SuperJail Warden
Gone Forever
+634|3689
Since some of you are pieces of background furniture, I was thinking about furniture. You really know you have reached adulthood when you finance pieces of furniture.

So to begin: how many bookshelves are too many? Living room bookshelves are classy but what about hallway or bedroom bookshelves?
https://i.imgur.com/5E5AijJ.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/xsoGn9X.jpg
unnamednewbie13
Moderator
+2,053|6741|PNW

Why does this person have a hall of mirrors?
SuperJail Warden
Gone Forever
+634|3689

unnamednewbie13 wrote:

Why does this person have a hall of mirrors?
Maybe they are French or French adjacent.


https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hall_of_Mirrors
https://i.imgur.com/xsoGn9X.jpg
uziq
Member
+492|3422
my hallways are lined with bookshelves, waist-high. they're good sideboards. my living room has two big floor-to-ceiling bookshelves on either side of the television.

my bedroom has another floor-to-ceiling bookshelf and then like a little narrow one next to the door, one of those cubby-hole ones.

why would you ever have too many?
KEN-JENNINGS
I am all that is MOD!
+2,973|6602|949

I have a bookshelf in my bedroom, and then have an entertainment (?) piece in the living room that is full of books and records and lots of kitsch from my travels.

There's really no reason to finance furniture unless they offer 0% financing. Either you can afford it or you can't.

I replaced a lot of my furniture over the last 3 months. New bed, new TV,  new sectional, new TV stand. Ive been putting off the sound system, but ill probably redo that in the summer.
uziq
Member
+492|3422
a lot of my friends are at that stage of purchasing antique-designer scandinavian furniture for a small fortune. you know, tiny wooden dressers upon which to place your very bijou houseplants.

or barcelona chairs or eames chairs or whatever.

i cannot afford it yet and am not yet gassing after it. nice bookshelves are very expensive. as is record storage.
KEN-JENNINGS
I am all that is MOD!
+2,973|6602|949

I spend a lot of money on my hobbies and experiences, because that's what I value. I can't wrap my head around spending ridiculous sums of money on furniture because I don't care about it enough.

To each their own though. I have thousands of dollars worth of other shit that people surely scratch their heads at.
uziq
Member
+492|3422
it's the sort of thing you do when you sign that tacit compact of 'ok, i am not going to be going out much anymore'. i can imagine myself getting into it when i'm settled with The One and no longer want to be out strutting like a peacock in public every weekend. when you don't spend money on drinks or clothes or whatever, sure, surrounding yourself with well-made things can be nice.
Dilbert_X
The X stands for
+1,810|6076|eXtreme to the maX
Secondhand furniture - you can get great quality stuff at less than the price of new garbage, and obviously a tiny fraction of new bespoke.

Deceased estate auctions are the clear winner, it helps if you can do basic repairs yourself. I've made furniture before, fitted cupboards etc.

Unless you can do upholstery stay away from worn or damaged upholstery, getting that fixed costs a fortune. I don't imagine its exactly hard though.

Last edited by Dilbert_X (2020-06-11 07:03:35)

Русский военный корабль, иди на хуй!
SuperJail Warden
Gone Forever
+634|3689
Is home air-conditioning really rare in Europe? I have a window AC in a few rooms.
https://i.imgur.com/xsoGn9X.jpg
KEN-JENNINGS
I am all that is MOD!
+2,973|6602|949

I've been to my fair share of estate sales. You really have to get there early on the first day to find anything, and even then, with the advent of the internet and popularity of those picking shows its hard to find value. All you see nowadays are people walking around looking up info on their phones.
uziq
Member
+492|3422

SuperJail Warden wrote:

Is home air-conditioning really rare in Europe? I have a window AC in a few rooms.
yes, very rare in the UK.
SuperJail Warden
Gone Forever
+634|3689

uziq wrote:

SuperJail Warden wrote:

Is home air-conditioning really rare in Europe? I have a window AC in a few rooms.
yes, very rare in the UK.
Why?
https://i.imgur.com/xsoGn9X.jpg
uziq
Member
+492|3422
much older houses and buildings, of course, as well as cultural differences. in europe we just open windows and encourage some fresh-air exchange, maaaan.

in germany, for example, it is incredibly common in all weathers for the windows to be thrown wide open for 15 minutes. even if it's freezing.

we have central radiators for heat, mostly gas-lit boilers, or in modern apartment buidings/conversions sometimes electric heaters.

if it gets too hot and stuffy, we open windows. the climate really isn't that extreme here.
SuperJail Warden
Gone Forever
+634|3689

uziq wrote:

much older houses and buildings, of course, as well as cultural differences. in europe we just open windows and encourage some fresh-air exchange, maaaan.

in germany, for example, it is incredibly common in all weathers for the windows to be thrown wide open for 15 minutes. even if it's freezing.

we have central radiators for heat, mostly gas-lit boilers, or in modern apartment buidings/conversions sometimes electric heaters.

if it gets too hot and stuffy, we open windows. the climate really isn't that extreme here.
You don't need a central air conditioning unit to produce cold air. You can just stick one in the window.
https://assurancehvac.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/window-unit.jpg
How hot does it get there? In the summer we often have 90 degree weather.
https://i.imgur.com/xsoGn9X.jpg
KEN-JENNINGS
I am all that is MOD!
+2,973|6602|949

uziq wrote:

much older houses and buildings, of course, as well as cultural differences. in europe we just open windows and encourage some fresh-air exchange, maaaan.

in germany, for example, it is incredibly common in all weathers for the windows to be thrown wide open for 15 minutes. even if it's freezing.

we have central radiators for heat, mostly gas-lit boilers, or in modern apartment buidings/conversions sometimes electric heaters.

if it gets too hot and stuffy, we open windows. the climate really isn't that extreme here.
Spain was hot as shit when I was there.

