649 6th

it's alive (again)

The weekend before Christmas, and all through the house, two creatures were stirring--and thanks to this mouse, here's a pic and a post. (Can you spot the blouse?)

Amazing how long this project took to mature. The plywood cabinets and shelving boxes have been stacked more or less in place for close to two YEARS, waiting for paint and assembly. To be fair, we thought the entire construction would require leveling for the long intersection to run true, rather than askew. Also we weren't settled on the best way to hang the shelves off the cabinets. But most of all, we were lazy and accepted their disassembled state as placeholder. 

No more! The entire space is receiving fresh attention. The dressing room on other side of the shelving will be receiving clothes very soon. And that means no more trips to the basement just to get dressed. What wild times we're living in!

when is 1/2 enough?

Quick break from cabinet design to say hello. Tomorrow we'll get the scanner going and share some sketches.

Question to the readership: 1/2" or 3/4" plywood construction? 3/4" will be ultra sturdy, and for the dimensions, eg 4' x 6' closets and 8' run of bookshelving, will be good proportion. The kitchen cabinets are also 3/4"; felt then and still feels now like the right weight, but can't stop myself from wondering otherwise.

danish treat

Unexpectedly, we found a deal we couldn't pass up. Visiting friends in Hobart New York a few years back, we became infatuated with a recliner. I'm not sure which came first our decision to go mid century Danish or seeing that chair. We never found one in the right condition until we were pretty "funitured-up".

Walking home the other day we saw a woman selling one in the local flee market. It was in mint condition. The woman thought it was "some sort of cheap lazy boy".  I've been looking at them on ebay and knew that for the price she was asking we could at least resell it for a profit.

...that was until I sat in it. It is the most c o m f o r t a b l e chair ever!

recovering

We got the cushions back for the three piece couch sectional. The foam is not quite as dense as it needs to be to drape over the springs. Other than that they look pretty good...

yardage

I moved to New York about 16 years ago exactly. Slowly Progressing from the East Village to the South Slope in Brooklyn I've seen a few neighborhoods change. We had been looking for upholstery fabric to redo the three Danish pieces we got on ebay back in the Spring

I had been shopping at places like ABC carpet. Their selection is not nearly what it used to be but their prices remained well... retail. I longed for the days of old musty, saw-dusty smelling fabric dealers on lower Broadway and the lower east side.

It was about the time I realized the American Apparel had replaced my favorite fabric store on Orchard St. that it dawned on me. Manhattan was really no longer that different than the rest of America. A broad array of consumer choices where even the most rarefied material has been homogenized and packaged for easy digestion

What Manhattan represented to me 16 years ago is sort of gone. What's replaced it isn't necessarily bad, it's just different. The fabric dealers I long for did not disappear they just moved deeper into the boroughs. I'm not saying that a Dunkin Donuts on every block is a good option but like it or not, walk down 5th Ave from 23rd to Washington Square-- I challenge you to find a shop owner that's not either 1) struggling to hang on or 2) part of a much larger chain that can be found in malls near you.  But I digress...pardon the rant.   

I finally found this guy on Broadway South of Canal. I walked in, he asked me what I wanted. "I'm looking for a canvas or perhaps a wool, very plain for plain cushions." He showed me a few things. Nothing really blew me away. Then he asked me what I was covering. I told him about the pieces and he said, "I have the perfect thing". And he did, it's a Knoll remainder that there was plenty of to do all 11 cushions of the three pieces. Just for a moment it was 1990 again.

more danish lines

For a couple of weeks we have been pretending that work is done and we've moved into the second floor (oh if only that were true). Most of that notion comes from us picking up a bit more Danish modern furniture off of eBay. This time it was a three piece modular couch set containing to straight pieces with arms on opposite ends and one slightly over 90 degree corner piece.

The construction and line works well with the Z chair and the expanding bench. The cushions are vintage. That means that the fabric has seen better days and the foam is disintegrating from within. I'm told that the type of fabric that traditionally covers most mid century Danish is called wool boucle. I've started searching around for it on line but will more than likely end up trekking over to ABC Carpet see some in person.

For the most part the wood is in great condition. It could use a little TLC but all-in-all not that bad. We got it from a dealer out on Long Island. We had paid for it via pay pal. When we showed up no one was home. The pieces were sitting on their front porch under a tarp. Without hesitation we loaded into the truck and drove off. It did belong to us after all.

