apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Thanks Guido!

Good morning! I'm wondering if anyone knows how to clean the working parts of a gas stove? Do the pipes that carry gas from the pilot light area to the burner need to be cleaned? How about the burners themselves?

speaking of the vacuum

part of our sleek vintage electrolux started smoking
(cough)
so we're looking at the Electrolux Pronto electric broom
which got much love on this site in the last vacuuming discussion.

Question:
I have hardwood floors, 2 very flat area rugs (1930's wool hook rugs, flat as a carpet can be), and a rag rug runner, also quite sturdy and flat. That pretty Pronto appears undisputed for wood floors.
How about super flat rugs?

It's not like alot of vacuuming happens over here, so it's not a heavy duty situation at all....
TIA

Yea! I can access the site again with my Netscape browser at the office.

apple lover,
you can stick a pipe cleaner in the metal pipettes that carry the gas to the burner, if they are clogged. A friend fixed my malfunctioning burner once that way...

I've had a pronto for over a year. It works very well on the hard wood, but the upright part works so-so on the carpets. In order to really get the dirty bits out of the carpet, I use the detachable part. There is only going to be a limited amount of power with a stick-vac, so if you're used to the wall-powered vac, this may seem weak to you.

I raced home after Christmas shopping the other night to catch SSBS and just missed the first few minutes when P2 was on! Frustrating! Will catch it soon.

In the meantime, I'm obsessed with the couch in the segment from that show with the Florida condo. I was taken with his idea that a good couch takes care of a lot of what you need in the living room. That was his only cushy chair in the LR. Now, I want that couch (ok, I'm sure I can't afford it) and I want to dump the IKEA couch and the armchair (that badly needs a re-do) in my LR. But, the HGTV website has no info on the couch. It was wide enough to sleep on, in fact for two to stretch out on. It looks like it could be used for a guest bed as is. The arms were cushy and high enough to lean a pillow up against. I'm sure that describes many couches. Anyone have any ideas about anything similar? I'm also thinking the right sectional might serve the same purpose and be more versatile. But today, I want that couch!

Here's a pic of the couch:

http://tinyurl.com/asvhn

thanks emily!
If you don't mind me asking...
what kind of carpet do you have?

My floor coverings include:

1) Kilim rug – a flat-woven rug, mine is made of wool
2) Knotted rug – short pile Turkish carpet with pattern (so you can’t really see the linty bits).
3) Fluffy bath mats – the soft cotton kind with big loops.

Pixie, the sofa looks like the Andy sofa by B&B Italia, http://europebynet.com/Detail_nn_sku_BBSFA009-1.html, but I don't think it's exactly the same.

Click on my name for the link to the Andy sofa.

m-
thanks. that's pretty nice. Can't quite tell how it operates, even from the detail pic, but it looks quite clever. I like that you can change the covers. While I've never spent any really significant amount on furniture, that price doesn't seem as bad as I would imagine for something like that.

AppleLover,
You might also want to poke a toothpick or a needle through the holes in the burner that face the pipes (there are three in a vertical row on mine) to un-clog them. My wonderful handyman showed me that one.

(Wow, I can't believe I finally got to post on here!)

(Lot's to say today)

I vacumned out the registers from our forced air heating system which helped improve the dust situation vastly. Now I'm anticipating the results of having the ducts professionally cleaned next month. I'll let you know the results.

I am obsessed with the murphy bed/storage in the same segment on SSBS that Pixie is referring to. Does anyone know who makes this amazing murphy bed?

If you're wondering about sources/items seen on SS,BS, there is contact info for the people featured on HGTV's site. Get to the program listing, pick an episode already aired, and when you find the sort-of "slide show" section showing stills and tips, scroll down to the bottom for conatct info. Mostly phone numbers, but some email addresses and web sites.

Thanks Patrick! i will check out the site.
P.S. great job on your SSBS debut. very informative and articulate. Are you beginning to feel like a celeb?

Patrick,

I caught the rerun of SSBS on Sunday. I loved your place and you were great too!

