview.asp?Id=781&CId=19&P=

Has a real seat. And has wheels.

By the way, consider the way the legs are angled or the width of the front legs for your table. I had a round table, and it had the base in an "X" which is basically what you have too (we won't talk about the MAJOR differences between my former table and your current table, eh?). Chairs do NOT scoot under that table well. Drove me nuts. And the front legs of the chairs I had were wide apart, meaning they didn't go under the table much at all.

Check also arm height (although the T-back chairs had no arms).

Did you ever have to make something out of acrylic in school? With the colored stuff that was like a glue that fused the acrylic? I can't find that chair that's made like that.

But found these that are sort of like your bench/ottoman, the Lineaire:
http://acrylicore.com/Chairs_LivingRoom.htm

Oooh, here it is. Pretty colors!
http://www.themagazine.info/products/-/4.html

teak reminds me not of mid-c-m but of early 20th c or maybe even 19thc colonial furniture, esp when teak is combined with that webbed... bamboo?... backing/seating. i have a nostalgic attraction to it, but that sort of thing requires a huge place with high cielings.

rsw, interesting site, i really like that their rugs seem to come in interesting shapes and not just rectangles. however, what does call us for price mean? how exorbitant is it?

http://www.haziza.com/Dataview/Dataview.asp?Id=1841&CId=36&P=3
bit too wacky for me but arresting.

beauty IS in the eye of the beholder, but for cultural and perhaps even biological reasons, our eyes have a lot in common. i will have to demur on acrylic leg tables though, can't have my ottomans looking like hookers. ; p

I do think there's a high and a low version of mid-century. One of the reasons so many people love it today is that we associate it with the space and light and textures of modern architecture. On the other hand, my pediatrician when I was a kid had a room full of Eames fiberglass armchairs, in a room with cheap panelling and a fake window. It was very unpleasant. Also there's been a shakeout, naturally, over the last fifty years, and we've forgotten a lot of mediocre mid-century design. Take a look at some vintage magazines, especially the ads, for a look at midcentury hell.

Windwolf: I also lived through "mid-century modern". I laughed when I heard the term the first time.

I offer this as my personal observation: I remember the style well and I disliked it then and much of it I dislike now. However, since there is really nothing new, just new interpretations, things keep coming back to a new generation. I've noticed also that good designers and others with a good "eye" have managed to take certain pieces - the best ones which perhaps most of us didn't have in our homes - and put them together in a way that did not exist. So......now I'm starting to like some of it. I saw a house on a home show that was completely mid-century modern and I would have moved in in a heartbeat. But many of the details such as wall tiles, were new and so the style was fresh and lustrous. Perhaps what we lived with didn't have the pizazz we now see.

Eames chairs - now there's a great, great design. We didn't have those - well, no one I knew did. Only the rich folk on the block did. Design-wise I think these are perfect. But what my friends and I had were less expensivee versions. The good stuff was expensive then, and they are expensive now.

As for nostalgia, ok I see this and agree, however, looking back at the past while fun, is rarely done with clarity. "The good old days" weren't all that good for many people. We cull best and recreate something not exactly accurate.

As for Jonathan's American cheese comments - huh?

And I'm wondering, Jonathan, without any sarcasm here but true curiosity - did you grow up with "mid-century modern"?

We had one of these
http://www.hermanmiller.com/CDA/SSA/News/Story/0,1585,a10-c407-n330,00.html

other than that, no. i grew up in a 220 year old colonial in connecticut. my parents, from brooklyn, pretended they were 19th century dutch cobblers so we had a lot of rustic crap everywhere

MCM was the American response to the International Style. It contained experimental, radical ideas about living (marxist and spiritual and other) which still resonate if we free 'em up from the ghosts of our parents.

I personally don't like Mid-C furniture. Too bad my parents got rid of everything -- we could have made a fortune selling it all now.

I love 40s french deco. Now that's an era I can live with.

martha, "midcentury hell" - ha! MCM v. MCH.

Some of the mid-C on the low side also seems to me to be ironic-nostalgic, such as the orange, the shag carpeting, all the stuff Jonathan mentioned. Same with the mid-C movies. Alfie. That one with Renee Zellwegger.

Scott-very interesting. I'd like to hear more about that.

Wow, Andree, that rainbow chair is great! Did I read that right - %10,000? Wow.

As for the Haziza ottoman with acrylic legs (to use as coffee table/foot rest,)they can make any size (thinking 34 x46 x 16H) and cost is @ $1500. It's that one or regular leather bench (with leather on legs too).

Like the acrylic chair too, but staying with the "less expensive" chairs for now until my coffers are filled again.

Jonathan: thanks for the answer. Connecticut? Oh lucky you. I grew up in Yonkers, NY in an italian immigrant (I'm not Italian) neighborhood. We had a grey sofa (the lines of which I see all over the place now and can't think of the style name) and the material was scratchy. I hated sitting on it but it was an improvement over the plastic seat covers.

I adore Herman Miller but not necessarily the rocker.....

If the ghosts of my parents are lurking....I'm screwed.

Ok, I'm an idiot, I hit the wrong name. It's Jackie....Duh!!!

rsw, love the ottoman. Also you might want to think about using the ghost chair in the dining area anyway. I have always been a fan of using a couple of different styles of chairs around the table. The ghost chair could be used as host/ess chairs or just one of them as a visual interest. Just a thought.

BTW, I thought I'd put in my monthly "I hate these f*&K(ing numbers we have to type in" rant. Are they ever going to be replaced with something less annoying??

Martha: I had so many interruptions during my post I didn't see yours. Mid-Century Hell. I LOVE THIS!! Good comment.

Pixie: "Alfie. That one with Renee Zellwegger."
Ok, if you lived through mid-century modern you'd have seen the real one with Lynn Redgrave....

