Furniture for My New Apartment

Alright then - back to the canned DWR looks then. To me, it just signals a lack of personality, taste and maybe also confidence. May I suggest you look at CGI renderings of upcoming luxury condos for inspiration - they have all that iconic stuff you're looking for - I think these pieces come included with the software....

Originally Posted by gdl203

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Alright then - back to the canned DWR looks then. To me, it just signals a lack of personality, taste and maybe also confidence. May I suggest you look at CGI renderings of upcoming luxury condos for inspiration - they have all that iconic stuff you're looking for - I think these pieces come included with the software....

I get that people are repelled by DWR's convenient packaging of modern furniture, but that doesn't make the furniture itself bad. The point of modern pieces is to integrate easily into one's individual space and lifestyle. So, of course, if they are good, they will attain a degree of ubiquity. I would never rely on my furniture to annouce my individuality in the first place.

Here is a good example of how iconic modern pieces can be successfully integrated into a someone's personal space:


Right off the bat, I see a Florence Knoll sofa, a Saarinen Tulip armchair, and a Bertoia wire chair. Yet, they do not call overt attention to themselves.

Well, one gets the feeling the room is lived in. I'm sure that'll happen in your apartment as well.
EDITed for taste

From these pictures, I guess we're saying a little bit of the same thing. I'm saying: don't assemble too many modern pieces that seem to go well together, try to find some balance. The apartment above works OK (although I think the bertoia is a bit out of place) specifically because it places a few single unrelated pieces in a messy intellectual/artist looking setting. The fact that the apartment is messy and has books and art all over is what brings balance to the classic pieces (clutter is sometimes good). It looks like someone actually lives there - it is "homey". Very very different from the all-white dining set which feels like robots live there.

Originally Posted by mafoofan

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Here is a good example of how iconic modern pieces can be successfully integrated into a someone's personal space:

Right off the bat, I see a Florence Knoll sofa, a Saarinen Tulip armchair, and a Bertoia wire chair. Yet, they do not call overt attention to themselves.
Perhaps I am limited in my approach, but this, to me, is a jumbled mess, neither capitalizing on the economy and sleekness of good modern nor offering the comfort and eclecticism of a more traditional interior. I'm left wondering why they've picked that furniture for that space. It's vaguely overbearing. Take out about a third of it and I might like it more. That tulip chair, however, is beautiful, and well positioned.

hey man i understand where you are coming from with your $8,000 sofas and all, but not everyone is in a position to get the original marked-up 1950 designs to be truely 'modern' and we settle quite nicely with $1000 'watered down' versions that are 'within reach'. i'm comfortable with the fact that none of my 23 year old friends will mind that i don't have originals with their slights and details that make them so much worse than knoll stuff or whatever other original designs.. everything with design and fashion is about being able to move downmarket imo.. its not all for the rich people. and i do feel that sofa.

i live in the city of mattress mac and rooms-to-go so i do quite well finding my own style within my budget i think.

i have no need for snobbery on the matter.

just the table and chair combo on the last few pages are what i was referring to as shiteous. and the chairs in the first post. and that crazy chair one. that table might be nice marble or whatever but i don't find it attractive is all and you asked.

maybe if i was in a different position i would go for different items but alas i am who i am and i like what i like and can afford what i can afford. at least i'm not going for really gawdy stuff.. we could all do a lot, lot worse.

Originally Posted by gdl203

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From these pictures, I guess we're saying a little bit of the same thing. I'm saying: don't assemble too many modern pieces that seem to go well together, try to find some balance. The apartment above works OK (although I think the bertoia is a bit out of place) specifically because it places a few single unrelated pieces in a messy intellectual/artist looking setting. The fact that the apartment is messy and has books and art all over is what brings balance to the classic pieces (clutter is sometimes good). It looks like someone actually lives there - it is "homey". Very very different from the all-white dining set which feels like robots live there.
Did you like the house in Tati's Mon Oncle?

I am not a furniture expert here, but maybe I can try to chime in on this thread. I feel like people are saying that if you buy everything new from DWR, you're really no different from the guy buying everything from Pottery Barn, except you have more money and at least some knowledge of design.

Buying a few pieces from DWR (or even pottery barn for that matter) is totally ok, but to do your whole apartment at once shows sort of a lack of personality and the place is somewhat cold and impersonal. I have to admit I don't have the means to even consider doing my whole place from DWR or its equivelent, but if I did I think I would want to consider a few more unique and personal elements as I set up my first "adult" pad. You have extremely good taste clearly, so I feel like you can successfully deviate from the magazine ad type set up.

Originally Posted by sleekblackroadster

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hey man i understand where you are coming from with your $8,000 sofas and all . . .

