Happy anniversary to me

I started this blog two years ago today. 878 posts later I'm still at it. Thank you for your kind indulgence and great company.

More great papers from Given Campbell

Last week I ran a series of wallpaper designs the great and talented Given Campbell cooked up to express her displeasure with Pat Robertson's latest appalling statement. Given came up with that design when she and I were batting ideas back and forth on Facebook the night previously. Mind you, she came up with that at one in the morning two days before she got married. Now that's what I call a commitment to one's art. Wow.

I've been meaning to write some more about the rest of Given's work for some time and now's as good an opportunity as ever. Given Campbell is a self-taught wallpaper artist and she works alone in a two-room studio in Tampa, FL. Given is the real deal, she's a fine artist by training and she channels that history and passion into her work in wallpaper.

Given's wallpapers are hand made, this is the real deal. She has a large library of stock patterns and takes on requests for custom patterns with enthusiasm. Her work's been featured in such publications as InStyle, Domino, Metropolitan Home, Real Simple, The New York times and too many more to list here. Given Campbell is an artist and an entrepreneur and I'm glad to be able to call her a friend. Spend some time on her website and follow her on Twitter. You'll see what I mean. 

Particle board vs. plywood: an experiment

I get asked a lot of questions about the relative merits of cabinetry constructed with a particle board box as opposed to cabinetry constructed with a plywood box. I find that most people who ask that question are looking for me to agree with whatever their opinion is so I don't argue. It's a topic like religion or politics in a lot of ways. I have my opinions of course and I know what I think is right, but in the interest of peace (and commerce) I keep my mouth shut and nod my head yes.

Some people really, honestly want to know what I think and my usual answer is that plywood construction isn't an automatic indicator of quality or superiority. I tell people that each method has its positives and each has its negatives. Left to my own devices I use both, depending on the job at hand. Particle board tends to cost less and if I can't see it (in the case of a drawer base) why spend the money? Plywood is lighter and can be altered in the field better. See? Each has a strength and a purpose.

Now when I talk about particle board and plywood, I'm talking about the grades of those materials used in better cabinetry. I can't vouch for the inferior versions of those materials because I never deal with them. By better grades I'm talking about 3/4" veneer plywood and 3/4" 165 lb. furniture board that's pressure laminated with a PVC film. Each of those materials carries the same lifetime warranty so I assume they're of equal quality. Further, because the 165 lb. furniture board is held together with solvent-based glues, I've always believed it to be more resistant to water. In fact, I've been told by more cabinetry reps than I can count that it is in fact, more water-resistant than plywood.

When pressed, that's my opinion on the topic, but I have to say that I've never actually tested either of those materials nor have I ever read of such a study. I've always wanted to test it for myself and this week, that's exactly what I'm going to do.

Yesterday at 11:15am, I took a six-inch by six-inch square of 3/4" veneer plywood and a six by six square of laminated particle board and I dropped each of them in a bowl of water.

I've been fishing them out and photographing them at regular intervals and the results have been interesting. I'm going to let them soak for a couple of days and then write everything up in a separate post some time later this week.

In the meantime, anybody care to venture a guess about how this will end up? What do you think happens when these materials get wet? I had all kinds of assumptions about how this would go and so far most of them have been wrong. Who wants to go out on a limb here?

Reader question: can you help me with a small kitchen layout?

Help! Can you help me with a layout design for a small kitchen? It has a lot of challenges and I don't know where to start. I sure could use Candice Olson right now! Behind one wall is the stairs to the basement, the other wall is open to the dining area. The basement wall has a recessed oven and fridge. The width of the kitchen is about nine feet and the length's about the same. There's also a door to the garage on one side. Do you have any suggestions for a layout?

Yeah, hire a kitchen designer. Good advice is never free and free advice is never good. Remember that.

If you need a referral to someone local to you, I will find you someone. If you'd like to hire me to do a layout for you I'll do so gladly but you're going to have to hire me. If you take that route, you'll get my undivided attention and commitment to your project. I will ask you questions you never thought were important but are. We're going to get on the phone and I'm going to teach you how to measure a room so that I can recreate it as it is and as it will be when this project's completed. We're going to work out every detail --we'll position every light, we'll account for every outlet, we're going to find a place to hide everything you want to hide and we'll find a place to show off everything you want to show off. By the time we're done you're going to forget who Candace Olson is.

At the end of this you're going to hold a set of my construction plans and you're going to say to yourself that paying me was the best money you've ever spent. You'll tape one of my perspective drawings to your fridge and you'll be able to see it as a completed project. You'll really see it because you're going to understand the steps it will take to make that perspective drawing come true. You're going to have my enthusiasm as we work out the details and then I'm going to cheer you on as you sail through a process that once scared the bejesus out of you. You're going to get all of that and then some, but it won't be free.

I love corresponding with the people who read this blog. It makes my day like you cannot believe to get to know people from all over who read something here and it made them think, or laugh and a lot of times it just pissed them off. All of that's cool. It's beyond cool actually.

I love it when somebody asks, "Hey Paul, are Sub Zero refrigerators worth it?" or "Should I put a wood or a stone floor in my new house?" Spouting off on topics like that gives my life richness and meaning and I'm only too happy to shoot off quickie answers.

But when it comes to asking me to be creative or to work out specifics, I have to draw the line. I make a living from my ideas and I'd starve if I gave them away. Opinions are easy but ideas take some time. That's why I charge for ideas.

