apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Quick question--why is this called "southwest" when other overseas entries are "international"?

This is just gorgeous! The light is stunning, and you've created a calm oasis.

shouldn't this be international not southwest?

Beautiful! The natural light is amazing - and the way its paired with white/cream furniture against the natural wood floors is soothing and expansive. I imagine the homeowners have neither pets nor kids ;-D. I would have used a different desk, perhaps something unpainted wood. But minor details - overall is just beautiful.

Beautiful & light.

The bedroom is exquisite

Very beautiful but would be more appropriate as a house tour. 800 sq ft is huge.

I'm a little confused... how is the bedroom exquisite? I can only see a neutral bed with neutral linens. No other furniture, decorations, nada. I agree, the architecture and the natural light of the place are beautiful, but the actual furnishings seem very very sparse to me. I agree, the apartment on the whole seems very calm and light, but I actually find the lack of things on the wall (why is that art piece sitting slanted on the floor?) and the lack of furniture almost disconcerting, like the family has just moved in or is in the process of moving out.

brittanykate: that's actually a great question and I'll try my best to answer clearly. Normally, ATLA covers all of the Southwest, with our coverage including Australia and Asia, while ATNY covers European homes and news. So to follow those guidelines, we were given a couple "international" entries to post on ATLA that fell under the international designation. But I think you're correct, and we'll switch this to "international" in the title.

What an amazing space. As far as the "It's too big claims"- in my mind if it was deemed appropriate for the contest than it deserves to be evaluated on its design, not punished because of its size.

Very pretty.

sublime

those floors! wow!

ooooh this is gorgeous! If you every fancy a holiday in Vancouver I'll 'house' swap with you...

Love it. The light is amazing!

You make me miss home -- I'm from Sydney, too! I love the little black-and-blue bird print and the miniature zebra sitting on your floor. Gorgeous and simple and calm!

Hope this gets to the next stage so we can see more photos. It looks beautiful.

That bird painting is so cute! Who's the artist?

~Q

I wish at this point people would learn to include a picture of each room of their home as opposed to showing us their desk or lamp. What I do see is very nice.

I can see from the floor plan that you have adapted well with an unconventional layout. I love the simplicity, it really showcases your style. And I am hopelessly jealous of your tidy loft!

Very pretty and delightful essay.

I think the bedroom is exquisite because they had the good sense to leave well-enough alone. The environment is created by the light coming through the various windows and off the angled eaves and the color (yes, white and natural wood).

The dark bookcase is the only element that seems out of place for me. I would have stuck to the white/pale blue palette for that piece...

Love this.

Wonderful! Hope you make it to the next round, you deserve it.

Stylish and bright, but I think the architecture on your side is tricking us into seeing more creativity than is actually there.

It does make me happy imagining the TimTams in your cupboard, though...I miss Sydney.

I wish this was my apartment!!

Wonderful use of restraint.

Pretty fantastic looking to me.

Delicious.

where do you put your clothes?

Another stellar international entry...

lovely home, and you didn't kill it with paint and stuff, so super-cool i'd say. hope to see more.

This is a bit cold and spartan for my tastes. There's not much going on in many parts of the apartment. I'm not surprised it's loved though by most commenters and voters. Empty, white, and sterile usually triumphs over colorful.

The board with letters thing on the floor doesn't do anything for me either. It looks like a project someone is working on and left on the floor.

Hey cool, just saw that we're on here! Thanks so much for all the lovely comments, I really appreciate it! Here are some replies to the comments/questions above:

- "shouldn't this be international not southwest?"
I wasnt sure if it was international or southwest, originally I entered in international then emailed to ask if I was in the wrong category as Australia was listed under Southwest. Looks like its all sorted now anyway :)

-"I imagine the homeowners have neither pets nor kids"
No kids, but have since taking these photos we have adopted a puppy! The back deck is now strewn with toys and the shag rug in the lounge has been shifted up to the bedroom and swapped with the cheaper washable rug from up there.

-"I can only see a neutral bed with neutral linens. No other furniture, decorations, nada."
I know what you mean, but thats really all that will fit up in that area - that half of the bedroom is a step up (which is why the ceilings in the lounge below are so high) and is tucked up in the roof space so its very low. Not alot else will fit in, and Im reluctant to put much more as I think it might end up a little claustrophobic up there.

-"lack of furniture almost disconcerting, like the family has just moved in"
We actually did only move in in December, so its still a work in progress! I forgot to mention that somewhere in my answers. At the moment its what I like to call "mortgage minimalist", hehehe

-"If you every fancy a holiday in Vancouver I'll 'house' swap with you..."
Awesome, its a deal!

- "That bird painting is so cute! Who's the artist?"
Hey thanks, I actually did the bird paintings (theres a second one above it)

-"where do you put your clothes?"
Good question! There is a hanging closet to the left of the desk (behind the door between the kitchen and the back sunroom) for suits/long clothes. There are also 2 sets of drawers upstairs in the bedroom for 'in season' clothes (opposite side of the room to whats shown in the pic). As well as that there is some storage in little cupboards tucked into the eaves up in the bedroom where 'out of season' clothes are stored away until needed.

-"Empty, white, and sterile usually triumphs over colorful. The board with letters thing on the floor doesn't do anything for me either."
Actually its interesting that you note these two things - the letter art is sitting on the floor as we're trying to decide whether to paint the wall before hanging it! Im pushing for a soft bluey-grey colour, hubby likes the white. If we end up sticking with the white, Im going to do another more colourful painting as Im not a huge fan of the white art on the white wall (in our last apartment it was hung on a lovely blue wall so it really popped).


Thanks again everyone!

Would love to see more pics of this place! Absolutely beautiful!

love, love, love

Hey this such a nice place, its really encouraging to see a small "old" cottage re-used, not demolished as per usual in Sydney. You did really well to find this little gem with all that light, and decorate it so tastefully. Are you in East Sydney or Darlinghurst? Good luck with the contest, from The Teal Sea.

one of the better white schemes we've seen in the competition. your apt has amazing bones- light, flooring - but your choices only add to this. great job.

Hi Teal Sea, you're close with your guesses - we're actually in Glebe :)

It's very pretty. I like the lightness and the airiness, but I'd love to see some color on the wall, even something pale and subtle. With all the white furniture, a contrast, even slight, would be lovely.

Okay, that bird print is way too cute. I have no place to put it but I want one.