Furniture for My New Apartment

she, on the other hand likes the more "pottery barn" contemporary look.

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I think "Pottery Barn" is now considered acceptable grounds for divorce.

The smart thing of course, is when you are getting to know someone, one of the first things one should do...is give them the Pottery Barn test.

Originally Posted by freshcutgrass

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Yea...that's great. But it doesn't sound like her budget is going to allow her to do much shopping at Todd Merrill.
I believe it's a he; practicality was never my strong suit, or rather any suit at all.

I believe it's a he

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Ok.

But gender is a rather frivolous detail for me (if you catch my drift).

practicality was never my strong suit, or rather any suit at all.

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Certainly not mine either. But then again, this isn't aaaaaall about me...is it?

Originally Posted by freshcutgrass

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Ok.

But gender is a rather frivolous detail for me (if you catch my drift).




Certainly not mine either. But then again, this isn't aaaaaall about me...is it?

Are you, buy-curious?

Originally Posted by gdl203

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Something like this?

Our FK-style sofa is a grey windowpane fabric

Not far from; if I recall correctly, our floors have a more reddish tint.

Originally Posted by binge

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Have you sat in those Eames plywood chairs? I find them extremely uncomfortable. As iconic a design as they are, I find it a bit unhospitable to seat guests in them.

I've never sat in the Eames LCW for a long time, so I can't speak to its comfort. But they are only for occasional use and will likely be separated and moved elsewhere in the future. In the mean time, guests can sit on the sofa while we brave the plywood .

Originally Posted by binge

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You're in Chicago right? I thought that area had really good mid-century vintage furniture stores. When I was buying a whole new set of furniture last year, it seemed that the Chicago area had lots of great vintage kit.

That might be true, but I have a weird aversion to vintage. I get weirded out by things that have been used by people that aren't family.

Originally Posted by freshcutgrass

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So why not make the effort and be a little inventive? A "home" furnished entirely of that standard issue stuff is going to have no personality, and convey a "sheep" mentality. In fact, I would rate it a notch below going back to Ikea.

To throw you a bone, I'd say go with the tulip table, and abandon the rest.

Aw, is it so bad? Keep in mind, this stuff is all meant to outlive our stay at the apartment and will be reconfigured and disbursed in the future. Right now, I agree, it's all a bit icon-heavy. Moreover, I'm not concerned with whether other people think 'sheep' when they see our apartment; I just want an apartment that looks nice. The problem is that the classic pieces are often classic because they look so good.

Originally Posted by matadorpoeta

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mafoofan,

it seems to me you are just buying what they are selling, rather than seeking out pieces which reflect your own style. i suggest some introspection.

Well, I don't want to be close-minded toward other options, but it's not like we just saw DWR's catalogue and picked out the highlights (even if, incidentally, we happened to do so). We spent time at Luminaire, a big store in Chicago that carries a lot of Italian stuff (Cappellini, Zanotta, Porro, etc.), but a lot of contemporary Italian design leaves me cold. Many pieces are closely inspired by the classics to begin with, some are a little too anonymous, and others are way too weird.

Of course, there is also the issue of cost. We are happy to spend a lot on the sofa, but want to spend less on lounge chairs for the moment. The Eames LCW are nice because they work as lounge chairs, are relatively inexpensive (but not cheap in any objective sense!), and can easily be used in other applications later. We have seen other lounge chairs we like a lot, but either size, price, or adaptability get in the way.

What other dining chairs would you recommend? I am partial to the Chair One:

Originally Posted by Nataku

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You're lucky you and your wife can agree on furniture and interior decor. When my wife and I bought our place, it was a nightmare. I prefer the modernist style such as your's - she, on the other hand likes the more "pottery barn" contemporary look. We had a tough time.....you seem like you have it easy.

Well, when we first started going out, we definitely would have disagreed. But as my taste in music has converged on hers, her taste in design as converged on mine.

Do you want your place to look like a page straight out of a DWR catalog? At least get some real vintage pieces. At the very least, fiberglass shell chairs instead of plastic. And you can always find cool no-name vintage furniture on Craigslist or eBay.

Some classic pieces in there but all coupled together it's at best and probably depending on the place. It looks like what a Manhattanite working in finance or law might buy to show his good taste, an endeavour bound to failure if he goes outside his circle.

I'd definitely keep the Sofa; you're going to be using it as foundation for your living room for years to come. Ditch the coffee table unless everything in your place is white or plastic (and I mean everything, including the floors). Even then I'd get a white lacquered coffee table. If you could find a vintage chair, something more traditional, even Victorian, you'd start to avoid the matchy/matchy effect. Do you have an antique chest or something of the kind, might come in handy in fighting all that modernism.

Ditch the table and chairs or you'll be that guy who comes here and says Armani is the best suit ever and Rolex the best watch. Nothing wrong with Armani or Rolex but sometimes it's nice to develop your taste a little bit outside of mainstream normative canon.

I'll second the opinion on the Emes LCW. I owned two, and people didn't sit in them.
They sit low, and were avoided by guests.
I have since replaced them with an Eames aluminum group management chair -much more user friendly.

Originally Posted by Fuuma

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Some classic pieces in there but all coupled together it's

at best and probably

depending on the place. It looks like what a Manhattanite working in finance or law might buy to show his good taste, an endeavour bound to failure if he goes outside his circle.

Thanks for the very thoughtful comments. There's a lot to think about.

I don't want to be what you describe: a striving lawyer with no taste. On the other hand, I don't have or want a 'circle' to impress either. Surely, there is room for something in between, or not along that spectrum at all?

