I used to feel slightly guilty about making "inspired" art pieces for my own home for $30 vs whatever they cost at retail/gallery.

But recently I read a piece about how a lot of abstract modern art is just used for money laundering, and I feel absolved now. Lol.

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What in the heck!? This is so strangely impressive.

https://floydhome.com/products/the-floyd-sofa?variant=36627725222050

easily one of my favorite purchases and fully believe we will have this couch for life.

My partner had these and loved them

I’ve found anything that is stainless steel. I have a hydro flask, and camelback that are stainless steel and have lasted for years.

My daughter just got a Stanley and it seems very durable and easy to clean.

My first foray happened when I, an 80's/90's child, saw my neighbour's creepy dead tree get struck by lightning in the middle of a snow storm, and a big branch fell off. This seemed overwhelmingly magical and prophetic to me, a weirdo, and I had to have that branch. So, in the middle of the night, in this blizzard, I snuck across the road and Smeagoled it into my basement.

It was gorgeous and perfect, only mildly bug-ridden kind of stinky. I sanded it down and, with the power of my 67 elderly aunts forgotten yarn stashes, turned it into a beautiful "textile" hanging.

This took almost a year because I, at the time, had wildly uncontrolled ADHD.

But, since then, I've made a few big plaster pieces out of thrift store canvases, plaster from the hardware store, and random tools that people with unfinished basements have.

I made another fallen branch into a giant lamp with a $20 jute covered light cord. And another into a big floral piece to fill a big empty space over a large doorway.

I found a huge abandoned wood framed mirror that used to be attached to a dresser, sanded it down, did some woodburning, attached a shelf to the bottom, added some plants, and that easily filled an empty wall.

I've also recently been making small watercolours to fit thrifted frames and I'm planning to fill a small space with those.

I live in an old house with lots of rooms, and high ceilings; all this eclectic DIY art definitely wouldn't work for everyone's home, but it's fitting here!

Birkinstocks for me!

While the blade itself may not become dull from dishwasher use, the handle if it is wood will most definitely turn to shit if put in the dishwasher. The steel itself will oxidize some being put in the dishwasher as it is “stain-less, not stain never”. A quick handwashing and drying will be the best thing you can do to keep your knife in top shape over time.

To Answer OP’s question,

I would recommend a good German steel knife with a hardness between 56-60. This will be more forgiving while chopping and will not chip or roll the edge. Wusthof and Henckels have been around for a long time, F Dick, Victorinox, and Lamson come to mind as good options as well. Japanese knifes are fantastic but tend to be harder steel and tend to be less forgiving and more prone to chipping with improper use. Look for full tang construction with High carbon content.

I would recommend getting a ceramic honing rod for re-aligning the edge of your knives. And having a professional service sharpen your knives at least once a year.

bedrocks

American made Ray-Ban or Bosch & Lomb.

My current glasses are B&L 1940's safety glasses.

I had a pair of these for 10 years or so. And they have a bottle opener on the bottom.

https://www.reef.com/products/mens-sandals-fanning-brown-gum

Dopamine

Have you tried contacting a Speed Queen vendor? We bought a washer for an apartment and they were able to get us a key and also change out the coin box. I’m certain they would be willing to help. Even if it ends up being a service call, a few bucks might get you to the right solution rather than having a piecemeal solution.

Also, I don’t know what model you have.. but ours will hold just over $150. You have a lot of quarters in there!

I bought a room and board couch a few years ago that’s held on quite well despite two playful, scratchy cats. If you can make it into a showroom to see the fabrics, maybe try that. Their performance fabrics seemed pretty pet safe. Price point may be a bit higher than you’d like but it was in the realm of reasonable for us.

[deleted]

Thank you!! I’ll take a look at it. Really appreciate the information!

Wow you’re a real treasure aren’t you? I would think anybody would define a $200k couch as breaking the bank. I’m not asking anybody to pick my couch. I was asking for a manufacturer recommendation. Lovely to have met another troll of the internet in another Reddit community. Thanks for your help!

BIFL and affordable rarely come together. Birkenstocks have been known to last a generation or more with proper care and repairs.

I forgot. Another BIFL option that would probably not be considered affordable by some are the Made in Michigan My Chacos I got over 20 years out of a pair of Z2 sandals.

No worries. Glad I could help a little! Another thing when checking out frames is almost all of them have either on the arm or by the nose bridge 3 numbers printed. These numbers indicate the width of the lenses, the width of the nose area and the arm length. You can use this when shopping around to get a better idea of what size will fit you best! Also generally if you see a frame with round lenses, a good majority of the time (at least what we got at Costco) they will be a smaller pair of glasses. Of course it all depends on what style you want but, I would often guide more petite customers to these frames and they'd often find a better hit. Lens width would often be between 46-50mm while on average rectangular lenses were closer to 54-56mm. That isn't to say you can't find a rectangular lens that is a good fit though.

I bought knock off EVA Birkenstocks from Target in 2018 and they're still going strong. I've hiked and camped in them and worn them almost every warm day since I got them. The tread hasn't even worn out yet. For $12 I highly recommend.

Okabashi/oka b

Thank you! Of the frames that I’ve had in my life, it’s true that metal ones fall of my face much less than plastic ones. I have a smallish head (I have a hat problem too lol, only beanies for me, many headbands are too big, I wear my toddlers sunglasses sometimes because they fit me), and maybe it’s less the quality and more the type. I’ll stick to metal frames then as opposed to acetate. Thanks for your help!

Canvas isn’t too expensive from Amazon or Costco, and you can get plain old acrylic paint from Michaels. I got a cheap brush set from Costco, a bunch of plastic cups from Target for soaking them while I’m painting, and plain paper plates for palettes. If you ever want to get a feel for painting, there are plenty of paint and sip places around the US that will let you try out either a standard (weekly or session-based) painting or a custom one (my partner and I have painted our dog 6 times so far and have a dedicated art wall for the little goober) and also you can drink wine while you do it! I tend to do smaller pieces (usually 8x8 since I also take some to work to decorate my cubicle) and just use command strips to apply them to the walls in our apartment, but you can absolutely take the time to mount them properly with nails and wire if you want.

I genuinely can’t recommend it enough. If you want to make things truly BIFL, you can put a layer of polyurethane over them to prevent any flaking. I haven’t had any yet, but I’ve only been doing this for 3-4 years so far. My grandmother was a painter and used acrylic for about 50 years and her paintings have held up perfectly this whole time. I have one she made when I was born (almost 30 years ago) that is still pristine.

We bought company store ones 3-4 years ago. They look brand new and are so soft! We've got the basic cotton ones, not the fancier versions.