apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Looks like you watch a lot of Trading Spaces circa 2002. Vern in the living room/kitchen, Doug in the bedroom.

MEP, youre spot on!
not my thing, sorry...

Wow. Unnecessarily harsh, dudes.

The pictures just aren't explaining enough of the space... Also, no shots include the windows... Kinda dark looking...

My bedroom walls are the same chocolate brown color! I love it! Yours looks great!

I like the idea of the chocolate and the blue but the chocolate seems too dark and the blue too light.

Somehow this slip says it all, "like how the green Pellegrino bottles above my kitchen cabinets clashperfectly against the turquoise kitchen walls".
Unfortunately it does clash.

You clearly care about your environment and you've made it a home.

Think about reupholstering the red sofas or adding pillows of a lighter color to break up the red and mute the blue and maybe even gesture toward the brown.

I wish there was a shot from the front door to give us an idea of how the living room and office interact. I like the blue walls and I like the red couches, but I don't think they are working very well together. I like the brown paint and assume you get a lot of natural light in the windows to offset the darkness. I would consider changing the hardware on the bureau to a metal pull to dress it up a little.

I disagree with a lot of the comments. I think the photos show the space very well. And, I really like the way the bottles look...they're a dark enough green that they dont clash at all with the color of the walls, in my opinion. In fact, they pick up the green of the plants and make it part of the color scheme.

I MAYBE would have used less of the brown (I used a similar chocolate brown in my own home, though only on one wall of the room, with the others being bright white). I love the light blue...not too light at all.

I also feel the comments were unnecessarily harsh. The Pellegrino bottles echo the little wheat grass (daffodils?) displays as well in terms of color and collection. The brown and blue harmonize well. It looks like a happy space.

I like the suggestion about dressing up the drawer pulls. nice.

I think the blue does look a little bright, but that could be lighting or perhaps b/c the couches are so red. If the couches were either the lavender that's in the bedroom area or even a beige..(gasp i hate beige) it might create a better meld.

hang the picture - that's a major pet peeve of mine - either on a ledge or on the wall - leaning on the floor (unless it's nearly as tall as the ceiling) just looks like a project to be finished.

You put thought into it, I like that.

I can see that you put a lot of work into the design of this place. I feel that the weakness of this space is that it has been over designed. What I mean by that is you planed the look of your place so spacificaly (the matchy-ness of the bedroom and the perfect rows of identical bottles and plants in the kitchen) that you haven't left any room for an organic feeling to emerge. That certain X factor that makes a place click.
Adding collections or art over time will really help your place evlove and feel more natural.

I think this is a case of "close but no cigar". I love the idea of brown for the bedroom, but too much of it with no bright colour to contrast makes it dark rather than sumptuous. I think it would take very little to improve on it. Personally I'd paint out some of the brown and add an accent colour. Notice how beautiful the flower looks on the dresser. A few more touches like that and you have a gorgeous bedroom.

Personally, I like the shade of turquioise you used. I had the exact same colour in my previous apartment. It's a very happy colour.

I love your bedspread, it looks great with the chocolate walls. I'd probably have chosen a softer blue (not paler, just not so saturated) and a browner red for the sofas. It all seems very rectangular though - maybe some round cushions or a rounded coffee table? I would like to see your office area, would have made a lovely 3rd photo :)

I didn't mean my comments to be harsh.

I think you've put a lot of time and energy into your place and with a few changes you could really bring it together.

In that spirit think about adding pillows of a lighter color to the sofas to break up the red and mute the blue and maybe even gesture toward the brown I wonder if they could be angled as well.

An area rug to define the living room and break up the grey (i think) of the carpet would also pull together the space.

Thank you for sharing your home.

While I love seeing everyone's decorating styles, I am even more in awe of their space! Where is everyone finding these cute little Chicago apartments??? I would love a place like this in the city...

I also think your bedspread is beautiful. I would definitely look for some new drawer pulls to help it match the style of the room, you could easily find some brushed chromes ones to go with the picture frame.

Also, I think some well-chosen art or pillows for the couch would really help tie the turquoise (which I like) and the red together.

to clarify: this is not the same renata.

I personally love the blue with the green. we see a lot of the red/ blue here) tx..my pictures are sitting too, because I haven't hung them yet. 8 months hmm.

I think you need to bounce that red into the bedroom a little (perhaps instead of the orchid-pink accents).

And if it were me, I'd paint the exterior wall of the bedroom the same turquoise as the wall across the hall from it. I think the "exterior chocolate" slams the brakes on your eye a little too much.