601 Tully

Resources for lighting, electronics, and hardware

Lighting/Electrical solutions:

http://byrne-electrical.com/Splashpage.aspx

http://www.lutron.com/

http://www.leviton.com/

http://www.goodearthlighting.com/

http://www.trescointernational.com/index_main.html

http://www.brucklighting.com/

Hardware:

http://www.blum.com/us/en/index.php

http://www.hafele.com/us/

http://www.sugatsune.com/

http://www.rev-a-shelf-hardware.com/

McMaster-Carr

The place to start looking for the unfindable...replacement gaskets that you're sure must exist, replacement nuts, bolts, and other thingymajigs, industrial velcro, industrial felt, reflective dots, foam padding, flocked paper, and who knows what else. This company indexes and sells 480,000 products. I had a friend who worked as a programmer at this company for 4 years and would find and buy something random off their website every Friday...even he couldn't keep track of all the random stuff they sold. Example A: Factory Bicycles. Who would have known?

http://www.mcmaster.com

Apartment Therapy

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com ....I read this blog every day....simple, fun, inspiring. Lots of good ideas, product reviews, DIY projects (like this pipe shelves....this is not a picture of my house but I built this shelving after I read this post and I love it...its extremely sturdy).

Appliances - Fagor brand and floor models

I designed a lot of small space kitchens - Fagor was a brand that I specified a lot because it makes modern apartment size appliances at a reasonable price.

http://www.fagoramerica.com/

Companies like Miele, Bosch, and Libherr make good products but they are expensive...it is sometimes possible to acquire these models used or as floor samples. I knew someone who acquired a Bosch oven for $100 from a Boat show. I have seen GE Monogram appliances at Salvation Army for $800 (normally 3-4K). The last day of trade shows are a great time to pick up bargains because transporting floor models costs a company money and selling them at a discount may end up being cheaper than transporting it back from the show.

DuPont Corian - Acrylic countertops

Acrylic is a great choice for countertops because it is durable, sanitary, and cost-effective. It is available in a wide variety of color choices and it is fully machinable, allowing for unlimited creativity with shape and form. It is also the only countertop that is genuinely "repairable".

Corian is one of the leading brands of Acrylic countertops; two series that may be of particular interest to you are their Terra series which is 6-13% recycled content, and the Illumination series, a translucent acrylic.