Imbuing a bachelor pad with a touch of class

What makes a great bachelor pad? Rocking state-of-the-art audio system, maybe? Gleaming Le Corbusier chrome and leather seating? Or maybe a flashing neon Heineken sign?

Kenzi Parton and Rafael Corrales found a romantic city view but none of the above when they came back from Argentina at Christmastime 2006 and their friend Ron Jankov, president and CEO of NetLogic Microsystems, offered them the use of his South of Market pied-a-terre while they were house hunting.

"The place was kind of abandoned - there were no matching drinking glasses, no pots, bulbs were burned out," Corrales said. "He'd bring guests over to drink Cristal after a party, and they were going to be drinking out of glasses pilfered from various clubs and restaurants rather than matching crystal."

"A beautiful apartment, a beautiful view," Parton said. "But it felt very empty."

Not at all, she added, the kind of place with which Jankov, 48, would make a favorable impression on a date.

"No way!" she said. "That would have been the end of it. ... You wouldn't believe he was the CEO of a company - I'd probably have thought he was making up a story."

These days, Parton and Corrales can drink out of handcrafted Baccarat crystal and sleep on luxurious Frette linens when they visit Jankov at what is finally more to him than a city crash pad. Turns out, he didn't really need beer signage, stereo equipment or sleek furniture - just some things he already owned, along with fresh paint, a few additions and a woman's touch.

The feminine helping hands belong to Lawanna Cathleen Endonino, the designer Parton and Corrales brought to the table to transform Jankov's occasional place to sleep into a home where he comfortably enjoys the city life and welcomes friends.

"I walked in and knew he needed me," Endonino said. "He said, 'Please make me a place my friends won't make fun of.' "

"It was half about presenting myself in a certain way and half about being able to enjoy it myself," Jankov said. "I love art and have an uncle who traveled around the world collecting it, and I've spent a lot of time in Japan and always loved the architecture and design culture there."

Jankov also has a home in Woodside he describes as "a country estate look, made of redwood on a big estate of 6 acres, very rural, very quiet and peaceful, and way too boring for weekends." He purchased an 1,800-square-foot unit on the 57th floor of the yet-to-be-completed One Rincon, so the Avalon Towers apartment represented "a practice run," he said.

Endonino listened carefully and then got to work. First, she stretched the limitations of decorating a rental unit, painting the entry a dark mix of chocolate and charcoal gray that provided a dramatic canvas for the paintings that greet visitors. She used Devine Paint's Almond, which looks blue on the walls, in the main living area, and covered the guest room walls in Donghia's gray-taupe hemp wallpaper. (The walls will have to be restored to rental vanilla when Jankov moves out, of course.)

She also changed the lighting cans and replaced the bulbs with incandescents, an expenditure of less than $1,000 that she says "was well worth it - it's a great way to really change things." She also would have liked to do some custom natural-fiber window coverings, but that seemed a waste on a short-term rental, so they left the various blinds alone.

She picked out some sisal rugs from Crate & Barrel to define the living spaces over the wall-to-wall carpeting, and then shopped for furniture all over the map, with Jankov's own couch and Roche-Bobois dining table as cornerstones.

The big splurges: a Bang & Olufsen plasma TV, a Noguchi IN50 coffee table, custom beds and nightstands from Rahn Woodworking, the aforementioned Frette and Baccarat accessories, Robert Stivers photos and paintings from Baxter & Cook and ArtHaus, and Jankov's own collection.

In his years as vice president and general manager of Cyrix Corp.'s Asia operations, he spent a lot of time in Japan and became an admirer of Asian design, so he had a chest from Korea for one corner. He also had an adventurous, "well-traveled" uncle, Edison Brubaker, who collected art.

"These mean something to me," Jankov said, pointing to paintings hanging over the bar. "He got these when he went on a hunting trip for anacondas in the Amazon."

Endonino found that bar on a shopping trip to Crate & Barrel. She found other furnishings on eBay, at Brownstone, Candace Barnes, Unique Images, Design Within Reach, Restoration Hardware and even Ikea; her source list on this project is too long for publication.

The resulting blend of the luxurious and the inexpensive, the antique and the personal, portrays Jankov as a successful bachelor who cares about comfort and the finer things in life, yet doesn't feel compelled to show off.

"It doesn't go over the top," Parton said. "Bachelor pads can be too sterile or too modern and not show any personality. This is a less superficial way to go."