How about clothes dryers? I noticed a lot of people don't have them
KEN-JENNINGS
I am all that is MOD!
+2,973|6602|949

SuperJail Warden wrote:

uziq wrote:

much older houses and buildings, of course, as well as cultural differences. in europe we just open windows and encourage some fresh-air exchange, maaaan.

in germany, for example, it is incredibly common in all weathers for the windows to be thrown wide open for 15 minutes. even if it's freezing.

we have central radiators for heat, mostly gas-lit boilers, or in modern apartment buidings/conversions sometimes electric heaters.

if it gets too hot and stuffy, we open windows. the climate really isn't that extreme here.
You don't need a central air conditioning unit to produce cold air. You can just stick one in the window.

How hot does it get there? In the summer we often have 90 degree weather.
isnt Rome at roughly the same latitude as NY?
SuperJail Warden
Gone Forever
+634|3689

KEN-JENNINGS wrote:

SuperJail Warden wrote:

uziq wrote:

much older houses and buildings, of course, as well as cultural differences. in europe we just open windows and encourage some fresh-air exchange, maaaan.

in germany, for example, it is incredibly common in all weathers for the windows to be thrown wide open for 15 minutes. even if it's freezing.

we have central radiators for heat, mostly gas-lit boilers, or in modern apartment buidings/conversions sometimes electric heaters.

if it gets too hot and stuffy, we open windows. the climate really isn't that extreme here.
You don't need a central air conditioning unit to produce cold air. You can just stick one in the window.

How hot does it get there? In the summer we often have 90 degree weather.
isnt Rome at roughly the same latitude as NY?
Something like that.
https://i.imgur.com/s5asVxq.jpg
The reason why the Spanish and Portuguese ended up in the Gulf and the English ended up on the East Coast is because the currents and winds of the Atlantic push you south.

Last edited by SuperJail Warden (2020-06-11 15:02:32)

https://i.imgur.com/xsoGn9X.jpg
uziq
Member
+492|3422
the latitude isn't really directly relevant. our climate is caused more by the gulf stream and warm waters/air. it's very mild, not newfoundland.

during summer heat waves it might get above 30 degrees celsius for a few days. we open doors and windows. we have fans, desk fans, ceiling fans. they get used for all of about a week a year, to be honest. we sleep with the windows open, if necessary. we change bedsheets with the seasons. i don't know what to say to you? we have adapted so that we never miss air-conditioning.

isn't air-conditioning expensive a shit to run? why would you throw a giant unit in a window frame when you can just ... open up the window? lots of buildings here have old-style french or sash windows. you can literally just throw the whole thing up and it lets in/out a lot of air.

How about clothes dryers? I noticed a lot of people don't have them
clothes driers are more common, especially in modern buildings or apartments, but we generally tend to air-dry things. again, it's probably for cultural reasons more than the technological wherewithal. i have a clothes drier but i never use it. only for towels or bedsheets or large things i need in a trice. putting clothes in the drier ruins them and ages them like 10x as fast.

it seems like europe in general just has a less energy-consuming and wasteful approach to things? i don't know.
unnamednewbie13
Moderator
+2,053|6741|PNW

There's probably a threshold between practicality and wastefulness. If there's good air circulation, raising the temp by a few degrees on an AC can lower operating costs without really compromising comfort. On hot days, I'll run mine at maybe 24 degrees and use a fan to help circulate.

At the very least it helps keep laundry down if I'm not changing sheets every day or shirts several times per.
Dilbert_X
The X stands for
+1,810|6076|eXtreme to the maX

KEN-JENNINGS wrote:

I've been to my fair share of estate sales. You really have to get there early on the first day to find anything, and even then, with the advent of the internet and popularity of those picking shows its hard to find value. All you see nowadays are people walking around looking up info on their phones.
Hipsters have a lot to answer for. Also I guess California doesn't really have a reservoir of 17th-19th century furniture.
Picking shows have a lot to answer for too.

Every niche enthusiast website in the world: "Picker-"I BOUGHT THIS NICHE DOODAD - TELL ME ITS WORTH MORE THAN I PAID FOR IT""
The rusty old gun/motorcycle/oil lamp you bought - its probably worth what you paid for it, quite a lot less more likely.
Русский военный корабль, иди на хуй!
Dilbert_X
The X stands for
+1,810|6076|eXtreme to the maX

uziq wrote:

it seems like europe in general just has a less energy-consuming and wasteful approach to things? i don't know.
Or just different weather, I don't know.

There's a big difference between continental weather and coastal weather, most of europes 'hot' areas, and they aren't really hot, are on the coast.
Continental weather systems last a lot longer. There's a big fat difference between two days of 40+ and two weeks. And most of europe, except bristol apparently, doesn't really get too humid.
Русский военный корабль, иди на хуй!
uziq
Member
+492|3422
yes but it still doesn’t explain why we have access to all the same appliances but seldom use them. how many american homes have clothes lines?
Dilbert_X
The X stands for
+1,810|6076|eXtreme to the maX
Americans are lazy.
Русский военный корабль, иди на хуй!
Jay
Bork! Bork! Bork!
+2,006|5328|London, England
The sun bleaches your clothes
"Ah, you miserable creatures! You who think that you are so great! You who judge humanity to be so small! You who wish to reform everything! Why don't you reform yourselves? That task would be sufficient enough."
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