December 14, 2024 • 28 mins
Dean suggest a caller the best way to build an ADU that helps store heats in an economically format.
Dean says that going window shopping helps with price and quality knowledge on furniture. Lastly, Dean recaps on construction of furniture
Dean says that going window shopping helps with price and quality knowledge on furniture. Lastly, Dean recaps on construction of furniture
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp on demand from
KFI AM six forty, kami.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
Am Pick forty live streaming and HD everywhere on the
iHeart radio app. Dean Sharp the house Whisper live with
you every Saturday and Sunday morning. Hey, follow us on
social media. We only do the good kind of social media, uplifting, informative,
inspiring social media. We're on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook x at
(00:34):
Home with Dean, same handle for all of it. Come
visit us on social media, and of course this very
program is also the house Whisper podcast that you can
listen to anytime, anywhere on demand. Hundreds of episodes waiting
there for you, all searchable by topic. It's your home
improvement reference library. And if your home you think is
(00:59):
in need of more more personal house Whisper attention, you
can book an in home design console with us. Yeah,
with us, actually us in your home. To do that,
you just go to house Whisperer dot Design, house Whisperer
dot Design. All right, we're gonna be getting back to
the right way to buy furniture in just a smidge,
(01:22):
But right now I'm taking calls. Get back to the phones.
Try and knock one out. Natalie, Welcome home, Hidian, Good morning,
Good morning.
Speaker 3 (01:32):
I have an old nineteen thirty eight house with a
separate garage which I've turned into living space where I'm
in the process and I want to know the best
way to heat and cool it. It's basically one large
room and then a separate bedroom and a bathroom. And
my contractor wants to put like a unit on the wall.
It sounds kind of like old technology to me, he says,
(01:53):
it's kind of what everybody does. It's cheap, and I
don't know if that's the best way to go. You've
talked about radiant heating, but then I don't know how
to cool it. So what what's the best thing maybe
for me to do? What are my options?
Speaker 2 (02:08):
Okay, well, the most economical thing to do, uh for
a unit? And by the way, where are you you're
in here in southern California, Yes, okay, I'm just checking
because if you're in the Arctic, I'm going to recommend something.
Yeah yeah, but uh so yeah, so I'm going to
give you the least. The most economical approach is to
(02:31):
use what's called a split system. Okay, a split system.
It's probably uh, you know, akin to what your contractor
was talking to you about. A mini split system. Mini
splits are basically in junior air conditioners, right and your
main house, if you've got air conditioning, you've got the
big condenser out uh outside, and then you've got a
(02:55):
closet or a furnace closet or maybe the furnaces up
in the attic. You've got the other half the system
is outside half of its inside. That's a split system. Okay.
So the way that so many ADUs are done these days,
and rightly so, is that these mini split AC units
(03:17):
are available, and yeah, they have now understand this shop
these out because you don't have to just have the
big what we call cassette cartridge SYS hanging on the
top of a wall. Inside. It can be in the ceiling,
it can be on the wall. There are different configurations,
(03:38):
some far more attractive than others from a design perspective.
But that's the interior unit and then a very very
small compressor condenser unit outside, and that's a split system.
That's an air conditioning system, and you would want to
get it as a heat pump as well, and so
that unit alone will handle very very economically the heating
(04:03):
and cooling of the space. It's basically a air conditioner
that can also work and reverse and instead of removing
heat from the room and making the room cold, it
can add heat to the room and warm it up.
And these days heat pumps heat pump systems, so we
don't have to have any natural gas, we don't have
to have any open flame furnaces or anything like that.
(04:24):
These days, heat pump systems are getting so so well
made and so efficient that we can even use them
in zero degree you know, the right units in zero
degree temperatures, which of course is never an issue in
southern California. So it will do the job just fine
for you. It's trust me when I say it's the
simplest And like you said, yeah, radiant heat for the floors,
(04:48):
I love them, I love it. But you know that's
not an air conditioning system, and so that gives you nice,
beautiful warmth, but then you'll still be putting an AC
system in after that fact. And if that works for
your budget, great, but just to be aware that that's
those are the limitations of radiant heat. It's radiant heat,
(05:08):
it's not radiant cooling. So the split system is the
way to go. But shop it out because there are
so many configurations and you want to get just the
right one that has the right look and that doesn't
end up messing up what you're doing aesthetically inside. But
that's what I would recommend to you. I'd recommend a
mini split system. There are so many many good ones
(05:30):
out there.
Speaker 3 (05:32):
I just shopped out out like a big box home store.
Speaker 2 (05:36):
You could shop it out there, but I prefer that
you shop it out online because again, the big box stores,
the big box stores are going to have many splits there.
They're they're fine, they're great, they're completely dependable. But here's
you know, here's the mentality of a big box store.
A big box store is always stocking to the majority buyer,
right not to They're not going to have every iteration
(06:02):
of a system, especially the ones that are not mass purchased.
And quite often, as a designer, I'm the one who's
pointing my clients towards well, you know this is available too.
It's like, well, I didn't see that at home depot
or lows. I'm like, yeah, you're not going to see
it at home depot or low, So start your shopping
(06:23):
for this kind of thing online so that you become
aware of all that is actually out there. Okay, as
far as how many spaces it can handle, how many cassettes,
what do the cassettes look like? And when I say cassettes,
I mean the vent thing Okay, that's technical speak, the
vent thing in the room where it can be positioned,
(06:46):
what it's look is, because I think that's critically important.