BoConcept offer a great 3D space planning tool, excellent for planning the layout of your room

Roll me in designer sheets I'll never get enough.

I love good sheets. I love white on white striped Damask sheets particularly. Like everybody else with a thing for good sheets I look at thread counts as some kind of an indicator of quality. Well, it turns out that thread counts don't tell a very accurate story about a particular sheet's quality. Who knew?

I had my bubble burst and my consciousness raised by an article I read on Linenplace.com. Linenplace sells amazing sheets of high quality, check them out if you are in the market for some self-indulgence.


The Truth About Thread Count

The high thread count story hit the bedding market in the mid to late 1990s and has since dominated all conversations about sheets.  Now over ten years later it's still the focus of questions asked the most by our customers. Honestly, we wish there was a simple answer. The truth is that it's just not that simple, thread count is one metric that should be looked at when considering sheets. At Linenplace, frankly, we don't even think it's the most important one.

Sheeting Quality Indicators

• Fiber Quality
• Yarn Size
• Finishing
• Thread Count & Construction

Fiber Quality:  100% cotton sheets are by far the most popular and widely used type of sheets. (We do also like silk, cotton/silk, modal and linen; but we’re going to focus on 100% cotton.) There is a huge variety in the quality of 100% cotton sheets. The highest quality cotton is long staple cotton. Staple refers to the length of the cotton fiber; the longer the fiber the better because it creates stronger and finer yarns. Among long staple cottons, the longest are Egyptian extra long staple and Pima (sometimes called Supima).

Yarn Size:  The fineness of each yarn is what the term yarn size refers to - the higher the yarn size, the finer the yarn.  (think of men’s suiting where they often speak of 100s wool etc)  Finer yarns allow for lighter, more supple fabric. The yarn size in quality sheets is typically between 40 and 100. Up to 120s may be used also, but are pretty rare (and the resulting product very expensive). Higher thread counts are created with finer yarns, as more of them can be woven into a square inch.  Also, super fine yarns can be twisted together, creating 2 ply yarns that can then be woven into sheeting.  When 2 ply yarns are made with a very high yarn size, they make a nice product that is not at all weighty or blanket-like.

Finishing:  After the cotton yarns are woven into a fabric, the fabric needs to be finished.  This includes singeing and mercerizing.  The singeing process is vital; it burns off the tiny fuzz that can later develop into pilling on your sheets.  Mercerizing is a treatment conducted under tension, in order to increase strength, luster, and affinity for dye.  Bed linens of lesser quality may not be singed or mercerized.

Thread Count & Construction:  Thread count is simply the number of threads per square inch of fabric. These consist of vertical threads (warp) and horizontal threads (weft) woven together.  Construction refers to how the thread count is achieved (# of warp and weft yarns, # of picks in the weft, use of 2 ply yarns etc.) To achieve higher thread counts, sometimes 2 ply yarns are used and sometimes multiple yarns (picks) are inserted into the weft.  The FTC has ruled that plied yarns should each only be counted as one thread for the purposes of thread count. This is not enforced, but in response the market has moved more toward single plies with multiple picks as the preferred method of achieving higher thread counts. In weave quality terms alone, the best fabric would be made with single ply yarns and have a single pick; but the highest thread count you can get with this type of construction is about 400. Above that, 2 ply yarns and/or multi-picks must be used.

The buzz about "single ply" in the last five years or so, was a reaction to customers feeling cheated by the concept of 2 ply. (meaning a 300 thread count construction made with 2 ply yarns and called a 600 thead count) But the "single ply" concept has its own problems, as stated above. Sheets made with "single ply" yarns but with 6 to 8 picks do not necessarily result in the best feeling or highest quality weave --but they do achieve the higher thread count in a way deemed more correct by international standards and the FTC.

In a quality product, the incremental comfort value of thread counts over 300 is very little.  A 300 thread count can feel far superior to a 1000 thread count.  Thread count has become a simple metric used by marketing people to capture interest and impress with high numbers.  The problem with mass produced high thread count sheets is that to keep the price down, important elements of quality must be sacrificed, meaning in the end the customer gets a product with an impressive thread count but that probably feels no better (or even worse) than something with a lower thread count.

How does this happen?

• Weaving with 2 ply yarns that do not have a high enough yarn size so the end product feels heavy and blanket-like.
• Inserting multiple yarn threads (picks) into the weft.  These are often visible to the naked eye.  We’ve heard of as many as 8.  This practice increases the thread count but otherwise really has no practical or useful purpose. Depending on the number of picks and yarn size used it can also make the product feel heavy.

There is no simple answer to the thread count, ply and pick game; there are thousands of combinations that will make a beautiful product. We've seen excellent examples of every type of construcion (thanks to quality fiber, yarn size and finishing). Keep in mind that with higher thread counts, price and quality do tend to go hand in hand. An extremely high thread count sheet at a very low price is exactly what it sounds like: too good to be true. This is not to say that you have to spend a small fortune for quality sheets - just don't fall into the thread count trap. Unfortunately, a lot of companies don't make it easy to be well informed. At Linenplace, we do our best to present you with all the information you need to find the product that's right for you. We would like to encourage our customers to focus less on thread count and more on the other quality indicators (fiber quality, yarn size, finishing and construction).  We believe you will get a better, more comfortable product that truly represents quality and value.


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