Originally Posted by Fuuma

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I'd definitely keep the Sofa; you're going to be using it as foundation for your living room for years to come. Ditch the coffee table unless everything in your place is white or plastic (and I mean everything, including the floors). Even then I'd get a white lacquered coffee table. If you could find a vintage chair, something more traditional, even Victorian, you'd start to avoid the matchy/matchy effect. Do you have an antique chest or something of the kind, might come in handy in fighting all that modernism.

Unfortunately, we don't have anything old like you describe. I don't want to be argumentative, but what is wrong with a thoroughly modernist approach? Is it doomed to be 'matchy-matchy'? I can honestly say that I'm not interested in throwing in vintage or antique pieces--to me, the effect would be equally contrived, implying that we are older and more travelled than we really are. To make things more interesting, we'd rather draw from modern choices. Afterall, we are not trying to decorate in a mid-century manner--even if many pieces originate in that era. If we were trying to decorate as according to a particular period, I'd understand the counter-motivation to look to other ones. But we just like modern design, regardless of age.

I imagine that our home will get more interesting and personalized over time, as we add things we stumble upon. Perhaps, what we start with should be boring or blank. It would be more honest that way. Thoughts?

Originally Posted by Fuuma

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Ditch the table and chairs or you'll be that guy who comes here and says Armani is the best suit ever and Rolex the best watch. Nothing wrong with Armani or Rolex but sometimes it's nice to develop your taste a little bit outside of mainstream normative canon.

I don't want to be constrained by prevailing norms, but I also don't want to make a point of breaking them. There would just be too many to avoid--as you say, it depends on your circle.

But your point about developing our taste is well-taken. My fear is that we have shaped our preferences around our choices because we didn't know more or better. Yet, I can say that we are not consciously trying to converge on any norm.

The couch (thought I'd get it in cloth instead of leather, but that's just me) and the table are keepers. The Tulip chairs are nice, but keep in the mind the scale of your apartment: everything close together might make things a bit too obviously matchy. I've posted this link before, but it's a great collection of different ways to use the Saarinen table:

http://a-mad-tea-party-with-alis.blo...and-other.html

I don't understand the comments dissing the Saarinen table. It is a classic that can go with almost everything, and has only been copied badly --- you cannot improve on it. Of course, I'm partial to it, and have a vintage one (white marble, 47-inch top) that I pair with blue Modernica shell sidechairs on Eifel bases. If you are going to get the shell chairs, I'd go with Modernica rather than Eames because the fiberglass is more authentic, and looks better. The polypro looks kind of fake actually.

Also don't forget lighting fixtures, which can help integrate everything together well.

And keep looking around at books and the web for ideas. There are lots of design blogs out there that have interesting ideas. I like this one, because they often have links to Flickr pictures that are mid-century oriented:

http://blueantstudio.blogspot.com/

I'm also currently reading a Julius Schulman book that has great pictures from the mid-20th century published by Taschen. The publisher has a lot of books about modern designers, and is a good source of ideas.

And don't be afraid of looking at contemporary designers as well. I like stuff from Cassina (their Lissoni coffee table may be up your alley), and really admire what Cappelini puts out there. Artifort also has a lot of interesting things.

--Andre

Originally Posted by Andre Yew

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And don't be afraid of looking at contemporary designers as well. I like stuff from Cassina (their Lissoni coffee table may be up your alley), and really admire what Cappelini puts out there. Artifort also has a lot of interesting things.

Is this the coffee table you're talking about? It's Cassina, by Lissoni:



It's fantastic. I'll have to show it to the girl. I like the low white-lacquered square in particular.

Perhaps the Juliana chair, to go with the Saarinen table:

Originally Posted by gdl203

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Why don't you just move into iammatt's place?

I don't have any of those things in my house, but I do like them all.

Originally Posted by mafoofan

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Perhaps the Juliana chair, to go with the Saarinen table:

Make sure you don't get something with sharp angles to go with the tulip table. It doesn't look good.

I would second, or third, the idea of a white lacquer coffee table.

A few thoughts:

1) I don't dislike the Saarinen table and chairs in the least (keep in mind I have a Jacobsen egg chair and LC3 sofa so I'm also a fan of some classics), I just feel that with some of your other choices it will be too much of a good thing. Your suggestion to switch chairs is a step in the right direction. I'd also ditch the table but that's me.

2) I'd keep some of my Ikea furniture for now and keep looking and learning, your appartment doesn't have to look complete. My comment about the Armani wasn't an attempt at dissing the brand, I just find that when you start to learn more about suiting it is quite possible that you'll understand what compelled you to seek the Armani and maybe find that something else is more to your newly acquired standards. I still like armani over brioni or canali but I also know why I do (I don't wear any of those so the point is moot).

3) There are various antique dealers and even flea markets where you can find something that tickles your aesthetic senses, you don't have to seek older pieces but your idea about at least mixing in some contemporary might be the start of an answer.

4) That Cassina table is a nice piece (I like white lacquer too) but the bold profile makes it so low it is mostly an annoyance, you might end up trying to throw it out the window after bending over picking artbooks one time too many.

5) I assume you're mostly into light shades of furniture but I'd still keep looking at darker and more substantial pieces, you never know. GDL has a good look going on with the sofa and painting; it looks like he lives there, not showroomy in the least.

6) Flokati are a pain, I'd only have one around the bed as it's nice to lie in it. Looks very 70s playboy though.

7) I don't know if you're asian or asian-american but is there something from your ancestral country that brings a warm feeling to your heart? That might also be an option if you want to spice thing up but to avoid a vintage that you don't connect with...

Originally Posted by mafoofan

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Is this the coffee table you're talking about? It's Cassina, by Lissoni:

It's fantastic. I'll have to show it to the girl. I like the low white-lacquered square in particular.
B&B's Void low table in grey is also nice.