
thumbs up
Who Lives There: Nreaves, her husband and their 10 month old daughter
Location: Farmington, Michigan
Size: 890 square feet
What is your one favorite element in your small, cool home? I love our custom kitchen. The former dining room that was sized to seat six seemed excessive for a one bedroom apartment, so we expanded the kitchen to double it's size. It is now open to the living space which is wonderful for entertaining and even keeping an eye on our daughter while we cook. We replaced the dining room with a slide-out table that can adapt to seat the three of us in it's "closed position" and up to six when fully extended.
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What was one of the biggest challenges you faced in furnishing your small home? One of the biggest challenges was finding furnishings within our budget. We accomplished this by spending more on a few select pieces of furniture and offsetting that by designing and building other pieces ourselves such as the kitchen cabinets and bathroom vanity. The kitchen cabinets are a low cost plastic laminate and
incorporate materials such as electrical conduit for open shelving. Even the kitchen light fixtures were very cost effective. Each of the six recessed can lights were only $15 a piece and are simply mounted to a suspended plywood frame.
Give Nreaves 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.
Gorgeous bachelor pad! Can't see raising a family here though.
view etslee's profile
this is breathtaking.
view hla21's profile
i like a lot your extendable dining table. Very space efficient. We also live in a small apartment with our 10 month old son, so I appreciate all the details to make the space more efficient. Does your daughter sleep in your bedroom too?
view Anusha73's profile
So much counter space!
view Jose A's profile
Your apartment is SO lovely!
I am also super excited to see an entry from my town! :)
view k ran's profile
Great decision to eliminate the dining room. This is beautiful.
view GrizzleBizzle's profile
The framed recessed are interesting. Is there a way you can provide a better photo of them? I'd like to see how you built it.
view gem's profile
oops, make that:
"The framed recessed "lights"...
(need more coffee)
view gem's profile
This is the most masculine space I have ever seen. I can practically smell the Old Spice!
I hope this is your style too, Nreaves, and you didn't just have your feminine touch "vetoed" :)
Beautiful, though.
view kellylc's profile
I'm looking forward to having a long and loving relationship with your kitchen.
view AlexDarling's profile
wish you'd shown a photo of the bedroom so i could judge the entire apartment :)
view erinpeace's profile
Mucho macho. And oh so cool.
view GreatFriend's profile
You had my vote at the first picture; that kitchen is gorgeous.
Overall I love it; really warms my minimalist soul, but I agree it does have more of a "bachelor pad" vibe than "family living" (not complaining about not seeing toys and baby stuff everywhere!). The color palette seems a bit dark for typical family style. In any case, this is just beautiful. I hope you make the finals, I want to see more pictures of this place.
view Sydney's profile
This is the most uncluttered home of a 10 month old I have ever seen! Where are you keeping all of the toys and equipment??
view ensuenos's profile
This looks like CG. Am I taking crazy pills? The lighting and lines and angles are all wonky.
view lindabot's profile
Sleek space, I love that you've kept it rug free, lets the eye wander all over the floor and up the legs of your wonderful sofa. Needs a pop though, something unexpected. I would replace the white plastic chairs in the living room with something in bright red, but keeping the narrow leg. Well done!
view jacksonlalonde's profile
I normally could not live in such a minimalist space, but this really works for me. The lines and balance of the placement of each piece is quite calming. I also like the thought of being able to clean the surfaces without picking up a thing!
view English Accent's profile
all of the things you guys built are AMAZING! i can't stop looking at the pics of your kitchen!
view eriiikaa's profile
Lindabot, you are not seeing things. I think this is CG too!! Look at the transparent dining room table and chairs. Weird.
view morina's profile
er, I just realized that the owners did the transparent table and chairs on purpose, to show that it expands. Still, it threw me.
view morina's profile
I think your baby needs some color and some soft rugs.
view Lesley's profile
A little masculine and a little dark but very nice.
Cheers!
view SeanG's profile
Not my cup of tea, but quite perfectly what it is. (If you know what I mean....)
view JoanneM's profile
Hi everyone,
I am Nicole's husband. I can assure that what you are seeing is not CG. I borrowed a friend's professional camera with a wide angle perspective correcting lens which what makes the lines look strange. morina is correct with respect to the transparent table and chairs. That is two photos spliced together in photoshop with the transparancy set to 30% on the one with the table fully extended.
I admit, it is a bit bachelor pad, but my WIFE actually would let me paint the kitchen walls a brighter color!
view mreaves's profile
Where does the little girl sleep?
view ChrisGal's profile
Where are your kitchen cabinets from? Do tell....please! :)
view Designa Gal's profile
Very nice!
view kerri's profile
Sleek and attractive albeit with a bit of a well-designed model unit feel to it, but perhaps that's due to it being on the market.
view Indy Jeffrey's profile
that kitchen wow.
view ss622's profile
This is how you do it if you own. Just wow.
view Gene's profile
Counter space up the whazoo! Sexy bathroom walls. Total yums.
view threesheets's profile
Love your kitchen!!! Good luck in the contest, fellow Michigander.
view williamsweyr's profile
So proud to see more Michigan entries on here! My husband would LOVE this space, and I could be quite happy there, too. I wish we were in the market for a condo in Farmington! ;)
view Miss*Lisa's profile
Where is the decorating? I see architecture but no decor.
view Trumystique's profile
Stunning. Full house tour, please! :)
view FlyGirlLAX's profile
I'm usually more drawn to "eclectic" rather than modern, but I want to be in that kitchen every single morning to make some coffee. I'd always have all the cups clean and up on that pretty, busy, calm wall of stuff.
view ChicagoCharm's profile
I'm still reeling from the fact that this condo costs under 60K! It definitely has the highest "wow kitchen" to price ratio I've ever seen.
view stacyk's profile
I like much of the design however the TV with the windows behind it would not be an option for me nor do I like the sofa back facing the kitchen. It separates the area instead of integrating.
view leehou's profile
I love the place!
view vanda's profile
Love the kitchen and bathroom, how gorgeous, clean and minimal!
view BadJuJu77's profile
Absolutely wonderful space!
Don't listen to the ones about it being a bachelor pad (even though you admit)! Everyone is of course entitled to their opinion but I think that it is a beauty of minimalistic design and extremely clean. The bathroom and kitchen are stunning! I can agree on it being a bit dark but that is what makes it even more attracting - you guys stuck with the theme it seems you wanted.
Good luck! You have my vote. =)
view scarlett1313's profile
whats wrong with a bachelor pad?
view Motschill's profile