Yeah, there are definitely two camps of MCM... one, the extremes of Eames and some of the later International Style boys (which, in small doses, still looks fresh and classic to me), the other (which seems to be creeping in more and more), the more organic teak-y, more Danish-flavored stuff that I still associate with dusty untouched living rooms... not to mention the campy boomerang stuff.

Then there is the stuff BOUGHT in the mid-century from places like Sears and Penney's and Ethan Allen that I think probably many more of our parents had in their homes...

I think maybe mid-century modern is being a bit misconstrued, because technically, anything 70s is not really mid-century.

My parents, who did not really care about furniture, had a few really nice (in my opinion) pieces of Danish furniture, but they bought those in the early 70s.

Personally, I think there's something to love (and hate) from every era. In general, I love some Art Deco pieces, but there are definitely some squat, ugly pieces, as well. I just think there are fewer surviving pieces of older furniture to mislabel on Craig's List--as has happened to a lot of 50s, 60s, and 70s furniture.

Personally, the worst is 80s, imo. My friend Samantha's parents, who had what we deemed the coolest house, had purple and hot pink shag carpet, along with bubble windows (which actually were pretty cool) and lots of black leather furniture.

"I would venture to say that in fact, there is a degree of "pure truth" to good taste. Let's put aside all of this relativist nonsense..."

...and get back in our time machine to the 18th century, when beauty was beauty, women were women and men were men.

if you compare cheeze-whiz to chrles rennie mackintosh, you're sure to "make your point." but the argument is weak.

sorry, i meant his brother, "chArles." chrles, of course, was the one who made art out of macaroni, white glue and glitter.

I wasn't mentioning the '70s as connected with MCM; it was just that my reaction to the regurgitation of '70s fashion seems similar to Windwolf's reaction to MCM's popularity.

the argument is weak, to those who never left the coffee cafe roundtable from their freshman year and lost their moral compass years ago, and exist in a world of an empire in moral decline, fiddling while Rome burns.

yes, there are compelling arguments to the objectivity to beauty - and some interesting data to back that up, by the way. For example, pphillipp, i am better looking than you.

Jackie,
oops, oops, oops-I meant to say remakes of mid-C movies, such as the remade Alfie, as well as new movies with the mid-C sensibility, such as Down With Love with Renee Zellwegger. I didn't mean to say that the recent Alfie was the new one(yes, I was alive for the first one, which, I believe, was racy at the time). My point is that these new movies have the mid-C ironic/nostalgic thing that is part of the mid-C enthrallment.

"the argument is weak, to those who never left the coffee cafe roundtable from their freshman year and lost their moral compass years ago, and exist in a world of an empire in moral decline, fiddling while Rome burns"

really, if you want to trash me, you should come up with a new image, instead of recycling the same one over and over. yawn. and the day you are the one who lectures on an absolute version of "morality" is, indeed, the day when society has gone to hell.

i'm not unaware that there are "studies" about "objectivity" and "beauty." they are simply part of the argument, not *the* argument.

and most people on this planet (and most others) are better looking than me. but i'm good at macrame, which is a big draw on all the internet dating sites.

Leeds: I think we left you in the dust. The Kitchen link is up on the green bar next to the cities....

Pixie: I was being silly. Thanks for your good humored response. And your point about the movies is well taken. OMG I feel old suddenly.....

Also, I thought P2's point was excellent. I find it interesting to see the various points of view on a topic such as this.

Lava lamps anyone?

Lava Lamps -- of course! You don't have to love mid-c to lvoe Lava Lamps!!!

Jackie-The real reason for hating mid-C: some of us were alive for it and IT WAS 40 or 50 YEARS AGO!

And we can remember that movies like Alfie were racy.

Much of MCM was/is uncomfortable. Thin foam cushions. Garish or muddy colors.

Yes, as several of you have observed, the term "mid-century modern" covers many different styles, with a "high end" (= "pieces being sold by DRW and its ilk today") and a low. The site that Pixie pointed us to (GoodEye) illustrates the problem neatly: some very nice pieces mixed in with some absolute crap.

At the risk of being stoned (or being thought of as stoned) I'm with Jonathan here: there is absolute good (any cheese at Formaggio Kitchen in Cambridge) and absolute crap (any cheese in plastic). It's not just in the mouth of the eater. Ditto for design and the eye.

Martha's comment on mid-century hell revived for me something I've wondered about: why do the pictures in old home decor magazines look so bad even though the individual pieces in them are not too terrible. These old pictures are almost always a case of the whole being smaller than the sum of the parts. Is it bad lighting in the pictures? Is it too much wood paneling? Is it the too-crowded interiors?

We digress. Of course there is a huge difference between 1955, 1965, 1975, etc. There is also a huge difference between the 1955 solid light maple that was built like a rock and the 1965(poor man's Danish modern) red vinyl with the cheap screw in legs. I guess that as you go back in history you first hit ugly, than chic, than funny, than quaint, and then romantic. Personally, I'll take the romantic. Thank you for some very interesting comments.

...but there are things about mid-century modern that are really great and still fresh. You just have to pick and choose and find what works for you. In that article on macaroni and cheese, the nytimes suggested that American the best cheese for that receipe. I don't think any of us are going to do the whole package, although my boyfriend has a strange love for those vintage triple-decker fiberglass shades. sigh.

As a kid, my mom bought me an Art Deco desk at an auction. I'd picked it out and thought it was great. It had these built-in curved bookcases with glass fronts and a key that locked everything up. I felt like I was in an Agatha Christie novel. My mom hated it -- she's a baby boomer and Art Deco was junk to her. When I left for college, she tossed it as fast as she could...

Just because someone was alive and kicking when MCM was around the first time does not necessarily mean that they actually had any furniture that was MCM. I'm not saying that anyone that has contributed so far did not have any (or that their parents did not) but I wonder just how popular (in terms of mass consumption) any of this stuff was at the time. Perhaps what ppl grew up with was not MCM but something else designed in the post war era.

