Tag: Dallas Design District

Viyet sells all sorts of spendy furniture. Giorgio USA is among the priciest and most popular.

Bargain hunters (with taste), start your engines. Recently I’ve been in a decorating mood.  It all started with a pair of bedside tables I stumbled upon at Mitchell Gold that were on the sale rack.  I spiffed them up by adding quartzite tops. It’s been weeks and I still smile when I see them.  While I was looking for remnant stone, I found marble baseboards that match my bathroom floor.  From there I decided to finish a hall closet that had been junk storage.

Note: Another reason high-rises are good.  When you need someone to install a small amount of baseboard, you can knock on doors of renovating neighbors and see if their tile guy wants a small side job. The perfect solution for tiny jobs that are notoriously difficult to get done these days.

Finally, I decided to design my own media cabinet, end tables, and a built-in shelving unit/bar. I visited the Design District to see all the styles I love, but am too poor to afford, for inspiration. Quite ambitious of me.

Of course the day after I’d sent the plans to the carpenter, I opened my browser bookmarks and found Viyet.com listed in a 2014 Huffington Post article.  (Yes, I’m that anal.)

Not just furniture and lighting. Fabric for drapes and upholstery too.

For those who don’t recall the 2014 article (ha!), Viyet (a play on “vignette”) is a virtual consignment shop opened in 2013.  But it’s more.  They only take the cream of the design district crop.  Furniture must retail for over $1,000, lighting over $500 and knickknacks over $100.   In any of these categories you’ll be hard-pressed to find much approaching these minimum standards.

The stuff comes from showrooms who don’t want to sully themselves by selling sample pieces to consumers, plus rich folks jettisoning treasures while remodeling. Viyet staff evaluate, photograph and measure each piece (so you know the real condition of a piece and that their judgement is consistent). They document and photograph any boo-boos. “Gently used” likely being the worst condition they sell. There is a “revive” category for restoration work, but it’s usually reserved for antique pieces. Scratches are the most common fault. They also help sellers set prices.  But prices are not hard with all items having a “make an offer” button. And like any consignment store, DO make an offer.

Because items are personally inspected, Viyet only receives items from certain areas like New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Dallas, etc.

(more…)