Endonino defines the mix as Asian Modern; Jankov describes it as uniquely personal.

"I did not describe this at all," he said. "Yet it turned out to be exactly what I wanted."

He's clearly thrilled, and no longer embarrassed to have friends over. The day of The Chronicle's first visit, 10 empty wine bottles on the kitchen counter memorialized Jankov's New Year's Eve gathering; the day of the second visit, he held one of the blind wine tastings that have become popular within his circle.

"Women notice it more than the men, and they just love it," Jankov said happily. "Nobody thinks this is done in a way that's inappropriate. There's no Laura Ashley here."

No beer sign either. Which, guys, is probably a fine omission when the aim is to create a haven that appeals to the opposite sex.

"I think a woman could live here too," Endonino said. "It's very comfortable."

Bachelor vs. bachelorette?

Lawanna Cathleen Endonino was working on a "bachelorette pad" about the same time she completed Ron Jankov's apartment. Whereas Jankov "wanted comfort and a beautiful crash pad to entertain in and enjoy himself," the bachelorette was creating a full-time home where "she could entertain as well as give herself the feeling of nesting or settling down."

The bachelorette wanted to mix maturity, femininity and masculinity, Endonino said, and thus went for a "sexy boudoir" Parisian look that suited her taste but that she hoped men would also like.

So it would seem that two elements most essential in a singles pad are comfort and personality. "Even if it's just your crash pad, it should reflect who you are," said former bachelor Rafael Corrales. "There should be a symmetry between the time you spend outside your home when you're dating, and what your home is like."

Is New York recession proof?

Even though I only own a furniture assembly service, this is my life and I watch the housing market very closely because it plays a major role in what is to come. Kinda like a weatherman with the radar tracking a storm, or in this case a hurricane. I wish I could say i wasn't worried, but the weatherman has been predicting severe storms for weeks, but as usual the weatherman was wrong! Sure some little tinsel towns in California and the Midwest are becoming known for their foreclosure rate which has been as high as 2 out of every 3 homes in some towns in California. If you have followed the housing market to any extent you are well aware that many banks, lending institutions, new home contractors, and Wall Street were riding a big pink cloud where the banks were giving loans to anyone regardless of credit history or income, the new home contractors went from 1978 ford pickup's to dozens of brand new trucks, equipment, and experienced crews that could slap a home together just as quick as the ink dried on the loan approvals. Everyone thought that the market would just continue to grow and grow and grow except those banks that were giving away billions. I know your thinking that they should be the ones who have really taken the beating with the softening market where all these homes are being foreclosed, right? That's what most would think but the answer would be wrong! They knew what was behind door #3 and sold all the loans to big market houses and lenders on Wall street who in turn sold cut them up and sold them to their best clients all around the world. Everyone made money, from the lenders who got a % of every loan to the banks who made their profit in the sales, to the market houses in the city who dumped them on their clients in what I believe they thought was a good thing or they wouldn't have bought the loans nor sold them to their best clients. But like all good things, they all come to an end and eventually the real estate bubble busted! Before I really did my homework and found out all of this I was just looking at the news and the stocks and buckled down for the worst. After I read all this I saw that it would really play no role in the Big Apple where most real estate is markets are continuing to soar because there are soo many people and not enough houses. People will pay! And this last week I spent 2 days in the several malls and the lines were sickening. Not with returns, but with purchases! Yeah, the west might be under the gun but the city that never sleeps is still smiling. As usual, the last week just like every year our business started to pick up but this year with bigger jobs and longer projects which means more employees and more money. Nope, NYC ain't feeling a thing.

Written by:
Christopher Purnell
EZ Furniture Assembly & Interior Innovation

10 Things You MUST Know when Buying or Installing Kitchen Cabinets

Our company begun assembling & installing kitchen cabinetry about 18 months ago, and since then have installed hundreds of cabinets and learned a great amount of wealthy information we believe is a must for anyone buying and installing their own cabinets or having them professionally installed.

