I remember seeing this apartment on flickr and the progress! Very cute and lovely space! I love how all the colors stand out but not in an obnoxious way.

Your inspirations frightened me into thinking this would look very grandma. But it's so cute and cozy AND still very, very chic. I love it.

I absolutely love your use of color! Everything feels very personal because it is so creative. I love it!

LOVE that blue and green together. Gorgeous.

Also love the little puppy tucked in the pillows. ;)

Check out her Flickr set for pics of a great looking chalkboard painted wall. Nice stuff.

There is something electric about the blue and green together.

Would you mind sharing the name and brand of the blue paint with us?

yummy!!!

Excellent use of color! Love the blue and the yellow! Can you share the brand and name of both? Thanks!

Ooooh your kitchen looks JUST like mine! Might I ask where you got the table and chairs?

and the kitchen color is beautiful. Can you share the brand and name of that as well?

I love your place! I enjoyed seeing on Flickr. It is very inspirational. Your choice of colors is so wonderful. I love the bird prints with the bird cage hanging next to them.

And, that table with the blackboard paint is adorable! You really are an artist. I voted finalist. I hope you win a prize and replace that rug, but that's me. I'm funny about rugs, I don't like patterns on them.

If you win something, please post at your flikr site. Great work.

Pretty. But somebody quick- Catch that microwave!

I think we have the same fridge BTW. Same handles at least.

I'm with Martha - please share the brand/name of the pink kitchen color. Great job!

I love this space, the quirky fun and cozy feeling make me want to come over!

I LOVE the color and as far as I'm concerned, you're way ahead of the pack! It takes a little extra something (a creative chip which sadly, my brain is missing) to be able to use bold colors and make it look cohesive and not clownish...I only dream of being able to pull my apartment together as well as you have!

It's wild that you've been able to make a bright yellow bedroom seem calming. You're good!

I'm not a big fan of patterned rugs either but this one seems to pull everything together quite well with those greens!!

I also saw your pictures on flickr - great job! Love the blue and green color in the living/dining area and that wonderful color in the kitchen! My favorite is that beautiful headboard I believe you made? Very nice!

LOVE the colors- great space!

Your place is very inspiring. I have to echo the color kudos offered above. I love your color choices. How could anyone not be happy in this place? I'm smiling just looking at the pics.

oh baby, oh baby. you should have posted a picture of the chalkboard wall.

I really don't like the blue and green or the salmon.

But the yellow in the bedroom looks great.

You have an amazing eye for color, so I dearly hope that you are an artist or a designer or someone who gets to exercise that skill every day. I love so many of these entries, but yours is the one I'm PRINTING out (not del.icio.us tagging, not bookmarking - this is serious for me) for inspiration in my own home.

You make it seem so easy! I want to rent your place out :)

Now this I love! It's amazing how far you can get with the right color scheme. I don't mean to denigrate the other elements of the apartment, but imagine how the top two pictures would look if you replaced the gorgeous color with builder beige. Nothing special. But the coral, the blue, the green--POW! Great job.

how are you all able to see more photos on flickr? i love the colors.

You know why this entry is a contender? Because I gave it a "stellar" vote and I normally HATE pink. Very nice work.

I really love your kitchen and the use of the blue and green. The birdhouse looks super. Well done, your space is great.

The kitchen could use more work: The area to the left of the oven looks hodge-podge, spend some time making that area look as cohesive as the areas depicted in the other photos. Put your appliance on a wall-mounted shelf and push the cabinet to the wall maybe....I'm surprised you put this photo in your submission.

As a fascist, I like bright colors and order. I would love to live in your apartment with Sasha the opinionated nihlist.

I would love to see the Flickr photos everyone keeps talking about. What is the link??

as if it needs to be said again- great with color... i don't really love the kitchen color, but i think you do really well with combination.

i second the note of hoping you win something and replace the rug ;)

LOVE your bedroom color

I disagree, I think the area to the left of the oven makes good use of the space. By sliding the cabinet out 6-8 inches and fitting in that second cabinet, she is making efficient use of the space. If the cabinet was against the wall, there'd be about 10 inches of wasted space in front of it. Maybe the way the microwave appears to cross over the trim of the door bothers some people, but I guess I don't have OCD. But I guess it wouldn't hurt to uh.. push it over 2 inches.

YAY MEG!!! you did such a great job on your place. i am so happy for you that you made it through to small cool!!!

you already know i think your place looks fab. ;)

well, personally I ****love**** your rug. I was just going to ask you where you got it. very daring choice. lovely blue color too.

Sweet and homey. But the combination of the brown and gray in the bedroom, as well as the soft, ooky textures = yick!

I've been in this apartment. It is fantastic. Shows you can take any space and turn it into a home. Gives hope to those who can't afford top places. Good job meg!

PINK!!! Love it! I also love the chandelier, headboard/curtain (homemade?), and the happy yellow in the bedroom. Cute, cozy and creative. Stellar from me!

oooh! I like this one!

I was going to say the blue is a tad too bright for me, but then I noticed what was really going on -- you're using all overhead lights! I don't see any side lighting except the pendent by your bed -- so invest in some side lighting.

I think task and side lighting is just the best kept secret.

I love the use of color without going over the top, and the light hanging on the side of the bed, but my favorite touch has to be the place settings drawn on the table.

I like the rug.

Great job Meg! Really love what you have done with your place, it's so cozy now. And the chalkboard wall in the kitchen...super!

