Modern Furniture for Condo

[yywwyy]

Hey all,

I'm near closing for a new condo and I'm starting to look at furniture. It's a small condo at 1300 sq ft and I'd like to give it a very modern design. I visited BoConcept today and liked several of their stuff. What other brands are similar or better in quality and modern in concept? Also, i'd be willing to share the floorplan if you like designing a home and wish to give me some input.

Thanks!

 

[SkinnyGoomba]

Check out the cool furniture thread.

Otherwise;

Carl Hansen, Fritz Hansen, Herman Miller, Knoll, Vitra, cassina ect.

If you are starting from nothing I would start by getting a really nice sofa, small dining arrangement and bed.

 

[yywwyy]

Yup, starting from scratch. Thanks for the info!

 

[chronoguy]



Hey all,

I'm near closing for a new condo and I'm starting to look at furniture. It's a small condo at 1300 sq ft and I'd like to give it a very modern design. I visited BoConcept today and liked several of their stuff. What other brands are similar or better in quality and modern in concept? Also, i'd be willing to share the floorplan if you like designing a home and wish to give me some input.

Thanks!

What is your budget?

Look for your local "DWR" or "Design Within Reach." They're league above BoConcept. Expect to pay. Don't be surprise if your living room end up costing 20K if you want the "modern" classics. All the major modern iconic designers. Authentic, licensed, original. There is also Room & Board.

If you need help w/ design, many of the lower tier shops have "free stylists" Wanna-be interior decorators that will come to your place and give you tips ideas for color, theme, decor. Places like West Elm, CB2, EQ3.

Many of the major retailers also have 3D floor plan apps. Thats what I used. Measure your space, drop in the furniture and you'd be surprise at the end result. My renderings turned out to look exactly like the final product.

 

[papa kot]

+1 on DWR

ModernFurniture.com also sells good stuff as does Room and Board. I really tried to love CB2, West Elm and EQ3, but the quality of the products sold at those stores fell short of my expectations. Also, have you given a thought to restored vintage pieces? Mid-century design is making a comeback and there are a few mom-and-pop stores that do wonderful restorations.

Be warned that prices for quality items will bite. Furnishing a bedroom may run well above the 5K mark and that is just for the "average" good quality items obtained through sales or second hand routes. Ditto for the office. The living room.... Forget it

 

[yywwyy]

Yeah. The prices for what I'm looking certainly hurts. I've been looking to piece together a good combo from DWR, Boconcept, and Modernfurniture.com (Canal). I'll upload some combos later on.

 

[SkinnyGoomba]

I would pass on BoConcept, a bit too much laminate over particle board and a little too mysterious about what's under their upholstery for my interest.

Take your time, get some good stuff and enjoy the process. If you study up on this stuff and hawk some of the smaller auction houses, you can sometimes snag pretty solid deals on classics.

Also, you're in Philly, not far from NJ. Willard Brothers lumber is in central jersey, they have three guys working there that are experienced craftsmen and they do an incredible job with tables and case goods. I've been buying lumber from them for years, so I have seen a lot of their private commissions. They are fairly reasonably priced, especially considering the quality they turn out.

 

[papa kot]

Oh and do not forget that details other than the furniture count. Unless you finished your condo yourself, everything from power outlets to paint to doors to switches to kitchen equipment is ****. Thus, if you want to have a truly nice pad, you gotta re-do everything either yourself or by hiring the folks who know how to do quality work. Interestingly enough those people do not appeal to the price sensitive crowd.

 

[SkinnyGoomba]



Oh and do not forget that details other than the furniture count. Unless you finished your condo yourself, everything from power outlets to paint to doors to switches to kitchen equipment is ****. Thus, if you want to have a truly nice pad, you gotta re-do everything either yourself or by hiring the folks who know how to do quality work. Interestingly enough those people do not appeal to the price sensitive crowd.

+1

A skim coat and good paint can do wonders even to a room that has little to offer architecturally.

 

[yywwyy]

Thanks for all the input. I've schedule for repainting of all walls with some good paint. Anyone have experience installing ceiling lights from scratch (no existing hole/fixture)? How might that work? I'm thinking something like this in LED:

 

[SkinnyGoomba]

Yywwyy, don't skip the skim coating, especially if you are putting in lights like that. Anything that puts light on the drywall from above or below will reveal imperfections about the drywall prep.

Also, fwiw, unless you have 9' ceilings or higher I would skip those lights.

Post up some pictures of the place and I can be more specific with advice/suggestions and far less prescriptive.

 

[yywwyy]

Here we go, some photos. I wanted inset lights but the inspector told me that the ceilings are solid rock and they can't do it. The furnished photos are from the StreetEasy listing, so I may take them down soon.

 

[SkinnyGoomba]

I think it can look awesome with ease. I would not crowd it like the previous owner did, but I would keep the positioning of the sofa and dining tables approx. the same.

Skip the lights, in addition to needing to wire an exposed box, it will do little to make comfortable lighting with a ceiling that height. Instead I would get a floor lamp that casts a good ambient light (diffused well) and replace the fixture above the dining table.

I would suggest not getting a sectional sofa and instead doing a three seat, in moderate proportions with an arm chair of another style that mixes well on the far side of the sofa.

 

[gomestar]

yikes to that show furniture

 

[chronoguy]

Get yourself an interior decorator. That place has potential.

Gasp.. Spend time on apartment therapy and look at some of the house/apartment tours. There are some very masculine bachelor pad tours I've seen with the same set-up and natural lighting.
You can also spend time on Houzz and Pinterests.

Yeah, I know those sites cater to the females mostly but you can get some good ideas.

I would also study the design you want.

My moto is this. If you can't afford a million dollar house, you can afford to make your house to look like a million dollars with the right pieces. With $30-40K, it can be nicely furnished and it won't look like a staged home (pictured) or something out of an ethan allen catalog.