department of the interior: home decor

My couch of six years is starting to look its age due to being in the sun all day and me being weak willed about letting the dog hang out on it. I never knew this place existed until June when I happened to walk in and see this couch, which is lower, wider, and with wider arms than my current one which are the things I wish I could change about it:

http://www.westelm.com/products/lorimer-sofa-g149/

now that's a sick sofa

I approve of this sofa

hell yes. would sof.

http://kylethewilson.wordpress.com/2012/05/27/diy-wall-bike-hanger/

Haha that's great! I don't have an extra set of bars but I'll put that on the shortlist for dealing with my Langster this winter.

You can buy coloured electrical tape too, match your decor. What a cool idea!

"extra bars" should be easy enough to come by, i should think.

tho the need for extra parts for lil diy projects, and my recent stupid experience with losing a g-d cap bolt for my crankset, has shored up my belief that there needs to be something like a corner hardware store for bike stuff. like, i am in here to find A stem, any stem, don't care, where I can I get some spacers, brake levers, "small parts," etc. some kind of place where they don't sell bikes, or clothes, or whatever, just USED BIKE PARTS, preferably in bins that i can sort through

nb i have a very detailed business plan for such a place, i await yr inquiries

The place I used to go to women's workshop nights was in fact like that, but I don't know of anywhere else that is. Otherwise you are absolutely correct.

The margin on that stuff, as your biznez plan no doubt states, is absolutely abysmal, however.

oh yeah the place i went in Chicago was like that, too, but that's just because it was a workshop. see also Yojimbo's, which is where a bike wizard lives, and where he keeps ~ingredients~ ready to hand

i say run it as a non-profit, and take complete bikes as donations. think of it as a library of sorts. there's a lot of old rides out there that are worthless complete, but that could be valuable ("valuable") when parted out

anyway that is OFF TOPIC

That's basically what Transportation Alternatives is, I think? Or was, when their "bike kitchen" was in the basement of that blgd on Houston, which I realize is no longer where they're located. I should try them again. Maybe they want my 3-spd parts (relevant to your post above).

The real and only reason I haven't given my 3spd away yet for parts is that I'm not sure I can ghost it far enough to get it anywhere. Saaaad.

i think that's called a "bike coop"?!?

pretty sure there's one in berkeley that's exactly like that + people that will do bike repair + used bikes for sale

but yeah it's all like valves and screws and nuts in sorted plastic bins sold for quarters and dimes prices

there's one of these in, like, every major city/college town.

there actually isn't

also i do not want ppl that will do bike repair or used bikes, i want a place where i can just go in and buy the stupid parts i want and leave

well you can do that at the bike coop too

i think the bikes are in front, then the parts, then at the back dudes at a counter, they will do work behind the counter or let you pay to use their tools and benches, or you can just grab what you need and pay and go

i think there was one at stanford and ucsd too but my memory is really fuzzy these days

i am going to try that bike thing in front of a window, will let you know how it goes!

do it, i would except i have a shed that does it already

monetize that shed foo

i can't it's full of bikes i use and can't sell :(

you fail to believe, and that is why you fail

Recycled Cycles in Seattle is like this - they sell new stuff, do repairs, etc. but also have bins with tons of used parts out on the floor that you can dig through at your leisure. It's the greatest.

I went to crate & barrel today. I tried out the Margot, in the sofa version, which I liked, but then I fell in love with the Vaughn at 76 inches. I don't know why, it just felt right.

http://m.crateandbarrel.com/vaughn-apartment-sofa/s187448

Then, I went to room and board. I was surprised to find an affordable sofa I liked, the Murray at 72 inches. However the reviews make plumping the pillows seem problematic.
http://www.roomandboard.com/rnb/m/product/detail.do?articleNumber=227930&an=0_227930&productGroup=3301

Next, I went to cb2 where I found a kind of comfy simple sofa at 74 inches, the club sofa. Not as stylin as the above two, but maybe less maintenance?

http://m.cb2.com/club-caper-sofa/f7278

I'm leaning toward the last one now. Thoughts?

The last one would make me crazy because the arms are too high to rest your elbow on, but if that's not your thing then vaya con dios.

i agree that, the arms give it that weird boxed-in feeling i don't like in a sofa

i think the room and board one is very nice, but personally i don't like the colors much (i would probably only go for an off-white sofa, myself)

i like the vaughn a lot but it's expensive

I didn't even notice the lack of arms, but now its a problem for me.

Maybe I should go back to the Margot, but the sofa, not the loveseat. They only had the sofa on display and it looked small enough. I couldn't really get comfortable with it, because there were some annoying people camped out on it.

face it you want the vaughn

Haha, I love the Vaughn, but I'm afraid I sink too far into the cushion, and the person next to me would sink too far into the adjacent cushion, and then any chances of awkward couch groping would be forestalled.

sounds like it would already be on at that point

i'm working on a mobile

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8310/8016262739_36aae6d198.jpg

'Em 'r partridges!

close, california quail

http://26.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lxmexmIoRT1qeeqk5o1_500.jpg

it does look like the "Get happy" thing

i don't like that crate barrell sofa. the dearest one is the best.

I haven't tried it out in person yet, but the Henry sofa (in gray) from West Elm seems like it might be a good compromise between look and comfort.

http://www.westelm.com/products/henry-sofa-g178/?pkey=csectional-sofas

c-sectional-sofas

CUSTOM CUSHIONS!

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8035/8027956153_416508dd71.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8458/8027974887_9d712da494.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8315/8027966685_5afdeee852.jpg

$20!

Nice!!

I wonder if there is a smart and beautiful way to display a lot of differently sized/shaped pieces of paper that have ended up looking quite ugly the way they are now. We have all the thank you notes from bands who have slept/eaten here on a wall, probably ~100. The wall is full and i'm annoyed of what they look like. people like to read them and look at them, though. Any ideas?

collage them onto a few canvas squares? or in large photo frames? that way you can break them up a bit through the house and have them not be all in one big monolithic 'thing'?

mount them all onto heavy cardboard backings with electrical tape "frames"? (but I love shabby chic)

i would say mount them into large photo frames and make a tasteful frame cluster, or if they're small enough pile them on a shelf

or: open a bar in your garage and varnish them to the ceiling

photo frames for 100+ notes would be so expensive was my main concern

I had a vision before falling asleep of many rows of top aligned notes, possibly loosely sorted in each row to go from bigger to smaller l to r