Despite what we see today in design mags and sites, I bet that the vast majority of the US homes are furnished with the stuff you can easily find at Ethan Allen or its ilk rather than the stuff you see at the Milan Furniture Fair. If this is the case then there may be a parallel with MCM in the 50's and 60's and contempary furniture represented by what is displayed at Milan each year.

Pixie: I'm admitting to nothing :)

And racy, oh you are so right!

I think part of the enjoyment of these posts is that design points of view vary so much because of the age range of the posters (postees?) and the differet economic levels. What excites one is a reminder of misery for another. I guess true beauty, be it in furniture, literature, nature (as in one perfect peach which I find incresingly difficult to locate) or the human body, never really dies with age.

pphillipp: Hah!

I bought my first MC table last year (thanks Craig!) so I could have dinner parties in my 12x22 studio. The beautiful thing is that while it is 70W x 38D when expanded, it is only 16D collapsed, making it a perfect console table! It was made by Drexel which I'm assuming is akin to Sears? Does this mean I'm Lo-C?

Growing up in the 70's means I missed all of the Mid-C stuff, except for a few pieces at my Grandmother's house (which I found out she hated after she died). Instead I was subjected to green and gold striped velvet sofas and dark wood paneled walls. When I see them now my gag reflex kicks in. I fear my children will love that decade. IMHO, Mid-Century is SOOOO much better! Jonathan couldn't have said it better, "hideous hair, nasty browns and oranges, horrifying carpets, people swapping their wives, dudes with facial hair and ugly medallions. i hate all of it"

Seems like mid-C furniture was around in the 1980s as well. I could be wrong though, but for some reason nowadays when I see that retro furniture in home interior magazines or on HGTV I wonder why are they bringing this mid-century furniture back. The couches and chairs with those loud colors seems hideous to me.

Although, I'll admit that some of the furniture is cool but I guess it's how you use it in your home to make it look nice.

Thank you, Jackie. Thank you, Pixie.

jp, that goes back to the high-low idea--is there a high mid-c (Eames) and a low mid-c (orange shag rugs, pole lamps--I had one of those, it was really cool). And, while we may not have had any mid-C, high or low (I think we had some horse-hairish furniture from maybe the 40s(?) as the guest furniture, and who knows what wagon-wheel trash in the TV room), we were certainly exposed to at least the low stuff in life and possibly the high stuff in Life magazine. It was more about the environment than what any one family had.

Jamie Pup: I'd suggest that even Ethan Allen is outside the price range of many people. I think the majority of homes are more likely to be furnished by Bob's Discount Furniture store than by EA. If people have contemporary inclinations, they'll go to Target or Ikea.

But your basic point is valid. It's a famous failure of the machine-agists -- the Eameses, George Nelson and co. -- that the stuff they produced was intended for a mass consumption that it never fully achieved. Their designs were for the most part always outside reach.

Jaimie pup: You said in 2 paragraphs what the entire thread comes down to...at least for me.

Bravo.

I think part of what's going on in those magazines is that people had a different sense of domestic space--they just liked to have more stuff. also more ornaments, a lot of which look horrible to us now--you'd take a traditional sort of object (like say, a cat figurine), apply "styling", and voila! a hideous longnecked big-eyed siamese matte-finish porcelain doodah! sleeek!

which would be lo-mid-c

I was wrong about you, midC modern
you are from the USA exclusively?
Do they agree in Europe?

anyway
what do you call furniture with those swank lines
that is not from the US, but is from the '50's?
Not Danish Mod . . .

if I had a scanner, you'd all fall in love with my dad
based on his living room
c. 1956

Hmm, I see what you mean Pixie but I see it more as there is a definite MCM style and there is not. So modernism in its day co-existed with many other styles that were also around at the same time and that ppl may think of now as MCM because it's from the same era.

I think MCM has a definite style much like modernism in architecture is dictinct from post modern architecture. Can't articulate it though.

mary, your MOM is a baby boomer? Man, do I feel old!

Yeah. I'm 28...

[...and my sister is also an Anne with a e!]

Thank you Jackie - that took a couple of re-writes - and thank you design dabbler for further clarification.

I had to go and ruin it with my follow up though :)

Hey, I've been 29 for the last few years so I don't easily recall my real age.

All I know is I'm not 21 anymore which was all my wife said to me once over the cell phone when I lost track of time with a buddy while bar hopping.

A lot of trends are just marketing. In the first place collectors who have the money and time discover some underappreciated moment that ultimately may result in a revival.

Then you have corporations who devote huge resources to collecting information on consumer desire together with the professionals flooding out of art and design school with all of history to cannibalize.

By the time you hit DWR or Pottery Barn complete with soundtracks, the styles have been distilled and reconfigured for the contemporary market. It doesn't really matter what people actually had in their homes at a given time so much as what consumers perceive as a "personal" style sanctioned by prevailing notions of good taste.

This is not an anti-capitalist rant, by the way, so don't start.

which reminds me, I was looking at a fascinating book called "converted into houses", by Fracchia and Bragstad, 1976, that showed industrial spaces repurposed as homes--from loft buildings to an ice-house. These enormous spaces were often stuffed with plants and rustic antiques and wicker furniture, as people struggled to create a "homey" atmosphere. There were one or two that would still seem contemporary--the simplest, most open, least ornamented spaces.

re: design dabbler's comment, "if people want contemporary, they go to ikea". most people i know fall in three categories: ikea, macy's, flea-market -- i.e. contemporary, perfunctory, antiquated.

on another subject, how long is couch fabric supposed to remain unpilled? my couch began to pill in six months, and i do not think i sit particularly aggressively!

Since MCM has been thoroughly illuminated this morning, let me attempt a totally different topic: lighting.

