The NYT Sunday Real Estate section has a new column, "Sketch Pad." They look at
"an apartment, house, loft or shack now for sale - or coming up for sale - that may have great, unrealized potential and therefore might be called a bargain for the adventurous buyer. Each time, a different architect or designer will create a vision of what the place might look like, whether drawn with the aid of a computer, or sketched on the back of a napkin."

good fun, potentially

What they consider a WRECK of an apt in the first article . . . pretty amusing.
(click on my name for the link)
The electronically generated lady-with-arched-back-in-a-wrap-dress matted into the new vision, less amusing . . . as is the vision of who should have these apts: "a young and sexy couple"

Is it usual for a designer to stick a factory-issue 'sexy lady' into a room plan?

To conclude my pet-peeve-a-thon in Real Estate today, allow me to highlight the article about the family paying more than $7000/month rent for their brownstone apt in Park Slope. I knew rents were high, but . . . but. . . there's not even a pool!

Interesting that they don't show the apartment how it is now at all, and there's really (on the web, at least) only 2 renderings. Hard to tell much about it.

Anyway, I think the column has potential; I'm kind of a real estate junky, so I'll be looking for it.

Good morning Curtis
The print version started with a Before picture - it was a great space with some trash on the floor and one wall with paint peeling. Hardly a wreck.

It looked like a tabla rosa dream to me . . .
and a fun thing for the Real Estate section to have,
designers + spaces = dreaming

online times does not put up all the illustrations of the print version, too bad they do this and not the opposite, (load up the website with more photos...)

hey, if you click on the pictures in the link,
you get the Before pictures, as well as the full room view
(not just the red chair)

I have an acquaintance that I went to a few Open Houses with, just because I love real estate and had kind of missed that whole process since it had been 2 whole years since I had bought my own place.

He desperately needed to have an imagination, because he had such a tight budget. He was shown something that was so completely perfect, space-wise, and co-op board rules-wise, that it just wasn't funny. It was the typical kind of rare occurence where an elderly rent control tenant within a co-op had died, and the building itself (which in this case was the sponsor) was selling it.

Well, it was a good price, but of course it need painting, but the kitchen would have been useable until one could have gotten enough equity to leverage a renovation. But the layout was fantastic, and there were several other things that could have eventually be improved. But he thought the place looked terrible and was afraid of how gross the couch was. What? It's LEAVING! You would be throwing it out! Soon after that, I had to stop going with him to those Open Houses. It was just too hard to watch.

I actually did think that apartment was a wreck. Not a walls-falling-down wreck, but something that would take some work beyond a coat of paint. The radiator cover/cabinets looked rotted. However, my perception may be skewed because I moved into an apartment that was in about that shape, and it did take a LOT of work to get it into good shape. We're still getting there, but it's so much better. However, yes, most people do lack imagination when shown a great space that needs refurbishing. I know one friend thought we were just crazy for taking on our space.

I do agree that the $7k rent was absurd. The woman in that article also came across as kind of obnoxious (all that eye-rolling and poking fun of the furniture that came with the rental--and she needed a furnished rental, so her condescension was kind of confusing).

Re: Sketch Pad. I think their "wreck" concept (as in, not a wreck, just needs some sprucing up) is similar to what all contractors think.... recently we have had contractors in our place for quotes to put up crown molding and refinish some french doors, and EVERY SINGLE ONE suggested redoing the kitchen, skim-coating the plaster ceiling (which was done 5 years ago), redoing the walls, taking down a wall, etc.... One even started telling me what he could do to the kitchen "for only 60, 70 grand".

What is it with contractors? Can't they just stick to the task at hand? Focus, people, focus!

Sorry to change the subject, but... I have a few questions.
1. Has anyone used Interface Flor? I am considering buying it as an alternative to a rug but I'm concerned about the texture. Most look a bit rough. The "Wide wale" texture looks nice though. I know most people could order samples and find out for themselves but I live in Italy. As far as ordering goes, I'm hoping to find a business who's willing to ship to an FPO address, since technically it is still an American address.

2. I see so many Italian products posted on here that are great and beautiful. And since I live here, the prices are better than in the states. So does anyone know of wonderful Italian rug companies? We're getting desperate and I don't want to end up with an ugly rug.

Thanks!

Guido -
You're right! I clicked on the photos and saw it. I think it is genius that they have that column, but the sexy-lady illustration is probably KIND of helpful to show people the scale, so you can get some idea of how a person might exist there, but it also illustrates how not real the rendering is, which not a bad idea.

Off topic but goes with this month's party theme so I figured I'd post...

It's week 4 of my holiday recipe swap! Every week til xmas I'm posting a recipe and inviting others to post one of their favorites in the comments. Check out the recipes from the first 3 weeks here:

http://www.myaimistrue.com/recipeswap.html

and this week's entry here (leave your recipe in the comments)

http://www.myaimistrue.com/archives/2005/12/recipe_swap_week_4.html

Thanks for looking!

Interface Flor is a great idea for traffic areas in a home. But I find the texture to be very commercial/coarse. There are a couple of pieces in their collection that are softer then the rest but that's relative. Walking on Clouds is one. They have a lot of new additions to their collection that I haven't felt so they may be soft as well. It's funny, the word "soft" is used to describe almost every single style in their catalog. I think that's a bit overstated. Most of their pieces are pretty rough and/or synthetic feeling.

