The panneling is a bit strange, but I'm not really bothered by it. Your before was fine but your after is great!

Why did you ditch your bed frame? More curious than anything. Hide the cord on the far side of the bed, otherwise, I think it all looks good. I'm sure other ATers will come up with other things, but I just hope my place looks as cool as this some day!

I love billy bookcases especially when theyre mixed in with nicer stuff. That branch is cool. I personally would paint the panels and doors to give it a more formal look with the chandeliers, and to create more contrast between the floors and walls.

I like radiators and I would paint it a metallic color or to coordinate/match the walls.

Hey, The bed frame was cool, why did you get rid of it? Can you send it me?

-DR

If you follow the "this old house" link on the main AT page - there was a post on there about the dudes ongoing project to box in a radiator if that appeals to you. Mine (same NY pre war radiators!!)are painted white, and blend to the walls. There was also a post a few weeks back as part of the fall colours. Someone had turned the radiator into a feature by painting it a rainbow of colours that blend into each other. The picture was a yellow/orange/red/dark red/purple if my memory serves. You could try it in other colours that suit your palate.

Looks awesome though, really like the hanging branch effect, and the chandelier is brilliant.

I thought the wood panels were storage, which I was envious of! But now I see they are not.

My bedframe came from IKEA (MALM white) but the quality was awful, it broke twice (in different sections). So now I am looking for a new bed, however, the temporary option (big matress in the floor) works very well for me (i like low beds)...i bought a few different bed covers from UrbanOUtfitters and I can change the look of that matress instantly depending on my mood.

Well done! I like your style.

Yo! I love what you did with the space, and I agree on painting that paneling. A bold red would be great. Also love that dark bedroom.

i think you're off to a great start. especially that wood on the bedroom wall! very cool impromptu over-bed art.

i also like the wood paneling chair rail thingie, and am fine with your radiator as is. i think if you were to do anything to the radiator at all, it would be to have some sort of wooden cover commissioned that would be identical in style to the wood paneling. except i think that might make it look like a sauna.

all in all, i think your place is great. the only advice i have is that it looks a tad cold and formal. maybe this is what you're going for, i dunno -- but if it's not, i think more books, art, and LIFE on display would be really great to see. i see a lot of hot button items which are really stylish and trendy right now, but not a lot that tells me about the kind of person who lives here. which isn't to say hot button items are bad -- i'm LOVING all of them. i just think you shouldn't be afraid to get personal. a drawing done by a friend, a coffee table book from a show by your favorite artist or a museum you're a member of. a photo of your mom. objects picked up on travels. that sort of thing.

i agree that the radiator looks fine as it is, but if it is really bothering you, search this site for radiator covers, there were a few discussions about them already.
I love the branch in the bedroom! I bet the wood panelling looks much better in person because it has some nice grain showing. Don't paint it!
oh - and thanks for providing an example of how to take a wide-angle picture that really shows a room!

not sure if this is a rental and the landlord asked you not to paint the wood paneling, but if you own or have free reign, here's my idea:

-paint the paneling a fun color, like red
-install floating bookshelves that run the expanse of that wall of paneling, and also paint the shelves red (or the color you choose)
-paint that radiator the same color, and put all the stuff you have in those white ikea cabinets on the -put the white cabinets in another room.

btw, you place looks great! i especially like the blue wall in your bedroom with the driftwood attached.

Looks great to me. I really like the paint color you used in your bedroom. So much so that I'd be tempted to use it on all the walls.

Radiators don't bother me. I'd just leave 'em.

I'm not sold on your bathroom, but that may be a guy/girl thing. It's pretty dark. I think I might prefer the trim painted white with some blinds in there to block the view/emphasis that height.

I'd be tempted to take that paint off the transom btw the LR and bedroom. I assume it's paint on glass which comes off in a jiffy.

The next thing I'd buy if I were you is a nice big rug for your LR or bedroom. Something you can take with you.

