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Who Lives Here: 2
Location: Barcelona, Spain
Size: 699 square feet
What is your one favorite element in your small, cool home? The high ceilings are great and the small balcony allows me to have a nice breeze when the weather is good (fairly often in sunny Barcelona). I also love the white mirror and the small rounded chest of drawers in the foyer, but the not so cool IKEA sofa in the living room is the cheapest and comfiest lounge I’ve ever had! Besides, the location is grand: nearby shopping, restaurants and bars, 10 minutes walking from work, 20 minutes from the beach...plus one of my best friends moved downstairs a few months ago…we spend so much time in each other´s place we even call it our duplex!
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What was one of the biggest challenges you faced in furnishing your small home? The place is pretty old (built in 1851) and mostly still original so it has great character…but it also had many issues and a difficult landlady when I moved in. I painted the whole place, fixed the electrical system, changed the floors and furnished the place on a tight budget…but my biggest challenge was the kitchen. While I love open spaces I’m stuck with a outdated closed kitchen and a spare room I hardly use…I removed the kitchen doors and found a big comfy sofa that fit perfectly in the tiny living room, but I miss having more space. Smallest coolest is one of my favorite resources...I spend hours looking at your site! 20 Casas magazine, Design Sponge are also great and IKEA, Zara Home, Natura, Vinçon and Habitat always come in handy... and Biosca & Botey has the best lamps in town!
Give Comfy Haven a THUMBS UP if you think this home belongs in the finals!
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Want more Small Cool? Check out all the entries on our contest page.
Great, but the walls need some color.
view xDaniel's profile
nice! i like the white walls. how are the books being held up in the picture with the sofa?
view ss622's profile
need better photos
view STYLeyes's profile
From the blueprint, it looks like the space is nicely arranged, and I love some of the modern elements in the photos, however, they don't show enough of the layout. I'd like to see the bedroom, LR and kithcen areas a bit more. I do like the curtain blocking off the bedroom area, though, along with the small, square frames lining the hallway. It oo agree, there is not enough color, at least from the photos. White walls would be great if you had pops of color accents here and there.
IMHO :)
view AprilAries's profile
very pretty!
view kdkaboom's profile
I think this is simple chic, love bedroom nook oasis.
view LoriSF's profile
The details in your apartment are so terrific - all the lighting, the clock, the bedroom nook, the floating shelves... wonderful.
view LovelyDarkandDeep's profile
I agree about the photos...don't really show enough of the rooms to see the layout. I like what I see though.
view suzy8track's profile
I love how serene your place is! Truly a haven!
view sleeping spot's profile
You´re rigth, STYLeyes! I apologize for the quality of the pics...we were leaving for Ibiza and took them too quickly...
ss622: The shelves are from the Moma Store in NYC(15$ each), but you can find them online in other Stores (http://www.umbra.com/ustore/product/330638/c560/conceal_book_shelf.html)
I ve always liked the all white theme, but the stippled-finish paint that was already in the place didnt leave me other options...colour looks wierd with those decorative lumps in the wall :-(... there are 3 big Hokusai pictures that are missing in the pics, and would love to add more, but i cant afford it for now:-(
Ill try to post more photos...bedroom, balcony, kitchen, living, gallery full of plants, etc...
thank u all for ur comments!!!
view mariabcn's profile
wow, i just love it. it's great in so many levels. kudos!
view eddie p's profile
thanks for the link on the bookshelves!
view ss622's profile
Small and cool and friends downstairs, great.
view hrhprincessfiona's profile
Gosh, "we were leaving for Ibiza ... " Can I come and housesit? Pretty please? Those plants look like they need constant care, with all that sun and everything.
Sigh ...
view luna's profile
I would love to see more of the living room, to get a feel of the space, but yeah... This is reaaaaly sweet!
view defne's profile
I LOVE it. I want to live there. But alas, I can't ... but I would settle for better pictures!!!
view SweetRosieBrown's profile
Dont know how people vote nowadays... this space is wonderful, pretty, nice and amazing use of the small space.... seems like 99% of entries listed on the left hand side won.... if you dont believe me, maybe Apartment Therapy can confirm it... and also go to the voting page every day and check.... nearly most of the winning entries are on the left... just like our society.
view flobeau's profile
Can't believe this fantastic place did't go on; was my favorite of them all! Photos perhaps were too detail-oriented, who knows. Anyway, you have a fan in Lisbon-bravo!!
view BlueAholic's profile
One of my favorites, such a great atmosphere with so few, really beautiful! Only if you could remove a few walls... that floorplan is terrible... I want to go there and get rid of the walls to make a big space in the middle sector, maybe a hole in the kitchen wall (or no wall at all), but... que se le va a hacer, uno hace lo que puede con el departamento alquilado, y ni hablar de la "landlady" catalana... anyway, congratulations from Bs.As.!
view Gaby_S's profile