apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Good morning, everyone. Has anyone used the new Benjamin Moore Aura paint? What did you think? Worth the extra cost? It sounds like the most fantastic thing ever--one coat coverage, low VOC, dries in minutes, super durable, special paint palette where every color goes with every single other color. I read a glowing review in the NYT but wonder what the vox populi has to say.

not-apartment related, but definitely design-related... i stopped into my friend's gallery/shop here in Toronto last night for an opening (http://www.magic-pony.com/gallery/greenpeace.php) and who but Karim Rashid was also there, hanging out!
the shop owner was stunned and happy, it was all very strange because he is not a super recognizable celebrity. And no matter what you think of his particular designs, he has some great ideas and he IS from Toronto. Anyhow, I was a bit star-struck.

Diane:

A neighbor of mine will be using it soon... when she does, I'll post her comments!

Does anyone know the average cost per gallon? I understand it is an excellent product (Benjamin Moore is anyway and supposedly the Aura line is outstanding). The colors are magnificent.

Okay, the landlords agreed to paint the kitchen, and I get to pick the yellow, oh I can't wait. She wants to keep wall paper above the sink. So, any suggestions on where to start looking for wall paper. She is moving crazy fast here, I asked about painting yesterday and painters are coming on Tuesday. So, think big box stores. I'm going to look at Benjamin Moore yellows today.

Jackie(too), it's about $50/gallon, but presumably you make some of that back in not having to double coat. In the NYT article, the writer had his kids do a mural on the wall in dark colors of paint, then had a painter come and do one coat of white over it, in both regular paint (BM Regal, I think) and in the Aura. The mural showed through in places with the regular, not so with the Aura. The Affinity colors are fantastic. I am in love with Blue Echo. And it's amazing, all of the colors really do go together. WHY has no one ever done this before?

Has anyone every used Diamond Era Construction Inc, Tdy Home Decoration or Sunrise Renovation Inc?

If not, can anyone recommend good, reliable contractors in Brooklyn?

Thanks

I've asked this before and didn't get a response... anyone have any experience with Big Apple Futon? There stuff is all over craigslist, but I was hoping someone here could tell me the quality of the furniture. Thanks.

Looking for an architect to make by 2 br a 3 br. Any suggestions? NYC, pre war.

I am looking for information on the counter that Starbucks uses in its stores to hold the milk - it is elevated above the cabinet by about six inches for additional storage of the sugar and splenda packets. It is quite thin, but stong, and usually shaped in the Starbucks swirl. I'd like to have a coffee bar in my kitchenette, and this is better than the thicker granite that I have seen used elsewhere.

Does anyone know what this is made of, and where it can be purchased? (not necessarily the same shape, although that would be fun)

eSusan_ma - we had Benjamin Moore's Lemonade on our living room/dining room (studio apt) walls for years - it is a fantastic, not too bright, subtle tinge of green, changes depending on time of day and lighting yellow.
good luck

I found a website on AT (it may have actually been a link to another blog and they had the actual link to the website). It was a furniture store out of Europe, and they had these great mirrored desks.

Anyway, it might be a longshot, but does anyone know what I'm talking about? If not, would you be able to give me some suggestions for finding an affordable mirrored desk/consoel/table?

Lacey, they have fairly affordable mirrored pieces at JCPenney online.

Random comments on the "2-click" issue discussed on an earlier Open Thread: I use Mozilla Firefox at work and don't have that problem. At home I use IE, and I dont remember if I've had a double-clicking problem, but we did have IE 7 for a little while and found it super annoying, and went back to IE 6.whatever. You can just remove IE 7 in the "Add/Remove programs" thingie in your Control Panel.

What the hell is Anthropologie's problem? They stop selling curtains in-store. How can you expect someone to pay $148 a panel without a sample to see and fell?! Then they randomly ship curtains from the new season into stores and sell them on the sale tables. WTF?! I can't go to your stores every day in the hope of finding the ones I want.

This is madness.

Just a request: tech should have an "open thread" feature. Technology isn't only about buying stuff or looking cool: it's useful. An "open thread" would get more of than in and perhaps have a place to answer questions.

"An "open thread" would get more of THAT in and perhaps be a place to answer questions.

i've got a prime piece of DWR gossip.

DWR's losing money so they're doing a price hike on April 9th. So if you're about to buy something from DWR - do it beforehand.

@ the big d. - Interesting. I would have thought that the reason DWR is losing money because most of their stuff is really overpriced for the quality.

@ ebrown - I agree 100%. I have a lot of tech questions but never knew where to ask them.

I was going to leave the double-click question to add to Jenny's post but, because she did, i decided not to. Now I am.

Though I normally don't read the open threads, I thought this would be a good place to lodge a grievance.

Do I really have to switch my browser just to enjoy your site? What is really up with that? It really is annoying.

Thank you. I am done complaining. Back to browsing.

Hey all,

I don't know what's with me and fried eggs today, but for those who were taken with the fried egg rug--and pelicolina's idea for a breakfast-themed bathroom--here are some other eggy items I just stumbled across on etsy:

Felt breakfast with fried egg:
http://tinyurl.com/ytk558

Fried egg coffee table:
http://tinyurl.com/yvoc2u

Anne (in Chicago)

my guess would be that they're increasing prices to make up for lagging sales. the person I spoke to at DWR said that they're not turning much of a profit these days...

she also said that they're bringing back the buttoni sofa. in new fabrics. the samples i got were pretty atrocious.

Xeno,

You were asking about Diamond Era Construction last year. Did you use them? I am having them come in for an estimate.
I found them on Angie's List and they have 3 excellent reviews.