Great start. You have a great eye. I love the door leading into the bedroom. The radiator doesn't bother me at all, but the paneling does. Not sure what to do with that, though. Paint it maybe?

I absolutely adore the way you made art out of branches. So simple and elegant and unexpected. Very beautiful.

I am mystified why you would cover that lovely sofa, however. That throw looks like it belongs on the floor.

I am always shocked how students can afford to have such great places.

very nice. radiators and panelling look fine to me.
where did you get the chandelier from? ikea?

Just curious as to how you mounted those lovely branches to the wall?

In response to 'h' and 'Siobhan':

- I got that chandelier from my mom as a present (you should have seen the faces of the airport security people when I was carrying the frame from it around :) she got it in a store in Woodburn, Oregon.

- I used two medium size nails and jute rope, I tried to find rope that matches the branch, so black for dark branch and light colors for lighter branches. I would place the nails first on the wall than tie one end to the nail and another end of the rope to the branch and play with lengths to determine the position and angle that you like. Make sure your branches have one flat side (that side against the wall).

ahhhh it didnt look like an ikea chandelier. i want to steal it. hehe. too bad im nowhere near oregon. boo.

What's the blue on the bedroom wall? (Love it!)

Pretty wonderful for a first post-college apartment. Looks really good; I like the simplicity and the clean lines. I do think you need a living room rug to help warm things up and unify the space, but you are certainly off to a great start. The blue paint in the bedroom is beautiful (what is it?), and the branch over the bed is terrific.

Would have liked to have seen the kitchen just to round out the apartment tour.

You can see the rest of the apartment (redesigned) here:

http://picasaweb.google.com/stephan.rabimov/RemodeledApartment02

enjoy
stephan

ps: i am looking for that blue paint chip :)

I like what you've done but I would remove the metal cabinets you have in the living room. They scream college dorm.

I love this! Stephen - did you treat the branches at all? Or did you just find some with neat shapes and hang them?

I love the organic look of branches and have been trying to figure this out for a while, so great timing!

love love LOVE the bathroom -but I'm a guy..... If you had free reign to paint hte woodwork iw ould paint it all white ( to go with your palette ) and get rid of the brown blinds on the doors that don't fit -and get white sheers on cafe rods ( so simple and looks very professional ) - otherwise it looks AMAZING!!

Why not go with your natural/branch theme to 'hide' the radiator? A floor vase (or antique umbrella stand) with tall dried branches, well positioned in front of the radiator will mostly block it from sight, and will also add a few more organic lines to the room.

But really, you don't 'need' to hide the raidator - everyone needs heat so it's not like a design faux pas or anything...

Stephen, congrats on your place. My apartment didn't look this nice until I was out of school for almost 10 years. (But then, perhaps you went to school for design, and I shouldn't be so surprised! :-)

Not a lot of new comments here, just mainly support for what others have said:

- I like the masculine bathroom, but I would want a nice soft, thick bathmat in there to make sure it's still a comfortable room -- something like the IKEA Sanni bathmat, all cotton so it's easy to wash (rubber-coated bathmats fall apart in the dryer), and then just leave it on the floor most of the time so there's something soft underfoot.

- I would want more counterspace in the kitchen for preparing meals, just next to your stove -- a vintage table maybe, narrow, with a butcher block top?

- I also agree that the cowhide on the couch might look better on the floor, if it's durable enough. Otherwise a nice carpet would be great.

- You have a ton of art in your hallway, but it's hard to view there -- I would try and move some of this into the other rooms. Smaller pieces like the photos would like nice hung just above the wood paneling in the lving room.

- But speaking of that, I'm not big on whatever that is hung above the paneling just to the right of the living room window. Because of its size and dark colour, it seems too high up and is throwing the proportions of the room off for me a bit. I would move it.

- I also agree, try to scrape the paint off the transom over the bedroom door, if that's painted glass.

