apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Since no one posted yet, I just want to say that today is a happy day even if I have to work tomorrow, because 1.) I just had a GREAT chocolate chip cookie 2.) After much anticipation, my new sofa will be arriving in little over a week! Hurrah! (FYI--got it from storehouse...T-cushion, square arm, but comfy in an ice blue/grey/green shade)

Furniture deliveries are kind of fun to look forward to, aren't they? I like to have a decent-sized tip ready for the delivery guys, because for some reason, it tends me make me feel even better about having the item.

I'm just disappointed I can't get it sooner...it was ready to be delivered as early as the 19th, but I won't be able to be home! So, the 25th it is!

I understand your excitement. I'm waiting for my sofa from Room & Board. I ordered it in July and I'm supposed to get it sometime early November, so I've been waiting awhile. Of course the fabric I like would be custom.

I'm going to the Stockley Gardens Art Festival here in Norfolk tomorrow, really excited about that. I'm hoping to find some locally-thrown ceramics and maybe one large art piece. I am also going to visit several antique/junk shops that I've always driven by but never checked out. Wish me luck on finding a forgotten Eames chair for $10 or something haha.

http://www.hope-house.org/stockley.html

Gee, I get excited even when I know Fresh Direct is showing up! I'm glad that I can stay in this week with no obligations to go outside except to run minor errands. I love watching the rain blow sideways and curling up with a good movie or book and a nice bottle of wine. BTW, in the cold months I put a pot of water with cloves, cinnamon sticks and ginger on the stove and let it boil. The aroma is great, natural and cheaper than those fake scents bought at the store.

I'm excited because my new panasonic 50" plasma is shipping and it's somewhere in New York! I just have to wait for the shipping company to call to arrange the day of delivery.
Sorry Alec H but this will be going up on a wall with these speakers
http://www.kef.com/kefamerica/KHT/KHT6000ACE/gallery3.htm
over the "Flat" credenza designed by Piero Lissoni for Cassina. I can't get to flash sites at work so I don't know if it's shown here
http://www.cassinausa.com

Woah, plasma TV...I think that totally trumps my sofa (probably in price too!!)

Anne, i do that in the winter too...I've also added orange rinds. Mmmmm....

Christine - I knew there was something I was forgetting. You're right - it's orange peels and sometimes apples.

Sofas, plasma TVs! Sounds like I'm missing out on the good stuff!

Ooooh... plasma envy! I came very close to buying something flat and sexy the other night but restraint won out. It's kind of crummy watching a new DVD on a 13" TV. Once my brick wall gets the rehab it needs I can hang a purty TV on it.

Speaking of sofas, anyone have any experience with Cisco Brothers furniture? We're considering ordering one of their loveseats from a local place, but can't seem to find much info about quality/reliability on the web. Their website is rather useless.

Jamie Pup- You must be so excited waiting on those shipments. I was able to pull up the Flat credenza on that site (that is one slow site, with all the showy little web fillips on it). But I LOVE the credenza. Is that available as one unit or sold as separate pieces? Again, my pet peeve -- no prices on the site. Grrr...

I was hoping for an open thread!

I was out at Target tonight and made a point of checking out the Thomas O'Brien Vintage Modern line. I think... it's hit or miss. That two-piece black and white table that looks interesting in pictures looks cheap and weird in person - the white is more eggshell, it's smaller than you'd think, and it doesn't seem very stable. The leather-wrapped brown and cream lamp that was featured in the Times lighting profile also looked cheap in person. A few things I wanted to see had either sold out or had not yet arrived, like the low round table and its matching side tables. In general, any "leather" items in the line were my least faves, because the leather used looks fakey and cheap.

The things I really liked from the line were the sideboard/console, the Modern Side Tables (they are dark wood and have a round knob), and the coffee table set with the two small ottomans that fit beneath it. They are all veneer, but look reasonable for the price. The desk is also pretty nice. I liked the other lamp from the line that was on display in the Times lighting feature, which has a clear glass base with a white swirl through it. Many of the other lamps were decent; a few were blah. The storage boxes were kind of interesting; I didn't care for most of the other small accessories.

Target has their own, similar swirled-glass lamp on sale this week for $35 - it has more of a bulbous base, and the swirl is milkier and less defined, and very subtly greenish. They are also clearancing a great Mizrahi lamp, a lucite cube.

Any other thoughts on this line?

I saw the Vintage Modern stuff at found that the textiles (tablecloths, window panels) were nice - in pretty colors, if some were a bit "safe", and with beautiful tonal variations. They have a blue-green slubbed woven that's just incredible - much like a really nice fabric CB2 gets from McCreary Modern.

That said, however, I agree that the furniture is astonishingly cheap - far worse than Martha for K-Mart stuff and less sturdy-looking even than typical Target pressboard/MDF furniture. In the store I visited, almost all the display stuff was already chipped or broken - a bad sign given that it'd barely been on display for even half the time of the other pieces.

Changing the subject, can anyone recommend a good chrome massage showerhead which is reasonably attractive? Thanks.

And another new subject--pretty amazing. See the Life Is a Circle entry.

http://www.ephemeranow.com/new.htm

Just got a great deal at www.luxurychair.com $599 for a fully loaded Aeron Chair

mattS posted a question about Cisco Brothers furniture. I'm also thinking about ordering a sofa from them but can't find much info on the web. I also talked to a well-known interior decorator and she hasn't heard of them either. Has anyone ordered from them before or know much about the company?

Speaking of ordering sofas, I want to order a sofa from the pottery barn website for my new apartment (moving in two weeks!) but there is no way to try it out first because the stores don't carry it. Is it a really bad idea to order something based solely on a photograph? I want a sofa with wooden arms and this is one of the few I've seen. Here is a link to the sofa -it's called the Belmont:

http://ww2.potterybarn.com/cat/pip.cfm?src=shpcfuruphsfa%7Crshop&pkey=cfuruphsfa&gids=p6076

New Tenant...
I'd personally never order something without sitting on it first. Plus, I think it helps to see it in person and visualize it in your space. I went into the sofa buying experience thinking I wanted one thing, but once I got up close and personal, I decided on something else entirely. Do they not carry it in ANY stores? Is there any way you could find one somewhere?

I think as long as the vendor has a reasonable return policy (which I think PB does), and you like the look and can afford it, go ahead and order it.

Think of it as an "in-home test drive". :)