apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I'm in love.

wow... fun!

great! love it! Especially the wall of table lamps ... tell us about those.

this was featured in either the nytimes or la times not so long ago.

insta finalist definately. How I would have loved to have been a child in an environment like this. Its so playful and the childrens toys fit right in. I like that the color red, the "moon gate" opening and even the lighting is reminiscent of Chinatown.

This is my favorite so far. I wish I had this much space!

The collection of lamps is lovely too. I keep going back and studying the photos and find more and more that I love.

wow!

Very cool. This was either in Dwell or Living Etc. a while ago--can't remember which one. I've always remembered the bathroom because of the Ikea sink and the blue tile.

Such a cool place, especially the windows.

Holy Moley! This is fantastic! It doesn't even look like a real home to me but some funky cool shop that sells a lot of lamps. First picture is so cool!

I believe it was Dwell, no? And it is just as lovely here. looooovely!

It was Dwell and I think they were even on the cover. Very nice!

Love the bathroom tiles.

OMG, amazing.

Dwell, April 2007

Dwell, yes thats were it was. Awesome convert.

I try to look in their windows every time I'm in Chinatown going to Hop Louie or whatever. I'm jealous - so unbelievably jealous of their pace. Its dreamy.

Love love love the lamps. They should win hands down.

It's the Dwell family! OK...I think we have the winner.

I feel like I'm in a cartoon! wow.

love the lamps...

Love the apartment. Hate the fact you're submitting professionally taken photos from your spread in Dwell magazine to a contest like this. Do you have copyright on those images? Permission from Bryce Duffy the photographer? Or, were you planning to share the prize money? This would have been fabulous as a house tour; as a contest submission, it's just sketch.

Okay, wait, I retract... Are those your own photos? Why do most of them look like scans?

arza: I asked them to submit their own photos, which to my knowledge these are. These should all be different from their Dwell spread, as Dan and Amy kindly agreed and sent photos shot with a digital camera. They may look a little smoothed/blurred because I had to resize them.

oh my f*&^ing god. i don't even have anything else to say. it's just too good.

woah, your home is so big it actually blurs in the distance!?

you have tons of trust to have so many lamps with such a little tot(s) running around.

wish i could see footage of your kitty running up and down the space! :-p

all the coolest homes have cats...
just a theory

i like the color tip about keeping the trim the same as the wall, but I think the wall with the red window trim on blue walls with green above is the coolest, better than the all red wall.
great way to use color with those tall walls!

I could move in with my pachinko machines and they'd fit right in! (see #11 DMstudio's private sanctuary)

this is the issue that made me a huge dwell fan (now a subscriber). i always think about your place whenever i'm in chinatown. :)

Whaaaaat???? This is totally outrageous. What a cool space and you have certainly done really creative and amazing things with it. I love the reds blues and greens together and the lamp collection is awesome.

My sweet lord I just want to run in and switch on that row of lamps and wait for night-time.

I'm such a lamp tramp! I always kick myself for buying new ones...I never would have thought to do this, it's literally, genius. I want to move in, what a fun childhood!

Ok, this has to be the winner. I don't know how it can't win. Amazing. Love everything about it. Such a fun place for the kids!

Love it!

This "contest" is really about fun and validation . . . still, I'm glad you're not in my region. Amazing!

Absolutely fabulous! What a great environment for kids and adults alike. Very brave and wonderful color choices. I love the lamp collection and the bathroom tile is beautiful! I am very afraid to paint with matte finishes because I have small children. Maybe I shouldn't be.

wooowwwwwwwwwwwwwwww


and the winner is.... I can hear the drums....

AbFab !!!!

I've never taken speed but I can imagine what it must feel like by just looking at these pictures. Yuck!

I love this house, but can't vote for it to win since it's been featured in national magazines and profesionnaly photographed. It's just not very fair to other contestants.

There's something playlandy about it that doesn't quite work for me. I'm sure it's fun, especially for children, but by picture 3, I lose the focal point and see just piles and piles of stuff. Definitely bold, but a bit messy I think.

ditto for me on this place being dwell--it doesn't seem fair to enter the contest if the apartment's been in a magazine.

This space definitely feels conducive for creativity. In that regard, it's a great space. Personally, I couldn't live in a space like this - at the end of the day, I need to be in a calm and serene environment with a more restrained color palatte.

Great furniture, though. Love your mix of contemporary and Danish modern finds.

Bold, creative, colorful and just plain fun. I love it.

What a gorgeous, refreshing space. Everything works somehow, which is a testament to a good eye when you have this much color (and this many objects). But it looks like a home, like someone lives here, which is the best part of all. Beautiful.

A little over the top for me - but I do love it.

I adore the painting to the left in the third pic. Can you tell me about it?