1) Why is the switch on many desk lamps on the bulb-holder portion and not on the base? It would seem easier to reach a switch on the base
when you are sitting. Plus, it's at a fixed location, whereas the bulb itself on most task lamps (Tolomeo, etc.) can be moved around. I was thinking of using task lighting for bedside lamps but was concerned that I'd be flailing around in the air at night, feeling for the switch, when I needed to pee.

2) Do you know of any good, narrow cylindrical lamps that come in a range of heights, other than the Elise family
( http://store.yahoo.com/ylighting/elisefloor.html )? Any that use incandescent bulbs, in particular? Does anybody have experience with the Elise lamps? How stable are they? How hot do they get?

Rasil -- "contemporary, perfunctory, antiquated" -- brilliant characterization!

My parents (baby boomers, and I'm 39 and feeling it) had one Danish modern chair I absolutely loved and some MCM they built themselves that would be hot-or-not-able these days. That was in the family room (sans orange shag, and they took the twirly wrought iron down), while the living room was 1920s from used-furniture stores.

You can argue with our style, but you can't go out and buy it by the roomful.

Hey, what ever happened to Ebay Scavenger? I see it on the LA site but it's no longer on the NY site. I miss it.

Henrietta--

I don't agree that by the time something gets to DWR, the trend has been distilled or the styles reconfigured.

I think this specific retailler deserves much credit for driving trend, not just rehashing or repurposing it.

totally off topic, but Wende, I think I experienced your krylon vs other spray paint incident yesterday. I was spray painting a chair and the paint didn't really want to stick. it made some weird texture. I just let it dry and kept hitting it with more paint, so at least from a distance it looks ok.

I don't know that much Mid-C vs 70s or whatever, but I do know when I like something. The less curves it has, the better. Floor space under a couch? Good. Lots of windows and light? Ace.

Fluffy? Nah. Floral? Nah.

Ghost chair? I remember that one bathroom with a ghost chair, and I wanted it then, and I want it now, just because of that photo, specifically for the bathroom.

Yikes, rachel!

Your description of furniture got me looking at mine. I realized almost everything in my living room is essentially straight-lined but has one of two curves somewhere in the piece: either the shallow curve from the base of the bookcases, or the deep half-circle curve from the niches (which makes it almost worthwhile to build in niches When We Buy).

I'm still waiting for this insight to clarify the problematic issue of bedside lamps.

Bedside lamps:

Design Dabbler - great questions! This topic's haunted me all week.

(Aside - Can we have a 'Lighting' month, please?)

I too would like to use task lights/ pharmacy lights/ desk lamps as besdide lamps as I read (or work on a laptop) a lot in bed. But SO doesn't, so, my questions:

- Will the light from such lamps be too strong for someone trying to sleep at the other end of the bed?
- I am short, so I always end up with the glare from the light bulb burning my face - any suggestions on how to find a lamp that illuminates the work area and NOT my face :-)
- Any that come with dimmer switches for mood lighting when not at work?

So far hubby's come up with this one from Sharper Image:
http://www.sharperimage.com/us/en/catalog/product/sku__SI489MTL/pcatid__1/catid__676889483

... but the look doesn't agree with me at all! Looking for something more asthetically pleasing.

Patrick, you're right--DWR introduces a lot of original design as well as modernist classics.

But you pay for concept and cachet at DWR, and it's related to the irony that Design Dabbler pointed out above. Some of the most seminal modern design intended for mass consumption has became instead exclusively high-end. IKEA is much more exemplary of the modernist ethos than DWR, but shopping at DWR gives you the gratification of partipating, even if only through appreciation, in that rarefied confluence of money and creativity that has always generated the fine arts. Of course DWR capitalizes on that longing; they'd be crazy not to.

Not that I don't obsessively scrutinize every catalog that floats in from DWR; the world would be less interesting without them. But Seth Herzog's remark about paying "$700 for some seemly sleek, oddly cut piece of wood on some 'interestingly' made legs" seems well worth keeping in mind.

New To AT:

I am nursing the idea of pharmacy lamps for my bedside as well. The strength of the light you can deal with by getting a low wattage bulb and/or a frosted bulb.

The fact that you are a hobbit, dwarf or physically deformed like pp2 doesn't matter with a pharmacy lamp because both the neck AND the head are adjustable, so you can focus the light to the work area.

I have never heard of a pharmacy lamp that dims, it is contrary to the purpose of the lamp itself (bright, focused light so a pharmacist can put your birth control pills in a bottle or, in pp2's case, bitterness-against-life-pills and incontinence pills).

Here is pottery barn's version, which is much nicer than the sharper image:

http://ww2.potterybarn.com/cat/pip.cfm?src=schi1%7Cp1%7Cwpharmacy%5Cslamp&pkey=sa1s00lamp%2Cpharmacy&gids=p4141

Jonathan,

You may want to distinguish your name from that of the Wicked Jonathan who goes under "Jonathan".

OK - I'm goin' a different direction here, but am I the only one who thinks the the 'smallest, coolest' contest is turning into the 'cutest video' contest?

Hey wait- here's my adorable pet too - love me, love me, love me!!!

I feel kind of bad for the folks who just wanted to enter b/c they had a great place - which takes enough time to photograph. I think the assumption that everyone has a video camera and time to edit is just...something that really isn't about a groovy apartment anymore.

I half expect to see one shot on 35mm, with an original socre (by the home-owner, of course), a car chase and a sex scene starring Scarlett Johanssen - who just so happens to be friends with the owner (what? that's not cheating) - so we can all get a good idea at just how well that small bedroom 'works.' Oh, and some product placement.

I kid - but give it year, we'll get to that.

Honestly. While I think the vids are fun, I would prefer them posted after the competition.

"The medium is the message."