NO

For those who are asking: other photos were by the cure flickr

FABULOUS!! - I ADORE the rug - where is it from? - and the green chairs are to die for! - and the green curtain against the blue wall rocks!! - LOVE it!!!!

I have to say that i really like your color choice for the kitchen. i dont think i would have used it, but it really looks amazing. kind of like being inside a watermelon.

Why I am swooning over the kitchen color? It is perfect! Between my love of food and that glorious color, I would never leave your kitchen.

Everything is sooo beautiful. I love your ideas and how everything blends together. The colors and accessories are inviting and are comfortable to the eye and soul. Nice job.

I love how you have made everything fit together so lovely even though you weren't inspired by your space to being with. Truly an awesome effort - my favorite so far.

I had to look at this one again. It makes me happy. I love the colors. I almost did my place in pale blue and chartruese but opted for pink and orange.

Meg's flickr site is:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/megmcg/sets/72157594537208023/

For those who don't like the kitchen, take a look at the before. It's an amazing transformation. I agree the microwave should be mounted to the cupboards, but I think this is a work in progress. (Aren't all places?)

I would love to have tea in your kitchen and draw on your chalkboard. I looked at the rug again, and I am not horribly bothered by it, but just would like to see a more neutral rug, but again that's me.

I hope you win a prize and buy some lamps. I am sure you have seen Southwest #19 Laure's Sparkling Space and I am sure you love her style as well. Look how she uses her lamps as sculpture. You could take a cue from her.

Please post any changes. Good luck!

I LOVE it! All the colors are great, but the kitchen is really soooo wonderful. You should see this pink hounds' tooth I'm thinking of covering a chair in. Really nice. I love that it's so much more comfortable looking than some of the too-polished places. That coming from someone who strove for polish for too long and am turning more toward homey. I hope you do GREAT in the contest!

Hello everyone!

Thank you for all the comments... I'm not sure how I feel about contestants doing too much "selling" on their posts and I certainly don't support people linking to more pictures of their apartments. The contest says 3 pictures and ONLY 100 words in their pitch (IMO I don't think its fair that people have been allowed to break rules... )

But I will answer some questions and offer thanks for all the many many kind words.

While lots and lots of people have asked me for the paints I used, I would not recommend them TO ANYONE! I bought cheap paint from Sears because my mom had a coupon, and had to go back and buy several more gallons because it was cheap and didn't cover well at all. I used Dutch Boy paints. NEVER EVER buy Dutch Boy. Awful. Use my colors as inspiration - but don't buy the same ones PLEASE!

I did in fact make the headboard. I have an ever growing collection of power tools and have made use of them often in the transformation of my apartment (and I really mean transformation ... you should have seen it when I moved in - ICK!).

It was hard to pick just three photos of my place... I thought the one of the kitchen showed how tight the space is and how I've had to do some creative MacGyver'ings to make things work. I had NO drawers in my kitchen when I moved in and zero counter space, save a little plot next to my sink. My kitchen is actually my favorite room. The chalk board wall and table are so much fun and the little table is very cafe-esque.

The rug is from Antrhopologie - and I love it - and its staying :) but thanks for the wishes for me winning (which is terribly unlikely ... but a rush to see my place in the contest nonetheless)

<3AT:NY! Small IS cool!

The colors are fabulous. I love your dining chairs.

OK I promise not to use Dutch Boy paint. can you please give the names of the colors that you used, though?? thanks! I love your place so much.

OH! I forgot to mention where the table and chairs are from - my apologies :)

The green chairs and dark wood table and chairs were my Great Grandma's. She bought them second hand from a lady she was working for in the late 60s. The hope chest, which I use as a banquette, is also hers.

My end table (not pictured) is my Grandma's, stolen from her attic, along with the stool I use in my studio/office and doubles as a saw horse when I'm cutting wood :)

The credenza is from my aunt. She was given it by a local elderly lady in her town.

The table and stools in the kitchen are from Ikea, but the table I actually bought off craigslist.org and painted it with chalk board paint to match my walls.

Finally! I was so scared Meg's entry did not get in. What she has accomplished in the short time she has lived there is amazing. No waiting around for her. She moved from room to room, adding a little of this, a lot of that, and just created a incredible space. This to me is Small, Cool, and has the added bonus of good old DIY!

Meg is part of the AT Cure group, therefore her pictures could be found among that group's pool in Flickr. There was no need to post a link to additional pictures.

Meg this place is GREAT!!!!... I especially love the shelves next to the bed and the kitchen table ;) good work!

The cozy/quirky look is not my thing at all and I've voted that way for all of the other entries with that style in the contest, but this one is really well done! You've done a great job of editing the space. You captured the "homey" feel without overdoing it. You're the first "non-sleek" entry to get insta-finalist from me! Thanks for showing the right way to pull off this look.

It's cute. You've got a great sense of color

Truly cute. Quite well done.

Again, FOUL that people are providing and linking to additional photos!!!!

P2 - I didn't link and I didn't direct anyone there and I said, and have said on other posts, I think that is unfair....

I love this, and I think it is because of the colors. I love, love, love the blue and chartreuse used together.

sorry this looks like lawrence's grandma from changing room designed this spot. am i the only one who does not like it? not trying to be mean at all but i don't really see any redeeming qualities here.

The three pictures rule is stupid and arbitrary, who cares?

your place is very retro glam and anthropologie inspired....good job