Apartment foo-nishing

[TheFoo]

First of all, what the **** is wrong with double monks?

Second, if the Chair Ones were stacked, they could not have been the version with the concrete base.

Is MC 100% clueless now? It was 99% clueless when I left a few months ago. I figured the 1% might hold on a little longer.

 

[UnFacconable]



First of all, what the **** is wrong with double monks?

There's nothing wrong with double monks. How about double monks with fun socks? Maybe you are the NORE of interior design.

 

[TheFoo]

It sounds like you don't know how to identify "fun socks" when it comes to design.

 

[Ernie]

Fun socks bore me. I gave them a try though.

 

[Loathing]



So, Berkeley used to have a "department of oriental languages," and as late as 1990 it was still called this. But in the early 1990s, this came to be considered an outrage and had to be changed. We can, I believe, thank the loathesome Edward Said for making "Oriental" a dirty it word. So the word was expunged and the department changed to "East asian langauges and cultures."

However, it was housed in beautful little building called durant hall, almost in the dead center of campus. AND the words "Oriental Languages" were literally carved in stone over one entrance. Well, that had to go. The solution was to kick everyone out and completely rennovate the building and strip it of all offending Oriental symbolism. The only thing that remains are two stone rampant Chinese lions at the main entrance. I don't know how they survived.

You may be interested and satisfied to hear that Oxford University's department is still unashamedly called the Department of Oriental Studies, despite the loathesome Said.

 

[UnFacconable]



It sounds like you don't know how to identify "fun socks" when it comes to design.

So which aspect of your design constitutes fun socks? You are smashing together a bunch of elements that you've identified through extensive internet research to be best of breed but without enough regard to the space they are being thrown into or the way they all fit together. Seems to me that everything you accuse guys like spoo of doing in MC with clothing you are doing with your living room, yet somehow you think the results will be better here than with clothing. I suspect your living room will look more like the bourollec brothers storage room than a nice place to hang out.

Perhaps the answer is that this is part of your master plan to build a collection of fine objects that will eventually adorn your 5,000 sf shrine to modern design and that while you can't afford the loft you can afford to build the furniture collection one piece at a time and so be it if it doesn't fit the space you currently live in. I think that's in fact what is happening but that you are unwilling to admit the similarity between this practice and the shopper/hoarder mentality you ridicule in MC.

Or we can just ignore all of this and go back to faux crowd-sourcing interior design. And of course I don't really mean interior design since there is no design going on here - calling what you are doing design is no different from calling what that kitonbrioni guy does style.

EDIT: Forgot to mention - Manton thanks for bringing back memories of Cal. Spent some quality time in the bowels of Dwinelle - what an absolute dungeon that place was. I always wondered if the dueling brother architect story which was used to explain why it was built as a split level with multiple design themes had any validity.

 

[TheFoo]



You are smashing together a bunch of elements that you've identified through extensive internet research to be best of breed but without enough regard to the space they are being thrown into or the way they all fit together.

Where on earth did you get this interpretation of what I'm doing? First of all, most of our furniture was acquired years ago. Second, I've been looking at and appreciating modern design for many, many years--back to college, at least. We've wanted the Chair One since we got married and moved to New York. We "settled" for the Eames fiberglass chairs to save money at the time. The only chair we like more (my wife, at least) is the Cesca chair, but it is twice as expensive as the Chair One. Anyway, you can fault me all sorts of ways, but I put a lot of calculated thought into what sort of chairs will pair well with our Saarinen table. It all has to do with pedestals . . .

I really can't see how everything will look "smashed" together. The aesthetic is quite fluid. Anyway, I'm fairly confident in my ability to pair things together that complement each other. Except for rugs. Rugs are baffling to me.

Seems to me that everything you accuse guys like spoo of doing in MC with clothing you are doing with your living room, yet somehow you think the results will be better here than with clothing. I suspect your living room will look more like the bourollec brothers storage room than a nice place to hang out.