Reef

Check out photos from the bachelorette party I threw for my sister... mostly food photos, so don't get your hopes up haha. But you foodies will like it (there's a link in the entry to the closeups of each dish on Flickr)

http://www.myaimistrue.com/archives/2005/12/this_entry_is_rated_pg13.html

Also some of my holiday decor, and first pictures of my home's interior... it's finally starting to come together enough to want to allow people to see it.

http://www.myaimistrue.com/archives/2005/12/home_for_the_holidays.html

Amber

Re: the window. I saw this on a design show where they were dealing with a short window. The used a pull-down blind surrounded by drapes, but they started the window treatment about a foot and a half higher than the top of the window. They kept the blind pulled half-way down, so that the bottom of the blind was just below the top of the window. It created the illusion that the winder was almost twice as high as it really was. It looked as though the blind was covering the top part of the window, when in fact there was just a blank wall behind it. Am I explaining it so it makes sense? I couldn't tell from your photo how much space there is above the window, but if there is enough, it might work to make your window look longer.

Hey Guido,
I got the pronto about a month or two ago after reading about it here...so far, I like it. I like it on my area rugs better than my full size vacuum, because I have the kind of rugs without any backing--woven kind of things--and my full size used to suck them up and move them around. If your rugs don't have a high pile you might get away with it. Personally, I don't know if I'd have it as my sole vacuum. I got it because after moving to a place with hardwoods from a place with wall to wall, the heavy vacuum was a pain to lug in and out and not really that effective, not to mention LOUD! I still drag it out on occassion, but having the pronto sitting out in my kitchen is great--I can vacuum up crumbs or whatever in a second without thinking too much about it, and it's more fun than a broom! It's not too shabby looking either...it matches my terracotta-colored tile in my kitchen!

Pixie,
I immediately thought that sofa was a B&B Italia, too, when I saw the segment. However, I think it's actually the Odeon by Molteni & C, http://www.molteni.it/eng/prodotti_det.php?ID=83.

Click on my name for a link.

New Tenant, that makes sense. I don't have a ton of space up there, but I'm thinking about a box valance type thing, and putting it as high as possible. Thanks for the tip!

Kathryn,
That's it! I'm very impressed with your sleuthing. I haven't been able to find a price online, but there's a store that carries this brand here in DC, so I can go check it out. Thanks!

Pixie,
I knew the sofa had to be one of those high-end Italian manufacturers, but I wasn't sure which one. If you have your heart set on Molteni, you can probably special order it through europebynet.com.

However, there are some US stores selling Chinese knock-offs of Italian (and other) designs for very low prices. For example, see
http://shangrilafurnish.com/furniture-products.php?fun=show&id=334&alt=Modern,Fabric,Sofa
http://shangrilafurnish.com/furniture-products.php?fun=show&id=274&alt=Modern,White,Leather,Sofa,Set
http://shangrilafurnish.com/furniture-products.php?fun=show&id=181&alt=Fabric,Sectional,Sofa

I have no idea about the quality, though, but there has been some previous discussion on AT about similar retailers: http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/ny/112404/good-questions/good-questions-sleeksofascom-modernsofacom-001504

Thanks m. I have absolutely no idea what the Moltoni might cost, although I suspect it's beaucoup and out of my range. Thanks for the links and I need to go back to the couch thread, which I looked at but wasn't deeply involved in at the time since I wasn't thinking "couch" with a halo on it.

Amber - I LOVE that credenza! Do you own it or is it on your wish list?

Pixie,
I found another sofa that is extremely close to the one on the show. It is the Atollo XL by Paola Lenti:

http://espacebizarre.com/welcomes_you.php?to_section=home&design=eb_page&view_product=245

http://www.dentro.com.hk/bb.cfm?page=37&select0=&select1=&select2=&select3=&select4=

http://www.architonic.com/web/nCatalogue/fstCatalogue.php?nid=0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.2.0.3100362.0&lng=1&prm1=0&prm2=2008930&flg1=1&sid=e150c19d9beb713177c322499f26f1e1

m-you're a genius at finding these - how on earth do you do it?

I might even like this one better than the Moltoni, because it looked like the Moltoni only had throw pillows as the back cushions, where this one has actual back cushions. I'll have to compare more.
Thanks so much, this has taken my obsession to a new level.

Pixie,

I found this one by looking at the slinks from yesterday. The Garden Bed is sold at a place called modernliving.com, and I just checked out what else they sell, and then I found the Atollo XL. My guess is that this too is going to big bucks.

The others I found by my previous surfing of furniture websites. I remembered seeing before something like what you wanted.

BTW, the Molteni & C sofa has a back rest. It's just hidden by all the throw pillows; see the pictures on the link that Kathryn sent.

The first site for the Atollo showed a price in the high $4Ks--but I don't know if that was US$ or not.

Molteni & C just opened a Flagship showroom in NYC Soho - 60 Greene Street.