apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I'm guessing that one of the sofas serves as a sofa-bed? Unless I'm missing something?

It has potential but it's too cluttered. You can have loads of personality and still be neat.

For those who voted Stellar, I understand that this place is gorgeous, but what space saving innovations have been used in this space?

What adverse conditions were solved creatively?

Since this entry has only 1 out of the 3 criteria needed to win, why the vote of Insta-Finalist? At least in this contest, no matter how aesthetically agreeable, this should be Cool, has potential. Sorry.

Also - you're missing out on a great design opportunity - you're lucky to have those architectural details on the wall : make use of them. Paint them each a different block of color. Or paint them all the same color, leaving the trim white, and paint the wall a contrasting color. Use them as frames for collections of objects that you love. Something.

I like your use of those architectural thingies on your walls. You could try grouping some of those inside those framed areas and putting collectibles on them or just leave as is since you have so many different kinds.

There are affordable Persian/Afghan/Pakistani tribal weavings you could hang in those areas too. Go for the older ones, the imperfect ones, they have the most character.

Ok. I'll defend this place.

Here's the thing. The dominant style today, and certainly the one most often seen here at AT, is modernism-leaning-towards-minimalism. The connotation is often that a spare, modern aesthetic is indicative discipline, intelligence, youth, and, well, cool.

This entry is bucking that trend. And I think it's cool for that reason alone. After all, iconoclastic design is always in style.

of course, you may not agree with me there. But there are more reasons:
- There is a lot of furniture, and a lot of color, but both are used beautifully to define space, delight the eye, and serve as multi-function spaces. That, friends, is cool.
- There are period pieces mixed with sentimental favorites. That's cool, too.
- The palate is unified without being bland, or monochromatic. That's cool.

I could go on, honestly. But I guess I'm so passionate about this place because this is the apartment my apartment wants to be when it grows up.

Well done, Magnaverde. Imperfection is beautiful.

Lisa from VA, what do you consider a space saving innovation or creative solution to an adverse condition? I'm not being snarky; I'm curious as to whether, for you, something like a sofabed counts. I mean, it is saving space by eliminating the need for two pieces of furniture. I'm talking in general, not about this place in particular.

I'm so glad you "found yourself!" It must have been torture living in your previous environ.

This is not my style overall but I think it's an instant finalist. You've proven that you can take a small place and turn it into your own little lush palace filled with your treasure. I bet you have a story for every piece in there. And the best thing is that all works. To me, this could be Paris, London or Amsterdam.

I wonder what your old place would look like combined with some of your most loved pieces from this place. I really like the blend of the sparse and clean modern with vintage, baroque or antique elements.

Not too many people have voted on this one yet but I don't think I've seen a space where voters are almost equally split in each category.

I agree with moira; this is a welcome respite from all the mid-century entries that are quickly looking dated (again).

As to Lisa in VA's challenge, here is what I'd say for each of the three criteria:

Efficiency: Innovative use of small space to maximize livability.

Well, right there in the pitch, Magnaverde says that she found a minimalist space unlivable. In her small space, she uses pattern and color to camouflage everyday clutter. I'm not sure I'm 100% convinced by this, but she does make the argument.

Aesthetics: Beauty and stylistic achievement in Decor.

This is pretty subjective, but I'd say some objective elements have been met, such as furniture arrangement and scale and positioning of artwork.

Special Challenges: Creative problem solving in dealing with adverse conditions.

Seems like the biggest challenge in this place is the size of it, so this is largely duplicative of #1, but her use of a sofabed solves the problem of making the living room look like a living room and not a bedroom you hang out in.

I like your philosophy...particularly your analogy of people not being perfect so why should our homes. I think your place is gorgeous. However knowing this sight, unfortunely you won't have many fans! Question....where do you sleep?

I saw the first photo, and I thought, all right, well, this isn't my sensibility but okay... and I chuckled about "changing tactics," and then I saw the second photo, and I blurted "Yikes!" out loud.

I understand, our sensibilities clash. But I think you've done a great job for your aesthetic. Your objects are cluttered, but they are cluttered neatly. At least it makes sense in the context of your decor.

I agree that the white walls in the second photo seem out of place, could use some paint or heavy gilded-framed paintings.

I hope I'm not offending you when I say that your home looks like a cool store I'd like to visit and touch everything, pick something up, carry it around for ten minutes debating if I really wanted it while touching other things, and then (probably) putting it back down but maybe buying something else and then remembering that I'd like to come to the store again, cos the inventory probably changes.

I meant to say (also) that your home reminds me of a very charming, antique-y cafe in Providence I went to a few times -- tea and coffee and aperitifs and fancy cakes. So I can also see your place as somewhere I'd go for afternoon tea or after a show for a nightcap.

Anyway, I voted stellar for wholly self-referential (nostalgic) reasons - ha ha ha!

By FAAAAAAR My favorite so far!!!I'm presenting my place as well-look for Brian Ball Northwest entry, but I feel my pad will pale in comparison- I agree that it looks like the kind of cool shop where everything has a story, a history, and you want to take the time to explore it all; tres chic,tres magnifique!!

