apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Wow, a very nice use of color that is on the more quiet side of bold.

*drool*

omigod.

i was starting to get worried that maybe i was just being bitter about not being crazy in love with any of the entries yet, considering that i've got a submission in the works meself.

and then i saw this. zoinks!

Soothing. Cleansing. Head-clearing.

Like inhaling peppermint tea.

I love it.

Very Nice!!!!!!

Great example that colors don't need to be on the walls to make a statement. This gives hope to my white-walled living space.

Loooooove the floors.

Sure doesn't look like it was done on a "very, very, very tight budget"...looks like a million bucks!

Ooooh . . . is that a Pastille chair I see?

http://collections.sfmoma.org/OBJ101576.htm

Those don't come cheap. Is anybody selling a reproduction?

WOW, what a wonderful use of light and color.
I love the organic and modern nature of this room.
Also the small teardrop blue vases are a great accent.

What is the backdrop-thing behind the couch made out of? I like the way that you've used it to balance the room. I love the soothing colors, as well.

Do I see two (or more?) tvs?

I would like to be invited over immediately because I think I'm in love. Could there at least be a full house tour??

yes that is "two (or more) tv's" you see! we've collected several vintage televisions, and we use the 2 flatscreens for displaying the art video we make...none of them are functioning as regular tv's.

the backdrop thing--it's a bamboo screen, but we thought it would work better as decor than a fuctional screen.

the "pastille chair"--i wish it were authentic! it's a knockoff, but you can't tell because the base is slightly different than the real one. we bought it from Weekend Records on Division St., when they were going out of business and selling off everything in the store.

i love this! "COLOR" doesn't have to be about screaming. this is subdued yet sophisticated--a gorgeous job!!

by the way, i love the light fixtures on the ceiling with the light glass rings around them. could you tell us more about those? they are so much more elegant than typical overhead fixtures.

amazing & smart...gives off a great vibbe without being too loud! A+!!!

Can I move in?

love love love the gentle and ample lighting!!!

Who did that unbelievably fabulous acqua & white handblown glass tablelamp in the foreground? I want one of THOSE. The space is not so retro that you feel like you are in your aunt Wanita's wreck (sic) room, complete with scratched Formica(tm)aluminum-edged kitchen table, but it's such a successful mix of vintage, IKEA, and unique, that all the good things about Aunt Wannie subtly come to mind, and you feel at home, safe, and hungry for a bowl of Chexmix. Brava, Bravo!

i love the floor treatment!
and it feels very spacious. but i would be very afraid to walk into this room holding a glass of red wine - beautiful, but not incredibly user-friendly, due to so much white & light colors.

Although I don't always buy into the "less is more" philosophy -- it's a mantra that really I think inhibits far too many people -- in this case I would say the statment "less CAN be more" definitely applies.

Very well played. Wonderfully nuanced. Masterly done.

Love the floor. It's so of the period and yet fresh. The irregular placement of the green blocks is fun and playful.

Ahhhhhhh! This is gorgeous. Calm. Peace. Serenity. Warmth. Ahhhhhhhh!

I really like the floor, and the way the random rectangles of color echo the rectangular sofa. The glass table, with its opaque border, is lovely, and works with the chairs so much better than an ordinary solid table (I like seeing the color of the chairs through the glass).

My compliments on the space as it certainly feels inviting and yet still retains the sophistication of a highly designed space.

I believe that complexity in contradiction is a guiding principal in life and art.

In your space we see a highly muted and reserved palatte witht he neutrals/greens and wood tones that is aggitated (in a good way) by the bright over-saturated shell chairs. We find a clean, simple and even slightly minimalist (slightly, just slightly) use of the space with respect to the objects and furniture contained within. Smooth shapes, clean lines, a highly geometric precision and a rejection of busy visual space is balanced by the extreme texture and irregularity of form found within the bamboo screen, the artwork and the tour de force of a book-wall. And while the space is indeed filled with iconic objects no one commands full attention as the showpiece yet upon further inspection each piece commands undivided attention within its respective space.


My only concern, and it has nothing to do with color is with respect to sound. It seems that aside from the upholsterey there are no softening surfaces into which the sound can sink. It looks as if this is an echo-y room (can something LOOK AURAL? hmm?) I'd love to hear (nyuck nyuck) how the room handles sound...

