EDF - furnish my house!
 

Hi all, I'm currently in attorney review for my first house(that i will actually live in). I need to furnish the following rooms: dining room, eat-in kitchen, living room, "family room"(room with a fireplace), a few bedrooms, finished basement, and a patio.

What I am basically looking for here is a discussion on A) what kind of furniture is the best quality and most reliable and the best value for the price, b) if you have read any decorating/landscaping books that were particularly good, c) what furniture/electronics should be avoided, and d) any other things you wish you would have known when you bought a house.

Also, I will be getting a big TV - and will definitely need some advice here as well. Lastly, this isn't a bachelor pad, so please keep in mind that the general ambience of the house needs to suit a female's tastes as well.

thanks in advance!

James

Re: EDF - furnish my house!
 

we are going to need pics of teh house to be able to really help

Re: EDF - furnish my house!
 

If you don't mind paying high prices, you can get some very attractive and well made pieces from Thos. Moser

Re: EDF - furnish my house!
 

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we are going to need pics of teh house to be able to really help

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Why? I will probably be repainting several rooms anyway. It's all hardwood floors as of now, so really any color schemes or styles would be appropriate for discussion.

James

Re: EDF - furnish my house!
 

What's your style? Do you like modern stuff? This is a really hard question. You might want to break it down by product, or design. As for the TV, you'll hear a lot of banter and there are forums dedicated to just picking the perfect tv, unless you are a home av nut anything will be fine. I sort of fit into that category and ended up going with a panasonic plasma, my friend (an av nut) went with a pioneer, his tv was more expensive but the picture is INCREDIBLE. If I was buying again I'd go with pioneer, a separate sound ssytem is crucial, but depending on your needs you might not need surround, it's also a function of the size of the room and how the couches/tv/people are positioned. My tv viewing are was a tad on the small side, and not really conducive to surround sound, so I ended up going with the denon s-301 system, which I am REALLY happy with. 2 speakers and sub...nice system, easy to use, etc...

In general you need to give us more details. It might be helpful to go to a few stores where they design rooms and everything in that room is potentially for sale. A lot of times the owners of these places just fly everywhere and buy ridiculously nice/expensive/exotic [censored] that looks really good.

Re: EDF - furnish my house!
 

thanks AZK - i will look into that tv. i guess this thread is too general. lock it up D and i'll come back when I can seek some more specific advice!

James

Re: EDF - furnish my house!
 

James,

Just start going room by room. For the TV, check out astro's thread and search OOT, there have been a ton of Plasma/LCD threads. That's a great way to get an idea of stuff to pick up. Once you find a couple you are considering, go to http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/forumdisplay.php?f=9 for more detailed info. I got a Panasonic plasma, it is great. Sony and Pioneer are two brands that are a little more expensive and some people feel their picture is a little better. There are also some cheaper brands like Vizio that will let you step up a level in size for the same price. My advice is to wait until Amazon/Best Buy/Circuit City have a sale and pick up something midrange.

Re: EDF - furnish my house!
 

[ QUOTE ]
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we are going to need pics of teh house to be able to really help

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Why? I will probably be repainting several rooms anyway. It's all hardwood floors as of now, so really any color schemes or styles would be appropriate for discussion.

James

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Pics may still help for choosing furniture size, layout.

Re: EDF - furnish my house!
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
we are going to need pics of teh house to be able to really help

[/ QUOTE ]

Why? I will probably be repainting several rooms anyway. It's all hardwood floors as of now, so really any color schemes or styles would be appropriate for discussion.

James

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as someone mentioned, room sizes, where your windows are, the flow of one room to another makes a pretty big deal imo.

Re: EDF - furnish my house!
 

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If you don't mind paying high prices, you can get some very attractive and well made pieces from Thos. Moser

[/ QUOTE ]nice choice.

but OP should state a budget cuz a full house furnished at Moser (or http://www.greendesigns.com/, or http://www.stickley.com/,...) is like 200+k worth of furnitures, lol.

Re: EDF - furnish my house!
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
we are going to need pics of teh house to be able to really help

[/ QUOTE ]

Why? I will probably be repainting several rooms anyway. It's all hardwood floors as of now, so really any color schemes or styles would be appropriate for discussion.

James

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Pics may still help for choosing furniture size, layout.

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if no pictures, at least an MS Paint...

Re: EDF - furnish my house!
 

get at least one LoveSac for the living room or basement area. Anywhere with a big TV works nice. I have 3 of them, one "Big One" and two "Moviesac" they are awesome.

http://ict.tippinst.ie/~bgoldbach/im...gs/lovesac.jpg

Re: EDF - furnish my house!
 

while they look like they'd be comfortable...kinda frumpy.

Re: EDF - furnish my house!
 

I love doing this type of stuff and everybody tells me taht I'm really good at it too. Give us a few nibits of info:

(1) Color of hardwood floors (a dark finish is vastly different to a light finish when it comes to furniture style and color)

(2) What color will the walls be in each room (makes a huge difference)? I prefer neutral colors like dove grey, etc...

Re: EDF - furnish my house!
 

west elm has some nice stuff that is a little bit more expensive than ikea but is 10x better quality. a while back i had an apt. furnishing thread where peopel listed a ton of links to really nice expensive stuff too...

Re: EDF - furnish my house!
 

AZK,

Yeah, West Elm is basically the "modern high-end" version of Pottery Barn. Design Within Reach http://www.dwr.com/ has some cool stuff that can be a little pricey, but not insane.

James, you should also just wander around SoHo and walk into a bunch of shops there. Tons of cool unique stuff. Ranges from reasonable to absurd in both style and price.