Right when people ask me what's most important dean form
or function? I always say yes, correct form and function.
That is the bullseye both at the same time. So
that's what you're looking for, Natalie, Okay.
Speaker 3 (07:04):
And should I put something separate in the bathroom like
an old style wall unit or is that just not
a good idea.
Speaker 2 (07:09):
If it's a small ADU space, it is very unlikely
you will need it. In other words, if you know,
if we're talking anywhere, you know, six hundred square feet
or so, the one unit heating in general, it's going
to creep into the bathroom. It's going to take care
of it for you.
Speaker 3 (07:28):
Okay, terrific, Thank you so much, hugely helpful.
Speaker 2 (07:31):
Oh you are so very welcome. Thank you for the call.
All right, y'all, when we come back back to the
right way to buy furniture. Carebie Dean Sharp, the house
whisper at your service. We are talking the right way
to buy furniture today. Let's dive back in. The right
(07:52):
way also happens to be the house whisper away of
buying furniture. I don't mind telling you that. And it's
just the truth. Okay, I can't help it. It's true,
just the right way to do it. There are three
categories of to evaluate a piece of furniture by. Did
you know that?
Speaker 3 (08:11):
Well?
Speaker 2 (08:11):
Here they are. Number one, the esthetic of the furniture.
What style are you looking for? Always? Always number one?
Always number one? Why? Because drum roll please, yeah, he's
gonna say it. Design matters most. It truly does so.
(08:33):
On a practical level, I will tell you this, it
is the homeowner who heads out to the furniture store
with absolutely no idea of what kind of sofa or
chair or whatever, absolutely no idea what style, what kind
they are looking for that is most likely to come
(08:55):
home with a piece that they will not be thrilled
with when they get it home. That's just our experience
and it has proven out over the decades. The reason
is and you always hear this. You're like, well, it
looked so much better in the store. It looked I mean,
it just seemed all yeah. Of course it was all
looking great in the store because in the store it
(09:17):
was displayed with you know, matching end tables and matching
lamps and da da da da and and so you
really really need to know the style that you are
looking for style or styles that you are hunting down, okay,
because design matters most. Now, that's not to say that
(09:39):
once you get out on the hunt that you stumble
across something you hadn't thought of, a style choice that
you hadn't thought of, and you're and you you look
at and you're like, wait a second, even though I
was looking for this, this thing, this could work really
really well. Okay. So I'm not excluding that experience, right,
(10:02):
but that is an experience that only happens to people
who are already hunting down a particular style because they've
worked it out, they've worked out what it is that
they're looking for, and it's perfectly okay. If you are
a little confused or shrugging your shoulders when it comes
(10:23):
to this, you might need you might need some professional
help with that I don't mean not psychiatry, No, I
mean a decorator. You might want to consult with somebody
and say, listen, this is kind of what I'm hoping
to do with this room, but I don't know how
to get across the finish line. Get some advice, get
some guidance. Okay, ask for help, seek help, And yes
(10:48):
you may spend some money doing that, but design matters
most Okay, I'm just honestly telling you that's the way
to start that process. The second point for evaluating a
piece of furniture is comfort and ease of use. And
with this, I will tell you this is maybe the
(11:12):
most confusing thing for people, emotionally confusing, right because you
can go to the cheapest furniture store and sit down
on the cheapest piece of furniture that's just been overstuffed
with lots of fluff and soft cushions, and you sit
there and you're like, ooh, this is soft. Get away
(11:33):
from that. Get away from this mentality that if it's soft,
it's what you're looking for. Right now, I'm not telling
you that I want you to buy a concrete sofa,
but I am going to tell you this that firm
is the kind of furniture that reveals its innate design
(11:57):
qualities and or defects. The fastest, the firmer a piece
of furniture is Number one, the longer you can sit
on it comfortably. Number two, the peas a piece of
furniture is the more instantly you know whether the ergonomics,
the proportions, the dimensions of that piece of furniture are
(12:20):
right for you, because a firm piece of furniture gives
you instant feedback. Instant feedback. Okay, I'm going to tell
you a story. I got to catch up with our
time here on the spot. I'm gonna when we come
back after the news, I'm going to tell you a
story that just happened this week. A little furniture shopping
up in Central coastal California and a furniture store that
(12:43):
was selling nothing but wood amish made furniture. And how
you get instant feedback on the right piece of furniture. Okay,
don't be distracted by or seduced by soft the seduction
of it's a big mistake when you're buying furniture. Okay,
more on this.
Speaker 1 (13:04):
You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp on demand from
KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 2 (13:12):
YEFIM Pick forty live streaming and HD everywhere on the
iHeart Radio app. You are home with Dean Sharp the
house whisper how you doing? On this chili Southern California
Saturday morning? Here? What is today? Today? Is the fourteenth
of December. Oh, halfway through the month. I am loving it.
(13:35):
I hope that you are in the holiday spirit. No
matter how you celebrate, what you celebrate, I hope you celebrate.
I hope you celebrate. It's that time of year when
we hunker down, we we we feel the cold, we
embrace warm things, warm relationships, all the things. You know.