Oh yeah, anyone else notice the lack of sindows...no of course you didn't; that's what good use of lighting and a successful moving of the eye through space can do!

Br-fucking-VO. Very nice. You've managed to use three really strong colors - a sage green, turquoise and orange without it looking like a messy riot. The lighting, strong use of white and some of the spatial voids really open up what is, as you noted, a basement room. Also, I like how it clearly has a Mod/Pop Art style without feeling self-consciously "retro." Too often when folks go down that path it winds up looking like a cross between a museum piece and a set from an Austin Powers movie.

BTW, I assume that is some sort of resilient flooring you used?

oooh, very spa and stylish. Place to go if you want to meditate and then listen to some chill music.

Absolutely gorgeous. So nice to see color used without being wacky. Like, er, my house. Ok, gotta run to the paint store ...

yummy! your bookshelves look fabulous too. i love the way the books on the top shelf are arranged.

The table lamp with the blue base and white shade, where is that from? is it all glass?

Dave--thanks--the flooring is Armstrong linoleum tiles, special order on the 2 shades of green from Home Depot.

Because it's a basement we wanted to make sure that *in case* of flooding---knock on wood---we used the most durable and inexpensive materials with the intent to keep things raised at least a few inches off the floor. We also chose to use furniture that could handle a little water around the legs/bases. Lots of the furniture you see here have metal legs; the low cabinets are on plastic wheels; the bookshelves also have metal legs--its lowest shelf is about 12" above the floor. The only thing I'd worry about are the barstools. All the surfaces are easily cleaned and because it mostly functions as a "workspace," tables and countertops take quite a beating with no problem.

Julian--thanks too. As for sound, the acoustics are actually really good because the walls and ceiling absorb sound so well. Peter wired the speaker system just so, and when we connect our laptops to them and run iTunes radio--or play CD's or vinyl records from the stereo system--everything sounds fantastic.

Luigi--The green and white table lamp is all glass. Peter made it 5-6 years ago, and it's become part of our "permanent collection." :) Some pieces we just can't give up!

Thanks Marilyn. I'll be in Chicago visiting Kathyrn for our annual New Years Eve Bash, can we come by and check out the studio?

Cool, Fabulous, etc.

Very soothing, clean and minimalist. Kudos!

love the floor!

I LOVE the bar - it looks pleasantly mellow.

boring!
these muted colors are washed out!
they can only work when you have too much space on your hands...

kudos on your skillful decorating job! we can all see how yours is the best space yet.

i think "bored in boston" is really "blind in boston."

GREAT example of using selected Ikea pieces with highger end pices that make the overall look high end.

Bee-you-tiful!

It is a step away from beige. This is not color.

Gorgeous. Simple, clean, lovely...and you have tons of books! Gives it the feel that someone actually lives there, without being too cluttered. White walls, but plenty of color. Love it, love it, insta-finalist.

While I agree that maybe there is a wee bit too much blonde wood for the overall color scheme (would those blonde pieces look better in white?), I strongly disagree that this interior does not have any color.

Color does not have to mean "saturated" color, or this season's style, "over-saturated" color.

I've seen comments on some entries opining that the decor and color are "too subdued". I think this entry is exactly how "subdued" should be done. This is an example of skill at putting together lovely colors of the same intensity, from the reds, blues and greens to the pale, light woods. The colors here are pale without losing its distinctiveness or cross the line into pastel territory. I'm not the biggest fan of the green linoleum(?) flooring, particularly the irregular rectangles in it. Was that part of the flooring, or were the darker green rectangles deliberately put in?

Great work, nonetheless.

To use appropriate 50's slang, wowzer!

what is that white side table? i've been looking for something exactly like that -- do you mind if I ask where you got it?

Please adopt me, Marilyn and Peter!

I dropped by Chicago because NY and SF entries weren't thrilling me... wow... just wow... color that gently woos the viewer with champagne and white chocolate rather than hitting the viewer over the head and dragging him/her off.

