Here’s a brief update from all of us here working hard through the holiday to get you your furniture!

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Contact us at orders@visiondecor.com for any order related issues.

Deals Deals Deals! are still going on after the Black Friday / Cyber Monday weekend!

Featured item includes our signature bookshelf (picture shown on left):

5 Tier Black Bookshelf for only $53.99 (until supplies last)

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Owning a full time retail furniture store business myself, I don’t get much time to watch TV. But when I do, I always come across those infomercials that help you get rich quick from stocks, real estate, and pyramid schemes. The other day I came across a commercial for “Direct Buy” where you can buy furniture and home goods direct from the manufacturer, and pay wholesale prices, where you can join them as a member and get direct access to their furniture store and design center showroom.

First thing I thought was: “What’s the catch?”

Because Direct Buy has to make money, how does the customer only have to pay the wholesale prices? So I did some poking around and found some forums and posts where people are complaining that Direct Buy is a scam and their fees are outrageous. Fees? What happened to paying wholesale prices and saving a ton? But there were a few that said they had a good experience. So again, what’s the catch?

So after a reading a few posts on the Direct Buy topic at topix and various sources over the web, I got a good idea of what was going on.

The truth about the Direct Buy furniture store and home goods membership:

The commercial – you see it on TV spot ads where they pitch you a great idea about buying direct from the manufacturer and wholesaler. They have testimonials from customers that tell you they saved $20,000, $100,000 etc.

The sales pitch – So you are in the market to remodel your home and refurnish it, and you give them a call or visit their website. They give you a pass or invite you to their showroom tour. You visit one of their local showrooms and they herd you in seminar style and go through presentation slides about how great it is to be a member. Being a member you can buy direct and saves tons of money. And then they tell you how to become a member buy just paying the non refundable membership fee to get all these discounts.

The membership fee – Now are you ready? To know how much it will be to join this great network and become a member to save tens of thousands of dollars? The membership fee is a $5000 for a complete 2 year membership and $200 per year thereafter. (Supposedly, in 1996 it was around $1000).

The purchases – once you become a member after paying that membership fee, you can now have full access to their local showroom and design center to buy direct for your home.

Direct Buy is not the furniture store for everyone:

The way I see it is that Direct Buy is very much like an expensive Costco membership to buy a wholesale prices. So to save a lot of money you have to spend a lot of money. Based on my estimates, you would have to spend over $20,000 to make back the $5000 membership fee to save on discounts. Direct Buy pitches the fact that furniture stores and appliance stores have 200% markups. And that is not always true. If you took that membership money and translated it into some good shopping comparison time you will be able to get mark ups that are almost 10% to 20% above costs at some retailers. There is so much competition among stores and the internet, that prices are very close to cost nowadays, where business owners are just making enough to cover overhead and make money off of higher volumes.

Direct buy does charge a markup over the cost of the merchandise it sells, just lower than what the retail stores charge. But that is what you paid for by paying that $5000 membership fee. I am pretty sure they don’t offer financing, so you better have all the cash to make those purchases within 2 years, or else you risk paying more membership fees. Because I am aware of new homeowners or remodelers that take over 3-5 years to completely furnish their home. So I guess if you have $5000 lying around and about $30,000 to spend to save a few thousand dollars net, then Direct Buy is for you. Otherwise, take your time and be a bargain hunter, you’ll be able to save just as much and not have to lock yourself into a membership that will force you to spend money in order to save it (what a paradoxical statement).

Not everything you would expect compared to shopping a regular discount furniture store:

Buying direct from the wholesaler may not be everything you expected. You still have to pay sales tax and delivery fees. And you have the long wait times, because wholesalers allocate inventory for their bigger customers who are the retail stores, not the person that is trying to buy the single unit sofa. So compared to all the other customers, a Direct Buy customer probably is not viewed with high respect by the wholesalers. Items you purchase cannot be returned to the manufacturer if you decide it didn’t work out, unlike buying from the furniture store. And there are numerous comments that it is hard to get a hold of Direct Buy after joining or purchasing an item. So what about the customer service? You really need to know what you are doing if you join the membership. Because no one is going to let you into a club with the secrets of buying and saving direct for free, they charge you a fee and that is pretty much all you are going to get: access to buying direct from manufacturers. And you give up all the service and value of buying from a furniture store that values your business (because once you’ve joined, Direct Buy already made their money, they have no incentive to continue to sell you anything and provide you continued service – you’re already a member that can’t quit without giving up the initial membership fee).

