Le Fumoir - My Smoking Room

T

tfar

Evolving Lead Gorilla
I am quite new to this great community (check out my newbie intro if you feel like it here http://www.clubstogie.com/vb/showthread.php?t=127675 ). And I have already learned a lot. Thanks everybody! In order to keep up with the BOTLs and SOTLs here and because Austin climate gets really hot in the summer when I am not here a wine fridge as humidor seemed like what I needed. After checking prices for the Eurocave ($3800) I decided this was not in my budget. So I got a Vinotemp and want to use the opportunity to show off my smoking room.

I'm an art historian, curator and collector, which explains all the art in the room including the twisted mini-blind installation. Now, I call this my smoking room because it has all the accoutrements of a traditional fumoir: big arm chairs, small table, bar, humidors, books, music and games. While I really do smoke in there, it is practically my living room since in the real living room there is no furniture. There are only paintings. So this is a bit extreme for some but it works for me.

I love this room and am naturally proud of it. Since I know y’all are always looking for inspiration for your own smoking rooms and can certainly give me suggestions for mine, here are some pics.

The first picture shows the view from the French doors into the room. On the right hand side is the stereo and the humidors and tobacco shelf. On the left side are the bar and the Vinotemp.

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The second picture shows my fat chair. On the floor next to it is a handmade leather book with drawing implements. When I have an artist over I usually ask them to make me a little drawing in there; practically an artist guest book. The little lamp on the table is quite powerful and ideal to cut cigars and clean pipes under.

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The third picture shows the Vassily chair and the Vinotemp. Next to it you see some of my bottles and a bunch of ash trays sitting on top ready to be used.

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Read on in the second post, please. It seems I can only get three images per post.
 
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Hold it, I am working on it. In another forum I am on, they use vbulletin and the pictures appear as links directly at the bottom of each post. I can then make a direct link via insert picture command and they appear as pictures in the post without you having to click on the link. Here this does not seem to work. I did upload them though. Perhaps they are in the user photo section.

I also need to post the second part of the post with the rest of the pictures. There are five altogether.

Please help. How do I get the actual picture to show directly in the post?
 
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The fourth photo is evidently a close-up of the Vinotemp. It has sliding wood shelves already in it and two separate temperature zones and LED lighting. However, it is quite a bit smaller than the 28 bottle one that is usually recommended here. I use kitty litter in it instead of beads ‘cause I’m cheap. So far that works great and I will make a detailed report once I can give you more than first impressions.
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In photo number five you get the view towards the “living room”. In the shelves are encyclopedias on art, music, literature and history as well as cook books and wine and cigar related books. On the top of the right book case is the Biozone air purifier. The French glass doors allow me to still be part of the house and yet be separate smoke wise.
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What I would love to get is a really good headphone set-up because while the speakers are very nice I cannot listen to them once my GF is in bed since the bedroom is right next to it.
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If ever I have that kind of money I would love to have one with big<st1> </st1>arm chairs or art deco furniture and a fire place, a library with wainscoting and a billiard table plus a bigger bar with water and fridge. But for now I am very happy with this solution.
 
rx2010 said:
well that settles it, next time I happen through Austin I'm stopping by for a smoke
Click to expand...

Just shoot me a PM, bring some nice cigar and music of your choice! If we wanted to do a herf at my place, we could still sit on the porch or in the yard under a beautiful cedar canopy.

I know muziq and Papichulo want to come by. Well, muziq was already here but he hasn't seen the Vinotemp yet. Not that he would be impressed with his armoire size aristocrat LOL.

Till
 
hell man thats a nice setup you have everything there for a nice relaxing smoke -- a nice assortment of sticks , a nice assortment of drinks, tunes, a very comfy lookin chair and a left handed smoke curling shade to get the smoke out the window haha -- only thing id be missin is a boob tube i like watchin a good movie with a tasty churchill size stogie -- sands
 
The air purifier is supposed to take care of 1500sqft. This is obviously incorrect advertising to say the least. The room is perhaps 13x9ft and it easily takes care of it. Actually I sometimes put it in a 300-500 sqft space and it is fine, too. Just takes a little longer. The higher up you position those things the better they work. In my case the cable is just long enough to be up there and it goes diagonally over the wall. Not really pretty but people are usually so amazed by the art that they either don't notice or don't say anything about my slightly unorthodox (read unprofessional) cabling. The speaker cables also are right across the doorway. There was no other way of putting them.

It leaves a nice, fresh air that feels cool, though there is no cooling device. Also when you have that thing in a room there is much less dust and static which I notice in my music room with the vinyl records. Besides, I do try to aerate the house daily except for when it is really too hot.