I just adore this space and would enjoy reading, chilling, partying and work in it. I love the use of white as a base - it's what makes the colours really stand out. The lighting is very skilful in highlighting the room's features and I think it really contributes to the success of the room's colours. I would love to read more about how the lighting design was developed. I notice that there's a huge variety of materials and textures in this room. The book wall is great - I'd love to know what type of shelving that is. Of course, this use of colour is expensive...when you want a new colour look you have to buy new furniture and accessories rather than just painting walls! But I can imagine that one could live with this colour scheme for quite a while.

I actually went, "Mmmmm..." when I opened this one! Haha. I love the lighting in this room, and the white to ground everything. Also yay for coral-colored fiberglass chairs. I have a pair myself.

Nice! I love this colour palatte...I might have painted that wall behind the bar just to shake up the white walls....and I'd have more artwork up.

Love your colour choice with the fiberglass chairs! They really pop.

WOW! I am in love. What time should I be by tonight, I'll bring some pineapple sake and cumcumber roles and I'll recite Rumi. Sorry, the place just oozes with creativity, calmness and love. I can barely contain myself.

I would never have guessed that this was a basement. I love the muted colors. They work so well together and are so refreshingly different.

soft and sophisticated. love it!

this is gorgeous. my favorite so far!!

love the green & peach!

Now THIS is some inspiration for my basement.

I'm so drooling right now.

Marilyn + Peter!

GREAT JOB!! You guys really knows how to play with colors & space layouts. Love your glass works. Did you do the wall painting as well? I really hope you win! Best of Luck!

gina

hey gina! thanks........yes we worked on that wall painting together in this very room, actually.

Lovely and serene, but I must say they look like the last people in the world who need to shop at CB2.

Here is a case where subtlety and layering works really well. This is the first one that I've rated Insta-finalist.

very impressive! i never would have guessed that this was accomplished on a tight budget. and the amount of storage you've created without seeming at all cluttered is fantastic. dig those floors too.
is the base of the vintage bar made of cork? so cool!

fabulous use of lighting. i'm wondering, what is a very tight budget?

I LOVE your book cases and storage :D

Cat--A "very, very, very" tight budget meant:

All of the hardware, paint, and construction materials had to be the bare bones and only what we needed. We did all the sanding, painting, repairs, light and floor installation ourselves. We kept as much of the existing structure as much as possible, but we also had to clean out unneccesary features (like the old rusted sink behind the bar) without replacing them.

The furniture came from various sources: our glass dining table is something a friend generously gave to us; also, we get things at antique shops, floor sample sales, IKEA, or flea markets...and I guess you never know where you will find something...once, our local library was getting rid of Danish furniture from the 50's and they were beautiful pieces, in great shape. The orange chairs were $12 each from a street vendor in New Jersey (Peter used to live in Jersey City). The only things you might consider "expensive" would be the couch, coffee table & side table, and small Le Klint pendant lamp in the corner of the bar area.

Basically, we used what furniture and decor we already had and edited out what wouldn't work in the room--then put it in storage or used it in another room of the house. Any decor you see that's glass or painting is something we made.

like the small accents with color! I would have probably never mixed green with pink, blue and white, but it looks very nice!

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE your space, it's so cool and smart...your color choices are amazing.
Oh! and I'm in infatuated love with all the teardrop vases next to the gorgeous glass lamp, do you make those too?

Lovely.

well i guess we know who is winning this year. geez......

i wish it was a little cozier, a little more homey because i would pack up and move in. i get a little uncomfortable in overly modernish rooms. gorgeous colors though. stunning. i don't see how this was done on a budget though. definitely my favorite entry so far. bravo!

fantastic space! I'd love to talk to you about possibly featuring the space on HGTV's Small Space, Big Style...email me if you're interested
nicole@brainbox.tv

Fan-freaking-tastic! Straight out of the Jetsons!

spectacular spectacular!

I'm from Skokie, and had I known that it was possible to find a jewel like yours under layers of un-ironic shag rug, I might not have moved to New York (Okay, maybe not. But good job with bringing hipness to the Skoke.)

good use of color to resurrect a dark space. i like the sprightly kinda honeydew/cantalope thing you got going, and the great natural texture of the screen behind the sofa.

the books overwhelm their end of the room; as a book person i congratulate you on having one of the few entries so far in which any books were to be seen. i know they're a design problem but design isn't everything.

i've been thinking about what "a lady's library" would look like, and this pale color scheme is very much a part of my ideal.

thank you for a nice contest entry.

