apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Lovely! - chic and sophisticated, but still feels extremely personal. Anyone have any information on the green & white rug in front of the fireplace?

Gorgeous place! Is that an IKEA hack bar I See? Nice!

So much to love! I'm a big fan of the first picture - words as art is one of my favorite things. Definitely my favorite so far.

Oh this is lovely. I completely agree with RTAL: "...still feels extremely personal". Really, really love the color, the intensity, the warmth, the vibrance! Bravo!

...and it's a rental.... sheesh, I'm just swooning over here!

Beautiful mixes of greens. Very nice personal touches.

Are those Ikea lights in the fireplace? Brilliant!! Consider that idea stolen ; )

Really really nice place. Thanks for sharing.

Very cosy and warm- the color supports the space rather than competes with it. Love your sentiments about staying in with a bottle of wine and paint!

Was a little curious about the pegboard with pots & pan - is your kitchen nearby that room? Hard to tell in the photos.

very cool place...great job!

Stunning.

where did you get that wave rug? Your place is so beautiful! It looks finished but not overdone.

Stylish and witty, confident without being too serious- love it all!

I spy a cute little Papillion! Lovely home...one of my favs so far.

I LOVE this entry. I´m just crazy about your curtains.

You are the winner! I really hope. You have done an awesome job! I love the quotes too!

Righteous! Gosh darned right about renters not being second class citizens. This is such great use of deep rich color, a great interpretation of how color doesnt necessarily mean knock you out vivid, but can still be very dramatic and mood elevating. Please don't ever go with a white box, no matter how much mad cash you amass--you have a great gift for choosing a great palate!

Your beautiful and sophisticated with out being over stated. I love it.

Your apartment I mean.......

This is so jewel-like and yummy!

i like how you continued the curtains around the corner in the bedroom. what did you use? i've been thinking of doing this in my living room.

it's no inedit
some photos already had been publish in Apartment Therapy

i like the bedroom and dining
i don't like the living room... green-avocado... urgh

I really like how inviting and personal it feels with the color but not overwhelming at all. Great JOB!

Pretty! And I love the avocado green walls! :P I have a similar color in my living room.

Yuck! Why is there a picture of a trash can? Avocado green should have been banned after the 70's. The water bottles and the extremely Ikea bed not sexy. To much product placement feels like a commercial for Ikea, Apple and Canada Dry icky icky icky.

haha...the Donna Lewis lyrics bring me back! and now the song is stuck in my head.

I think your house is great and fun...

gail.baby. had nothing better to do on a friday night so she spent the whole evening posting rude comments on almost every color entry to make herself feel better about herself. sad.

gail.baby.- I feel sorry for you...if your house is anything like your personality and manners I'm sure it quite disgusting.

Gail.Gaby-
WOW.......
You are a sad sad person.
This entry is amazing.
Where is your entry?

Ian & Monica- GREAT JOB. Love your space!

after reviewing the midwest entries, this made my top 4.

Wow – I’m blown away by (most) everyone’s kind words. We love our very lived-in home and I’m glad you all appreciate what we’ve done so far. We’ve been in the place for less than a year, so there’s still about a million projects I want to take on. It’s always a work in progress… To answer all your questions:

RTAL & allijean – The rug is an Angela Adams and we were lucky enough to score it at a local DWR distribution center sale. This would normally be WAY out of our price range ($2000 ), but someone managed to slice into it with a box cutter so we took it home for less than two hundred bucks. A redneck repair to the back and the flaw is barely noticeable. Gotta love duct tape!

Modfan – The room with all the pots & pans is, in fact, our kitchen. There’s a row of cabinets and appliances to the back of where that pic is facing. It opens to our living room and the teal pantry/laundry room is off it as well.

