http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v336/mel...nt=DSC03163.jpg
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v336/mel...nt=DSC03164.jpg

It's the lights on the left that bother me - exposed lamps like that around mirrors drive me crazy and make it difficult to look at the piece through the inevitable glare. Shouldn't bathroom lighting at a mirror be more indirect?

Although it would be cool as a washing station in the dining room, just without those lights.

Terrible. Aside from the light bulbs, the angle of the basin is not steep enough. You're going to have water all over the place. Keep this garbage in Sweden or Germany or whichever weird European country came up with this.

Ahh, a function over form man. Welcome to the club.

I agree. It's a piece of cr@p.

I hate it! We have similar basins to that at the gym and it's a big pain - water splashes everywhere. It's a pity because they just renovated everything and they thought these basins would be cool to have in the bathroom - but everyone hates them and liked the sinks the way they were.

This is the netilas yadayim area in our Jerusalem house; not too dissimilar but maybe not so shallow so water doesn't splash anywhere.

I hate shallow don't you?

That's really nice. [Although in my opinion the stair banisters need some work]
How does the hand drying work? Are those individual hand towels? Where to the used ones go? Shouldn't there be a basket for the used towels or something?
What about a small holder for rings or is that unnecessary clutter?

No, from what I've seen that's the preferred set-up for when you're putting on make-up. You need lights that will show you as you are and not flatter you with a soft glow.

OK, but if the purpose were for makeup, the lights would be on both sides and not shining from one side only.
Just by the way, make sure you are using proper lighting that mimics sunlight.

I agree about the banisters; they have been since replaced. This photo was taken a while ago when renovations (French designer!) were still in progress.

We now have a fixed holder on the left hand wall, for liquid soap but we find the best solution for towels is two baskets; one for clean towels and a mini supermarket cart thingey for used towels. I wash them very regularly as they are all white and pretty and dirty towels don't look nice.

I must say I've never thought of a little container for rings. Probably unnecessary clutter as you say.

These basins are all the rage these days (including lyric's), IMO the classic sinks are a lot more practical.

Aside from the actual sink and faucet, that thing is truly nasty!

Totally agree.

Practical yes. Stylish...?

What I think from it ? I think I'd not be buried in one, not to mention use it alive. It serves no purpose on earth. A wash basin a/k/a sink has to resemble a bastard child of a toilet bowl and a mini bathtub. This Chagallesque plumbery makes the Picasso within me go Van Gogh ...

I believe they are called vessel sinks.
But what about something like this

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v336/mel...nt=DSC03180.jpg

where the sink is deep and you don't have the functional problem people were mentioning with shallow basins? Would this be sufficiently practical?

If anything, I would think these types of vessel sinks are more "classic" in the sense of mimicing wash basins from before the days of indoor plumbing when there would be a basin and pitcher of water on a cabinet.

If the sink were actually sunk, I'd like it better. Okay faucet.

Very ugly imho.

mosheshmeal
.

The actual sink and faucet look quite nice, but the rest of it is very loud, so you might like it now, but after you 
see it every day for a couple of years you'll be sick of it.  

I could see it working an infant bath but nothing more.

It's better than a small basin but like Accolade said, it needs to be sunk.
Both sink and faucet are too 'cubic' for my taste.

why? why does the lip of a sink need to be flush with the surrounding counter?

Because it's called a "sink"? No but seriously it doesn't. It's the style to be "free standing." At least in ceramic you avoid the problem with glass sinks; they always look smeary. That's why our J'lem one is cracked copper.

Maybe people into kiddush fountains would want this
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/comm...i_user_sink.jpg

al ta'am ve'al rei'ach ein le-hitvakei'ach

But interesting you would say that. Which of the following couches would be more likely to be found in your home:
The traditional cubic couch
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v336/mel...nt=DSC03166.jpg

Or the Noguchi organic couch
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v336/mel...nt=DSC03206.jpg

this one looks comfotable. i can easily see spending friday night with a good book on it. a few colorful pillows and a throw...

i don't like the kidney shaped couch.