If it feels like a scam and you’re asking what’s the catch? Then there probably is a catch. You just need to decide if you can live with that catch. If so, you’ve found what you need. I don’t believe in having to spend more money to save money. What I have said here are only opinions and all of you are free to comment, but I just thought that before you spend time calling and going to the seminars you should know what you are getting yourself into. The flexibility and freedom to spend when and where you want at your own leisure may be better than joining a club that costs you a lot upfront to know the secrets of saving money. If you decided you wanted to spend $30,000 in furniture for your home maybe you can try visiting my furniture store at visiondecor.com and contacting us through email or phone, I’ll be glad to have my customer service reps take care of you and give you a worthy discount. But I’m really not trying to sell you anything, I’m just trying to bring some light into something I saw as kind of “shady”.

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Do I need a Box Spring for my Mattress? This question comes up at least once during bed shopping for 90% of all people. And for good reason. Box Springs are a multi-million dollar, multi-million tree chopping industry. So in light of the green revolution (r-eco-lution?) these days, one can only wonder: is there really a reason for all the senseless killing of defenseless trees just to have an extra foot of wood, fabric, and air underneath your fully functional mattress? As it turns out, the answer is both a resounding no with a hint of yes. The real kicker here is that most modern box springs don’t actually have “springs” in them, which basically leaves just the “box” part as a truth. And this is exactly what they are, a wood-framed box covered with fabric. All of the bells, whistles, and 21st century technology go into the mattress part of the bed, which, if you were a well-informed bed shopper, could take on all sorts of exotic construction from innerspring, foam, visco-elastic (memory) foam, flotation (water), or air.

Example of a Firm Box Spring

Since most box springs are hard, mattresses are designed to work perfectly well on just about any firm, hard surface. The floor is one. I’ve slept on a mattress on the floor for a good 8 years, and I can personally vouch for the undiminished comfort of such a setup. If there is one key argument for box springs, it is that certain touted mattress manufacturers will claim that a box spring can extend the life of a mattress. This statement is true only to the extent of the box spring providing additional spring cushioning, absorbing some of the wear that is normally exhibited onto the mattress itself. These manufacturers typically provide a box spring with their mattress, one that they say is specifically designed to be used with that mattress.

Realistically, from all of the research I have done on this (and with a girlfriend that constantly debates this point with me, I’ve done my share of research), I have concluded that box springs only do two things well, and that is 1. increase the overall height of the bed, and 2. soften the overall firmness of the bed (given that the box spring is not extremely firm). Helping the mattress last longer is a distant, distant, and arguable third. As a person who neither cares for a tall bed, nor a soft bed, I found that platform beds are the most stylishly modern, environmentally-friendly pieces of furniture to complement my mattress. You simply don’t need a box spring for your mattress/bed.

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In the furniture industry? Looking to learn more about sustainable furniture? Or just want to get to know furniture better?  Follow these active and top experts on twitter:

@JuliaRosien
@tkpleslie
@UrbanDecorSue
@MagdaYFL
@shiraabel
I’ve learned a lot from all of them and I hope all of you will too! 
@visiondecor_evl

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When you saw Frank Lloyd Wright, you probably thought, “Ooooh, his designs.”  Yes, we are all familiar with his designs and legacy of interiors.

Tragic Irony

Just some Trivia
But here’s a fact for you.  Maybe good for those of you that would some day be on Jeopardy or Who Wants to be a Millionaire, heehee.  But this is relevant to furniture and home design, so I’d figure this may interest some of you.

The affair and  murder
I did some research and found that a handful of sites talk about the murder.  Apparently, Frank Lloyd Wright eloped with a client’s wife to Europe and subsequently returned to live in a prairie house in Wisconsin.  Shortly thereafter in 1914, headlines wrote “”Murderer of Seven: Sets Fire to Country Home of Frank Lloyd Wright Near Spring Green”.  When Frank Lloyd Wright was at work one day, a staff member at the Taliesin locked up his 2nd wife, set fire to the house and hacked 7 people, including his 2nd wife, to death.