Till
 
yea i forgot to ask how well does that Biozone air purifier work in a roon that size -- im asking because i live in a mobil rv and that looks to be the size of the main room in it cause even with three roof vents open i can still get a cloud in my rv haha -- sands

cause i dont know if you have stayed in one of these there ok till ya try and put anything large in them haha and i snuck in a full size lazi boy recliner with heat and massage for my back when it acts up so im already pushing it hahaha -- but it makes for a great stogie chair set the heat and vib on it kick the feet up and your set for a few hr smoke and a movie
 
tfar, that is a very nice setup you have there. Nothing like being able to sit in a comfy chair (indoors) while you're listening to good music and smoking a good cigar.

I do have a couple of questions though.

First, what exactly is happening with your window blind? If it's an artistic statment I have to say that I do like it. Even if it is a little unusual. :ss

I don't want to hijack your thread but as I'm a bit of an art collector also I have to ask a couple of questions about that.

Firstly, I can't tell from the picture what speakers you've got set up there. I know that is a strange thing to ask about on a cigar forum but I'm still a stereophile.

Secondly, what sort of art interests you? Would I be imposing if I asked you an art question?

I have a Salvatore Dali print that has me completely confused. It's a signed lithograph and I bought it several years ago from a friend who was selling off everything he could before his wife got it all in the divorce.

In any case, I really like the setup you have there. I don't have anything as nice but at least I get to smoke inside also. :tu

Cheers,
Rob
 
sandsman1 said:
hell man thats a nice setup you have everything there for a nice relaxing smoke -- a nice assortment of sticks , a nice assortment of drinks, tunes, a very comfy lookin chair and a left handed smoke curling shade to get the smoke out the window haha -- only thing id be missin is a boob tube i like watchin a good movie with a tasty churchill size stogie -- sands
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Thanks for the compliments! Sincerely appreciated.

Yeah, sometimes I would like to have a nice flatscreen 1080p panel in there. But several things prevent me from doing so:

1. If I wanted to put a TV, there would be no good place to put it. I actually already thought about having it on a bracket like a basket ball hoop so I can lift it towards the ceiling and then flip it down when I want to use it. But this would be a VERY involved installation. Also the sound and viewing position would be sub-optimal.

2. If I put the TV on the wall I lose space for art. I am very pressed for art hanging space so art has the priority.

3. I do not own a TV because I don't watch TV in general. If I do want to watch a movie I go to my garage which I converted into a full-blown home theater. But even there you won't find a TV. If I wanted to get HD programming that would cost me around $70 per month. For that price I can rent at least 15 movies per month and those would be exactly the ones I want to see. So I wouldn't be subject to their programming. Besides, i do not even have the time to watch 15 movies a month.

4. When I smoke I like to either read or surf the web when I am alone. When I have a friend over we usually prefer talking or a good game of Back Gammon.

5. You guessed it: Money's too tight to mention. (Simply Red)

Till
 
No1der said:
tfar, that is a very nice setup you have there. Nothing like being able to sit in a comfy chair (indoors) while you're listening to good music and smoking a good cigar.

I do have a couple of questions though.

First, what exactly is happening with your window blind? If it's an artistic statment I have to say that I do like it. Even if it is a little unusual. :ss

I don't want to hijack your thread but as I'm a bit of an art collector also I have to ask a couple of questions about that.

Firstly, I can't tell from the picture what speakers you've got set up there. I know that is a strange thing to ask about on a cigar forum but I'm still a stereophile.

Secondly, what sort of art interests you? Would I be imposing if I asked you an art question?

I have a Salvatore Dali print that has me completely confused. It's a signed lithograph and I bought it several years ago from a friend who was selling off everything he could before his wife got it all in the divorce.

In any case, I really like the setup you have there. I don't have anything as nice but at least I get to smoke inside also. :tu

Cheers,
Rob
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Rob,

thanks for your great post and compliments. I have a great many passions - too many perhaps - but art is my biggest one. Feel free to shoot me a PM for the Dali question.

The blinds are done by an Austin artist called Hunter Cross (his real name). He is very talented and recently had a show at the Dallas Contemporary for which I wrote the catalog essay. This project however comes from a gig I do once a year. I call it the Eklektikos party because there is a really eclectic mix of people that I want to bring in touch with contemporary art. So I invite all sorts of interesting people from nurses, over priests to car mechanics and lawyers. And I invite a bunch of artists and film makers. I ask two artists to do a site specific installation - one in the yard and one in the house. In the screening room we show video art and short films or trailers by young film makers. I also invite some musicians to play, after all we are in Austin. It's a big event and people love it so much that they kindly participate in the creation process for little to no money. Otherwise this would cost tens of thousands. It's very easy going but the quality of the art and the people is always wonderful if I may say so.