(13:55):
The most ancient form of celebration of the winter solstice
is simply that it is this idea of feeling our
own fragility, our own vulnerability to life, to the weather,
to just everything, and then responding by celebrating, celebrating our relationships,
(14:19):
the people we love, the things we love, and the
fact that we can be warm and fed this time
of year. So just take full advantage of it, That's
what I'm saying. Don't wait for Christmas Day. Just embrace
the season, Okay, embrace the whole month. That's what we're
doing here, and I would encourage you to do it
as well. To help you do it. You know, a
(14:40):
lot of people buy furniture this time of year as
part of their Christmas gifts to themselves or to their
loved ones. So this is the right way to buy furniture.
That's what we're talking about this morning. So I've come
across one of the and of course you know, I've
got a huge list. We could go on for hours
and hours about this, but I'm trying to hit some
(15:01):
of the most important tips to give you. Okay, while
I have your ear right before the break, I told
you one of the most important tips that anyone could
possibly tell you, all right, not just that design matters most,
but when it comes to comfort, evaluating a piece of
furniture via comfort, don't be seduced by soft Okay, soft hides,
(15:26):
defects in ergonomics. The cheapest, least well built piece of
furniture out there, let's just say a sofa chair can
overly stuff the upholstery, make it really really soft when
you first sit down, and make you think, ooh, down,
this is nice. And I'm not saying that you're having
(15:48):
a different experience than that. Of course, every time you
brush up against a big, soft, pillowy thing, it's big
and soft and pillowy. I got it, I got you, Okay,
But that's not really the point. The real point of
a great piece of furniture is endurance. It's not just
how well made it is, but how ergonomically designed it
(16:11):
is and how long can you stay in that? And
a lot of people experience this with beds. We'll use
the bed metaphor super overly soft beds. For most people,
the vast majority of people are not a comfortable bed
at first. I mean, you flop down in, You're like, oh,
I'm in heaven, and about an hour later, your back
is and legs are like, oh, I don't know what's wrong. Why,
(16:34):
you know, it's hard to get a good night's sleep
on something that is just too fluffy and just the case.
So it's also not easy to sit on a sofa
that is overly fluffy for an extended period of time.
All right, soft, and this is my biggest critique. Soft
(16:55):
can hide a multitude of sins in as far as
the construction of the furniture and the ergonomics, and of
course the ergonomics are even a higher point of evaluating
than the construction. Okay, the ergonomics of a piece of furniture,
you got to work for you, for you, So number one,
(17:15):
don't be seduced by soft Number two, we're not going
to buy this stuff online unless you've already experienced it
in a showroom somewhere. I don't care. That's great, that's fine.
You got to sit in furniture. There's probably no greater
industry that is a strong argument for the existence of
brick and mortar stores still in the age of the Internet,
(17:38):
than furniture. You have to sit in it, you have
to touch it, you have to be there with it
before you purchase it, period the end. Okay, unless you're
just so wealthy that you can have furniture delivered and
then send it back and you're you know, you're using
your own living room as a showroom. Okay, that's just
(17:59):
kind of ridiculous. You need to I was gonna say, taste.
You need to taste, touch, sit, smell the furniture. You
got to be there. You got to be a part
of it, because that's the only way you're going to
know ergonomically whether it's the right piece for you. Okay,
I want you to lean towards trusting firm. Firm is
(18:20):
easier to sit on longer. Firm provides instant feedback on ergonomics,
meaning this, you've got a room full of wooden chairs.
This was the experience I told you I was going
to share with you that we just had. And I've
had this experience a thousand times, but it's fresh on
my mind because we were up in Where were we at? Oh,
we were in Cambria. We're in Cambria, walking in and
(18:40):
out of some shops where there's a beautiful shop in Cambria.
I wish I could remember its name, Escaping Rate right now.
But they were selling Amish made furniture, these rocking chairs.
In fact, sheep, I think eighty percent of the store
was rocking chairs, these Amish rocking chairs. Beautiful crafted, beautiful
(19:01):
to look at. All wood, okay, no cushions, no pads,
no seat pads, no any just all wood construction. So we,
you know, we mosied in and we were kind of
struck by the beauty of these all wood rocking chairs.
And then I sat in one and oh my, it
(19:23):
just every curve for me, every curve, every angle, every
swoop of that wood just held my body in this beautiful, comfortable,
relaxing place. Okay, now understand there is nothing soft about
(19:45):
an all wood chair, an all wood rocking chair, and
yet the right one with the right ergonomics doesn't matter
because you guess it.
Speaker 3 (19:55):
You know.
Speaker 2 (19:55):
I don't know if you've looked behind you lately, but
most of us are carrying our own soft cushion with
us right down there. Just look back there you see it,
or reach down you can feel it. Oh, the two
lovely cushions right there. So the point is what we're
really looking for is not an overstuffed pillow. What you're
(20:15):
really looking for is the right ergonomics in the furniture,
and the right one. I'll give you a case in point.
Tina and I spend hours sitting in front of our
design desk in our design studio, designing homes. Our chair
is in there, all wood, nothing but wood. All right,
you get a good banker's chair, you know, like a
turn of the century banker's chair, and all wood, super comfy.
(20:39):
So all right, I'm not going to belabor the point.
The point is this, don't be seduced by soft. Go
for the ergonomics of the furniture, and you can trust
it'll be a little more trusting in a showroom of
firm furniture because it will instantly give you that feedback.
If you sit in the wrong wood chair, you know
it right there. That's what I mean by instant feedback.
(21:02):
If you sit in the wrong soft, cushy chair, you
may not know it for an hour that it's the
wrong chair, but firm you'll know it immediately, all right.
