apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

The first picture is beautiful. I really like the whole thing (wish we could see more of it), but the bathroom is fantastic.

Cool cubbies!

That's right, west coast. Bring it.

I also wish I could see more! Is there something painted on the wall in the dining room - a tree?
I like all of the storage solutions here with things stored in the open and easy to get to without feeling cluttered. Everyday objects look more like collections - the toilet paper and bath towel cubbies, the kitchen utensils in the stainless containers, the spices, the wine bottles, etc.

I love it, and voted accordingly- but as a cook, the spices are kind of making me cry. Putting them that close to the stove can age them prematurely, and I'd worry I was going to catch myself on fire reaching up to grab them!
But the place itself is beautiful, and I LOVE the picture wall in the dining area.

I LOVE this. I have similar men/women bathroom graphics outside our hall bath and was happy to see them here. I also love your extra toilet paper storage, the gorgeous bank of photos in the dining area and great lighting above the table. Love the splash of color with the red door and the great magnetic spice cannisters/hold-alls above the stove/range. I also noticed how you separated the wooden/black/metal cooking tools into separate containers - very detail oriented at the same time as providing a cohesive, great-looking bigger picture. Great home!

Absolutely beautiful.

But seriously.. this place is palatial!

Umm, I want to live here.

Your dining room and living room have the same color and design theme I am going for. Thanks for entering it. I like!

great design, but lived-in and unintimidating.

*applause*

Fantastic bathroom cubby! Is that wallpaper or fabric on the wall?
Your place looks huge (but the slanted kitchen picture is making me seasick).

Just out of curiousity - how wide is your living/dining room? (or the individual room dimensions?

And yet one more reason why I continue to love the old bungalows. This is gorgeous!!

Please, please, info on the bathroom cubby/storage system!! Did you design and build it? I could maybe work something like that into my bathroom.

So lovely. My favorite so far.

This is another one of those entries which definitely needs more pictures. I like what I see though.

Visually this looks bigger than 600 sq. ft.....no?

Man alive. Normally I don't really like beigeish/taupey walls, but this is fantastic.
If you somehow don't make it to the finals, there will need to be a house tour.

I really like the feel of this place. And I emphasize on the "feel" because these 3 photographies definetely do not paint the whole picture.

I love the wall of black & white pictures in the dining room.

I really like the wine rack in the kitchen but I did not get one because they are supposed to be bad for your wine.

My only qualm is the position of the sofa in regard to the TV. It seems only 1 individual can comfortably watch TV.

In the bathroom is the door frame the same color as the adjacent wall? Interresting effect at least in this picture.

Lovely, but the angled pictures make my head hurt.

Now this is what I like! It's gorgeous, but they have also found storage solutions that also add to its aesthetic appeal.

They have made this space seem "palatial" as others have mentioned. That's a great testimony to the job they have done. However, if 19' is the total width, then the living room is less than 9' feet across and the dining room is even less. Excellent job, guys!

It's gorgeous and I'm jealous, well done.

I really love the red color of your dining chairs against the dark brown dining table.

This is incredible! This is the best apartment on here! Finally there is quality in Los Angeles!

OK, this is the winner. I absolutely love it. And it doesn't feel pretentious or stuffy like some others we've seen. I feel like I'd be friends with whoever lives here! :)

Well it is palatial to me.. I live in 293 sq. ft!

The owners really did a lovely job. I like their bathroom storage alot. The home feels lived in without being cluttered. I hate those museum type spaces.

Great, fantastic. It doesn't look like you pulled out half your furniture to achieve the requisite over-designed minimalistic look. I can imagine sprawling on your couch with a book or sitting around your dining table with friends, but you've managed to combine that livable look with a nicely designed space. This is the vaguely rumpled, casual, yet still attractive West Coast that I miss (and am returning to, thankfully).

This looks amazing, very well thought out!

Really nice job! Wow, all of this in 594 square feet, it seems twice the size. Plus a porch in sunny California, I'm officially jealous.

Oh thank god for some COLOR! I loves me a white cube - for an art gallery. This is beautiful, composed, and ALIVE!

The bathroom looks great. Creative storage. What's going on with the doorknob?

these 600 sq. ft. apartments look like mansions.

This is inspiring, gorgerous, one of those places that would be hard to leave in the morning. If this doesn't win, I'll be amazed.

Beautiful, please tell me more about the partners desk that transforms into a Qsize bed. And one more question, what did you do to those windows flanking the tv? Are those just moldings? Love them.

The extream angles of the last two pictures where really disorienting and make it difficult to visualize the space. On the plus side, your bathroom is rad.

To those who think it is bigger than the area stated, most couches are 36 to 40 inches deep. You can fit 3 couches into the living room, making it about 10-11 feet or 3.5 metres across. Most double beds are 2 metres long (6.5 feet) , so the bedroom would be about 7-8 feet.

I would also like to see the desk that converts into a bed.

you go san diego! this gorgeous space is making me homesick. where do you live in sd? north park or mission hills perhaps? (i'm originally from clairemont.)

i love the moldings, the wall color, the subway tiles in the bathroom, the orange and blue towels, the red door... I could go on and on. can't wait to see the rest!

