I think this mindset is much more common among foreigners. I have seen it happen even at lower ends of the scale, and not with professionally staged interiors but with the furnishings of the prior owners. These buyers like having it ready to move in, like a hotel. I guess to them it doesn't feel weird to just start inhabiting someone else's things. Americans are much more into making their spaces fit their individual personalities, family heirlooms, "meaningful" furniture (ie, attached to a memory), etc.
Some people like a particular look but aren't invested in the idea that a space needs to be some sort of personal expression. It might not be my choice, but why not? People who buy condos in ski areas have been doing this for years. This is just a more upscale version of bland modernism that a lot of people like.
Perfect for corrupt oligarchs--make it look like the place is inhabited and your "primary residence" when the taxman comes a-knocking (if ONLY....change the law and ugly empty boxes with apparently even uglier furniture will vanish hopefully).
1
One silly thought: If all of this is an investment with a flip potential - what happens when you are the last one standing in line?
7
Um, you own it? Pretty sure these high end apartments are not going to people with money problems.
1
None of the furnishings in the pictures of the article looks enticing to me, particularly so for the first one (which is like some lame decor for some bachelor's). Why would anyone wants to pluck down $30k-60k for lame decor like that?
7
since you cant afford even the lamp..why ask?
these look: awful.....(design sense shudder)
5
Inspired by IKEA!
18
Yeah, but at about five times the price...
I had to go back and re-read it to make sure I hadn't misread it. $9,400 for one sofa. Jesus.
You know, the Republicans often say that folks who don't like their candidates and their policies are suffering from "envy." Let me tell you, I have never wanted a $9,400 sofa. And I do not envy people who pony up that kind of money to buy a lousy sofa.
I had to go back and re-read it to make sure I hadn't misread it. $9,400 for one sofa. Jesus.
You know, the Republicans often say that folks who don't like their candidates and their policies are suffering from "envy." Let me tell you, I have never wanted a $9,400 sofa. And I do not envy people who pony up that kind of money to buy a lousy sofa.
8
Right on. People who buy a $9,400 sofa are weak in the head. How much do they donate to say Doctors Without Borders? If they donate 3 to 5 times that amount i would say let them have their silly sofas.
1
What's next? Wedding planners including brides/grooms in an all inclusive package. Packaged diets delivered to your door-fully organized travel tours-packaged vacations... Leaving the "details" to others can "express" one through life before experiencing it.
18
A custom coffin and a burial plot. It's called cradle-to-grave.
great for all the foreigners who come in to flip sale apartments and may stay there for only day or two before they flip the sale.....
42
I would like, as an ex-manager of investment condominiums for international investors, to confirm that prior to your purchasing of the furnishings, the agents showing the apartments have all had their precious moments in the cloistered quarters of the space. At the very least, change the linen. Amurika is, at the end of the day, a very democratic society indeed. In fact.
6
If you plunk down $20M for an apartment, you'd want everything to be custom.. from the draperies to the rug and the furniture. You would also, ideally, like to be part of the design process, working with top-notch designers to help achieve your vision. Otherwise, why waste the money in the first place?
Filing a $20M condo with DWR furniture is like wearing a Chanel suit with H&M pumps. You just don't do it, unless it's just... an investment.
Now it makes sense.
Filing a $20M condo with DWR furniture is like wearing a Chanel suit with H&M pumps. You just don't do it, unless it's just... an investment.
Now it makes sense.
36
I agree with your sentiment but not with you example. There are in fact many fashion icons who mix low with high fashion.
2
Just to clarify, the $20M condo is at One57. The units at 53rd and 8th are the ones with DWR furniture and sell for around $1.6M.
I agree with you in theory (DWR is in many ways the H&M of furniture, and $1.6M isn't small change), but I suspect the entities going for these apartments are, as the respondent above notes, people who plan to flip them, or use them as corporate apartments for clients, etc. So I sense that quality furniture and unique, personalized expression aren't big on their lists.
I agree with you in theory (DWR is in many ways the H&M of furniture, and $1.6M isn't small change), but I suspect the entities going for these apartments are, as the respondent above notes, people who plan to flip them, or use them as corporate apartments for clients, etc. So I sense that quality furniture and unique, personalized expression aren't big on their lists.
2