Maybe I'm just grumpy, but it seems like by the time you through all that energy of rounding up a camera, shooting your place, editing it, you could just trot down to DWR and buy something yourself.

Though I've always referred to Design Within Reach as "Design Out of My Reach" b/c it's so pricey ;)

Maybe I'm just grumpy. I do think the places are great. But I think they stand up well in the slideshows.

Sorry,

NEVER MIND. I keep confusing the two.

Henrietta--
Again, don't blame DWR for the price of Eames stuff, either. While that stuff was engineered to take full advantage of the efficiencies of the time, times have changed since then. This stuff is not intended to be produced for mass market now, and *some* of the pricing reflects that.

And the stuff indeed intended for mass market now (Target, Ikea, West Elm etc.) everybody here typically bitches and moans about quality.

Some days, there's just no winning.

Re:
A dimmable pharmacy lamp
Get one of those floor lamp dimmers that you plug an incandescent light into, and anything dims.

They are, of course, available at Ikea.

Henrietta: i was answering a question written BY "new to AT". I am that wicked jonathan. I am He.

Anon: you are DEAD RIGHT. The sickeningly sweet, communal circle-jerk of love that you refer to is often found here on these message boards. Whenever I see "great idea!" "You're brilliant!" "What a genius!" "Beautiful!" "Awesome!" it always makes me wonder. What are people emotionally seeking by the vigorous back-patting. Encouragement? An unstated agreement to prop each other up with sweet, sweet lies? Although nobody realizes it yet, in a sense I saved this website - i brought honesty back to the dialogue in what was heading to be a virtual implosion of self-love and fluffed-up bullshit. But do I get any thanks? No.

Speaking of interior design, did anyone see this article today? One wonders how they decorated the "Dungeon"
http://www.courttv.com/trials/castration/041106_ctv.html

translation is why i love today's retro-70s fashion more than i like actual 70s fashion. i like pb's "translation" of indian design -- they have an eye for stylized yet simple motifs, the softer range of our color palette, making objects more convenient (colorfast, microwave-safe etc).

there's a lot more to indian design of course, but i strongly prefer pb's version than the uo ultra-kitschification. (i think there's something really contemputous about how uo relates to indian design, but i can't quite articulate it.)

thanks, wende, and speaking of curves, i lust this table: http://newyork.craigslist.org/wch/fur/150338568.html

i lust curves but i have a straight budget. there's a joke in there somewhere, possibly involving peonies.

Um, who is pp2?

anon--
sort of agree about the videos-- had I watched any of them. But based on your description, seems like I'm not missing much.

And I've been kinda disappointed in most of the new photos, since only one entrant really took advantage so far and showed us something new.

"Although nobody realizes it yet, in a sense I saved this website - i brought honesty back to the dialogue in what was heading to be a virtual implosion of self-love and fluffed-up bullshit. But do I get any thanks? No."

oh. my. god.

anon--
You beat me too it. I just threw up in my mouth a little.

lighting month? all in favor say i love Apartment Therapy!

i love Apartment Therapy! it is full of witty and remarkably well-mannered, helpful people!

I'm all over lighting month. I also still want patio month. My patio is sad. Hot, dry and dusty. And, like everything else in my world, in transition.

"Although nobody realizes it yet, in a sense I saved this website - i brought honesty back to the dialogue..."

...by turning it into a monologue. But I say that with love ;)

I love AT.

I luv the idea of lighting month.

I luv patio month, too, as my patio consists of one live plant, one semi-live plant, and an ornamental rock thing. The concept is, um, understated.

New-to-AT: Here's what I've come with so far in my own searches for bedside lamps:

General comments:

1) I think one has to avoid halogen lamps for heat reasons. LED lamps are now on the market, and I don't know how hot they can get. There's a lamp called the Halley that I like for its pivoting capabilities, but I find it worrisome that Richard Sapper, its designer, thought to include a fan.

2) Any lamp with adjustability faces a potential problem of "loosability" -- the joints can loosen and the lamp can flop down on your face.

Specifics:

1) Both the Kelvin and the Tolomeo lamps at DWR and other places (for example, http://www.dwr.com/category.cfm?subc=58) have lots of adjustments. You'll probably be able to keep the light off your face. I don't know about the Kelvin, but the Tolomeo has joints that can be tightened from time to time. It also comes in three sizes. I have the large one on my desk and I'm happy with it.

2) There are lots of possibilities at http://www.ylighting.com/lamps-allitems.html . I like the look of the Starck Archimoon lamps, but they are halogen.

3) The Lytegem lamp intrigues me ( http://www.dwr.com/productdetail.cfm?id=6457 ), but I worry about it being too dim.

Okay another lighting question:

I have a new credenza (40 inches long) and a painting that hangs above it. I would like a table lamp that has enough uplight to illiminate the painting - but I don't really want something that looks like a spotlight.

Has anyone actually seen one of these Miss K lamps by FLOS? Would this be a possibility?

http://tinyurl.com/ebuar

JenPDX--
I'd go with a "picture light" if the main purpose is to add light to the painting and/or create moody ambient light in general.

You can also find *tiny* uplights at places like Lamps Plus that you can point at the art but nestle behind a vase or something so all you see is the light emitted.

I think on a console, the ideal combo is both... an accent light for the art, and a lamp for the mood of the room or nearby reading (with both light sources on separate dimmers).

wende in sf:

"... one semi-live plant, and an ornamental rock thing. The concept is, um, understated."

Burst out laughing and blew my cover at work.

