Apartment foo-nishing

[TheFoo]



What's going to happen if you throw a party and someone accidentally stands in front of that one lamp? If it's Manton, it'll be like an eclipse.

Oh god. I hadn't even considered.

 

[dieworkwear]



Where do you put stuff without a coffee table? We are always drinking and snacking in our living room.

http://gothamist.com/2012/06/08/karl_lagerfeld_has_butler_just_to_s.php

#SodaSerf

 

[Hayward]

It's got multiple eyeballs.

 

[TheFoo]



It's got multiple eyeballs.

But only one has any significant light output. One to rule them all.

 

[dopey]

...

 

[Hayward]

Is that mirror ball thing modular? Can you detach some of the and make them free standing floor pieces?

 

[TheFoo]



Is that mirror ball thing modular? Can you detach some of the and make them free standing floor pieces?

Yes, they detach from the stand. In fact, they are sold individually as standalone floor-standing lamps. You have to get the stand and clamps to configure them like I have.

Putting them on the floor is not practical, though.

 

[hendrix]

I dislike that shaggy rug that everyone has.

I once debated coffee table books with Fuuma. His position was that it is tasteless to buy books one only intends to put on their coffee table, as opposed to lazily leaving about books one reads day-to-day. I argued that there is nothing intrinsically wrong with selecting books that you think others will find interesting. After all, our living rooms are public spaces within our own homes. It's important that they are welcoming and hospitable to guests. It is also an important human need to express to our friends and family what we enjoy. So, yes, coffee table books are decoration for the most part--but that does not impeach them in the least bit.

Do you ever have an occasion when a guest actually has the opportunity to sit down and read your coffee table books?

I'm not implying pretension on your part here, I'm actually curious.

 

[TheFoo]



I dislike that shaggy rug that everyone has.
Do you ever have an occasion when a guest actually has the opportunity to sit down and read your coffee table books?

I'm not implying pretension on your part here, I'm actually curious.

Once my cousin and his new wife were visiting from Taiwan, on their honeymoon. They were supposed to come over to our apartment at 7:30pm. They arrived at 3:00. On a weekday. While we were at work. I had to call the doorman to let them into our apartment.

Over the next four and a half hours, they made very good use of our coffee table books. They could not read them, but I hope the pictures were entertaining enough.

 

[gomestar]

when i visited itsstillmatt's place, i started to read one of his coffee table books, a giant Renzo Piano architecture book that I will forbid my wife from purchasing due to its size.


i wasn't able to get into it much, though.

 

[TheFoo]

All I saw was their big sex book. I didn't get to, but I really badly wanted to read it.

And I think that's sort of the point. You almost never read your own coffee table books. Others do.

 

[hendrix]

I can't imagine reading coffee table books for 4 hours.
If I'm going to read a book with that much dedication it's going to be in my own space and my own time. Maybe if there were a proper reading book or something I would read it if I was bored.
I can't help but think that if it were purely for guests to entertain themselves then they'd prefer an Ipad or just to use your computer or watch tv.

But I agree with the assessment that it's some type of representation of yourself, or some mechanism to promote light discussion or conversation. I don't think that's particularly pretentious.

 

[TheFoo]

I hope they weren't only flipping through our coffee table books--but maybe they were, as they couldn't figure out our TV. A crucial component of the story is that they speak less than zero English and my Chinese is garbage.

 

[dieworkwear]

I have a bunch of coffeetable books, but the only one guests ever pick up is Ghetto

http://www.amazon.com/books/dp/1904563007

It's a great book about different kinds of ghettos. I like to point out to visitors that a home I used to live in can be seen in one of the photographs.

 

[SkinnyGoomba]

I have one room with a coffee table, because its a pair if chairs across from a sofa. The space lends itself to it.

We have books of all sizes on it, mostly by accident but some on purpose. The rooms that have tv's do not have coffee tables, but rather, small tables for drinks and snacks.

Noguchi is the poor mans nakashima.

Someone suggested not using a rug at all, I like that and have many times done without the rug. There is a reason why modern rugs have come along 50 years after the furniture. The reason is that they often skipped the rug.