What's with the Poseidon Adventure angle shots?

Does NOT sit well after two days of flu...!

Lovely home and my favorite thus far.

Can you tell us the source for your bookshelves in the first picture? I am looking for some "airy-looking" steel shelves to house a collection of overside art books, and yours might fit the bill. Many thanks!

I've wanted to live in a bungalow for a long time. Now I want to live in YOUR bungalow. I agree about the tilted pictures, though--very disconcerting.

I'm a little concerned because I agree with Patrick (the other one). Find the angle on the pics unnecessary and counterproductive to showing of your place to its full advantage. It looks as if your place is beautiful, but those pics don't do it justice.

Concentrating on the first pic - even though there's too much stuff for my taste - I see a uniformity that is very compelling. I love how the lights, little white vases and framed pictures are lined up. You definately have a flair for geometry. Hope I get to some more pictures (properly angled) of your place.

Love the bathroom. My favorite thing is the men/women icon, perfect touch of whimsy. the open storage is also great.

toooo busy.

Old school yet new school. Excellent use of space and materials.

594sqf is not a small.

too busy? Are you high? Its perfectly organized, well painted, has great light and wonderful use of texture and patterns. One of the best so far.

We've been inside this bungalow, and it is the most perfectly designed use of space we've ever seen! Clean lines, cool style, organized options, and certainly not busy (yes it is small, even by NYC standards).

These two are amazing at, not only use of small space but also design with a light budget - incredible.

Too bad there are not more photos; You should see the yard...

Go San Diego!

Thank you to everyone that posted such complimentary notes. Hopefully, thanks to your votes we will be able to post more photos here soon.

As to some of the comments:
Sakura Tree - There is a sakura tree painted on the living room wall. It spans across the window and front door and into the dining room as well. We love the simplicity and the grace of the tree and have used it as our logo as well.

Spices - We weren't aware that heat ages spices prematurely, but it is good to know and we will have to find another spot for them in the kitchen.

Size - The actual living space is about 600 sf - yes, we know it is bigger than many that have posted and we have great respect to those who are able to do such beautiful things with their small spaces. They're all easy to clean though! The rooms are about 9' to 10' wide. This is why we tried to stick to a simple color scheme throughout and painting the trim all one color really seems to help simplify things. Especially since there's so much beautiful trim work to be found in older homes which is much of what is around the windows. Our bedroom is literally that. A bed - room. That's all that fits which is why our bed is made up of dresser drawers...and why there are some slanted pictures! It helps make things look bigger and it's next to impossible to get everything in a picture without it being at some odd angle!

Doors (all 3 of them) - are paneled with an antique Eames wallpaper that we found on Ebay. We refinished all of the doors and the middle panel was plywood so needed something different than the mahogany stain.

Thanks again to everyone! Will write more soon to the other comments.

......
bathroom - we did design and make the cubbies in the bathroom. The original medicine cabinet was here so we had the depth within the wall for some storage, but just at this location. It is all mdf with lots of bondo and 7 coats of paint.
doorknob - all of the original glass doorknobs and hardware were here when we moved in...all but under many many coats of paint. so after a lot of soaking in acid and grinding, they're back to their original finish.

seating - the sofa will actually hold 2-3 people and there's enough seating in the room for 3 more people to watch tv fairly comfortably without having to sit on the floor. I do wish we had a sofa deep enough for two people, but you just can't get that when your room is 9' wide!

clutter - believe us, we wish we didn't have so much stuff. it just seems to accumulate quickly, but living in a small space does make you get rid of things you don't need!

desk/bed - the desk is made up of a top that sits on two wood rolling carts. when it's a bed, the top hangs on the wall as the headboard, one of the carts is the nightstand and the other rolls into the computer storage closet where there is an inflatable queen sized bed, which rolls out and blows up. we didn't have room or the money for a murphy bed and this is actually more comfortable. we slept on it for 6 months while we were under construction.

bookshelves - these, along with the dining table, which expands are from cb2, crate and barrel's sister store.

thanks again to everyone who commented! hopefully we will be able to post more pictures (non-angled ones at that!)

I LOVE your apartment, it is very inspirational for someone who just moved and is trying to decorate! Can I ask, where did you find that wine rack? Thanks!!

Are those blue ceilings? They are FANTASTIC!

We ordered the wine rack from a place called smarthome. there are many that are out there and 99% of them were out of our price range. this one fit what we wanted and we could afford it.

thanks eelmike!

wow...just wow. i never thought i'd like any place with beige walls, but this is just incredible. kudos!

Agree with everybody about the clever toilet paper cubby - smart!

But can anyone else spot the misplaced modifier in The Pitch?

(Lovely place!)

Hi Eric and Lauren -- I'm from a magazine, and we're interested in possibly featuring your apartment. Would you send me an e-mail at vatner@gmail.com?
Thanks!

I am a huge fan. i love it all. I have just moved into a 1952 rancher which the landlord kept as origional as he could. Your pictures are very inspiring, i am facing storage issues and mixing modern with a classic look.

Thanks

Great place! Where did you find that mounted wine rack? I love it! It holds more bottles than the blomus wine holder which is almost the same design. Please let me know! I'm in L.A. so I can do San Diego.