Jonathan:

You're 61?

speaking of lighting, i want this lamp (please click my name) except with different/more designs and a plug to go in the wall.

this is something i've always fantasized about, lamps that make interesting shadows, but i'm not handy enough to do anything about it. : (

Jamie Pup: "Just because someone was alive and kicking when MCM was around the first time does not necessarily mean that they actually had any furniture that was MCM. I'm not saying that anyone that has contributed so far did not have any (or that their parents did not) but I wonder just how popular (in terms of mass consumption) any of this stuff was at the time. Perhaps what ppl grew up with was not MCM but something else designed in the post war era."
MCM was definitely out there but I barely saw any of it. Growing up late 50's through the 60's most of my parents friends and my friends parents decorated their NYC apartments with European antiques. Perhaps because they were European. Every now and then I would visit a family on Long Island and some MCM things would be in the house. The impression was that teak and Danish design was not as good, rich and solid.

jackie, although it often feels that way - what with the burdens of the world on my weary shoulders - no, not even remotely.

Patrick - I've seen those little uplights on the LAMPSPLUS site and am still considering.

What has stopped me is that I have few decorative objects with which to "nestle" the uplights with.

"Nestle." I need a less evocative word. "Hide" is much better. ;)

I guess I misread the age next to the photo on the link you provided in an earlier post about decorating a cell.

Thank you for saving the site, though because none of us complain anymore about our burdensome lives. We're all healed. We're saved because of you, basically because no one can get a word in...but...I mean this with love, of course.

You have a burdensome life? Talk to me when you're MCM.

lighting month - I vote for that.

oops. the post was for Jonathan.

Jackie:

Number of times you posted above: 9
Percentage more times you posted than I: 30%
Chance that you are not a godamned moron: 0

Design Dabbler,

I bought one of the Elise lamps, intending to use it as a bedside lamp. It's great for...umm..mood lighting, but not too great as a reading lamp, so I ended up moving it to my bureau. I'm currently using one of those architect's lamps from Pottery Barn, but I'm still looking for a better fit.

I love the way the "Elise" looks and the price was right (I got it from www.unicahome.com) but you may want to reconsider if you need a reading lamp. If you are looking for "mood", you might consider a Noguchi lamp.

Jonathan: I only posted 9 times? Poop. I guess this makes 10 and yet, sometimes an entire week will go by........

Back to design: Rasil, I love those lights. I saw them yesterday and can imagine how nice they'd look in a bedroom, in particular. Which design did you prefer - the tree or the one with the birds?

jackie, bird i guess, though i didn't actually like either of them as much as i really liked the idea. there should be twenty designs to choose from instead of two.

i hope that this becomes like blik/wallcandy/etc and takes off as a trend with lots of options.

Kathryn: How strong an ...ummm... mood do the Elise lamps create? They're on dimmers (right?) so presumably you can adjust the light to fit the mood.

I hadn't planned to read by them. I'd thought I'd use them for ambient lighting, and use task lamps for reading. How do you think four tall Elise lamps would look in four corners?

11.

Rasil: I agree. Too limited a selection. But in theory they could easily be duplicated. Someone mentioned they were on the ReadyMade website. I checked last night and couldn't get into that item on the site.

Keep us posted if you come up with anything and I will do the same.

Design Dabbler,

Exactly! You can dim it all the way down to where just the wire in the bulb is illuminated.

Do you mean putting one in the four corners of your room? Hmm, not sure about that, it seems a bit rigid to me. Not to mention having to turn each one on and off individually (unless there is some electrical fix that allows you to control them all at once -- that kind of stuff is way beyond me!).

Personally, I think a grouping of 4 in differing heights in one corner would look cooler...

Also, to answer your earlier question, mine doesn't get hot at all and the base is quite stable.

I linked my name to a shot of my elise lamp.

Why was the ban against the "goddamn moron" Jonathan lifted here? (quoted from his post)

Anyone care to comment on the idea that you shouldn't waste your money on cheap junk that's going to fall apart sooner rather than later, and rather save for quality pieces?

I agree with this in theory ... but in practice, I'm finding it a bit difficult. For example, we are moving into a new place and will have a patio for the first time. While doing some online browsing for patio furniture, we are finding quite a range in price points. My husband is reluctant to buy a cheapo Ikea table and chairs that will probably look like crap two summers from now. I agree with this ... but what do we do in the meantime? Just leave the patio empty, and not sit out there at all? That seems like an imperfect solution, too.

How do other people handle the "waiting until I can afford the best" conundrum (and what do you sit on in the meantime??)

re: "waiting until i can afford the best" (and at the best pricce)

My brother has that mentality, and his house still isn't fully furnished yet(been about 4 years), and they just had a kid, so it's going to be put off for a while, I'm sure! With that, I meet clients in my home, so I need to have my house look together and presentable - even if it's not going to last a long time. I guess it's a matter of if you entertain enough to care about how it looks in the "inbetween" stage.

roundabout - i wrestle with this question constantly...

1. Do you want a complete matching set? Or do you like a more piece-by-piece approach? For outdoor furniture - a complete set might be a little more pleasing but more expensive.

Are you interested in a line of furniture that is continued from year-to-year? Or is it something that is here one season and gone the next? That might help with incremental purchases.

2. Overstock.com Take a look at there outdoor furniture - you might find some nice stuff at a good discount.

But when all is said and done...I'd $plash out on chairs/chaises this year and get cheapo IKEA tables to match.

Sometimes "best you can afford" IS Ikea.

I think seasonal patio furniture is a candidate for this thinking. Don't miss using a patio (for those of us who don't have one)!!!!

But maybe the answer is: get one killer piece (a table or a chaise/daybed), and all the rest (this season) Ikea. Then next season, upgrade a new portion of the furniture.

And, um, just curious, but if you told your husband you'll be waiting the same amount of time to buy a "good barbecue" what would his reaction be?!

Kathryn: Yes, I'd already clicked on your name and seen your Elise.

When I said 4 in the 4 corners I was not being too precise. I thought of two very tall ones (the floor models) on the corners of the bedside tables, so that they'd be columns of light all the way to the ceiling. I'd then mount task lighting to the wall behind the bed. I'd put two other Elise lamps, slightly shorter, on the long dresser that faces the bed. That's what I was thinking, anyway.

