I am thinking of adding nail-heads to my sofa. Is there a safe way of applying these, so I may remove them at a later time? Should I tack them in one-by-one or sew the "fake" ones on? Here is my sofa:

http://www.crateandbarrel.com/family.aspx?c=931&f=11050

They make various nail head trims that come on a roll with a pack of real, matching nails. Every few inches on the roll there will be a space to attach the real nail to the furniture. It's much easier and faster than using hundreds individual nails (and it's easier to keep them in a straight line). I'm not sure there is a way to do this temporarily, as the nails will leave holes in the fabric. You'll need a wooden/rubber mallet to prevent scratches to the nails, and a pair of needle nose pliers to "save you fingers".

Good luck and please post photos of you finished piece.

The folks on that tv show, design on a dime, use those "fake" ones. It may save time on the installation, but doesn't look as good as the real thing, IMHO. Since they're tacked down every several nails, they just don't sit quite as snugly. I say, if you're going to do it, commit to it and go all the way. Good luck!

I have a question for everyone - I want to get a piece of furniture for my office that can both store some books and also be used as a mail & bill pay station. So I found this storage cabinet at Office Depot, which seems like the kind of functionality I need.
I do like:
- the height (short=good, I want to be able to sort mail on top of it)
- the drawer

I don't like:
- the length - I was hoping for something a bit longer for a bit more book storage
- the quality - I'd be willing to spend up to ~$300ish to get a piece of decent quality, I'm not thrilled with the particle board/veneers level of quality.

Anyone have any ideas or know where I can get something like that?

Does anyone know of any good flea markets within an hour or so of dc? I know of eastern market, and the georgetown one..I'm trying to find a place where I can get better deals.

Unfortunately you just missed the DC Big Flea this past weekend. It runs a couple of times a year in Chantilly, here's the site:
http://www.damorepromotions.com/index.php?pg=chant

I think the DC Big Flea will be back in the area in November. Can anyone give good recommendations for other places in the DC area to get good cheap finds? Like good thrift stores and second hand shops in the area. I just got a place, so I'm new to the home decor shopping scene. Thanks!

Not flea markets per se, but you could check out:

Ruff and Ready

Community Forklift

Finials

You should try thrift stores and antique shops in the northern va/maryland suburbs. You will find better deals and more to choose from.

A little trick I learned to find these shops: if you have a gps that allows you to search by "point of interest" type in "thrift", "antiques", "goodwill", etc. and wherever you are, you'll find a list full of surrounding stores. I once tried that while traveling up the coast and found so many small town shops from DC to Boston...this is much easier than searching shops online and using mapquest.

dominiquealis - see this previous post on Frederick, MD:
http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/ny/stores/great-stuff-by-paul-washington-dc-054430

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Looking for advice...We are buying the Z Gallerie Linden sofa but do not want to spend $900 on the matching occasional chair. Suggestions for a low-end chair that would work with this sofa?

Thanks!

so we just moved in this great 2nd floor apt in an old old rowhome and love the the character and whatnot, but can you not put up shelving in plaster? all my google searches have really come up with nothing, and the gent at the hardware store was little help.

how do you put up shelving in plaster without hitting studs? (and yes, it has the wood slats behind it - can't remember what its called)

so we just moved into this great old rowhome 2nd floor apt. it's plaster walls are great and all, but how do you put up shelving? the gent at the hardware store didn't have anything helpful and my google search didn't really come up with much either...

can you do it without hitting studs? i have plaster with the lathe (sp?) behind it. plaster keys too...

I second the shout out for Ruff and Ready. I got 4 similar (but slightly mismatched) dining room chairs and a full length mirror there for about $100. It was a great deal and the guys that worked there were very helpful in helping me track down the chairs in all the chaos.

It is totally overwhelming, but much cheaper (and more fun) than some of the other vintage furniture places in the area like Miss Pixies.

I also have gotten great deals on a vintage patio set and a mid-century dresser at the Eastern market Flea, but I live right there and both took a few weeks of browsing to find.

I am not absolutely sure but with the lath/plaster thingy I don't think you can rely on studs being strong enough to hold any weight at all. When they were building like that, in the older homes, 2x4's were not used like they are today and they used built-ins more. As I say I'm no expert or builder so I'd find a contractor in the area used to working on older homes and pick up the phone and ask the ???'s

Not really a flea market, but a huge amalgamation of antique shops at Savage Mill, which is right outside of COlumbia. WOrth a visit for sure.

For flea markets--you might want to try a trip to Richmond. I'm waiting for a good weekend to take a trip there and check out some vintage. Not exactly close, but a good day trip. There's a big flea market on the way off of 95 I think.

On shelves in plaster...I'm no expert, so keep that in mind! But I have plaster walls (at least they aren't gypsum board) and I've put shelves up. Depending on weight (nothing like books or pots), if you use anchors, you should be okay. Make a slightly smaller hole than the screw for a tight fit. Keep in mind too that the more screws you use, the better because the weight will be distributed among multiple holders.

plaster walls and shelves.

while i can't speak for bobbins walls, the studs behind my 100 year old walls are harder, stronger and thicker than contemporary 2x4s

and for party walls or exterior walls, there should be brick behind them.

using a french cleat to hang shelves will give you the possibility to add a ton of screws/anchors and allow you to position then to hit the studs.