And then that brings us to construction, the third and
final major way of evaluating a piece of furniture, the frame,
the upholstery, the finishes. This is what we're going to
(21:24):
be discussing right on the other side of the news, kay,
if I Dean Sharp, the house Whisper, Welcome Home. We're
talking about tips for the right way to buy furniture.
And we're down to the last category here, which is construction.
And these are the things that you ask of the
(21:48):
salespeople the place where you're buying furniture, and believe me,
if they don't have good answers for this, then you know.
And it's kind of like I always compare this to
like when you shop for organic food at the market.
It's a big hassle to become certified organic, and they
(22:08):
are all these hoops that you have to jump through,
and there's an expense to do it too. So believe me,
when a piece of food is organic certified, they're going
to tell you about it. They're proud to tell you
about it. They need to tell you about it right
Places that are not touting the quality of the construction
of their furniture, which is like that it takes extra time,
(22:32):
extra cost, extra effort, extra craftsmanship. Places that are not
telling you about that right up front, they are very
likely not telling you because they don't have much to
tell you about it, and that should give you pause
along the way. Okay, so, as far as construction is concerned,
the wood of the frame, if it is a wood
(22:54):
frame furniture, which is most pieces of furniture. Wood furniture
falls into three categories as far as the frames go,
solid wood, veneers and particle board or composite wood. Particle
board and composits. Right out the door done, that's a
non starter. No, no, do not do not do that.
(23:19):
They just don't hold up veneers. I'm not huge on
veneers myself, just because depending on the thickness of the veer. Now,
it doesn't mean that a good furniture maker doesn't occasionally
add a veneer to a certain facet of their furniture,
but generally speaking veneers, you mus steer away from solid
wood solid wood as a winner. Now, the question is
(23:41):
the kind of solid wood? Right? Solid wood can also
be in plywood. I'm not plywood is not a non starter,
especially a really high quality seven to nine layer plywood
that's very very substantial and good quality. But the connection
(24:02):
points right of how this solid wood is made. You
could find a furniture manufacturer who's advertising hardwoods, but you
need to ask them what kind of hardwood is it?
Which species? There are technical hardwoods out there that are
in fact softer than some soft woods. Okay, so just
(24:22):
because it's oh we use one hundred percent hardwood frame,
that's great. What species of hardwood?
Speaker 1 (24:28):
Oh?
Speaker 2 (24:28):
I don't. It's Douglas fir, or it's it's kind of pine,
and like, no, no, no hardwood. We're looking for a
very very hardwood to be the frame of the furniture.
Speaker 3 (24:41):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (24:41):
And then the connection point right, what was an example? Oh,
I'll give an example aspen. Okay, a common less expensive
furniture frame is technically a hardwood that is softer than
let's say, Douglas, than pine in some regard, and pine
is a softwood. So there you go. That's what I meant.
(25:04):
The joinery most important with a piece of furniture, especially
the frame. How is this frame connected together? And again,
if the salesperson doesn't know, then they're either not a
good salesperson or they are. There's nothing impressive about how
it's connected. The cheapest, most value oriented furniture out there
(25:27):
has been stapled and nailed together, and that stuff is
what you want to avoid. The best joinery of all
of all Mortison tennin. Okay, this is where literally we
aren't using any fasteners, but one piece of wood has
had a tenant made into it. That means like a tab.
(25:50):
The other piece of wood has had a space or
a hole for that tab to be inserted into it.
And then usually there's a cross dowel that's been put
across to lock them in place. Mortise and Tenans, which
is kind of well, it's not the same as like
a dovetail drawer. You know what I'm saying. When you
see a dovetail drawer on a cabinet, the dovetail drawer
(26:13):
is holding together. It's just wood to wood and it's
the cuts of the wood that are holding each other
in place. That's not mortise intened. But that's what a
mortise intent and joint does. Okay, it's wood on wood
connections and relying on nothing other than that. Now, adding
a little glue to that not the worst thing in
(26:34):
the world. But the joinery itself, whether it's dowled or
mortise intent, and these are the best connections. Pocket screws,
if it's screwed together, that would be like my secondary default.
You know, I'm not super thrilled about screws, but fine,
and definitely no snails or staples that are just being
(26:56):
primarily dependent upon glue. Right, you ask these questions, you
find out and again the most important thing, you're in
the right place. If the salespeople are saying, let me
show you our manufacturing process, I'm going to show you
pictures of this going together at the factory. Or look,
we've got an exploded frame without the upholstery on it
(27:17):
over here so you can see how this piece is made.
You're in the right place, all right, because if they
are pulling if they're opening the hood as it were,
and showing you what's underneath, then they're proud of that,
and they're confident in that, and you can be confident
in it too. All right, there are so many elements
(27:38):
to buying frame. We're going to return to this, of course,
as we do all things again and again. But I
thought that this would be a great primer for you
to get you out the door and in the right
orientation for buying furniture. Don't miss tomorrow's show. We're going
to be talking about demystifying the difference between antique, vintage,
(28:00):
retro and nostalgic design. It's a great time of year
to do this. You're not gonna want to miss it.
Follow us on social media, check out the house Whisper podcast,
and of course, if your home is in need of
some personal house Whisper attention, book an in home design.
Consult with us at house Whisper dot Design. We're right
back here tomorrow from nine to noon. Until then, get
(28:23):
out there and get busy building yourself a beautiful life.