- In the living room, the panelling, which I'm imagining you can't paint, is really only problematic for me because that IKEA PS cabinet seems to be be blocking it and fighting it. Get rid of the cabinet (hopefully you've got somewhere else its contents can go), and get some long low, white tables that don't come up higher than the bottom of the paneling. Or, if you can afford it, get long, low white cabinets with drawers that can continue to store some of the stuff you have in the IKEA cabinet now. Then put your stereo equipment (which seems to be on the floor now) on the low tables/cabinets.

- I also vote leave the radiator -- it doesn't bug me.

- And I'm glad that you're looking for a new bed frame. I like beds low to the floor too, but not on the floor. :-)

The place looks v. nice, esp considering it's all IKEA stuff. But I would get rid of the branch over the bed, or at least put it on a different wall. Stylistically it's cool, but it's seriosuly BAD feng shui (which is mostly practices in common sense and etc). You just don't want crap hanging over your head while you're sleeping and in your most vulnerable state.

Wow. What an excellent job. I especially love the bedroom. So calm, spare and soothing.

As far as the radiator--can you make a "box' to shroud it? Like an old-school radiator cover, but just simple and clean. Obv would need air-holes--maybe a grid of drilled holes/plywood box, if you're the buildy sort?

Personally, I'd like the branch in the LR better if it were floating like the one in the BR--but maybe the blocks it's sitting on are structural and can't be changed...

all in all, rock on!

a radiator is a radiator, and it has an industrial look that works with your room. there is paint made for radiators and maybe there is a bronze metalic that you could paint the radiator.
just wondering if you are not that light sensitive and you live alone, the french doors without the fabric panels and the top glass panels stripped of paint would expand the space and unify the 2 rooms. a bedframe and a cover that works with the beautiful pillows would be great too.

I would paint the radiator terra cotta. Goes well with natural wood color.

Oops. White is fine, too.

Has no one ever heard of wainscoting? Those wood panels along the walls are AWESOME, please dont paint them, they have come this far... I agree about your bed frame, can you paint the headboard blue/grey so it "disappears" into the wall behind but still elevates your bed? Bed on floor reminds me of students days!

You can start by buying an adult bed. The Malm bed at Ikea is a great deal.

A large rug in the living room would warm up the place, too.

Also, what are those pad things hanging form the doors. They are not too attractive.

What a great transformation! I think the branches are beautiful and soften your apartment up a bit! I am a female and just LOVE your bathroom-could you tell me specifically what paint color you used? I have been contemplating painting my bathroom black for a while because I have a wierd tile mis-match going on (yay rentals)-black and white in the tub and cream and white on the floor and the all-white walls in there look TERRIBLE-thanks for giving me the guts to go with black!

Also, I think the wainscoting brings a gorgeous warm glow to your room and offsets that branch nicely. Leave them be!

Please find that paint chip! Seriously... I have been looking for this color for a couple years now (having gone through two failed attempts of other blues) and I would love to finally track it down.

If not, would anyone know of a good match?

Thanks!

Great job so far, Stephan!

I second stefan on putting white sheers on the bedroom doors.

I love the branch hung on the wall over your bed. Leave it where it is if you don't feel "vulnerable" with it over your head as someone else suggested. But I do think the bedroom would look better with your mattress up at least a little bit on a frame.

The looooooong entry hall is an excellent runway for your wall mounted art. I say keep adding to it so a single piece, or a few, doesn't get lost on the wall expanse. Have you considered painting the hallway something other than white? I think maybe painting the two opposing walls different colors would look great.

And finally, on those wood panels in the living room. I think the wood grain and tone is great. Don't paint them! I think what's bothersome to others, and to me, is that with the white baseboard they seem to be floating on the wall. I'd like to suggest painting the baseboard either in a tone similar to the wood panels or in a darker tone to help ground them.

Hope this helps. Again, great job so far!

Love your place. You made great changes!

