apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Cool space!

That bathroom is a trip!

Really unique rental.

i think this is my favorite so far- awesome use of space and color. looks like there is a cohesive style. welcoming without being pretentious. definitely use some of these ideas in my apartment to come!

I like your space. I really like the couch and the color.

I had to doubletake over your bathroom pic too! My mind kept insisting that there was a mirror behind the sink. That's a pretty creative way to fit a bathroom in a slim rectangular area.

Really cool apartment! Amazing that you have living room, bedroom, and workspace all in essentially one big room. Love the colors and light, and unexpected touches like the bathroom wall and cute little side table. One of my favorites.

Great apartment! I love the way that you've separated the space into three distinct living areas - great use of the Expedit and curtains. I will definitely be looking to this for inspiration for my own small space!

I really don't get the sink, seems like it would be a paint, but it is also kind of neat? Overall I dig the space.

Good job!

So bright and airy. I really like the shower tile and your use of the bookcase as a divider. Sadly, the memory of the coral magnifier and letter opener http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/sf/organizing/coral-magnifier-and-letter-opener-set-046025 means I cannot fully enjoy the bathroom : )

I love your place. The blue color of the couch is so refreshing the the light in your place is amazing. Is this Milano Lofts in downtown ?

I vote Super Cool - Very nice indeed!

it's pacific electric lofts downtown at 6th and main.

Awesome, in my top three! Super DUPER Cool

want.

This is the best I've seen so far. Excellent layout and use of space. It looks spacious and airy. Especially like the bathroom, very creative! I vote Super Cool!

ME LIKE!!!!!!

kitty!

i love the color of your sofa. your home is beautiful! and yes, your bathroom is a trip! very cool.

I love the way you were able to divide it into distinct areas. Very, very cool! So much useful area, and yet it doesn't feel crowded at all.

Beautiful! Perfect! Very elegantly understated. Definately one of the best ever posted here.

Does that mirror in the bathroom swivel? Where did it come from??

The mirror does swivel. It turns around complete 360 and has storage in the back. It is from IKEA, but it looks like they discontinued it because I can't find the product on the website.

my favourite so far--i love this space, and so light.

Very, very nice. Looks bigger than it is and that bookcase is just right. The colors are gentle enough to make the whole place float. (And the cat matches the bookcase---way cool.)

Wow, great place.

is it me or is there an abundance of black cats in this year's entries?

can you tell me where you got your blender?

Top 3 for me. The subtle color palette and clever bathroom plus all that light really appeal to me. Extra super cool.

I really like this. But I am a sucker for tulips. Seriously, they can make anything look 10 times better!

Wow you guys are nice! Thank you! I bought my blender from Amazon.com. It's the Waring Pro in Retro Green.

I like this a lot too, but I'm very curious and puzzled as to why you didn't use the Expedite shelves to partition off the bed area as a separate area?
Your space is so big, it seems like it wouldn't be necessary to have the bedroom area and the living room area all in one.

Love that blue couch. I've decided not to let the pets sway my voting, but kitty!

this is really wonderful.

the end

voted super duper

I love this place. my favorite so far.

Thank you, Pixie. We decided not to partition off the bed with the Expedit bookcase because we wanted to separate the office area from the living area. The office is the most problematic area.

Also, if you look carefully, there is a white curtain I hung from the "princess bed" post/railing that I pull closed to separate the bed.

I do now see the curtain on the bed. Do you do work in your home?

I do not, but Josh does. But we do have 2 desks and 2 desk chairs in the office.

Super cool. Very tasteful use of color and a great, well-organized layout.

This is a great space. And, I love the kitty cat, too!

I must know what the name of that color blue is on your walls. Is it by Benjamin Moore?

The title of this entry makes me wonder what's "in progress." It's simply fantastic already.

I would have voted supercool, but I just can't wrap my mind around the sink. It seems to close the space off so.

But you have an absolutely gorgeous apartment!

I especially like the colors you've used in the apartment and the bathroom looks neat, but in fairness to other submissions, that's an example of the architect's use of space.

There is something off-putting about setting all your furniture against walls, the largest of which is comprised primarily of windows. You have a lot of furniture it seems, and in lieu of paring down you have put it wherever it could fit in a rather conventional way. The best location for the bookcase (in my opinion, anyway) is is flush against the duct that divides the two sets of windows, in which case you'd create two distinct rooms, one just a bit larger than the other. There are a few different configurations that stand out to me (most of which involve grouping the office and living area together to allow for more guest seating), but I won't presume to re-arrange your apartment for you.

All I can say is that it's a nice apartment, I've voted "cool", and usually I don't post negative comments on these posts, but I don't believe it demonstrates an especially creative way to deal with a bank of windows.

I love your place in spite of the freakish bathroom layout and its location (6th and Main!).

Best of luck. You have a beautiful place.

love the couch.

On the bathroom, is there a door on the shower?Or does the layout make the water from the shower not scatter all over?

my favorite so far. it kinda has a similar vibe to my place. ;)

You took an apartment with good features like the windows and the modern kitchen and made it even better. I like that you used the space to best fit your needs having an office instead of dining area and that you created seperate spaces while keeping the colour story.