It's not a matter of price. It's a matter of principle. Anyway, Ethan Allen isn't exactly budget furniture. You can easily drop a few thousand dollars on a sofa there.

Originally Posted by CTGuy

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Buying a few pieces from DWR (or even pottery barn for that matter) is totally ok, but to do your whole apartment at once shows sort of a lack of personality and the place is somewhat cold and impersonal. I have to admit I don't have the means to even consider doing my whole place from DWR or its equivelent, but if I did I think I would want to consider a few more unique and personal elements as I set up my first "adult" pad. You have extremely good taste clearly, so I feel like you can successfully deviate from the magazine ad type set up.

I don't really agree with this. I mean, in the case of a first apartment, I can see it, but not if you are at a later stage in life and are used to living in a place full of stuff. You can always change things, move things, toss things, etc.

Originally Posted by CTGuy

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I am not furniture expert here, but maybe I can try to chime in on this thread. I feel like people are saying that if you buy everything new from DWR, you're really no different from the guy buying everything from Pottery Barn, except you have more money and at least some knowledge of design.

Buying a few pieces from DWR (or even pottery barn for that matter) is totally ok, but to do your whole apartment at once shows sort of a lack of personality and the place is somewhat cold and impersonal. I have to admit I don't have the means to even consider doing my whole place from DWR or its equivelent, but if I did I think I would want to consider a few more unique and personal elements as I set up my first "adult" pad. You have extremely good taste clearly, so clearly I feel like you can successfully deviate from the magazine ad type set up.

Thanks for the thoughts. I think it's worth noting that DWR doesn't sell its own line of furniture, like Pottery Barn, Ethan Allen, or Crate & Barrel. The pieces have all been designed by different designers across different time periods; moreover, they are available from many other retailers. In other words, DWR is more like Saks or Neimans than J. Crew or Gap.

Originally Posted by iammatt

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I don't really agree with this. I mean, in the case of a first apartment, I can see it, but not if you are at a later stage in life and are used to living in a place full of stuff. You can always change things, move things, toss things, etc.

Just to add, we aren't moving into our 'first' apartment. We've been living in our current one for the past three years.

Originally Posted by mafoofan

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Just to add, we aren't moving into our 'first' apartment. We've been living in our current one for the past three years.
That's not really my point. I'm not really trying to find fault with what you're doing-- just trying to summarize what I think were some other people's thoughts as well. I get what you are saying about DWR/Saks. I would point out that it's not like the pottery barn stuff is all made in the same factory. It's also sourced from many places. Do whatever you like, but you are posting on an internet message board so I suppose you must be looking for some kind of input. My own opinion is that most of the stuff you have posted is very nice and classic, but as Renault said, I feel like furnishings (IMHO) should reflect a journey and not a destination. In other words, you may want to take your time and slowly accumulate great pieces as serendipity presents them to you-- it's just a thought. EDIT: hey-- maybe what I am saying is not for you. I get the feeling you are a guy who likes things "just so" which is totally fine, but not my personality. My own preference would be to have the couch I like along with the reapolster barcelona chair that dad bought with his first house, and the paintings my wife and I found in a small shop on the honeymoon to Paris, etc. In the meantime I would be fine living with a halfway done place, kind of anticipating that some parts of the story were yet to be filled. If that's not for you, then disregard what I am saying-- maybe you are the kind of guy who needs it to look a certain way on day one and screw the story, it's about the fact that design is exactly as you envision it. As GDL sort of alluded to- you're probably the type who couldn't see driving a classic car that occassionally breaks down and you have to fix it (yourself) or living in an antique farm house that might have mice or drafts, which is fine-- I realise people have different tastes. Sorry if that sounds rantish-- but I guess I am just acknowledging that you are getting advice from some of us with slightly different taste.

Originally Posted by iammatt

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I don't really agree with this. I mean, in the case of a first apartment, I can see it, but not if you are at a later stage in life and are used to living in a place full of stuff. You can always change things, move things, toss things, etc.

I'm not really clear on how you disagree with what I am saying.

Originally Posted by CTGuy

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I'm not really clear on how you disagree with what I am saying.

I think the point is that the furniture we are buying now can easily be re-used in other applications later on. Right now, we are starting from scratch, so everything will necessarily be new. Our living space will change over time as we change from apartment to apartment (and to a house one day, hopefully). When that happens, things will get shuffled about and we will add more stuff.

The idea of selecting certain pieces specifically to make our apartment more 'lived-in' is a real turn-off. To me, that is more contrived than having all new, matching furniture.

I don't want to sound hostile toward input, but I should have been more specific about what input I'm seeking. I'd like to hear more purely aesthetic analysis, not whether things look 'homey' or 'inviting'.