apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I'm heading to Barcelona tomorrow.... first time there! Any neat home design stores (or any stores for that matter) to keep an eye out for?

Trish

Hello! I've been lurking for a while, but I have a question I was hoping someone could help me with!

My husband and I just moved into a new apartment where all of the lighting is flourescent, and the lights buzz like crazy! I've never had flourescent lights in an apartment before - the ones in my office aren't nearly as loud. Is there anything I can do about the buzzing? Or do all flourescent lights buzz like this, and I just haven't noticed before?

Thanks in advance for any help!

Mariah

Hi all,

I have lurked here for over two months. This is the most helpful and informative site that I have found, for small space decorating. I have two questions for everyone.

1. Not to take anything away from AT, but are there any other good sites out there for small space living ideas?

2. Are there any plans to add at "Washington DC" section to AT? I noticed that a few of us live in the DC metro area. I would like to share photos of my place, but don't know if it is appropriate without a DC sections. Should I contact/e-mail someone inparticular about this?

One last thing... I really admire this community and look forward to the positive and helpful dialog that I may be able to add in the future.

Happy living,
-Grant

I posted on this previously on the rainy day thread, but thought I'd put it here for all the DC dwellers:

Yesterday, I discovered a brand new Mitchell Gold and Bob Williams store on 14th St! I didn't even know they were coming to the heart of DC. Loved it!

http://www.mitchellgold.com/sl_dc.asp

That Mitchell Gold use to be a Storehouse, which went out of business. Storehosue use to sell MG pieces. I'm glad MG is there now. They will have more of his line than the Storehouse offered. I don't believe that the quality of MG is that great (opinion), but good stuff nun-the-less.

-Grant

I remember the Storehouse. I was surprised to see it close--I guess the timing of that store wasn't quite right. I like MG much better, although can't afford either one, really! MG is far more drool-worthy.

On Giuseppe's Fantastic Illusion" small cool entry, JacksonMarie wrote:

my life's goal is to live in P(too)s place for a weekend"...

I'm trying to find pictures of P(too)'s apartment for while but can't! Someone help to kill my curiosity, please??
thanks in advance

So Pixie, and anyone else in the area, were do you buy most of your furniture and accessories? I'm always looking for new places and good finds.

-Grant

Grant- I'm a minimalist, so I don't really buy a lot of stuff (I mostly get rid of stuff.) My fave is Miss Pixie's on 18th just below Columbia Road. You never know what you'll find in there. http://www.misspixies.com/window.html Craigslist is a little sad in DC, in my opinion, although I've offloaded a lot of stuff there. There's a lot of mid-C around, but that stuff generally doesn't work for me. For example, there's Millenium on U St, just east of 16th (downstairs), which has a lot of great teak furniture, but I just really don't care for teak, although I keep going in there to test that dislike. http://www.millenniumdecorativearts.com/
Another mid-C place is Good Eye, up Wisconsin, below the Friendship Heights metro. http://www.goodeyeonline.com/ I like to look around in Good Wood on U St. too, but have never actually gotten anything there. The flea market at Eastern Market (7th SE above Penn) has all kinds of stuff, including some furniture makers, and I have had one item made by a seller there.

I occasionally like to check out the high end stores in Georgetown http://www.cadysalley.com/stores.php and imagine what I might buy, but too rich for my blood.

West Elm is scheduled to open this summer in DC.

My favorite shop in Washington is the American Indian crafts shop in the Department of the Interior, though, that said, the last time I was there was in the last century.

Is anyone else having a problem seeing the comments on this thread?

Pixie,
Storehouse closed because the entire chain folded - not because the location or timing. Not really a loss IMHO.

Shopping in the dc area I like:
Random Harvest (several locations)
Vastu on 14th & Apartment Zero on 7th for good new modern pieces
Home Rule on 14th for kitchen goods
Prua in Georgetown for cowhide
Daniel Donnelly in Alexandria - best source for midC
Qi in Alexandria for Asian imports and interesting garden supplies
Weschler's Auction House - for antiques, china, ect - I think they are open on Mon for previews and auctions are on Thurs.

That's it off the top of my head. Hope this helps

I'm having trouble finding/remembering an item mentioned in an open thread. It was a sleeper ottoman made by a Canadian company based in Montreal (how odd! how convenient!)

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Trish - Zara Home.

i second a lot of the dc stores listed above. also have to suggest reincarnations @ 14th & rhode island. some of the stuff is a little over the top for me, but i got an awesome chaise lounge there a few years ago. also, up 14th by the aforementioned home rule, there's also go mama go for accessories (and gifts for people!).

dss--

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/ny/small-cool-2005/apartment-13-patricks-cosmourban-studio-rental--002580

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/ny/small-cool-2005/finalist-4-patricks-cosmourban-studio-rental-002700

Patrick (the other one),

I just looked at your small-cool entry again. I remember loving your place first time I saw it. I love it still. I noticed you have a lot of animal print pieces. Can you recommend a place in New York where I can get faux-fur zebra print upholstery for a chair?

Thanks!