1. It is always best t start your search by looking for products that are certified by the Kitchen Cabinet Manufacturers Association which subject the cabinets to tests that replicate years of normal abuse. Certified cabinets must be able to withstand exposure to humidity, temperatures ranging from -5 degrees to 120 degree Fahrenheit and are subjected to normal everyday condiments such as vinegar, coffee, and ketchup without blistering or showing any signs of discoloration.
2. It is important to know the kitchen cabinet language. The most important is knowing that stock and and semi_stock cabinets are the most popular types available on the market. Stock cabinets is by far the leader because of it's very low price tag, availability, and never ending supply of accessories and hardware to make your cabinets more personal. Semi-Stock cabinets offer a much larger range of sizes, finishes, and styles. The obvious highest end cabinets are custom made to just about whatever look or function you want to obtain. However, the average time to complete these custom cabinets is 12 weeks and can run in price anywhere from $12,000-$75,000 depending on the amount of cabinets ordered,detail,features, and material used in their construction.
3. I believe that it is important to put your own touch into your kitchen, and keep in mind exactly what function it will serve. Most cabinets offer user friendly options such as full extension roll out shelves so you don't bang your hand as you reach for that can of tomato sauce that is buried deep in the back. Large drawers in the base can hold pots, pans, and other large cooking utensils which will stop you from having to store your pots and pans in the oven like I have seen many clients do.
4. I also believe that besides functionality it is equally important that you choose the correct look. Light colored woods like oak and maple make your kitchen seem brighter and larger. Where as darker woods like cherry and mahogany create a more dramatic effect. To give cabinets less visual heft, most manufacturers offer turned leg pieces that mimic the look of furniture. Also trim kits for appliances will help pull a kitchen together visually.
5. Make it a must to know exactly what your cabinetry is made of. The box is the cabinets backbone, the stronger the better. I prefer heavy boxes with at least a 1/2 inch thick walls or structural support that can be attached to wall studs with screws. Most cabinets today are made from MDF (Medium Density Fiberboard) or OSB ( Oriented Strand Board), but my favorite is plywood with dado or mortise joints and metal or wood corner braces with the drawer boxes being made of dovetail joints. These are only found is custom cabinets and will normally cost quite a bit more than cabinets from a big box store, but the old saying is in it's truest form in this case, "You get what you pay for".
6. Think ahead for repair and fixes sometime down the road by purchasing a repair kit before you leave the store with your new cabinets. A normal repair kit should contain items like colored wax, putty, or markers to cover set nails or repair dings or scratches. I always suggest buying a few extra hinges and drawer slides because these are the items that seem to go first.
7. Don't screw yourself. If you are installing the cabinets yourself make sure you use 2 1/2 inch deck screws, because drywall screws will snap under a heavy load of the upper cabinets. And always make sure you screw your cabinets in to studs which are normally 16-18 inches apart in your wall. Sometimes it is best to hire a professional for installation because they might have to cut open the wall and make a support brace to support your cabinets. I can't tell you how many times people called us asking us to help them after they installed the cabinets themselves or hired handyman Harry to hang them only to have then come crashing down ruining their counter, the cabinets and contents, and more than likely the wall.
8. If you are still hell bent on doing it yourself I suggest you screw a 1X3 cleat just below the bottom of your wall cabinets which should have a line. This will help support the their weight while you install the cabinetry. This hob normally requires 2 people when possible, but wall cabinets can be installed properly if you use cabinet jacks.
9. Always make sure your cabinets are flush and plumb. I normally attach a line of cabinets together using C clamps on the floor followed by wood screws and then lift the cabinets as one whole unit which makes it easier to install and make sure you are level.
10. If either you or a professional company are replacing your current cabinets do not just rip them down or let others do that because you can receive a tax write off by donating them to such charities as habitat for humanity and similar organizations that will help give your old cabinets a new life while getting you a nice write off and helping the less fortunate.

If you need professional assistance contact us at our website www.ezfurnitureassembly.com, or if you are doing it yourself and have a question feel free to post it here and one of our readers or expert technicians will publish your answer within 48 hours.

Thanks again!
Christopher C. Purnell

EZ Furniture Assembly & Interior Innovations is Going Green

Hello Everyone!

I am very pleased at the emails I have received in regard to our postings, thank you! We do our best to provide you with information that is important, intriguing, and a pleasure to read while providing our opinion or point of view. I, myself, try to stay focused on furniture assembly retailers, new ideas or products, and an interesting story or two which we believe you will find of interest as well. However, as many of you already know I am the President & founder of both EZ Furniture assembly & Interior Innovations, LLC. And for the ones who have followed my writings you know that I started with no more than a few screwdrivers and a passion to make my dream a reality. I worked very hard to get where our company is today, and give great thanks to my customers who have became friends, as well as my wonderful staff who took pride in what they did, whether it was returning a call or building a kitchen. I have learned a lot about myself, the business, and the industry as a whole over the last few years and have decided to make some changes.