Tragic Irony
An ironic tragedy was that Wright had a design principal of “one door for all purposes”.  So as his house was set on fire, the murderer stood at the door when the victims tried to escape and hacked everyone to death.  I apologize to those of you that didn’t think this post wasn’t as upbeat as you thought, but just some interesting trivia for those of you that are the curious type.

For more reading:
http://www.ds.arch.tue.nl/education/students/MultiMedia/FallingWater/FLW.HTM
http://www.boingboing.net/2009/04/21/the-frank-lloyd-wrig.html
http://www.socyberty.com/History/Frank-Lloyd-Wright-Murder-At-The-Taliesin.69478

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I love visiting model homes and being inside such beautifully furnished interiors.  During the housing boom, I remember people getting into lines just to see a model home offering in the LA area.  I miss those days as not that many good and quality model homes are being offered anymore.

a model home desire…
So to bring back some good memories I was scavenging the internet to quench my thirst for model home images.  I finally came across IDM Solutions, a full service design firm that includes model home merchandising serving the PA area.  And I’d have to say I miss browsing stylish interiors and immaculate kitchens.

A Model Condo

Dining rooms are my second favorite room to peruse while looking at models, can you guess which room is my favorite?

A Model Single Family Residence

The Kitchen.  Yup, I love to cook!  So the kitchen is my most favorite room to look at when browsing models.  The industry grade appliances and marble counter tops, mmmmmmmm.

Townhouse Model Kitchen – Here’s another kitchen, I just couldn’t resist.

These model home pictures bring back good memories when I used to go model home crashing almost every weekend.  But model homes a quite pricey in the LA area still, so maybe I should just consider getting a nice fixer-upper in a good neighborhood?  Anyways, hope you enjoyed the model interior inspirations, you can visit the IDM Solutions website if you want to see more, link here.

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Dear valued customers,

The 2000+ mile wide storm covering the nation is affecting travelers, cars, trucks, planes, etc. Shipments coming out of our Los Angeles, CA distribution may experience delivery delays. If you have an urgent order or need to make special arrangements regarding your order please email us at orders@visiondecor.com.

Also, if you have experienced emails not being responded to, please note that we had an email server outage between 1/12 and 1/20 where many emails were not delivered when we sent it out. Should you need assistance with your order or are still awaiting a response please send a follow up email to orders@visiondecor.com or check your pending ticket on http://visiondecor.zendesk.com

I thank everyone for their patience and understanding.

Eric
Visiondecor.com

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Can Google steal your Ideas?

Claim #1: I’ve seen my share of business ideas, business plans, and cool inventions.

Claim #2: One thing that I’ve been skeptical about is the legitimacy of super powerhouse search engines. 

I know what you’re thinking, “What do those two claims have to do with each other?”  Well here is my conspiracy theory in a nutshell:  Say for example, I come up with a great business idea or invention, and I want to do research about that specific industry, sector, and product.  I begin to Google my ideas and see what’s out there.  I then start partnering up with a couple of people about this remarkable new invention and we start collaborating on obtaining the necessary resources.  We start logging hour’s and hour’s worth of research and data extraction, and one of our sources is Google (the great omnipotent search engine powerhouse).   After a few months of research and development, we realize that it’s too late because Google just fully developed the idea and plans for a full launch. 

Who’s not to say that Google has a department specifically aimed at researching online market trends and popular searches, in order to see what is the “next big thing” or the “next great idea”?  They already have all the data trends of what people need information about.

Why is this monumental?  Well, it’s monumental because it shows Google’s twofold capability:

·   
By utilizing its search statistics, Google can analyze what society begins to aim towards even before it’s caught on by the general public or media (It is a variation of insider information).

·    
Through its informational database, Google can capitalize on great inventions in its early stages (prior to the step of trademark, copyright, etc).

Francis Bacon said, “Knowledge is power,” so just be careful who you’re giving your knowledge to.  Big brother is only a keystroke away… watching, hovering, and analyzing your every search.

Little Brother,
Samuel K

Visiondecor
Guest Blogger

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I should be going back to sleep right now, but instead, I’m here writing this in the wee hours of the morning out of fear.  You see, I knew I was going to get Sleep Paralysis this morning, because I know what it feels like, and as I was trying to fall asleep, I could feel it starting.  My eyes popped open, and it stopped.  As soon as I dozed again, I could feel it starting, so I opened my eyes again.  It’s scary.  And I’m a grown man.  But it’s a generally unpleasant experience that anyone would try to avoid, especially someone who knows exactly what it is and when they get it.