About controlling all four, I think I can do that. I have 4 Noguchi lamps in a row in our dining room on two Nelson credenzas that sit next to each other (looking like one very long 12' cabinet). I control all four off a single dimmer. They make a striking set of balls of light.

I have to run. I have a chicken in the pot.

I like teak. I have to stick up for it. I also like Danish design, particularly from the 60s. I didn't grow up with teak, but the nice furniture my parents purchased was black walnut and rosewood. I still love both those woods, so maybe there's something to liking what you grew up with. My grandmother's house was filled with antiques, and while I liked them, I wasn't interested in owning furniture that ornate.

My husband lived in Asia as a teen, and is also very fond of teak. So there, teak-haters! :P

Re: "waiting to afford the best"

I believe in patching together a civilized lifestyle now, so that you can enjoy your home.

If you're going to buy cheap, one option is to choose something very cheap but super-trendy, so that you get loads of pleasure from it for two years, and then it falls apart just as you get sick of it.

Sounds like some of my dates.

roundabout,

Try this for cheap - we just ordered a new sofa (we just moved, and have no living room furniture at all) and there's a 3 month wait for it.. so we just got a bunch of (vinyl?) patio chairs at 5 bucks a pop to take us through the wait.

You could also try Craigslist for pieces that may better suit your style.

Some of the outdoor furniture at IKEA is actually pretty nice (um, nice to me I guess). I was all set to buy one of the aluminum/wood combos and then sat in the chair and tried to pull it up to the table when I promptly bashed my knees against the shelf under the table. We didn't buy it.

Then I started haunting craigslist, desperate for a nice silvery aged teak set, but they were all too ginormous and 'burby for our little city patio (some of the tables were bigger then our bedroom). So I lusted after the beautiful teak and aluminum stuff at DWR and the you could buy a car for that much teak sets at Smith and Hawkin and then bought a pretty nice set from Cost Plus made from a wood denser then teak but not quite as pretty (to me). I wanted something with arms on the chairs, wood not iron, and a table big enough to feed all our friends at.

Before we bought the wood, we very happily sat outside on beach chairs and our goodwill dining chairs. Whatever you do, enjoy your patio now!

One last tip, pea gravel from the hardware store in the vessel of your choice makes a pretty nice umbrella stand.

regards,
trillium

seems you could get a really cheap set somewhere (as many posters have pointed out), and by the time it falls apart, you're ready to buy the real deal. you get to use the patio, you don't break the bank, you ultimately get a good "investment" set. you're a winner all around.

Wow - found some am amazing reading lamps at Levenger (http://www.levenger.com/PAGETEMPLATES/NAVIGATION/PRDPREVIEW.ASP?Params=category=6-29|level=2-3|link=LN)

Unfortunately somewhat outside my price point.. still looking...

(thanks for the tips, yall).. Design Dabbler, those're some nice lamps. Let us know what you eventually pick. you make a good point about 'loosability' - that other factors mane ke not want to splurge our life savings on one, in case we decide to change it a few months down.

Jonathan - you found the pefect lamp for yourself - bent under the weight of a burdensome life.

Ikea does pretty well in the outdoor furniture,
as has Martha Stewart Kmart (some years - whatever is good is sold immediately)

I bet those recycled plastic amalgam Ikea chairs
like the "Urban" would hold up pretty well outdoors
although they are not marketed for Summer
and ooo check out the BLANKÖ patio tablette

Martha Stewart got sued over the poor quality of one of her Everyday patio sets.

OUTDOOR FURNITURE:
I don't know what your style is in "outdoor furniture" - but, if I may make a suggestion?
Don't look at typical "outdoor" furniture. Look at the high quality folding camping furniture - sometimes called "quad" furniture. Seriously. Made of awning or sail quality canvas and aircraft aluminum. Sturdy and totally inexpensive. Like anything else there are varying degrees of quality. I live in paradise (or close to it) and use this stuff on the lanai, the grass, by the pool, or throw it in back of the 4x4 and take it out on the beach. I even use it inside for extra seating in a pinch. One of the pieces is a jet black chaise which is one of the most comfortable pieces of furniture that I've ever sat in. Part of the "key" is don't store it (or any other "outdoor" furniture) outdoors and don't put it up wet. I've had this stuff for 3 years now and it still looks almost new.

Roundabout:

Re: Patio

Sometimes we can jump the gun and go all out only to find we don't really use the items we thought we NEEDED.

My suggestion, go inexpensive anyway, if it's your first patio. You don't really KNOW how much you'll use it. Thinking you'll use it a lot before you've moved in and KNOWING you'll use it a lot after a year or two are different. And you'll have a better idea of what your real NEEDS are for patio furnishings after living there for awhile.

Maybe you weren't considering a lounge chair, but got one on a great sale, and it turns out you never use it. Well, then, you wouldn't buy MORE. But maybe you get it, use it all the time, from sun bathing to curling up with a good book and a lap throw and friends that come over actually resort to fisticuffs in order to lie on it...well, then consider having additional loungers.

As usual, think about what your needs will be. How many people must be seated 95% of the time? That's your normal, everyday life, and that's how many seating spots you need. How many additional spots might you need for guests and how often will they be needed?

One or two seats you can leave out all the time. Eight extra chairs, well, better get something stackable, so you don't have a maze of chairs to struggle through.

Someone mentioned the URBAN chair at IKEA, which I love, view here:
http://tinyurl.com/zwtdx

You can choose one color or combinations of color. Turquoise and Beige, for a relaxed, seaside color scheme. Get BRIGHT with the Red (looks orange on my monitor) and White colors.