We are the first furniture assembly and kitchen cabinet installation company to go Green. Until I really reached a level where we were noticed as a real competitor and serious business in this industry I was unaware of all the things we could be doing to help our environment. I began to receive publications from companies that produced periodicals that related directly to our industry as a whole. A lot of what I began reading was foreign to me because most of the companies were far larger than mine, and it was a bit hard to relate. However, it took someone outside my company to show us how much we have grown and how we really do relate to these companies. The most interesting fact I found was that the vast majority of the companies I was reading about started just like me. Then I felt the relation, not yet brothers but maybe a close cousin. Right now protecting the environment is a hot topic which I find several articles relating to it in every publication I receive. The more I read the more i understood how we could be a much better company by making just a few small changes that have actually benefited us more than I ever could have imagined. I have always frowned on litter bugs and people who dumped illegally and so forth, but never paid much attention to water consumption and using rechargeable batteries, or how much we were hurting our environment by using our older vans to go to each job site. The more I read the more I began to make changes within our company.

Today we are a Green company. I decided to sell all but one of service vans that is used only for jobs that are located where public transportation is no available, or is needed to pick up materials for a job in which we order all the materials at one time so we only use the van once. I drew up a blueprint of how to make a portable tool chest that actually was much more, and allowed our technicians to use it on every job and since it's base is a dolly or hand truck they can take on the subway or bus while still appearing professional and able to carry all the needed tools. We also no longer just trash our old cabinets, we take them down just as they were put up so there is no damage and donate them to a needy family. If we do a full renovation we try to use as much Eco friendly material as possible and educate our customers on the benefits of using certain green and energy saving products over more traditional materials. We are about to launch a new program where we explain to the customer that we do our best to be a green company and then tell them about the importance of recycling cellular phone batteries, and that if they have any old batteries we would be happy to take them to a local drop off center for recycling.

To many it may not seem like a lot, but I am happy with our progress and in time we will implement more programs and policies to do our part. If you have gone green and have any tips or suggestions please feel free to add your comment or feedback here.

Thanks again!
Christopher Purnell

Sweedidish Dish Attempts to Cloak Ikea Press Release in Half Hearted Story!!!

I would like everyone to know that we found this article on the SWEEDISH DISH. Hmmmmm. Kinda Bias since IKEA is from Switzerland? Anyway, from now on I will remain un-bias on how I feel about other peoples articles UNLESS I think it is a Press Release cloaked as a story. In which I believe this is! Very Pitiful for such a big company, but rough times call for rough measures. Anyway, you read the article and draw your own conclusions.

Christopher
EZ Furniture Assembly & Interior Innovations, LLC

10 things you should know about Ikea

By Brian Lindamood & Melissa Starker

The Swedish furniture seller is known for its affordability, its colorful, contemporary styles, and the for the cult-like devotion of its fans. Here are some reasons why shoppers love it so much.

1. Without Ikea, there might be no Martha Stewart at Kmart

Founded in 1943 as a discount store that expanded to carry furniture in 1947, the Swedish chain (named after the initials of founder Ingvar Kamprad and the farm and village where he grew up) was the first to put home goods of modern, high-quality design within the reach of most budgets. It took decades, but American retailers — through the likes of Michael Graves, Cynthia Rowley and Ms. Stewart — finally caught up.

2. The showroom is a candy store for DIY decorators

To show visitors the treasures that are packed up in the ground-floor warehouse area, the upper level at Ikea stores holds a massive showroom filled with setups for every room of the house. As you pencil in product details on sheets available at the entrance, you're free to touch, test out and be inspired by the items and how they're arranged. The showroom staff stays out of the way unless asked for help.

3. A world united in peace and cabinetry

The Ikea empire has grown to 270 stores in 36 countries. At every stop, the retailer spreads its message of hope for the un-handy and salvation for the un-stylish.

4. Learn to love the Allen wrench

The hexagonal tool is nearly synonymous with Ikea, since almost all the furniture requires assembly. It's amazing how little space is occupied by an un-assembled bedroom set. (This flat-furniture strategy — minimizing shipping and storage needs — is supposedly one of the secrets to the low prices.)

5. Lingonberries are delicious

The Scandinavian treat is available in the Ikea cafe, along with Swedish meatballs, Daim cake and more mundane fare. It's pretty good, considering the restaurant is located inside a furniture store.