We'll see you tomorrow. This has been Home with Dean
Sharp the House Whisper. Tune into the live broadcast on
KFI Am six forty every Saturday morning from six to
eight Pacific time, and every Sunday morning from nine to
noon Pacific time, or anytime on demand on the iHeartRadio
(28:46):
app
You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp on demand from
KFI AM six forty, kami.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
Am Pick forty live streaming and HD everywhere on the
iHeart radio app. Dean Sharp the house Whisper live with
you every Saturday and Sunday morning. Hey, follow us on
social media. We only do the good kind of social media, uplifting, informative,
inspiring social media. We're on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook x at
(00:34):
Home with Dean, same handle for all of it. Come
visit us on social media, and of course this very
program is also the house Whisper podcast that you can
listen to anytime, anywhere on demand. Hundreds of episodes waiting
there for you, all searchable by topic. It's your home
improvement reference library. And if your home you think is
(00:59):
in need of more more personal house Whisper attention, you
can book an in home design console with us. Yeah,
with us, actually us in your home. To do that,
you just go to house Whisperer dot Design, house Whisperer
dot Design. All right, we're gonna be getting back to
the right way to buy furniture in just a smidge,
(01:22):
But right now I'm taking calls. Get back to the phones.
Try and knock one out. Natalie, Welcome home, Hidian, Good morning,
Good morning.
Speaker 3 (01:32):
I have an old nineteen thirty eight house with a
separate garage which I've turned into living space where I'm
in the process and I want to know the best
way to heat and cool it. It's basically one large
room and then a separate bedroom and a bathroom. And
my contractor wants to put like a unit on the wall.
It sounds kind of like old technology to me, he says,
(01:53):
it's kind of what everybody does. It's cheap, and I
don't know if that's the best way to go. You've
talked about radiant heating, but then I don't know how
to cool it. So what what's the best thing maybe
for me to do? What are my options?
Speaker 2 (02:08):
Okay, well, the most economical thing to do, uh for
a unit? And by the way, where are you you're
in here in southern California, Yes, okay, I'm just checking
because if you're in the Arctic, I'm going to recommend something.
Yeah yeah, but uh so yeah, so I'm going to
give you the least. The most economical approach is to
(02:31):
use what's called a split system. Okay, a split system.
It's probably uh, you know, akin to what your contractor
was talking to you about. A mini split system. Mini
splits are basically in junior air conditioners, right and your
main house, if you've got air conditioning, you've got the
big condenser out uh outside, and then you've got a
(02:55):
closet or a furnace closet or maybe the furnaces up
in the attic. You've got the other half the system
is outside half of its inside. That's a split system. Okay.
So the way that so many ADUs are done these days,
and rightly so, is that these mini split AC units
(03:17):
are available, and yeah, they have now understand this shop
these out because you don't have to just have the
big what we call cassette cartridge SYS hanging on the
top of a wall. Inside. It can be in the ceiling,
it can be on the wall. There are different configurations,
(03:38):
some far more attractive than others from a design perspective.
But that's the interior unit and then a very very
small compressor condenser unit outside, and that's a split system.
That's an air conditioning system, and you would want to
get it as a heat pump as well, and so
that unit alone will handle very very economically the heating
(04:03):
and cooling of the space. It's basically a air conditioner
that can also work and reverse and instead of removing
heat from the room and making the room cold, it
can add heat to the room and warm it up.
And these days heat pumps heat pump systems, so we
don't have to have any natural gas, we don't have
to have any open flame furnaces or anything like that.
(04:24):
These days, heat pump systems are getting so so well
made and so efficient that we can even use them
in zero degree you know, the right units in zero
degree temperatures, which of course is never an issue in
southern California. So it will do the job just fine
for you. It's trust me when I say it's the
simplest And like you said, yeah, radiant heat for the floors,
(04:48):
I love them, I love it. But you know that's
not an air conditioning system, and so that gives you nice,
beautiful warmth, but then you'll still be putting an AC
system in after that fact. And if that works for
your budget, great, but just to be aware that that's
those are the limitations of radiant heat. It's radiant heat,
(05:08):
it's not radiant cooling. So the split system is the
way to go. But shop it out because there are
so many configurations and you want to get just the
right one that has the right look and that doesn't
end up messing up what you're doing aesthetically inside. But
that's what I would recommend to you. I'd recommend a
mini split system. There are so many many good ones
(05:30):
out there.
Speaker 3 (05:32):
I just shopped out out like a big box home store.
Speaker 2 (05:36):
You could shop it out there, but I prefer that
you shop it out online because again, the big box stores,
the big box stores are going to have many splits there.
They're they're fine, they're great, they're completely dependable. But here's
you know, here's the mentality of a big box store.
A big box store is always stocking to the majority buyer,
right not to They're not going to have every iteration
(06:02):
of a system, especially the ones that are not mass purchased.
And quite often, as a designer, I'm the one who's
pointing my clients towards well, you know this is available too.
It's like, well, I didn't see that at home depot
or lows. I'm like, yeah, you're not going to see
it at home depot or low, So start your shopping
(06:23):
for this kind of thing online so that you become
aware of all that is actually out there. Okay, as
far as how many spaces it can handle, how many cassettes,
what do the cassettes look like? And when I say cassettes,
I mean the vent thing Okay, that's technical speak, the
vent thing in the room where it can be positioned,
(06:46):
what it's look is, because I think that's critically important.
Right when people ask me what's most important dean form
or function? I always say yes, correct form and function.
That is the bullseye both at the same time. So
that's what you're looking for, Natalie, Okay.
