apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

your place is very homey, although i think the red wall could be balanced with a little more dark color somewhere else (maybe you've done this, this is my take just looking at these 2 pics).

I love that deep red. And I am bowled over by your windows. The light must be amazing.

Great place! Your color selection is very safe. I could live there very easily.

I like the meshing of traditional and modern--you pull it off very well. I usually can't appreciate ornate Oriental rugs or anything in that family, but it looks beautiful with your white couch, a pairing I would have never thought of. I think your place marries Texas and modern living--a representation of Austin.

Shannon,

I used to question oriental rugs too, but lately I've been warming to them.

I went to a house tour of the Modulightor building last night. It's amazing. Check out the oriental rugs here (you'll have to scroll down)

http://www.modulightor.com/aboutbot_new2.htm

Lovely place, but even with the gorgeous deep wall color, it feels a little too safe.

I wanted to ask you about that chair with the letters and question mark on it. Can you tell us more?

I love your sofa and the way you've mixed modern with traditional. However, I feel like your layout could be improved if you moved the sofa and chairs closer to the fireplace (eliminating the blank space in front of the hearth). You could use the bookcase on the opposite wall as a room divider/art display case behind the sofa and put the piana where the bookcase is now. More color in the accesories on the mantle would also be nice. Beautiful home and furnishings!

A lovely room! I'm not sure it wins for color, but it draws me in. I'm glad you didn't cover the windows. Will you tell us more about the K G & ? chair please?

How is this room not at least "In Contention"? So far, I've seen way too many "Insta-Finalist" votes going toward rooms that look like Linda Blair dropped in after spending the afternoon at a Slurpee machine, yet this beautiful room is being soundly panned. I've seen raves for nasty, fluorescent, garish, clashing color pallets in rooms that even preschoolers would find excessive. This room is tasteful, understated and makes effective use of a bold color. This is exactly the kind of room that should merit at least an "In Contention" vote.

I think too many people must be failing to imagine what it would be like to actually inhabit some of the spaces pictured as part of this contest. Even the most garish color schemes might be visually appealing, confined to the postage stamp proportions of a photo on a website, but being immersed in some of these Technicolor bizarro worlds would be an entirely different matter.

One white sofa, one beige wall and one red wall. I don't see much of a color story here.

The color story I see here: an adult with good taste lives in this space.

It's a little boring, a little traditional. I feel like I've seen the red fireplace wall so many times. But beyond that, I'm not sure where the skillful use of color comes in. I like the couch though.

You know, the stone on the fireplace reminds me of the area around Far West (in NW Austin) which apparently used to be a quarry. I bet it would be interesting to choose colors from nature in that specific area for the palette.

This looks elegant but homey. I love the coffee table!

Sunspot: I loved your last comment. So freakin true.

I love this room.. I can almost see myself curled up on that couch with a good book and a cup of hot chocolate.