You two have done an amazing job here, layering interesting colors and using unique elements to create a space that seems so serene and fun to be in!! Can I come over now?? I'll bring the mojitos!

p.s. And it also seems like with all those "No Way Jose's" stacking up all of a sudden, somebody's playing dirty...that is so not cool.

Looks great. You both deserve to win! Good Luck!!

Pete and Marilyn,

You did a fabulous job on the room makeover! I Love it. I think the colors are great together.
Great Job!

This room is absolutely exquisite. Period.

Marilyn and Peter,
I've looked at your photos a number of times. This is by far my favorite entry. You know I didn't even realize that the room was a basement. I normally hate finished basements and hate spending time in basements. But I think if I came into your basement, I would never leave. I am in awe of how much is going on in the room, yet you achieved such a serene peaceful feel. And I am in awe of the subtlety of color.

I love your collection of TV sets and how you arranged them without being too cluttery. I have been reading a lot about placing clutter below eye level in a room to reduce its impact. I love the shelf you have the TVs on. Where did you get it? And where did you get the cute vases and lamp?

Great work. What are you going to buy when you win?

Peggy, thanks so much for all of your positive comments. The cute vases are vintage Japanese salt/pepper shakers that were found at the Broadway Antique Market. The shelving unit that the TV's are on are from IKEA; we have two of them next to each other to create one very long shelving unit. The lamp is a mouthblown glass piece (all components are glass) that Peter made a few years ago, and is stylistically in keeping with all of the glass design we currently produce together.

This space is terribly beautiful.

i love the clutter free enviornment. great subtle use of color.

I love the space age clean feel, and the pastel yet warm palette. Beautiful.

I'm very impressed with the minty combination of the couch and side table items in particular. Yum. I take back everything I've ever thought about pastels.

Very nice taste! I still have trouble believing this is a basement. It would be wonderful to see photos of the rest of your home.

Very nice place you have there. We also have the clean white wall with colorful furntures. We the the light blue eiffel towel chair instead of red.

I love your johnny lim coffee table,do you mind to tell me where did you buy it from? I been searching for it...

Good job!

It's nice to look at but it just doesn't look comfortable or inviting.
Sorry.

Beautiful! My husband and I need to re-do our basement and I was stuck in a rut as to what I wanted it to be. You've given me so much inspiration! I love how the room looks clean, bright, and not "basementy" at all. Bravo!

In Soylent Green, you never get to see the waiting room in the place where the old folks go to be euthanized. But if you did, I think it'd look a lot like this.

Way to much light, I'm sorry but darken it up just a bit

these owners have a fine space that belongs in this contest. it is one of the rooms that expresses the epitomy of a good use of color. 'harmony'is the ideal description for this room. the soft colors and neutrals they paired with the light wood should set an example of 'pastel' for many other contestants who didn't grasp the concept of. it is just soft, warm and inviting. there is no doubt that if design is their shared profession, they are experts at what they do. excellent job!!

the lighting is too off, maybe it's great in person but it feels taxing as i look at the space.
also the top shot is lived in but the second shot reads as new. i feel like these were "done" a decade apart. i prefer the lived in version, it feels thriving ,for whatever it's worth.

Color, even muted, can make a sensual statement in a muted space. Your home is beautiful.

I'm not a white fan, but this feel soft not clinical. I like it!

Wow...just wow!

No way is this a skokie home! I grew up in Morton Grove and I never saw a basement that looked like this. Very hip!

Home tour please!!

oh, cin! you never know what treasures can be found amidst the pastoral lawns, three car garages and backyard grills of chicago's north shore! ;)

quite a compliment coming from someone who's a "native" of the area--so thanks!

Another former Skokian here, and I NEVER saw a home like this in Skokie. Well done and congratulations! A question for you - we have a huge cd collection and are considering storage options. Are your cd shelves custom made? If not, where did you find the shelves? More info on that please!

i have the same couch with 2 chair i found in the street in perfect conditions but the couch have one side table with storage compartment and trying know How is the Designer.

Where did you get that bedside clock? It's so wonderful!

Nice, if Stanley Kubrick gives you a warm, cozy feeling.