Mariah B,

The buzzing in a fluorescent fixture comes from the ballast -- you may have old magnetic ballasts, or ones that are about to go bad -- but sometimes the buzzing results from the ballast placement in the fixture. Ballasts vibrate a bit, so if it not securely fastened, it might be vibrating against the metal housing of the fixture. Most new fluorescent fixtures come with electronic ballasts, which don't make very much noise (these are probably what you have in your office). The ballasts can be changed, but often is is less expensive to just buy completely new fixtures.

P(two),
thanks so much for the link! Your place is really cool - as expected - and I had a great time going through the comments. My only surprise was the lack of classic mid-century pieces, which is neither good or bad IMHO. For some reason I antecipated barcelonas and lots of white :-)

It's actually a very masculine space, Sour Jim!!

Patrick, thanks again.
Daniela.

Yes to AT DC!
I have to agree about Craigslist here; in general it's people selling stuff they bought at IKEA at about a twenty-five percent discount.

Michelle-

Was it the Bo Concept one?

http://tinyurl.com/2xl54c

is Ion out there today?

Hey y'all,

check out this great acacia chair from Ikea Canada from their new summer line, not for us here in the USA:(

http://www.ikea.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?topcategoryId=17254&catalogId=10103&storeId=3&productId=35245&langId=-15&categoryId=17266&chosenPartNumber=70039344

I'm really liking those lines.

they also have gargantuan plant pots at super ikea prices that cost an arm and a leg anywhere else. Alas, in Canada.

Hi Olga,

I think that the Kvarno chair that you like is actually available in the US:

http://www.ikea.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?topcategoryId=17254&catalogId=10103&storeId=12&productId=35245&langId=-1&categoryId=17266&chosenPartNumber=70039344

I'm in the middle of turning the neglected patch of earth behind my apartment back into a proper yard (as opposed to an overgrown trash pit, which the previous tenants cultivated beautifully), and am sorely tempted by a lot of their outdoor furniture offerings. I'm so glad that you inspired me to think of the Swedes here!

Hey now! How did i miss that?!

thanks b&b!

DC dwellers may also love RH Studio--it's a sister store to Random Harvest. It ain't cheap, but it's a lot cheaper than its neighbors in Cady's Alley.

Lori 2,
Thanks, but Bo Concept wasn't it (no Canadian distributors), though it was that kind of thing. It was a longer ottoman that folded out to a double bed, if that rings any bells.

I tried to submit to SCC07 last night but all my emails kept getting bounced back!!!!!!!! What should I do??? Same problem this morning :(

Hey Meg, I checked here to see if anyone else had that same problem as me! I couldn't submit mine either! I was pretty sad! Are you from the East or West coast? I was thinking they stopped letting any emails come in after midnight NY time. I hadn't even thought of that!

Hey!
It couldn't have been that they stopped letting any emails come in after midnight NY time, because I was trying to submit before that. I tried three times and also sent an email this morning. All four were returned from the server showing Maxwell's email address with the message "over user quota". Perhaps Maxwell got a lot of submissions last night!
What do we do? Help!

Robyn -

Thanks so much for the reply! That was very helpful.

~Mariah

Rachelbeth, so good to hear that...maybe there's hope!

POO!! Its still down :( when are they going to address this? It can't really just be the three us, can it?

I worked so hard to enter this contest :(

I know! I keep checking, but to no avail. I even posted something for Maxwell on today's thread...

I'm sure they know what's happened right? So, I think we just have to be patient, but speak up when it's time.

Two guesses about email:

(1) Sea was correct about a flood of entries at the last minute.

(2) A discussion is going on now-ish about how to handle the email glitch, and we'll get a ruling from Jill later in the day. If the email glitch is itself a serious computer problem, the ruling may appear tomorrow, as there's no point in fiddling with deadlines if people still can't get email through.

My experience is that Maxwell et al always do respond to issues like this -- but in a small organization, it can take a day or two to come up with a workable response.

If the AT email account was 'over quota' last night, then they most certainly would have to extend the contest deadline - and by more than a few hours, because that would require that people stay up till the early morning. So I'd say the submission deadline would have to be extended at least until noon today.

And hey, I just noticed that I was welcomed at the top of this Open Thread!

Pixie - Are you associated with Miss Pixies on 18th? I have also had the same experience with Craigslist in DC. I have sold lots of furniture using it, but can't seem to find things that fit my style. I am walking distance from Millenium, but never went in. I'll try them soon. I will also check out Goodeye & Good Wood. Eastern Market seems to be hit or miss (usually more miss for me). Cadys Alley is one of my favorite places to shop. I have purchased lots of pieces from BO Concepts. It’s Italian, but half the price of Ligne Roset. The new Brazilian place across the street is grand, but extremely high priced. The west Elm will be a nice addition to the city. There is also one just over the bridge, if you can't wait.

Alex - Vastu is cool. I stop in there once every few months. I went to Apartment Zero last week for the first time. They have a great selection of designer pieces. I will add Home Rule, Prua, and Daniel Donnelly to my list of places to go to. I also like Smith and Hawkins in GTown & on Connecticut, for garden/flower supplies.

Lady J - Where is the Trish and Zara Home located?

Gretchenalexis - Reincarnations is cool and eclectic.

D in DC - RH Studio is cool.

Have any of you posted your places on AT, even though there is not a DC section?

-Grant