And the line up of lamps as sculptural art is just too too wonderful! As a lover of lamps, I may steal that idea.

Great job.

When can I move in?

Hats off. Contest over!

When I saw that door, it was so cool, I very nearly passed out. I LOOOOOVE that round door! I would totally walk in and out of it all day for a week after having it installed!

Looks like that cat is having a problem trying to decide just where to place himself in such a colorful environment. I can just hear him thinking, "Ack, they took the photo before I could get onto the lime green ottoman!"

I think it's brilliant, and so what if it's been in a magazine? They are wildly creative, use color boldly, and yet, the space doesn't have a "decorated" feel.

yeah i remember this from DWELL several issues ago. it's a converted punk club. very awesome.

I don't understand what the big fuss is, about this place being in Dwell.

Some of the homes I've seen in this contest are mind blowing, and most certainly 'Dwell-worthy', but that shouldn't render them ineligible. Yes, it's been in a magazine, but if your space is the product of your passion for color, your creativity and hardwork, then there's no room for complaining. This is a home in which color and true liveability are embraced, not to mention it simply oozes inspiration. Isn't that the spirit of the competition?

Congratulations Dan and Amy, win or lose, you've surely urged those competing to raise their game and have given us voters a space to truly marvel at.

The Dwell name carries a lot of weight.

But I think people who read Dwell are smart and won't pick "instant winner" just because they saw this house in Dwell. They'll use their own intelligent judgment when they cast their vote.

I wonder how many of these great entries on AT will be picked up by Dwell or any other magazine in the future? There are so many magazine worthy places and so few pages.

I commented that I couldn't vote for it because of the Dwell thing because I think it has received enough kudos. If you've been on the COVER of Dwell, I think you've made your point about having a great, creative, livable place. Why enter contests?

What if this was an amateur short story contest. Would you accept published stories?

It's not my favorite entry, but I really, really love this house. I just think because it's a known space it has an unfair advantage. And I do think people will be influenced by that in their voting. Come on, you guys knew this entry would cause controversy, right?

Just my two cents. :)

Dwell carries absolutely no influence with me. I voted Insta-finalist because I think this is one of the most colorful and creative entries - and because I love it.

There always seem to be people who complain about interesting entries not being in "the spirit" of the contests here.

I L O V E I T. but I could never live here...I like small spaces :)

I am actually not a big fan of bold colors but in this big open space they work very well.

Probably the best submission I've seen so far.

Everything is so bright and beautiful. I love how all the colors really pop and let the space still seem big.

Ugh, too busy and too much going on.

Thanks for all the nice comments. Doing Dwell was fun and helped us put the 2 years of agony we spent building this place behind us. In some way, the comments and feedback here are more rewarding since we heard from our friends about dwell but what are they gonna say? They have to be nice. Kind words from people who could flame us just for kicks are really great. Thanks.

Notes:
Amy took the pictures not long ago, not a pro photographer.

The painting in the 3rd photo is by Patricia Fernandez, a great L.A.-based artist.

The lamps have come from thrift stores (like St. Vincent de Paul) and flea markets. We never spend more than $90 on a lamp because its supposed to be fun and having a budget helps to eliminate options. Also, spending gobs of money on home furnishings with 2 little boys and a kitten in the house is asking for heart break.

Our kitten's name is Tommy.

That first picture...wow, wow, wow. But. Having kids myself who love to destroy my baseboards w/ their moving toys, I look at the trikes, and that wall of lamps, and wonder how this can possibly work in real life. Unless the trikes (or lamps?) are temporary props. Also, I too feel that 3rd picture is just lots and lots of stuff. Stuff, and its artful layering, seems to be the theme of this year's contest, though.

That said...what a fun and beautiful and creative place to live!

Am I missing something here?!?!?! This looks like the rumpus room at Chuckee Cheese's. Are you people serious with all these kudos you're passing out like government chese?

I like it!!!

I'm definitely in the minority here, but this is not my thang. My eyes are tired from looking at the photos for 30 seconds- there is nowhere for them to rest. Way too much going on. Except the bathroom- I love the bathroom.

This is far too busy and childliek for my tastes.

Please tell me you host dance parties in this place...and invite me next time! What a rad space. I would love to be a kid here...never get bored.

That couch is perfect. Where is it from?

Ditto for me also, Lisao. love the bathroom, the rest no.

Agree that once you've been published in Dwell (I had that issue too), you shouldn't be competing on AT.

It's a very fun space and I'm sure your kids love living there, especially having room to ride their trikes around. I envy you the round doorway, but not the work it must take to keep your floors pristine. You've been very daring with color. I like the bathroom very much - blue and orange is a great combo.

Any chance of getting the red color number or name? I want to paint a piece of furniture that color....