Contest Rules

Contest Schedule

• We’re collecting entries from March 17 through April 14, 2008. Please submit your entry through contest entry form for your region (Chicago, New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, International). No late submissions will be accepted.
• Entries will be posted from March 31 through April 25 for reader review and voting. Readers will have 72 hours from the time an entry is posted to vote. Each reader may vote once per entry.
• We will announce 16 semi-finalists, top 4 entrants in each region (plus 6 International semi-finalist) based on reader’s votes on April 29, 2008.
• These 16 semi-finalists (and 6 International semi-finalist) will be asked to resubmit their Small Cool entry with 10 additional photos, optional video, and additional requested information by 12:00 noon on May 5, 2008.
• Entries from the 4 semi-finalists in each region (and 6 international semi-finalists) will be posted between May 5 and May 15. Readers and judges will have the opportunity to review and comment at this time.
• Five honorable mentions, chosen by a panel of 5 judges, will be announced between May5 and May 15. Honorable mentions will be chosen from those entries that did not make it into the semi-finalist group.
• National and regional winners will be announced at the national Smallest Coolest Contest party on May 15 in Chicago! The party will be hosted by Room&Board. For those who are unable to attend, we’;ll announce the winner online simultaneously.

Who Can Enter?

• All readers age 18 and up are invited to enter the contest and share their home. Due to legal limitations and shipping costs, only U.S. residents are eligible to win the prizes.
• International readers are invited to submit entries for exhibition on the site, but they are not eligible to win prizes. Unfortunately, Room&Board prizes may only be awarded to US residents.
• One entry per household, please.
• What homes are eligible?
  • Your home must be no more than 850 square feet.
  • Your home must be your primary residence and you must be currently living in it, (you may be an amateur or professional designer).
  • Your home can be rented, owned or sublet.

What to Submit?

• Send us five 540 pixel wide photos of your home. Here’s our advice on taking great photos of your space.
• Make sure you complete all the required fields on the contest entry form.

Prizes

• Room&Board will grant gift cards with a total retail value of $10,000.
• National Winners will each receive gift cards from Room&Board: 1st prize: $2,500, 2nd prize: $1,500, 3rd prize: $750, and 4th prize: $500.
• Four Regional Winners* (one per region) will each receive Room&Board gift cards with a retail value of $1,000. Please note, a regional winner may also win a national prize.
• Five Honorable Mentions will receive Room&Board gift cards retail valued at $150 each.
• Three International Exhibitors will each receive a certificate of recognition from Apartment Therapy
• In addition, the first 25 entrants will each receive Apartment Therapy’s latest book: “Apartment Therapy presents Real Homes, Real People, Hundreds of Real Design Solutions”

Additional information for you to know…

• A maximum of 40 entries received for each region will be posted on the representative site. (NY-East Coast, LA-Southwest, SF-Pacific Northwest, Chicago-Midwest, and International-represented on all sites).
• Only posted entries will be eligible to win.
• All submissions may not be posted due to space limitations, and it is up to each site editor’s discretion to post the strongest 40 submissions.
• Readers will have the opportunity to vote on each entry posted within a 72 hour voting period (measured from the time the entry goes live). Voting for the final posted entries ends on April 27th at 11:59PM ET. Each registered reader may vote once per entry.
• Semi-finalists will be selected based on reader’s votes and a panel of five judges. Judges will include a representative from Room&Board and four individuals from the design community (one per region).

Please review the full rules for this contest.