Finally, the last "moving in" touch on the second floor, I've begun experimenting with screen.  We're considering folding screen to make sculptural blinds for the windows on the first floor. I would like to claim the idea as my own but must give credit to my friend and artist Prudence Gill.She showed me many years ago how wonderful and deeply textured light playing off the aluminum facets can be.

all gussied up

much like the run up to the party in early february, there was a flurry of activity recently. regarding the saga of the stairs I need say no more (semi-final installment will be posted very soon). lots of drywall, lots and lots of drywall. I never want to see the stuff again.

there was even a little electrical thrown in. michael got a quick lesson from the electrician and wired all of the lighting for the soffits on the second floor himself. the 12 gauge wire can be a bit cantankerous to bend, but it does make for excellent (and to code) wiring.

on saturday night my niece, lily, was in town visiting us from new hampshire. saturday morning before birthday dinner party, we had a van load of debris hauled out of the house... again. it's always such a pleasure, it's like pressing the reset button. my friend AB who was over for dinner (a craftsman by trade) said his ultimate luxury would be to have trash pick-up on site every day. I think I have to second that.

we knocked the dust back to 0 and uncovered the new furniture. amazing how our job site is advancing from house to home. forgot to take a shot of the table set for its first official meal in the new dining room. and yes, we bought a brulee torch...cause you can never have enough tools.

mod danes

Before moving in we got rid of all but a bit of our furniture. So furnishing is mostly a clean slate. Since we're working this Dutch, boat, mod, hand crafted, life of science and learning, wabi sabi sort of aesthetic we needed to think about how that would translate into furniture. At Christmas we got a book of Danish chairs. There's a particular mid century teak style that was sort  ubiquitous in the 70's that we thought fit exceedingly well. Thus we began, like we do everything, reading more about it and tracking auctions on eBay.

After meeting with the tax man the other day and finally calculating the benefits of buying a house we decided now might be the time to actually see what we could find. So, we headed back to eBay. First we had a couple of items sniped from in the last seconds of the auction. Just as well, we finally found and won a couple pieces that are pretty swell.

It's funny, on eBay the best way to find 20th century Danish furniture is to search for Eames, even if it's not Eames you are looking for it usually is tagged "Eames era". I've been looking at auctions for the better part of a year now. I've seen a lot of stuff come and go and have a pretty good sense for what to look for in details and how that translates into price. That being said, I was pleasantly surprised that the chair we locked on didn't go nearly as high as I expected, but who am I to complain.

The first purchase was this Geroge Nelson expanding slat bench 18" by 4"7" closed 8' fully expanded. This will be a coffee table/bench on the second floor. I think the moving parts in a clever design were at the root of the appeal.

The true find was this second piece a Poul Jensen "Z" chair.The amount of wood shaping in this piece is awe inspiring. I wish I had the patience to craft something like this myself. Every piece tapers neatly into the next,there are no hard edges or 90 degree joints to be found, yet it's nothing but angular in design. I think it's the one chair (and we have looked at hundreds) that when we both saw it we immediately thought, "that's the chair."

In other news I am pleased to announce that ALL drywall work is done on the 3rd floor. The remaining amount that covers the soffits on the second floor can be cut on the first and installed. So... all of the drywall that had been leaning against walls all over the second and third floors is used up or gone. It's really starting to look like a house up there.

nodding off

When we moved to the new house I finally got rid of the art bed that I had made to a scale that fit my old East Village apartment. At four feet, it wasn't even an option in the new house. We had done it for two years and no matter how strong our attraction, it's not a lot of room. We decided to sleep on the air mattress that we have for guests. We always touted that it was as comfortable as a regular bed-- well after two months of sleeping on it I was kinda singing a different tune.

The main concern with getting a new bed was all of the dust that will be created when demo begins. Also, sleeping on the air mattress I thought was spare in a way that might nudge the house renovations along. However, my back wasn't dealing. When we were at Tim and James house on New Years I felt like an old broken down man. Then I found the bed, it was the most amazing mattress I had ever been on.

Practically the next day we bought one. It's one of those space foam beds; visco elastic memory comfort foam. I have to say, now that I've slept on one for a week, it's amazing what a good nights rest will do for you. We got it from Sleepy's it's the knock off version of the original Tempurpedic. I'm told (by a salesman mind you) that Tempurpedic uses exactly the same foam they just no longer have the patent on it so now they can have "generic" brands. Whatever, it was the bed.

There is one problem, I never want to get out of it. I've heard they're to warm, I've heard you can't get out of the heat rut you make, the only thing I've noticed is I don't want to leave it...ever. It's like heroin or something. And like a true junkie I've found ways to rationalize working, eating, watching movies-- all from bed, nodding off periodically. We spent the better portion of the weekend trying to come up with stuff to do that would get us out of bed-- not a lot of success.

Maybe it was just time for a rest. I will say this after sleeping on the mattress and rowing in the basement in the past few weeks my back has never felt better. Oh, I saved the giant plastic bag that it came out of so we can sack it back up during the dustiest of times.