One Bouroullec side table and chair is going to make our entire living room look like a "Bouroullec Brothers storage room?" Come on, now.

What I'm doing is nothing like what I criticize Spoo for. You may not like the modern aesthetic, or my particular modernist choices, but the choices are contextually sensible together.

Perhaps the answer is that this is part of your master plan to build a collection of fine objects that will eventually adorn your 5,000 sf shrine to modern design and that while you can't afford the loft you can afford to build the furniture collection one piece at a time and so be it if it doesn't fit the space you currently live in. I think that's in fact what is happening but that you are unwilling to admit the similarity between this practice and the shopper/hoarder mentality you ridicule in MC.

People around here have the strangest tendency to paint me this way. Could it be because you want to see me as someone desperately, neurotically striving toward, yet unable to attain my ultimate goal? You know, you might just be projecting.

We have an apartment. It is larger than our old one. We have put off buying new furniture for several years. So now we want to properly furnish our living space. I have no idea why this is so difficult for you to grasp. If I mentioned I had to buy some new socks yesterday, you'd no doubt conclude that I am driven by a Napoleon complex to own all the socks in the world, which I know nothing about, but only studied on the internet.

Or we can just ignore all of this and go back to faux crowd-sourcing interior design. And of course I don't really mean interior design since there is no design going on here - calling what you are doing design is no different from calling what that kitonbrioni guy does style.

Again, take some time to reflect on the nonsense you are sputtering. Why conclude I'm "faux crowd-sourcing" when the simpler explanation is that I'm not crowd-sourcing at all?

As for your jab against my "interior design" . . . well, I really have no basis for believing your critique is worth anything to begin with. I bet you are ConTrad.

 

[itsstillmatt]

Just my .02, but the "comfortable look" of a living room has more to do with how people live in it than the furniture. If you have seen red wine anxiety in rooms with overstuffed sofas, you know what I mean.

 

[TheFoo]

Also, perceived comfort is heavily determined by sociocultural values. Actual comfort for any given individual is a different matter

Overstuffed sofas make my back hurt. Plus, they are terrible for conversation. It's hard to talk to someone when you are sinking into your seating surface..

 

[UnFacconable]



Just my .02, but the "comfortable look" of a living room has more to do with how people live in it than the furniture. If you have seen red wine anxiety in rooms with overstuffed sofas, you know what I mean.

Recognizing that this wasn't directed at me as I didn't use the word comfort, I will say I agree with this. I'm sure we can all agree that taking a bunch of pieces that are nice on their own and putting them in a space does not guarantee that you will have a nice space any more than taking a bunch of nice articles of closing and putting them together into an outfit will guarantee that you have a nice outfit.

This focus of this thread seems tilted toward finding nice pieces without regard to putting together a nice space. Others may disagree.

And foo, you can try to bait all you want with your contrad nonsense, but the way your living room is shaping up, contrad might be an improvement.

 

[sugarbutch]

I can't believe I'm about to defend Foo, but...

He has some pieces of furniture that he clearly likes very much. He's moving into a new spot and is trying to work out how to make best use of it. He has some ideas and asks the horde what they think. Many respond. Most suggestions are dismissed, but some are considered, and his plan is revised accordingly.

What's wrong with that? Is it because he has some Photoshop skills and is able to create a gussied-up plan view of his living room? Because he's opinionated? It would be sad if a few iGents could so easily dissuade him on something as significant as the space he lives in.

 

[Manton]

I don't think anyone has ever been able to dissuade foo of anything. At least, I have never witnessed it.

 

[erictheobscure]

"The loathesome Edward Said" is not the proper nomenclature.

 

[TheFoo]

I watched Perfect Pitch because of you.

 

[Piobaire]



Just my .02, but the "comfortable look" of a living room has more to do with how people live in it than the furniture. If you have seen red wine anxiety in rooms with overstuffed sofas, you know what I mean.

There was a Sex in the City episode where they were at a party at a very tony apartment and the owner would only allow clear or brown drinks and brown food so any stains would not show.