Wabi Sabi, the idea of your perfectly imperfect rug!!...I forgot to add that to my last comment.

jamesinmiami I like their philosophy too. I voted Steller not because of how the Magnaverde feels (especially through experience) but because I actually like the place! Again, why does everything have to be clear of things we cherish and love? I wouldn't say this place is cluttered - it's actually appealing. I love the wall color the furniture the fact that things aren't exactly perfect in this entries own words. Why does everything have to be perfect? And what's perfect to some isn't for others.
I have viewed and voted for almost all the entries some I haven't been able to comment or actually vote on. I love some of those small all white uncluttered "perfect looking" homes as well as the more "lived in" as well as the (what I feel is cluttered) but "comfy looking places." I respect and thank everyone who has opened their doors and shared their private space on this site.
This contest really brings out the worst - and negative critiques. If you don't have anything nice or constructive to say or want each contestant to look like a clone of what you think is perfect in your eyes don't comment or vote.

Great pitch.

Ethernaut -- was that Cafe Elizabeth in Providence? Is that still there? I loved that place.

I love this! It feels so large and glam!

I think this place is great! However I think the photos don't do it much justice. For example the light shining through the window washes out details of the various pieces so they are hard to fully take in. I would like to see better (and more of course) photos of the place.

beamish, and others

First, I was in no way making a comment about this entry's home. The comment was about the voting.

We are dealing with apartment of 547 sq ft, mine is 520. I do agree that a sofabed is a solution, but is that an unusual idea or is that an option the typical person would not have thought of? And were those three people who had voted when I posted my question even thinking of that? Some of the solutions in other entries; loft beds, faux built-in storage, storing rarely used items in the topmost kitchen cabinets, creating underbed storage, and recycling old materials for new purposes, these are what I'm looking for. I just want people to judge these entries (all of the entries) fairly.

Love it! Your apartment, your pictures and your write-up.

So now we're judging the voters? pshaw. I love this place and find myself with a new inspiration for my own small place.

Pshaw is right! I voted "has potential" but wish I could go back and change it to "stellar" just out of defiance to the self-appointed voting police.

I voted not my thing.... The first thing that come to my mind when i saw it is that I wouldn't want to clean there.... not that it looks like it needs to be cleaned but all those different pieces of furniture and things.... would drive me crazy...

But I can see why someone else would like living there and I do applaud people in doing their own thing instead of mindlessly following trends.

Joan A. -- Yes, I was referring to Cafe Elizabeth. It was still there towards the end of 2004. I like to believe it's still there.

As for the parallel conversations in many of these comments... I don't even know what judging these entries fairly means. How many of us are designers? I'm not. I don't read any of the magazines people often cite as resources or inspiration. I don't even know how I came across this website, but I was living in a tiny, tiny studio, and there was a contest (last year) for smallest, coolest apartment, and I was hooked.

Someone else opined that voters shouldn't ask "Could I live there?" I don't know if I CAN not-ask. I voted Insta on this one, even though I couldn't live there. I don't know if I could live in some of the minimalist apartments that I think are fabulous. But I would like to (heh). (You know, give it a whirl.)

So, I don't know. Sorry to hijack the comments.

In other news... I would like to see Coolest Micro-Apartment contest.

cool- very strong sense of style. i'm surprised you're an AT reader, though!

Sounds like your learned to live with your inner laziness and it shows. Although it appears you are still in transition.

Your dining room is neat and orderly with a great table while your living room looks like the remains of an estate sale. Hopefully your living room can learn a lesson or two from the dining area, although I'm not holding my breath.

I think this is really an outstanding show of personality - through the color, numerous objects, etc. So often I'm disappointed by how generic people's homes are and you know where every piece of furniture comes from - because you have the same one yourself at home! I like how what most people would make the 'bedroom' you made into a dining room - because you probably like to entertain ( like me ) and that probably is a daybed in front of the windows which doubles as a couch when guests are present. That is an incredible and PERSONALIZED use of space! A - thanks for breaking the mold and showing something non-minimal with no ikea or classic mid-century modern in sight!

Very nice. I love your take on imperfection! It's a fact of life whether we admit it or not, and it can be very interesting. The mixture of elements in the second picture really caught my eye. Great job.

Thanks to everyone who took the time to vote on my room (whichever way that went) and mostly, to our hosts for posting my place at all. I love it, but pleasing anybody else was never a consideration as I put this place together, so I really do consider it an honor to be here. I know this look isn't for a lot of people--probably not for most people here--but then, I'm not like most people.

That's a black walnut Empire daybed from the 183Os in front of the triple windows, and no, it doesn't fold out into anything bigger: day or night, it's only 24 X 72, but that's OK, because I'm even smaller than that. At any rate, I've been sleeping on it since my senior year in college--my room in student housing was like a time warp--so why switch now? For one thing, there's no room for a "real" bed in this place, and for another, this eliminates the question of overnight guests without ever having to say anything. "Less is more" has a broader application than is generally supposed.