DO NOT paint the beautiful wood wainscotting! Puh leeze for the love of all that is good and holy! (Why do people insist on covering up beautiful old wood grains? - Must be the types who don't understand their value)

Seriously, the wainscotting/paneling looks to be in great shape and it's a great light/warm color. you'd be a fool to paint it. If you own, it will devalue it when you're ready to sell. If you rent, your landlord has my permission to pull out your fingernails one by one!
anyway, the radiator doesn't bother me. Maybe you could paint it a color complementing the wainscotting - to blend in?

this might not be much help but I like your coffee table. is that from ikea as well?

I've been looking for the right one (something sort of that color, perhaps a bit wider) for months now and I'm about to give up...

Your bedroom is just gorgeous - loving it!

But do something about the panelling - its awful!

I think you improved the living room and bathroom greatly. I think you made negative progress in the bedroom. The branch and the paint: fine, whatever, sort of cheesy.

Discarding the bed frame was a huge mistake
(it was nice looking and functional), having your mattress directly on the floor is cheap and tacky. There are low slung platform beds that accomplish what you are going after, but just putting the mattress on the floor is so "college." I remember the lazy, dirty kids in college always had their mattresses on the floor because they were too cheap/lazy to get a bed frame.

Also 1985 called and they want their comforter back, ralph.

Hi All,

Thank you again for all wonderful comments. Maybe, after I take some of the suggestions that I agree with and make the necessary further improvements, I will upload pics here again.

- Coffee table, yes from IKEA
- I am renting, so I cannot do anything with the paneling.
- I also have a roomate (what a lucky guy!) that I why I have to have covers on my beautiful french doors to avoid him peeking into my bedroom!
- I goofed with the comforter, I have much pretier ones that completely match my bedroom design from 2006 :)
- Still looking for that paint chip (sorry it was chaotic when I was redesigning), but will post asap.

Thank you,
Stephan R.

Puhhlease include the black bathroom paint as well as the blue chip in your quest! THANKS A BUNCH! My bathroom is looking foward to it :)

Bathroom paint is not black, it is almost dark clay color.

Shade: Grays
Name: Stonecutter
Finish: Eggshell
Brand: Benjamir Moore

hi again stephan.

not sure you'll see this as it's drifted off the main page, but i just had a total brainstorm about how you could get rid of the curtains on your french doors without sacrificing privacy.

cut sheets of vellum (in either white or colors that would match your bedroom and living room) and adhere them to each pane. you can go monochromatic (i've seen a shade of slate blue very similar to your bedroom paint) or multicolored.

this is a great look i've seen used a lot in apartments like yours. it allows for privacy, but also shows off those great doors. the vellum is just the slightest bit transparent, too, so you'll have some nice light effects.

5x7 sheets of vellum are available at most stationery and art stores in a relatively wide variety of colors, for something like 50 cents a pop. you should be able to stick them to the glass with spray adhesive (which will come away with goo gone when you move).

Thanks, Stephan! I'm shocked it's not black-I pulled out my B.M. paint fan and looked at Stonecutter and it really looks a good deal lighter than you bathroom! Thank you so much for posting the info, thought, I really appreciate it! Happy decorating :)

MY BEDROOM WALL COLOR IS:

BLUE NOTE

2129-30

make: BENJAMIR MOORE

another COLOR i didn't use yet but purchased is:

REGENT GREEN
2136-20
benjamin moore

I like the paneling. a lot. Radiators don't need special paint. Paint it about the same color as the paneling behind it and it will disappear, or paint it a contrasting color to make it an industrial feature.

Love the chandelier. You've done a wonderful job of rethinking the place while using your existing stuff. I agree a good rug would be a nice addition. The blue vase in the bathroom is a welcome shot of color.

My company BattyBuilt specializes in designing and building custom radiator covers to suit any style, any room. We serve Westchester NY, Manhattan and Connecticut.

Here is a link to the website: www.battybuilt.com