EDF - furnish my house!

[guids]

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.

[LuckOfTheDraw]

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.

[turnipmonster]

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.

[El Diablo]

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.

[beeyjay]

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.

[Paluka]

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.

[Mermade]

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.