ohny - part II

After finishing our shift on Saturday we headed to Nolita to check out a private residence that opened its doors for OHNY. I always love to peak into other people's homes, see how they live and sometimes even imagine myself living there.

This apartment was designed by I-Beam Design. While emailing with one of the founders of I-Beam Design I found out that both founders had Raimund Abraham as a professor and mentor while studying Architecture. What a great coincidence! (see previous post) With its six windows this apartment feels light and airy. Another feature that underlines the openness are the sliding doors that were left open when I visited but can be used to close off the dining room and the bedroom. When open they give you a good sense of the whole space.

I can't believe I was able to snap pictures without any people in them because there were at least 10-12 people in the space.

ohny 2011 - part I

This weekend marked the 9th year of openhousenewyork. OHNY is dedicated to give New Yorkers and tourists alike the chance to experience the architecture of the city. Participating locations range from historic landmarks to private residences and everything in between. For more information visit the www.ohny.org website, also if you are not in New York check if your city is part of open house worldwide.

It was my third year as a volunteer for OHNY, this year I was assigned to the Austrian Cultural Forum New York which was designed by Raimund Abraham. Construction was completed in 2002. The building features a theater, library and reading area, conference and seminar spaces, offices and a private residence. They even offer free tours Monday - Friday. For more information about the building and the Austrian Culture Forum and its events please check out www.acfny.org.

new (old) chairs

Another post for the category one man's trash is another man's treasure...

This chair and five other ones just like it were sitting on the side of the road on trash day across the street from our house a little over a week ago. First I took only one home but later thought having a pair would be nice. Even later that evening I went out again to snatch two more because you can never have too many chairs and four of a kind would even be better than a pair. Well already someone beat me to it and there was only one chair left. Boohoo! But I took the last one home and now I have three more projects sitting in the basement. Let's hope for a long & cold winter so I can hole myself up in the basement and finish everything...

Some parts of the wood frames took quite a beating in their lifetime and will have to be sanded and refinished. The seat cushion and backrest are upholstered with Vinyl, some have small holes in them. Also they are a bit smelly, they might have been sitting in somebody's basement for a while. A new fabric to replace the vinyl will also bring the chairs back to life.

As you can see in the last picture they have been made by Boling Chair Company in 1971, which makes them officially older than me ;)

blog award

Back in August I got a blog award from A76. Thank you so much!

I'm very sorry that it took me so long to reply to it. A76 nominated me for the "tell me about you" award. So I'll have to share 7 things about me now...

1. In my lunch break I like to stop by Home Depot. This one is probably one of the nicest looking ones from the outside.

2. I love french fries with Mayo. My favorite fries are the ones from In-N-Out Burger. Maybe it's because I only get them about once or twice a year.

3. Another food obsession of mine is licorice.

4. I like to ride my bike. If the weather is nice (no rain/snow) I'll bike to the train station to get to work.

5. I love fall with all the beautiful colored leaves.

6. This is the view from my office window.

7. I want to take an upholstery class so I can reupholster this chair and hopefully many more after that.

You're more than welcome to share something about you as well! :)

bees

We have some unwanted roomies (bees, hornets?) living in the corner of one of our windows - luckily they live on the outside. They will get an eviction notice soon because we don't want them to start building their house in our walls etc...It's looks beautiful though...

finished plycraft chair

The Plydraft chair I rescued back in April from being thrown into the garbage is finally finished. After gluing the cracked plywood back together I sanded the backrest/armrest and decided on staining it Dark Walnut from Minwax. To protect the wood I applied two or three layers of Minwax Polycrylic in semi-gloss.

The base got a good cleaning and was polished with brasso. I also replaced the feet with new ones. Because I couldn't find plastic ones that matched the last one that was still in place I bought metal swivel glides. Then it was time to pick a fabric which was actually the hardest part. I ordered a bunch of fabric samples through work. First I wanted to go black and white as usual but then decided to go with some color and ended up with turquoise*.

Taking of the fabric revealed some dry rot and I had to replace the foam. Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures of rebuilding the seat.

And now, without further ado, here is the finished result. My very first upholstery project. Not too bad right? The first picture is actually a little reminder of what the chair looked like when I got it...

All in all it was a pretty easy project that could have been finished much faster if I had committed more time to it. For all the materials needed I spend about $100, with the fabric being the most expensive item. The fabric I found on ebay for less than the contract price and I still have enough leftover to sew a pillow.

*The fabric is actually called Letters (in 006 Aqua) by Gunnar Aagaard Andersen, 1955 from the Maharam Textiles of The 20th Century® collection.

german unity day - tag der deutschen einheit

Today is German Unity Day. Just found this photo while sorting through the pictures I took during the last weeks and thought it fit. The Empire State Building was lit in the colors of the German flag (black, red and yellow) the third weekend in September for the Steuben Parade. Although we didn't see the parade we celebrated Oktoberfest in Central Park :)