6. It's about as environmentally friendly as a big-box retailer gets

The chain avoids old-growth wood in its products and touts its low-cost, flat-packing policies as resulting in less waste and less raw materials usage. Ikea is currently in the middle of a year-long initiative to cut back plastic bag usage at its stores by 50 percent, partly by charging for the bags. Proceeds in the first year (up to $1.75 million) will be turned over to American Forests, the country's oldest conservation nonprofit. Each location is also planting trees to offset CO2 emissions from the cars of staff and customers traveling to the store.

7. Ikea has balls

A whole cubicle full of big, colorful ones, in fact, part of a staffed playroom for kids who don't have their parents' endurance or enthusiasm for thrifty furniture finds. Sadly, stores have tight restrictions on the age and size of who's allowed into their playrooms, so adults are limited to observing jealously through the glass.

8. 344,000 square feet is a lot

It can take half a day to get through an Ikea store. You'll probably want to stop at the cafe for nourishment at some point, or at least rest your feet while "trying out" a living room display.

9. The crazy product names actually mean something

Unless you're up on Scandinavian languages, product names like "Klippan," "Flärke" and "Skruvsta" just sound nonsensically cool. But there's a method to the name game, which is played in Swedish, Finnish, Danish or Norwegian. For example, lines of shelving, coffee tables and upholstered furniture are named after places; chairs and desks take men's names; fabrics take women's names; and kids' furniture is usually named after animals or birds.

10. Yes, Ikea is coming to Ohio

The store in West Chester, off I-75 just north of Cincinnati, opens on March 12. If you really want to make sure you're first through the door, you can camp out there starting on March 10. For more info, click to ikea-usa.com.

ONE THING IKEA SELLS THAT WILL LAST IS THEIR REUSEABLE BAGS

When the grocery store cashier asks you if you'd like paper or plastic, more and more people are responding "neither."Most supermarket chains are now selling reusable, eco-friendly bags, and this week, Whole Foods Market announced it's doing away with all of its disposable plastic bags."And our customers, to be honest with you, have really been leading this effort," said Whole Foods marketing director Kim Wynnyckyi. "A lot of them bring their own bags on a regular basis."

"I do love that idea," said shopper Monique Mead. "As a matter of fact, I just spent 10 years in Germany where there ain't no such thing. If you want plastic bags, you have to pay for them."Furniture giant IKEA charges a nickel per bag, hoping to convince customers to turn to inexpensive, reusable bags.But skeptics might wonder how much the changes really affect the environment. On an individual basis, not all that much, according to some experts, however, "over time, as the numbers build, yes, it could be quite a significant impact," said Helen Humphries of the Department of Environmental Protection.Plastic bags are made partially from oil and can take hundreds of years to decompose. According to the state, most are never recycled, turning into environmental hazards or at the very least, eyesores.But paper, by most accounts, isn't exactly eco-friendly either."It takes 13 percent more energy to produce a paper bag than two plastic bags," said Humphries.And it takes even more energy to recycle, Humphries said.

Was this your IKEA Experience????

Hello Everyone! I was looking for a little tid bit to write about and someone sent me a post from another blog, assuming it's a family blog. Anyway, it appears they had a great time at IKEA. I guess because I am numb to the whole experience after being in the business for years, but it neither excites nor maddens me any more. However, I am interested to see if anyone agrees or better yet feels the same about IKEA as the person in this post, or do you hold less than love for IKEA and their products. Tell us!!!

Christopher
EZ Furniture Assembly & Interior Innovations

As our family grows, our home gets smaller, it seems. We haven’t started building the new house yet, so I’ve been trying to organize and de-clutter. We went to Ikea over the weekend, and I may as well have been in Heaven! I’ve only been to Ikea once and that was years ago. I don’t remember it being so cool. Much of the moderny furniture doesn’t really appeal to me, but I was able to find some cool fabricy-hangy skinny shelf things that were perfect for the girls’ closet to fit their shoes, diapers, etc. I previously had a changing table in their closet and used that as a shelving system. Man, those hanging shelves are awesome. It’s like they’ve got a new closet now with all the extra space! To recycle the changing table though, I moved it into the office/craft room, and I put these cool boxes on it. They were a 2-pack for something like $3! Very pretty, affordable, and useful! I would’ve purchased a whole lot more while there, but I was super hungry and the place was packed, and I was starting to get a stomach ache, so we had to move quickly. I can’t wait to go again!