With Grant out listening to what I'm sure is a titillating Accounting 1 lecture (for him, it probably is), Dr Who-bama and I thought it was a good time to capture a shot of The Who molting all over our new chair. Yes, after three years of Grant lying in bed looking at Scandinavian furniture centrefolds, we finally lashed out and bought our very own piece of Scando furniture that did not come from Ikea.
Pictured above is Grant's new baby - a 1960s Danish armchair with mismatching foot stool in brick leather and whatever kind of timber that is. Teak? I forgot to ask. Shame on me. I am clearly not enough of a design junkie. Said chair was purchased from the Three Quarters gallery on Gertrude Street in Fitzroy, where we received fantastic service on both days that we visited this last week. We also checked out their warehouse in Kerr Street, behind the Evelyn Hotel, where we again received outstanding service from the very lovely Len. It's so nice to shop somewhere that is run by knowledgeable people with a true passion for what they are selling.
It was a hard decision in the end as the warehouse and gallery were filled with a plethora of awesome furniture and reminded me (as if I needed it) why I love Scando design so much. Everything is beautiful and functional. I could have bought about 15 new pieces in the one sitting - telephone tables and tiny bedsides with treasure troves of ingenious compartments, high-backed fabric armchairs, big comfy sofas and illuminated beer signs. And then I remembered that we live in a two bedroom apartment and that I'm afraid of bigger dwellings anyway.
The chair purchase was part of an overall nesting change that we are making at the moment. We have decided to have a living area that does not revolve around the television. Our 32" weirdly-cheap-imported-from-China TV has been relegated to the study and we have set the armchair up along the former 'television wall', with a bookcase in the middle. The intention is to buy a new chair to go on the other side of the bookcase, a space currently inhabited by the CD storage. We're thinking the PearsonLloyd Flow chair and foot stool but that's still a few months off so it could change.
I've just been thinking how odd it is that in the bulk of Australian homes (and I suspect, in a lot of other countries), the living area is entirely based around the television. For the first few months in our apartment, we lived without a television. And you know, I really didn't miss it. We had the weirdo China TV on order and didn't see the point of buying another TV to fill in the gap. That was until I bought Grant an X-Box 360 for his birthday and the China shipment was delayed. Then it just seemed cruel so we went out and bought a little 19" set. This is now on top of the bookshelf as we apparently aren't ready to go cold turkey. I think things will be easier once we have a stereo system set up and can listen to the radio with good quality speakers. I like having the TV on sometimes just for the noise if I'm home alone.
With the television as a focal point, it is so easy just to come home and veg out without thinking about what you are doing. Especially when your brain is dead from a hectic day at work. I'm hoping to build up our stock of games and maybe get a coffee table and put out some drawing or colouring-in supplies to fill the gap. And then there's always reading and talking.
So stay tuned to find out how this little experiment goes and whether Grant flips out when he gets home and finds The Who hanging out in his new chair.
General Sumo recommends:
Gallery - 128 Gertrude Street, Fitzroy, Victoria
Warehouse - Rear 28 Kerr Street, Fitzroy, Victoria (behind the Evelyn Hotel)
Beautiful imported, vintage Scandinavian furniture. Len at the warehouse was only too happy to oblige our annoying requests to take several chairs off of the shelves to try out. Just quietly, I'd also like to live in the gallery.
South gin and tonic with cucumber
Free pour the gin. Not because you're that cool, just because you can't be bothered getting those nails out of the shot measure and washing it.
Kitten champagne
Because the kitten in your life also deserves something special (sparkling mineral water). Sure, he might pretend he's not interested but he is. Oh he is.
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