Back to Hunter's work which is called "Blinded by the Light". Hunter likes to work with minimal intervention techniques, very little means and he likes to do site-specific stuff. So he came to my house and I said he could do whatever he wanted as long as it doesn't destroy anything. He looked around for some time and came up with the mini-blind idea. There are actually three twisted blinds like that throughout the house. Each is different. But they all have a neon tube light integrated somewhere. The one in the smoking room is broken or I would have turned it on. The trick with the tube light is that it becomes a light sculpture and not just a material sculpture. There is also a very nice effect with the windows. The twisted blinds reflect in the glass at night and it looks as if they are twirling in from the outside when you are inside. When you are standing outside it actually looks as if the helix comes from the inside, goes through the window and then just hovers in space. It's fantastic.

You have a good eye for the speakers, too. They are Chario from Italy. The model is the Hiper MkII. They are not produced anymore and about ten years old but play absolutely beautifully and never had a single problem with them. They are driven by the first CD-Receiver ever, the Onkyo CR-1. Also ten years old but works great and sounds very good thanks to the nice amp section that Onkyo does well even in small equipment. I actually have the speakers bi-amped through it.

Now, this was seriously OT. Sorry, folks.:chk

Till
 
sandsman1 said:
yea i forgot to ask how well does that Biozone air purifier work in a roon that size -- im asking because i live in a mobil rv and that looks to be the size of the main room in it cause even with three roof vents open i can still get a cloud in my rv haha -- sands

cause i dont know if you have stayed in one of these there ok till ya try and put anything large in them haha and i snuck in a full size lazi boy recliner with heat and massage for my back when it acts up so im already pushing it hahaha -- but it makes for a great stogie chair set the heat and vib on it kick the feet up and your set for a few hr smoke and a movie
Click to expand...

I love mobile rv's. When visiting a friend in California last summer he let me stay in his 1950s Aloha Trailer. The thing was a blast. I also have a friend who has lived in a big mobile rv for years. She even got a Koi pond going outside. Just funky Austin style.

To answer your question about how well it cuts smoke. I think quite well indeed. Once I was in there with my best friend and we were both smoking Churchill cigars (one each that is). About 1h 45min. The window and the doors were closed. Without the biozone we would not have been able to breathe and hardly see each other. With it we were fine. I have it running almost 24/7 for two years now and it is still going strong. I also bought one for my mother who, unfortunately, will smoke herself to death with cigarettes.

However, for what they are, they are really expensive. In the accessories section there was a thread about another model that looked much fancier and cost about the same.

Till
 
tfar said:
Thanks for the compliments! Sincerely appreciated.

Yeah, sometimes I would like to have a nice flatscreen 1080p panel in there. But several things prevent me from doing so:

1. If I wanted to put a TV, there would be no good place to put it. I actually already thought about having it on a bracket like a basket ball hoop so I can lift it towards the ceiling and then flip it down when I want to use it. But this would be a VERY involved installation. Also the sound and viewing position would be sub-optimal.

2. If I put the TV on the wall I lose space for art. I am very pressed for art hanging space so art has the priority.

3. I do not own a TV because I don't watch TV in general. If I do want to watch a movie I go to my garage which I converted into a full-blown home theater. But even there you won't find a TV. If I wanted to get HD programming that would cost me around $70 per month. For that price I can rent at least 15 movies per month and those would be exactly the ones I want to see. So I wouldn't be subject to their programming. Besides, i do not even have the time to watch 15 movies a month.

4. When I smoke I like to either read or surf the web when I am alone. When I have a friend over we usually prefer talking or a good game of Back Gammon.

5. You guessed it: Money's too tight to mention. (Simply Red)

Till
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man I'm with you. I'm cancelling cable and upping the blockbuster online membership. we watch more movies than TV. and like you said, HD programming is expensive.

I like the french doors and the book shelves a lot. very nice room.

maybe I could convince the lady of the house to let me do the same....hmmmmm
yeah...fat chance. :chk


overall pretty neat setup!
 
tfar said:
thanks for your great post and compliments. I have a great many passions - too many perhaps - but art is my biggest one.
Click to expand...

I can vouche for this, although I think Till is pulling punches about his passion for audio. :D

I had the opportunity to herf with Till a couple weeks ago in that room and it was a distinct pleasure--quite comfortable, pleasant environs, and a most gracious host to boot. I aspire to have a smoking haven like that some day. If you're in Austin and he offers, take him up on it!

BTW, his art collection is top-notch. If you're of an artful mind, it will take you some time to get from his front door to the smoking room, as his living room is like a contemporary museum. :tu
 
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