Speaker 3 (07:04):
And should I put something separate in the bathroom like
an old style wall unit or is that just not
a good idea.
Speaker 2 (07:09):
If it's a small ADU space, it is very unlikely
you will need it. In other words, if you know,
if we're talking anywhere, you know, six hundred square feet
or so, the one unit heating in general, it's going
to creep into the bathroom. It's going to take care
of it for you.
Speaker 3 (07:28):
Okay, terrific, Thank you so much, hugely helpful.
Speaker 2 (07:31):
Oh you are so very welcome. Thank you for the call.
All right, y'all, when we come back back to the
right way to buy furniture. Carebie Dean Sharp, the house
whisper at your service. We are talking the right way
to buy furniture today. Let's dive back in. The right
(07:52):
way also happens to be the house whisper away of
buying furniture. I don't mind telling you that. And it's
just the truth. Okay, I can't help it. It's true,
just the right way to do it. There are three
categories of to evaluate a piece of furniture by. Did
you know that?
Speaker 3 (08:11):
Well?
Speaker 2 (08:11):
Here they are. Number one, the esthetic of the furniture.
What style are you looking for? Always? Always number one?
Always number one? Why? Because drum roll please, yeah, he's
gonna say it. Design matters most. It truly does so.
(08:33):
On a practical level, I will tell you this, it
is the homeowner who heads out to the furniture store
with absolutely no idea of what kind of sofa or
chair or whatever, absolutely no idea what style, what kind
they are looking for that is most likely to come
(08:55):
home with a piece that they will not be thrilled
with when they get it home. That's just our experience
and it has proven out over the decades. The reason
is and you always hear this. You're like, well, it
looked so much better in the store. It looked I mean,
it just seemed all yeah. Of course it was all
looking great in the store because in the store it
(09:17):
was displayed with you know, matching end tables and matching
lamps and da da da da and and so you
really really need to know the style that you are
looking for style or styles that you are hunting down, okay,
because design matters most. Now, that's not to say that
(09:39):
once you get out on the hunt that you stumble
across something you hadn't thought of, a style choice that
you hadn't thought of, and you're and you you look
at and you're like, wait a second, even though I
was looking for this, this thing, this could work really
really well. Okay. So I'm not excluding that experience, right,
(10:02):
but that is an experience that only happens to people
who are already hunting down a particular style because they've
worked it out, they've worked out what it is that
they're looking for, and it's perfectly okay. If you are
a little confused or shrugging your shoulders when it comes
(10:23):
to this, you might need you might need some professional
help with that I don't mean not psychiatry, No, I
mean a decorator. You might want to consult with somebody
and say, listen, this is kind of what I'm hoping
to do with this room, but I don't know how
to get across the finish line. Get some advice, get
some guidance. Okay, ask for help, seek help, And yes
(10:48):
you may spend some money doing that, but design matters
most Okay, I'm just honestly telling you that's the way
to start that process. The second point for evaluating a
piece of furniture is comfort and ease of use. And
with this, I will tell you this is maybe the
(11:12):
most confusing thing for people, emotionally confusing, right because you
can go to the cheapest furniture store and sit down
on the cheapest piece of furniture that's just been overstuffed
with lots of fluff and soft cushions, and you sit
there and you're like, ooh, this is soft. Get away
(11:33):
from that. Get away from this mentality that if it's soft,
it's what you're looking for. Right now, I'm not telling
you that I want you to buy a concrete sofa,
but I am going to tell you this that firm
is the kind of furniture that reveals its innate design
(11:57):
qualities and or defects. The fastest, the firmer a piece
of furniture is Number one, the longer you can sit
on it comfortably. Number two, the peas a piece of
furniture is the more instantly you know whether the ergonomics,
the proportions, the dimensions of that piece of furniture are
(12:20):
right for you, because a firm piece of furniture gives
you instant feedback. Instant feedback. Okay, I'm going to tell
you a story. I got to catch up with our
time here on the spot. I'm gonna when we come
back after the news, I'm going to tell you a
story that just happened this week. A little furniture shopping
up in Central coastal California and a furniture store that
(12:43):
was selling nothing but wood amish made furniture. And how
you get instant feedback on the right piece of furniture. Okay,
don't be distracted by or seduced by soft the seduction
of it's a big mistake when you're buying furniture. Okay,
Speaker 1 (13:04):
You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp on demand from
KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 2 (13:12):
YEFIM Pick forty live streaming and HD everywhere on the
iHeart Radio app. You are home with Dean Sharp the
house whisper how you doing? On this chili Southern California
Saturday morning? Here? What is today? Today? Is the fourteenth
of December. Oh, halfway through the month. I am loving it.
(13:35):
I hope that you are in the holiday spirit. No
matter how you celebrate, what you celebrate, I hope you celebrate.
I hope you celebrate. It's that time of year when
we hunker down, we we we feel the cold, we
embrace warm things, warm relationships, all the things. You know.
(13:55):
The most ancient form of celebration of the winter solstice
is simply that it is this idea of feeling our
own fragility, our own vulnerability to life, to the weather,
to just everything, and then responding by celebrating, celebrating our relationships,
(14:19):
the people we love, the things we love, and the
fact that we can be warm and fed this time
of year. So just take full advantage of it, That's
what I'm saying. Don't wait for Christmas Day. Just embrace
the season, Okay, embrace the whole month. That's what we're
doing here, and I would encourage you to do it
as well. To help you do it. You know, a
(14:40):
lot of people buy furniture this time of year as
part of their Christmas gifts to themselves or to their
loved ones. So this is the right way to buy furniture.