And this is a cute set, solid acacia, two chairs, table, and loveseat/bench, $139.99:
http://tinyurl.com/f59tu

Seat cushions as low as $2.99. I like the looks of this cushion, $12.99, use alternate images to view other colors.
http://tinyurl.com/p795e

Use these thicker cushions not just for the chairs, but also for floor seating, also $12.99:
http://tinyurl.com/qaop7

Note they have a "handle" on the side. The cover of the 2003 IKEA catalog had three similar cushions, and they had HUNG THEM ON THE WALL. They looked kind of arty, kept them out of the way when not in use, but readily available. They could be used indoors or out. They could be used to sprawl upon. And you could have a grid of stripes as "art" when not in use.

I picked up three of these last year in clear:
http://tinyurl.com/g5j84

You'd be surprised at how much light they put out, and as they are battery operated, they can be placed anywhere. When there's a breeze, the dragonflies move, so they look interesting during the daytime as well. Whenever the non-replaceable lights burn out, they still make for interesting "decor" and I'll probably separate the base from the spring, and use on a stake in the garden (uh, "garden" being my potted plants).

For about $270.00 you can now have a small set that will seat/dine four people with cushions, as well as having four additional thicker cushions that can be used as impromptu seating and hung when not in use, and some little tiny dancing dragonflies to light up wherever you choose.

It's not a ghastly sum of money, and will serve the purpose of helping you to decide what you'll REALLY need in the future. You may find you don't use it at all, and would rather take up gardening with plants in pots.

RSW:

Re: Chairs

Did you check out these at IKEA, the Gilbert chair:
http://tinyurl.com/f2aun

They aren't as deep as the T-back at West Elm, but I like the shape better with the table you've picked out. Just looking at them beside the picture of the table. If you have both stores nearby, you might be able to compare them. You can see the T-back chairs in the store for West Elm. Then buy one Gilbert and see how it looks.

I like the black chair with the brown table, I love black and brown together. It might look nice to have a pair of T-backs and a pair of Gilberts at the table. Good luck on finding the Gilbert in stock though. Last time I went to IKEA there were a couple of men darn near throwing a tantrum about the Gilbert not being in stock in the color they wanted. It's popular, and it's half the price of the T-back.

Yes, apparently the Rainbow chair is $10,000. I was enchanted with it the first time I saw it, just staring at all the colors, and then I scrolled down and saw the price. They're going to have to move the decimal point way over to the left if I'm ever going to have one.

A:"Welcome to my lovely home"
R:"You have no furniture!"
A:"Yes I do, come into this room, and look at my chair, I just have one chair in the entire home"

All I could really afford is a chip of the bottom of the foot. Oh well.

OMG. this thread really has gone crazy. Sitting here posting near midnight at a Marriot Hotel in Maryland, and i can't believe how detailed the conversation got late in the game. And how conversation picked up in the pm. And how efficiently our guest was treated ;-).

Maxwell, I'm sure your Marriott was MUCH better than the hotel I just left.

I'm sitting here at my home at 12:30 because I HAD to leave the ugly hotel I was staying in for business...a "microtel" which was the only one near the place I needed to be. Let's just put it this way: the room had nothing but flourescent lighting. Not even a bedside lamp! I took pictures it was so bad, thinking "what would happen if I posted these on AT?". I never stay in super chic hotels, but this was reeeeeaaallllly bad.

Thanks everyone for your input on the outdoor-furniture debate. The consensus seems to be that cheap and cheerful patio furniture that gets us using the patio right away (and, as Andree pointed out, allows us to figure out how much we actually use it) is the way to go, with a view to upgrading in the future.

and p(too), you made me laugh with the barbeque question! We already have the fancy barbeque, so it's a moot point, but if we didn't have one ... well. That would be an interesting debate!

roundabout--
re: BBQ
Yeah, funny how that works!! Men! Wait...

I would, if possible, make one "serious" purchase this year... even if only something like a GREAT patio umbrella... don't put it all off.

Roundabout!!

Re: Patio furniture

Remember my pillows for seating? Look at the picture posted on this NY-AT site under Weekly Sales Calendar, 4-13-06, the Mah Jong Sectional.

I don't see a price on their website. But I can guarantee that they're charging more than $12.99 per pillow. And that's pretty much how the pillow seating could work. You don't need a specialty bolster for the back...just use a second square pillow propped up behind the first one. Mix and match your stripes.

There ARE other options, if you don't like the stripes. You can buy cushions and covers separately at IKEA too, how about this one (one of my favorites):
http://tinyurl.com/o9tux

Brown, black, cream. Leaf motif. It's just the cover, and it's WASHABLE. They also sell the cushions to go in the covers. And many of the cushions themselves are washable (although the poly fill ones clump up).

All cushions and covers:
http://tinyurl.com/ma8e6

There are some very colorful items there too. You could have a GARDEN OF COLOR, and nary a flower. Use the BETTAN cushion covers, the red/pink/black/yellow and the blue/green/black/white. And the red and white URBAN chairs.

I looked at the tabletops and legs section here:
http://tinyurl.com/dghfu

Alas, the colorful tabletops are particle board and I don't think they'd stand up too well if it rained heavily. But...check out the colorful legs. And remember the table that was made by Maxwell with IKEA legs and used the IKEA kitchen countertop?

Use the sand-effect Red maybe?
http://tinyurl.com/cnmjb

You have to keep playing with the sizes until you get a picture that isn't "broken" to show you the color. For instance, the red becomes visible using the size 50"x26".

Says they are moisture proof, heat and scratch resistant.

You can even have a wiggly red sculpture out there:
http://tinyurl.com/lb6j3

You can have a riot of color out there. You can have a serene, neutral-toned Zen garden (with groovy aluminum accents).

It's fun to go opposite of whatever you have inside. Do please let us know what you end up choosing and how it works out for you!

I just found this, which could also be fun for a patio...you just never know where you might find something:
http://tinyurl.com/pvzlt