I realize you didn't make the comment about the cubicity of the unsunk sink, but it's interesting where we expect cubism and where we expect organic, and if we are challenged with something cubic when we expect organic [eg. a square rather than a round sink] or if we are challenged with something organic we expect to be cubic [eg. a kidney shaped couch rather than a traditional sectional], then it engenders a feeling of lack of esthetics or lack of comfort.

if i'm understanding, i'm not sure that's it. it could be i chose the first one for a variety of reasons:
1) the clean white fabric is more appealing than eggplant and mustard velvet
2) more pillows = more comfort
3) L-shaped couch has more space at max comfort than the kidney-shaped couch which doesn't have a backing all the way
4) the surrounding decor of the white couch looked better than the bare surroundings of the purple couch.

say the purple couch was made of the same fabric as the white couch, or had a rug, some framed pictures, and a nice lamp in the picture, then i think they would've been on even playing field. in other words, all things being equal and only the shape was different, maybe i'd have chosen the second one?

Could be, but you said the issue was comfort and the color of the fabric doesn't impact. As for the surrounding decor or throw pillows, you could do that with either - I was asking about the couch in isolation. I'm sure the owner of that kidney couch has throw pillows normally that were removed for the picture.

As for the backing, you're right. That couch is meant to be sat on by multiple people more than 180 degrees around, rather than laid in on a friday night curled up with a good book while you sink into the fabric.

i really like the white couch...
do you happen to have a catalogue number and perhaps a coupon?

I have no clue, but the sign on the lower right of this image should give you enough information to find it on the Internet
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v336/mel...nt=DSC03165.jpg

I'm short, and since the basin at the gym isn't the classic sunken basin, I have to stand on my toes in order to wash my face in the sink. It wouldn't be so bad if the counter was lower, and then the basin would also be lower, but the counter is the same height as it used to be with the old sink, so the basins are so high up! Everyone is always b!tching about the stupid basins. I hate them!!!!!

The gym should've put their money into new floors for the main exercise studio. People don't know how to spend their money!!!!

You should be an artist

The traditional, if I really had to choose between those two only. But it's different, it has softer angles etc

So is the real difference cubicity or is the real issue that non-traditional designs, either in a unsunk cubic sink or a couch that would never be found among the Oorah auction offerings http://www.oorah.org/auction/2008/12-prize.htm makes you uncomfortable simply because it challenges traditional esthetics?


Good point. For all its organic design, the kidney couch is...harsh. But imagine it with throw pillows.

Or maybe the nontraditional design is going to look dated very quickly while the traditional design will look okay for years and years?

You're giving me a headache. A little bit of both- I dislike purely cubic designs because I prefer the traditional, softer designs, but whether my personal taste is influenced by traditional aesthetics or not - I don't know.


Uch. Can you say, nouveau riche wanabbe?

Excellent point. You are correct that people often mistake trendy for good taste and don't think about what their designs will be perceived as in 20 years when the trends have moved on.

Which is among the reasons that I don't think design discussions should be included in this forum even though this forum's description includes "trends". A good design isn't trendy, it's timeless, regardless if it's traditional or not. Non-traditional designs can be timeless. You can design outside the box and still be timeless. When I think of traditional designs, to me, that means strictly inside the box.

These Arne Jacobsen chairs, for instance, aren't traditional, but I would call them timeless:
http://www.arne-jacobsen.com/neobuilder.20...1878055314.html

Your comparisons are not fair.
You are comparing a very conservative contemporary/transitional couch with an outrages modern couch gone bad.

This modern couch would be a more fair comparison
http://i12.ebayimg.com/02/i/05/10/e0/f3_1_sbl.JPG

(was that the kohler faucet I keep seeing advertised?)

I like it, except for the carving, which is a bit too ornate and I really dislike the gigantic painting on the wall in the background.

Why does Jewish art have to be so . . . boring?

oooh! ohhh! Can I take that quote and start a new thread?

[off topic agenda pushing post deleted]

Please do.

What is Jewish art?

...

I love your new trend of matching squares.

My wife kept the brochures
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v336/mel...t=couch0001.jpg
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v336/mel...t=couch0002.jpg

wow, thanks.
added to my wishlist (which is also available for anyone who wants to get me a present).

It doesn't need to be flush but as it currently is, the proportion is wrong. I think it'd be perfect if it protruded half as much as it does now.



I have a hard time believing that couch was really designed by Noguchi.



Doesn't your gym have to comply with ADA regulations? Perhaps you can file a complaint that the sinks aren't handicap accessible.





(Which is why I hated that red pocketbook about which someone once posted a topic.)



That couch would be acceptable without the pillows.