That's what we're talking about this morning. So I've come
across one of the and of course you know, I've
got a huge list. We could go on for hours
and hours about this, but I'm trying to hit some
(15:01):
of the most important tips to give you. Okay, while
I have your ear right before the break, I told
you one of the most important tips that anyone could
possibly tell you, all right, not just that design matters most,
but when it comes to comfort, evaluating a piece of
furniture via comfort, don't be seduced by soft Okay, soft hides,
(15:26):
defects in ergonomics. The cheapest, least well built piece of
furniture out there, let's just say a sofa chair can
overly stuff the upholstery, make it really really soft when
you first sit down, and make you think, ooh, down,
this is nice. And I'm not saying that you're having
(15:48):
a different experience than that. Of course, every time you
brush up against a big, soft, pillowy thing, it's big
and soft and pillowy. I got it, I got you, Okay,
But that's not really the point. The real point of
a great piece of furniture is endurance. It's not just
how well made it is, but how ergonomically designed it
(16:11):
is and how long can you stay in that? And
a lot of people experience this with beds. We'll use
the bed metaphor super overly soft beds. For most people,
the vast majority of people are not a comfortable bed
at first. I mean, you flop down in, You're like, oh,
I'm in heaven, and about an hour later, your back
is and legs are like, oh, I don't know what's wrong. Why,
(16:34):
you know, it's hard to get a good night's sleep
on something that is just too fluffy and just the case.
So it's also not easy to sit on a sofa
that is overly fluffy for an extended period of time.
All right, soft, and this is my biggest critique. Soft
(16:55):
can hide a multitude of sins in as far as
the construction of the furniture and the ergonomics, and of
course the ergonomics are even a higher point of evaluating
than the construction. Okay, the ergonomics of a piece of furniture,
you got to work for you, for you, So number one,
(17:15):
don't be seduced by soft Number two, we're not going
to buy this stuff online unless you've already experienced it
in a showroom somewhere. I don't care. That's great, that's fine.
You got to sit in furniture. There's probably no greater
industry that is a strong argument for the existence of
brick and mortar stores still in the age of the Internet,
(17:38):
than furniture. You have to sit in it, you have
to touch it, you have to be there with it
before you purchase it, period the end. Okay, unless you're
just so wealthy that you can have furniture delivered and
then send it back and you're you know, you're using
your own living room as a showroom. Okay, that's just
(17:59):
kind of ridiculous. You need to I was gonna say, taste.
You need to taste, touch, sit, smell the furniture. You
got to be there. You got to be a part
of it, because that's the only way you're going to
know ergonomically whether it's the right piece for you. Okay,
I want you to lean towards trusting firm. Firm is
(18:20):
easier to sit on longer. Firm provides instant feedback on ergonomics,
meaning this, you've got a room full of wooden chairs.
This was the experience I told you I was going
to share with you that we just had. And I've
had this experience a thousand times, but it's fresh on
my mind because we were up in Where were we at? Oh,
we were in Cambria. We're in Cambria, walking in and
(18:40):
out of some shops where there's a beautiful shop in Cambria.
I wish I could remember its name, Escaping Rate right now.
But they were selling Amish made furniture, these rocking chairs.
In fact, sheep, I think eighty percent of the store
was rocking chairs, these Amish rocking chairs. Beautiful crafted, beautiful
(19:01):
to look at. All wood, okay, no cushions, no pads,
no seat pads, no any just all wood construction. So we,
you know, we mosied in and we were kind of
struck by the beauty of these all wood rocking chairs.
And then I sat in one and oh my, it
(19:23):
just every curve for me, every curve, every angle, every
swoop of that wood just held my body in this beautiful, comfortable,
relaxing place. Okay, now understand there is nothing soft about
(19:45):
an all wood chair, an all wood rocking chair, and
yet the right one with the right ergonomics doesn't matter
because you guess it.
Speaker 3 (19:55):
You know.
Speaker 2 (19:55):
I don't know if you've looked behind you lately, but
most of us are carrying our own soft cushion with
us right down there. Just look back there you see it,
or reach down you can feel it. Oh, the two
lovely cushions right there. So the point is what we're
really looking for is not an overstuffed pillow. What you're
(20:15):
really looking for is the right ergonomics in the furniture,
and the right one. I'll give you a case in point.
Tina and I spend hours sitting in front of our
design desk in our design studio, designing homes. Our chair
is in there, all wood, nothing but wood. All right,
you get a good banker's chair, you know, like a
turn of the century banker's chair, and all wood, super comfy.
(20:39):
So all right, I'm not going to belabor the point.
The point is this, don't be seduced by soft. Go
for the ergonomics of the furniture, and you can trust
it'll be a little more trusting in a showroom of
firm furniture because it will instantly give you that feedback.
If you sit in the wrong wood chair, you know
it right there. That's what I mean by instant feedback.
(21:02):
If you sit in the wrong soft, cushy chair, you
may not know it for an hour that it's the
wrong chair, but firm you'll know it immediately, all right.
And then that brings us to construction, the third and
final major way of evaluating a piece of furniture, the frame,
the upholstery, the finishes. This is what we're going to
(21:24):
be discussing right on the other side of the news, kay,
if I Dean Sharp, the house Whisper, Welcome Home. We're
talking about tips for the right way to buy furniture.
