Middle to high-end upholstery
blueDenube
19 years ago
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QBerkeley
19 years agosue_ct
19 years agoRelated Discussions
Rowe Furniture: Good or Bad?
Comments (119)We purchased the Sylvie Sectional through our designer earlier this year. It finally arrived after 6 months and within weeks it looked awful. The fabric pills and is even coming apart at some seams. The cushions do not hold their shape and we already had them replaced by the company as a "one time favor." The seat cushions are so unsupportive and just sink. It's truly embarrassing to have this couch when all of our other furniture is so nice. People ask us if it is our old couch since our remodel. I'm not exaggerating when I say that our IKEA sectional lasted us and was more comfortable than this sectional that we spent over 7k on. We are so disappointed and left with no recourse. I will never again buy a Rowe or Robin Bruce product. This was supposed to last us 10 years and it's barely made it a few months....See MoreIs it OK to mix 'high end' with 'low end' in a kitchen?
Comments (56)To me, there's nothing wrong with mixing "high end" and lower cost, functional good-quality kitchen components. More important to me is to avoid the waste implied in buying things that will not last or that will certainly become unfashionable. I live in a working class neighborhood, mostly little 1950s houses with lots of retirees, including myself. Although our lot is on a lake, this property will NEVER command top dollar because of the settlement pattern of the community. The recession has really hurt home values here; I thought our house was $275,000 to $300,000 because of previous improvements, but I believe that it's now $220,000 and that was before we launched a major addition, geothermal, and new siding, etc. No matter what we sink into the house, it's for us, not for resale or peer pressure. We have decided to retain the 30 inch refrigerator we bought last year (an emergency purchase) but to put it in a position where a larger unit could some day fit. No wooden housing around it. We are keeping our old electric range, but are adding a portable induction burner that can be set out on the countertop to increase functionality. There is room for another oven on a wall outside our new G shaped kitchen, but I don't think I will be the one to buy it (unless my grown children move back to live nearby); a portable roaster oven will suffice to augment the baking and roasting for large gatherings. We use our outdoor gas grill in all seasons for grilling. My husband enjoys the ritual of being the griller and he shovels the access space before dinner parties. The broiler in the old range suffices if he doesn't want to venture outdoors. We are retaining our existing dishwasher. Our big innovation is to add a second sink to the kitchen. All sinks and appliances are white. My muse is the idea of a "workshop kitchen." I am not trying to reproduce any particular theme, unless it is a farm kitchen that processes a lot of food in season. I do hope to make the kitchen work as a functional, welcoming space for myself and husband now that we're empty nesters and for events when we have visitors, whether large or small groups. Laminate for countertops is sufficient and my ego does not require anything more dazzling on the countertops, although there will be slabs of butcherblock on either side of the stove. Hubby decided to go with hardwood floor and install it and finish it himself, although I was ready to order the vinyl. We have found a local cabinetmaker who said he would meet the price of a sample plan of readymade cabinets from the Big Box home stores. Now, we're adding custom touches to the cabinetry plans, not in decorative features but real utility features, such as tapping the space that was wasted in "spacers" between boxes. All materials are American made, or American harvested. Except for the old siding and walls and flooring, very little is going to the landfill. Furnace went to the scrap metal guy. My own eccentricities will add all the "pop" and pizzaz that this kitchen will need. Fabric, color, laminate choice, color of stain, art, displays of collections-- a creative outlet without a high end price tag. We have splurged on a bank of windows and a few light fixtures (No, we're not putting in "cans" because the ceiling feeds to an attic where we're fighting heat loss.) We are working very hard to live within our means, following the requirements of good sense and ignoring consumer manias. When I get myself too fired up about making a more upscale purchase, I remind myself that the photos, the ad copy, the home shows and the open houses, are all there to facilitate SELLING, not living. Here in Minnesota, where granite is quarried, I know that some of the rock countertops are fairly reasonable, but as I have declared elsewhere on this forum, I refuse to purchase anything that is sold with a "how to care for it" bottle of something and some warnings about how to protect the finish. In many ways, by definition, I am free from the pressures that other posters feel in order to keep up with the neighborhood, to make a kitchen that defines a house value, or to prepare for the brutal house market. I don't envy the young and broke. But I was there once and I not only survived but thrived on it. The original kitchen in this house was painted baby blue without concern for the cathair? gobs in the paint and the kitchen 'table' had a hinge so we could access the refrigerator. My hubby and my carpenter father and a different local cabinetmaker came up with a sufficient re-do that we have appreciated since right before the Bicentennial. I raised two sensible daughters in that modest kitchen. This doesn't mean I'm not agonizing over choices today, though. "Leave me alone, I'm thinking!" is a common mantra right now. Today's musing: Do I want to order fancier cupboard doors? It's always something. Enjoy your day. Florantha...See MoreIn the Middle of a Budget (Middle to High End) Renovation
Comments (17)I love hearing other peoples bargain stories! And your kitchen looks great (in the pictures in your other thread). What a great deal on that spectacular sink! Remodelfla-I would love to see your cherry vanity! I really like what you did with the baker's table, too. Bethandkevin-sounds like you have found some great deals, too! Our floor was kind of a splurge, but yet a savings, too. We bought walnut flooring from a friend who does high end floors, but my dh handscraped it and installed it himself. We finished it fairly dark, too, and I love it! We have found some great bargains and some great splurges on stuff we couldn't have afforded new by shopping craiglist, auctions, garage sales, etc. We have probably saved about $6000 on the things we have bought-viking range, SS apron front sink, trash compactor, hood, etc. Its fun to see the pieces coming together finally-we have been working on our kitchen for almost two years. It is in a new location, though, so I still have my old kitchen. We are redoing our whole house bit by bit, so I have wood, tile, fixtures, patio door, lighting, fireplaces,french doors (my most recent bargain-$40 at a garage sale, brand new, and they are a perfect match to the stain on the other doors!) and various other bits and pieces of "house" that we have picked up along the way. I am not quite as diligent about checking craiglist every day, though. Most of the kitchen stuff and the two baths in progress has been purchased, though. I should start looking for the backsplash. I'm not quite ready mentally to switch gears to the next phase of our remodel (dining room, living room, master bedroom, office, and laundry). That won't start until the end of June at the earliest. Our baby is due in about three weeks, and I need to switch focus to finishing up preparing for our newest little one. Trying to get this kitchen done has made the time go by fast! I almost got soapstone for my countertops for $300, but there was just not quite enough no matter how we tried to lay it out. I haven't had any brainstorms on how to "stretch" it to fit, either. Although it is probably worth the drive to see it, though, and maybe it would match the small remnant I saw at a local fabricators...It would be so nice to make a decision on countertops, but neither dh or I can quite commit to full price for stone. Who knows how long we will live with the temporary painted MDF that we put in just to get this kitchen functioning....See MoreWill high end appliances really do much for resale?
Comments (16)We sold our house last year. It was getting about 5 people going through it a day.. a DAY.. and would not sell. There were people down the road that sold in a day and others that were not getting 5 people a month. We got the traffic due to the beautiful deck. We did not sell due to the counters not being granite. In fact.. it almost did not sell due to popcorn ceilings. The appliances looked new and were only about 4-5 years old... all matching. Rule of thumb, people are finicky. No telling what will float their boat. If you have old crappy appliances, upgrade, but upgrade to the least expensive stainless ones you can, but make sure they match. People do not want old, and they do not want to have to do it themselves. If they see shiny bling.. they will not pick on it as much.. but there WILL be people that will hit you on everything... just do not spend a lot of money on a house you plan to sell. R...See MoreQBerkeley
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