Hi Emy, I have nothing but raves for Interface carpet. Flor is their consumer line, but if you look at their commercial line you will find hundreds and hundreds of other colors and patterns, and the cost is not that much more. I bought a small office building two years ago and used Interface carpet tiles, and practically everyone who walks in here has something nice to say about the floor. I am so sensitive to carpet chemicals--runny nose, teary eyes, headache--and I did not have one moment's trouble with this carpet. It has zero odor. If you get a wear pattern, all you do is rearrange the tiles, rather than having to replace the whole carpet, which makes it so much more economical than broadloom. If you get a stain, you pick the tile up and scrub it in the sink. If you can't get the stain out (which has never happened to me), you just swap that tile with a clean one from under a chair. It is very easy to install, and you can do all kinds of fun patterns. They are an international company so you shouldn't have any problems getting it in Italy. My rep was really great about sending me sample after sample after sample (I'm a bit of a ditherer, I'm afraid), all with prepaid return mailers. They have a couple of very helpful web sites. One is interfaceflooring.com, and I forget what the other one is. Sorry for the wordy response, but I really love this product!

The website on the catalog is interfaceflor.com

I agree with Diane in almost everything she says. But Diane is using it in an office. I see FLOR being used everywhere now - even the CVS across the street. My thoughts are that in an apt. where you're more likely to sit on it or at the very least, go barefoot on it, you may find it a bit coarse. Having said that, I've been thinking about getting it for my apt. I already have carpet but I've wanted an area rug to go over the carpet in the main living space. An 8x10 in FLOR tiles is cost effective and their new line looks great in the catalog. Hopefully it's softer than their initial line.

I've been curious about experiences with Flor. I don't have a good feeling about it in general. Here's all my reactions to Flor--now open to debunking or confirmation:

--Won't it look cheap and tacky really fast?
--I don't like the multicolored squares idea that much; this concept seems very limiting. I don't want to see multi-colored squares in homes everywhere.
--I know there's solid color too, but I think I would get tired of the solid color being in visible squares.
--Don't the squares ever curl up?
--If they're so easy to pick up and change out, doesn't that mean that dirt gets in between the squares really easily, so the carpet is dirtier than a continuous carpet?

Anyone had bad experiences with Flor?

And, most important: will my Roomba get into a fight with Flor?

Emy,
Check out Danskina
http://www.danskina.com/open.html

Pixie and Anne,
You're right, most of the Interface flooring is not soft, but I don't think that anyone should rule it out on that basis alone. Sisal matting isn't soft, and neither is (vocabulary is temporarily failing me here) tightly woven, uncut wool carpeting. (What in the world is the word I'm looking for?) Many's the late night that I've walked around barefoot in here, and it's the same feel as [unrecallable word].
I've got no curling whatsoever, and my environment is a lot tougher than an apartment. The squares fit very tightly together; you have to kind of grab the fibers in order to lift them out. I guess it's one of those things you have to see--I was worried, too, before I got them, but the system works perfectly. They have a kind of hard rubber backing, and it seems to me that they are actually much cleaner than continuous flooring. As for the multicolored squares/solid color squares--you really should look at the commercial line, where there is much more variety. I don't especially like the styles in the Flor line. The commercial line has some groovy organic, vaguely Asian designs that I really like.

I sound like a shill for Interface (one with early-onset Alzheimers), but I swear I'm not!

Diane - are you talking about Berber? I'm not sure if that's the word you were looking for.

Pixie--
With so many doubts and concerns about it, why are you even considering it?

P2-Flor sounds in many ways like it would be a convenient and versatile option. I'm generally considering flooring options for 2 areas - bedroom and living room. Living room would be some sort of area rug or carpet over the existing hardwood. For bedroom, I want to replacee the gross wall to wall carpet--could be a carpet, could be some sort of flooring--have thought of cork or hardwood. The times I consider Flor is when people say they like it and I wonder about my strong gut reaction to it. If I'm wrong, I want to know about it so I can stop thinking bad thoughts about it. And if my impressions are wrong, I can stand corrected and possibly recommend it to others too.

But, I'm also just curious, not having had any direct experience with it.

I have FLOR in my living room and I love it. I am in the midst of ordering it for my bedroom as well. Customer service is great and my orders came really fast (I changed my mind a bit the first time). I wouldn't, however, order the white from the Solid Ground line. It shows up everything because it's very textured.

Thanks everyone for your replies. Its always nice to get real people's experiences with products. I am a bit concerned with it being soft enough. I have a son who likes to run and fall on purpose so I am worried he will scratch himself up on some of the textures. Some look really rough, almost like doormat texture! We like to sit in the floor a lot. Right now we only have tile in our living room. Its cold and uncomfortable. I'll let my husband read the replies and ask him what he thinks.
Thanks again! You guys are awesome!

Emy, I don't have it, but it's definitely not doormat texture. The roughest squares are like industrial carpeting, which I'm willing to bet your son has in his school or nursery or something.

I have to admit that I'm finding this whole thread a little baffling. People are acting like it's made of sandpaper, and don't seem to have ever seen it in person. I checked it out, and the texture wasn't at all an issue for me.

Emy, I just ordered Flor in Toy Poodle for an area rug in my living room and House Pet for wall to wall in the kitchen. I have two small children who also like to throw themselves down on the floor for fun. (How they copy each other!) I ordered samples before I decided on which styles and I think Toy Poodle will be soft enough for little heads and bodies -- but I do have wood floors in the living room, so I guess anything would be softer than that. My biggest concern is how it will stand up in the kitchen to little stools being dragged across it, as I always get plenty of help. :) It's scheduled to arrive tomorrow, so I will let you know how it holds up after I get it all down.