And we're down to the last category here, which is construction.
And these are the things that you ask of the
(21:48):
salespeople the place where you're buying furniture, and believe me,
if they don't have good answers for this, then you know.
And it's kind of like I always compare this to
like when you shop for organic food at the market.
It's a big hassle to become certified organic, and they
(22:08):
are all these hoops that you have to jump through,
and there's an expense to do it too. So believe me,
when a piece of food is organic certified, they're going
to tell you about it. They're proud to tell you
about it. They need to tell you about it right
Places that are not touting the quality of the construction
of their furniture, which is like that it takes extra time,
(22:32):
extra cost, extra effort, extra craftsmanship. Places that are not
telling you about that right up front, they are very
likely not telling you because they don't have much to
tell you about it, and that should give you pause
along the way. Okay, so, as far as construction is concerned,
the wood of the frame, if it is a wood
(22:54):
frame furniture, which is most pieces of furniture. Wood furniture
falls into three categories as far as the frames go,
solid wood, veneers and particle board or composite wood. Particle
board and composits. Right out the door done, that's a
non starter. No, no, do not do not do that.
(23:19):
They just don't hold up veneers. I'm not huge on
veneers myself, just because depending on the thickness of the veer. Now,
it doesn't mean that a good furniture maker doesn't occasionally
add a veneer to a certain facet of their furniture,
but generally speaking veneers, you mus steer away from solid
wood solid wood as a winner. Now, the question is
(23:41):
the kind of solid wood? Right? Solid wood can also
be in plywood. I'm not plywood is not a non starter,
especially a really high quality seven to nine layer plywood
that's very very substantial and good quality. But the connection
(24:02):
points right of how this solid wood is made. You
could find a furniture manufacturer who's advertising hardwoods, but you
need to ask them what kind of hardwood is it?
Which species? There are technical hardwoods out there that are
in fact softer than some soft woods. Okay, so just
(24:22):
because it's oh we use one hundred percent hardwood frame,
that's great. What species of hardwood?
Speaker 1 (24:28):
Oh?
Speaker 2 (24:28):
I don't. It's Douglas fir, or it's it's kind of pine,
and like, no, no, no hardwood. We're looking for a
very very hardwood to be the frame of the furniture.
Speaker 3 (24:41):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (24:41):
And then the connection point right, what was an example? Oh,
I'll give an example aspen. Okay, a common less expensive
furniture frame is technically a hardwood that is softer than
let's say, Douglas, than pine in some regard, and pine
is a softwood. So there you go. That's what I meant.
(25:04):
The joinery most important with a piece of furniture, especially
the frame. How is this frame connected together? And again,
if the salesperson doesn't know, then they're either not a
good salesperson or they are. There's nothing impressive about how
it's connected. The cheapest, most value oriented furniture out there
(25:27):
has been stapled and nailed together, and that stuff is
what you want to avoid. The best joinery of all
of all Mortison tennin. Okay, this is where literally we
aren't using any fasteners, but one piece of wood has
had a tenant made into it. That means like a tab.
(25:50):
The other piece of wood has had a space or
a hole for that tab to be inserted into it.
And then usually there's a cross dowel that's been put
across to lock them in place. Mortise and Tenans, which
is kind of well, it's not the same as like
a dovetail drawer. You know what I'm saying. When you
see a dovetail drawer on a cabinet, the dovetail drawer
(26:13):
is holding together. It's just wood to wood and it's
the cuts of the wood that are holding each other
in place. That's not mortise intened. But that's what a
mortise intent and joint does. Okay, it's wood on wood
connections and relying on nothing other than that. Now, adding
a little glue to that not the worst thing in
(26:34):
the world. But the joinery itself, whether it's dowled or
mortise intent, and these are the best connections. Pocket screws,
if it's screwed together, that would be like my secondary default.
You know, I'm not super thrilled about screws, but fine,
and definitely no snails or staples that are just being
(26:56):
primarily dependent upon glue. Right, you ask these questions, you
find out and again the most important thing, you're in
the right place. If the salespeople are saying, let me
show you our manufacturing process, I'm going to show you
pictures of this going together at the factory. Or look,
we've got an exploded frame without the upholstery on it
(27:17):
over here so you can see how this piece is made.
You're in the right place, all right, because if they
are pulling if they're opening the hood as it were,
and showing you what's underneath, then they're proud of that,
and they're confident in that, and you can be confident
in it too. All right, there are so many elements
(27:38):
to buying frame. We're going to return to this, of course,
as we do all things again and again. But I
thought that this would be a great primer for you
to get you out the door and in the right
orientation for buying furniture. Don't miss tomorrow's show. We're going
to be talking about demystifying the difference between antique, vintage,
(28:00):
retro and nostalgic design. It's a great time of year
to do this. You're not gonna want to miss it.
Follow us on social media, check out the house Whisper podcast,
and of course, if your home is in need of
some personal house Whisper attention, book an in home design.
Consult with us at house Whisper dot Design. We're right
back here tomorrow from nine to noon. Until then, get
(28:23):
out there and get busy building yourself a beautiful life.
We'll see you tomorrow. This has been Home with Dean
Sharp the House Whisper. Tune into the live broadcast on
KFI Am six forty every Saturday morning from six to
eight Pacific time, and every Sunday morning from nine to
noon Pacific time, or anytime on demand on the iHeartRadio
(28:46):
app
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