Re: EDF - furnish my house!
 

James,

I'm going to program myself to dream about your space and then I'll get back to you.

But seriously, I have no clue. You might want to think about hiring an interior decorator. I talked to someone recently who used one. I don't think the cost would be too bad.

If you want to waste a lot of time, you can spend all day watching various cable programs that feature people decorating rooms. That could give you some ideas.

Good luck and congrats on the house.

Re: EDF - furnish my house!
 

Is OP in NYC (ElD mentioned SoHo)? If so, ABC Carpet is a good place to browse for ideas and to see if they have any special deals going. Their prices are normally unreasonable, but every once in a while you'll find something priced to move. I found my beat-up country-style dining table/chairs set that way. Another really nice store is Miya Shoji in Chelsea. This old Japanese guy makes everything by hand in his workshop. He uses no nails or glue. Everything is made with tight-fitting parts and pegs in a semi-traditional Japanese style. The coffee table I bought from him is like a work of art. His stuff's not cheap, though.

My non-baller friends recommend Room and Board as a good catalog for stuff that is a couple of notches above Ikea in terms of quality.

ElD's idea to just walk around SoHo is a good one, too.

Re: EDF - furnish my house!
 

James - do you have a sense of the aesthetic you're going for? Either way, I'd recommend looking at interior design magazines for ideas, and in general to sense check what you do and do not like. Something like Dwell.

Of national chains, I've actually found West Elm stuff to be somewhat cheaply made (it's less expensive than Pottery Barn and Crate & Barrel, fwiw), but as Diablo mentioned it's a younger / "modern" aesthetic. Between C&B and Pottery Barn, I find C&B to be slightly better value.

-Al

Re: EDF - furnish my house!
 

I think it is really important to consider the size and style of the house when selecting finishes and furnishings.

You mentioned hardwood floors, so start with area rugs. It is much easier to choose a paint to match a rug than a rug to match paint. Find some rugs that fit your taste and the house style. Wool rugs are expensive but wear like iron, nylon rugs are cheaper. Some nice rugs here shaw rugs.

When selecting wall paint it helps to have an idea on the direction you want to take the house. If you want a lot of different colors consider what can be seen from one room to another. Use the same trim or ceiling color to tie things together. Bright colors make rooms feel bigger and dark colors make rooms feel smaller. Lights, furniture, art, etc can counteract the affect of wall colors. If possible get large samples of paint colors and look at them in the room and on the exact wall you intend to paint that color, don’t underestimate how different lighting can change a paint color. Don’t be afraid to paint walls different colors within the same room.

For furniture I feel the style should be consistent with the home. A bungalow calls for Stickley or Limbert while a modern loft would look better with Nelson or Eames. Regardless of style, typically you want light furniture in small rooms and heavier furniture in large rooms. By light furniture I mean pieces with less visual weight, open to the floor, thinner legs, and generally more delicate proportions, think feminine. For large pieces like sofas avoid busy patterns in favor of neutrals and accent with pillows. Smaller occaisonal chairs can have bold patterns.

Re: EDF - furnish my house!
 

one reccomendation I have, is to buy all your big furniture from nice places (couches, beds, stuff you need to be comfortable in), and the rest of your stuff at target. Target has a bunch of really cheap yet stylish things that arent peices of crap, and will save you a bunch.

Re: EDF - furnish my house!
 

If you can stand the wait, I recommend holding out on a big TV until the 8th generation of Pioneer plasmas come out (I've heard online that some sizes are available in ceratin locations but everywhere I've actually asked, they've said September, possibly August). Apparently, these plasmas have 80% deeper blacks than their already superb 7th gen siblings. Everyone that has had a chance to see one of these has said that they're absolutely amazing, certainly a huge evolutionary step in plasma televisions.

Re: EDF - furnish my house!
 

if you want to get the floors resurfaced or paint, do that before you move in. in addition to the stuff mentioned, Bo Concept is also very cool, and all the furniture they sell is customizable and can be built to order. for patio stuff smith & hawken make really solid stuff.

for lighting, two good places in nyc are lighting by gregory and o'lampia. o'lampia is pricey but makes awesome custom lighting, lighting by gregory has a very wide range of fixtures.

Re: EDF - furnish my house!
 

LOTD,

"certainly a huge evolutionary step in plasma televisions."

Most of my more knowledgeable AV friends advise me to wait until the second version of new technologies like this. Not sure if this applies in this case, but if it's a major step forward, they always advise I wait until the v2 product.

Re: EDF - furnish my house!
 

West elm as some mentioned and Room and Board (www.roomandboard.com) are both nice but not stupid expensive. I like most things from either of these places.

Re: EDF - furnish my house!
 

I also recommend Room and Board highly. I really like West Elm but the stuff there is high end design and low end construction (obviously still a few steps above Ikea). Bo Concept has some similar stuff as West Elm but is definitely higher end.
If I had to furnish a house, I might just do the whole thing at Room and Board.

Re: EDF - furnish my house!
 

I recommend Identity Craft not for OP but for those in Los Angeles that may be in the same position. How can you go wrong with Pottery Barn/Crate and Barrel/Z Gallerie style without the price, much better quality (hard wood frames, hand tying), made in California, and completely customized (choose your fabric from thousands of choices, depth of the cushions, slip cover vs. tailored, style of the legs, order extra pillows, decide between various down content, add a sleeper sofa)? I scoured the area when buying our living room furniture and didn't find anything that even came close for quality, choice and price. They keep prices down by operating out of 2 warehouse locations. The website isn't great, but you can check it out: here. Their warehouses are arranged like a showroom.