Here, hidden storage is everywhere: family photos & summer curtains & slipcovers go in big Tupperware boxes under the daybed and the striped chair, matted artworks are behind every tall piece of furniture, rolled drawings & blueprints hide behind long curtains & inside an antique column serving as a pedestal for that Roman urn; winter gloves & scarves go in the urn itself. Out-of-season argyle socks are inside the big 193Os vases in the kitchen cabinets and electric tools & lightbulbs & extension cords are in the oven, which I've never used. Basically, if you open anything at my place, tou gotta watch out, because you never know what will fall on you. Of course, I have to have an Excel locater file to keep track of where stuff is stashed because otherwise, I could hunt for days and never find things.

But the most effective way of making things disappear at my place comes from an old magicians' trick: in a room painted flat black & lit only with parchment-shaded electric candles in antique candlesticks--and I have two rooms like this--you can hide a ton of boxes under no-sheen black velvet. As long as you distract the eye by spotlighting something cool across the way, most people will never even notice that there's an elephant in the room with them.

Oh, & those empty, stark white walls in my dining area? That's intentional. Even if you have a ton of cool stuff to look at, the eye still needs somewhere to rest. The single most unused trick in the decorator's book is contrast, so a deep-toned & densely decorated room requires a light, clean-lined room next door to keep things in balance. Kind of like the sorbet course in a heavy meal. BTW, if you remember the black-&-white London drawing room in the Thorne Rooms at the Art Institute, you know where I stole the idea for this room. Traditional doesn't have to mean boring.

My mother always tells me I'm perfect so I don't know if I could enter your apartment but I like it anyway.

There's so much to like -- everything in the first picture, that hexagon table in the second picture and practically everything in the third picture.
One thing you really need though is a Victorian bronze statue or, at the very least, an ART DECO one.

Even though I like Mid-Century Modern furniture it's nice to see a place without it. Thanks for showing us your place.

Tony G.

it's beautiful and full of personality.

Was this place professionally photographed? There's somethign about the lighting and finish of the photos that makes them look like they are straight out of a magazine photo shoot and not your typical digital amateur photo.

I love this. I think it *is* perfect.

Thank you.

not my style (definitely a cool/has potential, though), but i think domino magazine would looooove this place!

Makes me think of grandma's house--full of stuff, each item a visual notation of a memory...and I would want to visit, and then hear the story for each piece, and the story of every bump and bruise on each piece...

It's "shabby chic", but the real thing, not the boxed, Disney-esque version.

This home is beautiful and has a lot of flair. Even though there are a lot of things on display, items have obviously been chosen with care and the overall effect really works.

Cluttered Luxury. Love it. Where is the design law written that small = spare?

I adore it. Also, like you, love the World of Interiors. Love the grubby places.

Lisa from VA--

I laughed out loud to find your "Criteria Campaign" going on over here! Your comment to me on the Lipstick Loveshack makes even more sense now!

I do totally agree with your take on how to assess these entries.

Keep up the good fight!

ps--

Magnaverde, you sell yourself short with the "imperfect" thing. Looks pretty perfect to me.

And that is one intense floorplan!!

I love this, and I would never classify it as "shabby chic." It's beautiful, whatever you want to call it!

This rates high as a place I'd like to be invited to..maybe you would let me touch the roman urn. This apartment looks full of stories about fascinating things and experiences. Love everything about it.

One of the best things about this entry is that it is so completely different from everything else out there.

Not my personal style, but I do think it has a nice feel. Looks like a nice place to spend an afternoon---and great architecture in that little place!

Also, not to be a nit-pick, but isn't the voting period only three days?

Don't listen to the naysayers! I think people have been brainwashed. What I like about it is that you have some places with a nice collection of things, and other spaces like your dining room which is very restrained with expanses of plain white wall. This allows your eye to rest. I am so bored with midcentury modern and my favorite magazine is also World of Interiors - I think they'd have a spread on a nice igloo if they found one.

Think your place looks great. A nice change of pace from some other plain Jane entries. What paint colors did you use (notably, the green and is that gray?)

Hey Magnaverde -- I'm from a magazine, and we're interested in seeing your apartment. Would you send me an e-mail at vatner@gmail.com?
Thanks!

gorgeous

I absolutely love it. Looks like something straight out of Paris.

I adore this. Too many "chic" dwellings are simply carbon copies of each other. Minimalist can be so minimal that there is scarcely any individualism to the place.

People sometimes forget that rebelling against the previous generation's idea of fashion can result in everybody in one generation looking all the same. Rebellion in the 1960's meant long hair, flared jeans, and a leather vest with fringe. How rebellious was it when everyone you knew between the ages of 12 and 22 had long hair, flared jeans, and a leather vest with fringe?

This apartment expresses individuality and unique taste. Good for you! You have your own style and express it thoughtfully. Clutter usually indicates a disorganized mind and lifestyle. Your apartment shows nothing of that and certainly doesn't meet my definition of clutter. You have nice things, chosen for good reasons, and they express who you are. I applaud you!

Wow, I love it. Really, really unique and very YOU. Doesn't look like something I've already seen 1,000 times before. You know? Your personality definatly rubs off.