Monica – Great name & good eyes! You spied Rocco (aka Littles, aka Skittles.) I personally think Papillions are the best dogs EVER. Ian would argue that Roxie (our Australian Cattledog who didn’t make it into our photos) was the greatest dog to ever live.

mariegael - The drapery system is from Ikea and is called the Dignitet.
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/60075295
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/20075947
I’m glad to hear you like it. Ian loves to complain that it’s “our operating room.” I’m planning on replacing the white sheers with something a little more substantial (and colorful) this winter.

gail.gaby - The picture that includes a trashcan was included it because I believe that mundane, utilitarian spaces provide a great opportunity to include an unexpected jolt of color. I’m personally thrilled with this rich, inky teal shade… and I love how it contrasts with our “avocado green” kitchen. To each his own, I guess.

Regarding our icky icky “product placement” -- I can assure you this was not intended. We definitely do have our fair share of Ikea furniture, but we try to use it tastefully, alongside lots of vintage pieces. Frankly, if you show me a young couple, just starting out, that doesn’t have a bit of flat pack furniture, I’ll show you someone who is a) living outside their means or b) mooching off Daddy’s trust fund. For now, we’ll live happily with a little too much ikea, in exchange for no credit card debt!

I will apologize for the migrating laptop. I notice now it does look a bit silly. It ended up in multiple shots because that’s the room it happened to be in at the time. I tried to capture our home as we live in it. Thus the fully stocked bar stocked - ready for to a party at a moment’s notice. I definitely never expected being a prepared host would offend someone’s decorating sensibilities. I suppose we should invest in some closed storage for all the bar accruements.

And finally, I’m sorry you don’t find our water bottles and bed “sexy.” Given the less-than-constructive nature of a few of your comments on our and many other's slideshows, I must admit I’m very glad we won’t be sharing either with you anytime soon. I’m just thrilled to have made into the MidWest’s Top Sixteen. I guess we must be doing something right ;)

amen, sister. hell yeah, you're doing something right! your place looks great!

gail.gaby needs to get a life.

I don't find the bed or the water bottles sexy, either. I think the bedroom needs more dark colors to anchor it. And the water bottle problem could be easily solved. All of my cabinets are doorless, and I've had a lot of luck with small tension rods and vintage placemats cut to size and sewn to themselves to form a pocket for the rod.

This isn't Oprah, folks. Constructive criticism can turn this year's losing entry into next year's winner. As long as it's done with good intentions, what's mean about that?

Frankly, if you show me a young couple, just starting out, that doesn’t have a bit of flat pack furniture, I’ll show you someone who is a) living outside their means or b) mooching off Daddy’s trust fund.

I hate to nitpick, because I think this is a great-looking home, and I was glad to vote for it [plus, I live right across the river and love seeing this area showing its style on AT!]. But, the above statement is just bunk, a lame excuse that sounds defensive and self-righteous. I know plenty of people who face the same financial challenges without Ikea and the like. I was that person myself. It's not wrong to go down the Ikea road, but it's certainly not inevitable, and there's no reason to insult people who find a different way. Sheesh!

To my neighbor to the north -- You definitely handled Ms. Gail.Gaby with class and grace. I did not. I was prepared for lots of feedbuck, but her words stung more like insults and genuinely hurt my feelings (silly. I know.) I suppose I need to develop a thicker skin and keep my righteous indignation to myself. Lesson learned.

I hear ya, sister; we could start a Gail.gaby support group! Hey, at least Cintucky represented in style...

Wow! How gorgeous! Come decorate my home for me!

ian & monica-
i just wanted to say that i love the colors, art and use of space. i thought you deserved to move forward.

topomodesto -- thanks for the encouragement. we were really hoping to move forward too -- guess my dreams of a CB2 shopping spree are over for now

llroby -- anytime mom ;)

Where did you get the zig zag wine bottle holder and the wine glass holder?? I love what you did with the ikea bookcase!!

Muriel -- Thanks! The wine holder and glass rack were from pier one. I used a hack saw to trim them just enough so that they'd fit and installed them with regular wall anchors and screws. Just be careful not to drill through the (hollow) top of the expedit. I did...which is why that ceramic tray is there now :)