The thing is, I know Sleep Paralysis, and apparently it knows me.  That’s a big difference that separates me from a lot of people who experience it.  And a lot of people, often more than those who realize it, have experienced it.  Think about this for a moment: You’re laying there on the bed, either about to fall asleep or about to wake up, and suddenly you notice something.  It’s a feeling of panic, and the inability to move.  Maybe there’s also a feeling of a presence in the room, could be anywhere, but often it’s either right next to you or right behind you.  There’s a noise of some sort, like maybe a buzzing sound (like a dentist drill or electrical device), or maybe other sounds that are vaguely familiar, like faint talking or clanking of keys.  While you can observe these things, you simply can’t move a muscle.  You feel a crushing weight on your body, as if you’re being sucked into the bed, and you’re biggest concern is to move something, anything, even a finger.  You feel the need to turn your head so you can see better, but 9 times out of 10 you really don’t see anything.  And the presence?  It’s evil.  Totally evil.  You can feel it doing evil things, like observing you, drawing nearer, and somehow being responsible for your inability to move.

You are officially in Sleep Paralysis.

Now not everyone experience this to its full potential.  Some people just find that they can’t move, and their heart might be racing or they feel strange and nervous.  Some people can barely tell what’s going on, and before they know it, they are back asleep.  Long before science had an answer, the condition existed around the world in folk stories, the majority of cultures depicting sleep paralysis as “a ghost pinning you down”, “a demon that visits you in the night”, or an “old hag or witch” of some sort.  The ideas are generally evil, as a result of the strange feeling that something is malevolent during the experience.  In actuality, research has found that most of sleep paralysis is simply a function of the body to prevent movement during REM sleep.  WebMD goes further into the details of sleep paralysis. 

My own story is a bit different.  You see, I love the thrill of researching strange things both paranormal and normal.  I like hearing about ghosts, aliens, strange creatures, and I also like to scare people with my own stories.  I’ve known about Sleep Paralysis for a long time, but I’ve never experienced it until recently.  As a result, when I finally was experiencing it for the first time, I was excited and tried to test out all my theories about what I could move, and just generally taking in the feelings and observations.  That first time, I recall being able to look around the room and see the clock, which stated that it was 10:16am.  I remember slowly being able to lift my arm, as if it was extremely heavy.  After a while, I felt a sense of panic, and that there was something behind me (I was sleeping on my side) just out of view, that I simply must turn my head to check on.  The rest of my paralysis was experienced in this dreaded state, with me attempting to turn my head, but being unable to, yet convinced that there was something behind me just out of view.  Finally, I was able to wake up, and I noticed the room looked slightly different, the clock said 10:08am, and of course when I turned, there was nothing behind me.  Since that first time, I’ve experienced sleep paralysis on 4 other occasions, and due to the uncomfortable nature of the experience, I always find myself trying to get out of it.  I’ve never really felt a presence again, but I’ve felt the state of panic at my inability to move.

My Theory on Sleep Paralysis
After these events, I was able to stop my sleep paralysis.  Here’s how.  When I started experiencing sleep paralysis, it was because I had recently changed my sleep schedule to one where I woke up early in the morning, around 7:30am, to do about 1 hour worth of work that was required to be completed before 9:00am.  I would then go to sleep after doing this work, for only about 1 hour, before waking up again to head out for the office.  It was during this new schedule that I experienced sleep paralysis multiple times.  And I would always get it during that last hour of napping that I tried to force in after doing my work.  My theory is that due to the normal sleep cycle, where you go into REM sleep more frequently toward morning, you increase your chances to get sleep paralysis.  It’s the same reason why people remember dreams well if they happen in the morning.  Sleep Paralysis is scientifically defined as the paralyzed state of being in REM, yet being conscious.  In the morning, my brain was still in the morning stages of frequent REM cycles, yet also ready to “wake up” to a state of consciousness due to a full night’s sleep.  That is why I got sleep paralysis during those times.

I found a thread where someone was asking as to methods on inducing sleep paralysis.  I’m not sure why anyone would want to do that, but I have a good idea that waking up quite early in the morning for a few minutes of activity, and then trying to go back to sleep will probably cause sleep paralysis.

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