I really liked their space planning and how they divided the sections up with a book case, a canopied bed and etc. The lighting with the huge windows is a huge plus. The way they had a totally open floor plan to work with makes the space feel that much bigger. The kitchen could use a bit more color.

Karen

Did they intend to match the cat with the bookcase, or was that just a happy coincidence? Grin. I really enjoy the blue of the living room, which shocks me since I thought I hated that color... Apparently, I don't! In this place, it looks marvelous contrasted with the dark huge bookcase.

This apartment is huge, but I love what they did with it.

Very cool use of space. The whole place has a self-confident feel about space, the apartment's attitude belies it's small size. I like the way you've made the office feel spacious to fit your actual needs, rather than give up a few more feet to the living room for guest seating. You have fantastic light from those giant windows, and the paint/fabric colors make it feel very calm and serene. Looks like a warm, welcoming space to come home to at the end of a day.

That is one crazy bathroom, but I love it. Could you share the paint color?

this is my favorite of all the entries thus far.
can you tell me more about the kitchen/worktable?

Hi Everyone,

A few more answers to questions:

The blue paint in the bathroom is also the same blue paint we used for the single column in the living area behind the Sofa. It is BEHR Premium Plus, and the color is called Aqua Smoke 470E-3

The kitchen work table is --surprise!-- target="_blank">IKEA VÄRDE Kitchen Workstation with extra shelves in the middle. We currently use that as our dining table, but we plan on adding the raised bar on one side to accommodate leg room.

As for the furniture being against the windows: We have rearranged our furniture in this apartment so many times, and this is the best layout that works for us right now; allowing free flowing movement for people to congregate if we have a party. One entire side of the apartment is 6 large windows--the only non window space is the blue column behind the couch. So there is still plenty of light coming into the apartment despite a lot of the furniture being against it.

Thank you for all your comments! We were not expecting as much positive feedback as this so it has certainly made our weekend!

There is an abundance of black cats in all stylish people's homes. :)

Oh ya, and yes there IS a shower door-it's clear glass and you can make out the chrome handle.

I do want to put more color in the kitchen... haven't decided where yet. There is more color on the top of the cabinets but I couldn't fit those into the photo.

And the kitty cat actually does not match the bookcase... The bookcase is chocolate brown and the cat is grey. Optical Illusion I guess?

Love the bathoom. Love.

Super cool from me - I would love to live in this space.

Now THIS is a super cool apartment. Calm, well-edited, and sophisticated, yet warm & personal.

Thanks for the reply Kelly/Josh,

I figured that was the case, and again, I think the colors you have used in your apartment are fabulous.

What a gorgeous bathroom!!! Especially the coral prints! Could you share the source of them?

This is awesome. This is what the Small/Cool contest is all about. The space shows creativity and innovative solutions in the face of close quarters. The only suggestions I'd have are about furnishings. Everyone loves the deals you can get at Ikea, but we all know that the quality doenst last very long. Now that the initial space is set up its time to start saving some money and investing it in pieces of furniture that will last a little longer than the 6 month half-life of Ikea.

Once you've got some solid furnishings you'll be able to take them with you if you move - adding and supplementing until you've got a solid, grown-up house. You guys are well on your way!

PS. Dont discount DWR entirely - I scrounge their floor sample lists all the time and have scored some awesome deals!

Nice place. What's a detective style door? The kind with a frosted glass window at the top with a name on it?

Velvetfish:

I took the coral design from Cavallini & Co. Coral Print File Folders. I scanned them in and printed out an enlargement and then used the outline as a stencil and hand-painted them in with red acrylic paint.

Sixfive: Actually, YEA! That's exactly what I mean when I say "detective door." Except instead of the "Name" on the door, it's the apartment number. The building is historically preserved and converted from the old Pacific Electric Rail Car line office space and train terminal. So the new owners had to preserve the old doors.

The coral stencils ROCK!!!

the last picture sealed the deal! u've done a great job.

correction 5/6 picture (the full room shot from the kitchen).

Ohmygod! I LOVE this space! It does feel a leeeeeeettle like a furniture showroom with the side view, but honestly, who doesn't occasionally have fantasies of living with all the furniture on the sales floor, laid out just so?

Granted I haven't seen all posted entries but I think this is my favorite so far! I love all the natural light, the concrete floors and I adore your color scheme. I'd come hang here anytime.

Hi
What a great floor plan; minus the wierd bathroom ensemble.
Does it work for you?
That sink set up looks so cumbersome.
But maybe it's not such a big deal.
Why not really work up the painted red coral thing?
It's really cool.
Do a much larger one 'growing' up from the bathroom countertop level.
Fun place.
Love that you arrive at the dining table upon entry.
Makes it warm and inviting...and an instant 'landing strip'.

i love your space! the way you divided each area is nice, and even though you have ikea furniture it doesnt look too ikea ya know.

loooove the sofa! where did you get it?

It's very nice, but it just looks like all they did was take their cues from what's "cool" now - seafoam tufted couch, red coral, etc...looks too much like the cover of every catalog that cramps my mailbox

I don't care if it's cool now, I really like the couch and have been looking for something exactly like that for a long time. Could you tell me where it is from?

Yes, yes, please tell where the couch is from!

Well done! Great space, open and clean. Everything you need and nothing more. I love the bathroom as does everyone! Very cool. You should be proud to call it your home. I would!