apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

There are some nice elements in your home but just too much of it for my taste. I am sorry as your photos and art are obviously very important to you but I think it needs editing.

Too many photos...very busy and overwhelming. Plus, I didnt get a sense of the rooms, too many closeups of your items.

"The limited space keeps boyfriends from moving in.."

funniest advantage yet!

Way too many pictures. There's something about how the dining table is higher than the level of your sideboard that really bugs me.

Seems like a lot of 'okay' random stuff. I don't get the sense that there was a real design focus in filling your home. Your closeups weren't of particularly impressive or charming or beautiful areas. Not awful, but just okay.

agree with you, bethanylemony

I am addicted to pictures so I always have to find new ways to display pictures when I run out of space on my side tables.

But do you really have to look at all of them at the same time?

I agree, a little too many photos for my taste. I do like the photo cubes to the left of the (vanity?) mirror but the ones strung along the mirror are a little over kill. And the black hollywood regency style cubes in the living room are fantastic!

too many series. i just want to see one giant piece somewhere.

you have a lot of BIG furniture. I feel like those couches are going to swallow me! you definitely lean towards comfy, feminine, artsy-- I think you can mix up the pieces more in terms of weight. I would look at some the house tours on this site as a guide.

If most of your furniture are cheap finds-- have more fun with it! that mini-dining table? paint it pink, white, orange... And hang a chandelier made from small paper globes above it (but not too low)-- also a d.i.y instructional to be found on the AT site.

despite all the pictures of you & your friends... i don't get a sense of YOU in the place yet. I think the living room is going to be the toughie one to fix! thanks for sharing.

Sorry, but I personally don't like tons of small (4x6) photos all over the place. I think they're better arranged in groupings of coordinated frames or blown up and hung on the walls. All the small pictures everywhere makes it look cluttered and the individual pictures and their stories are lost. Them hanging on hanging on cords not once but twice seems very "high school locker".

I understand being on a budget but the table is too tall for that hutch...which I suspect is part of a girls white bedroom set as I had one just like it. But, good thought to repurpose it but just not with that table.

Also, I think it would be a good idea to more artfully arrange both book storage areas. Turn some on their sides, group by color or function, etc. That way it becomes more like a display and less like chaotic storage.

i agree.. i LOVE photos but i've found too many is overkill. the white cubes in your bathroom are SO cute. they really add a lot to the wall and the kitty photo is hilarious.

furniture does seem too big in the living room. maybe pair down to just one couch and some really cute chairs??

The way you've displayed your photos is very high-schoolish and immature.

The most interesting things to me are the use of stools in the dining space (a space saver that can be tucked under the table) and the sculptural qualities of the photocubes. However, the rest seems stripped down (cold lighting in the dining area) or oversized (couches!)

The photos dont bother me as much as the other generic art. Get yourself to an art gallery, art school, open studios, or even Etsy and get yourself some real art!

This place CAN go somewhere - but its going to take some work and some creativity!

Too dorm roomy for my liking and not because you're just starting out. I'm with the others ... too many photos. But that's just me ... I think photos like that go in an album that you can take out and look at ... I don't like walking into people's places and being bombarded with lots of "hey ... this was us sitting around that bar one night" type of photos. It just doesn't work as decor. Perhaps pick one or a few and blow them up to fun sizes ... then it's memory AND art and makes a better design statement.

My coworker just made the comment (and not said in a nasty way): "It's like that girl lives in one big myspace page!"

There's nothing I personally like about this apartment, or which strikes me as especially innovative in terms of its use of limited space. I completely empathize with your limited means, so I will only make thrifty suggestions -- painting some of your dark furniture, blowing up a few of your small photos and removing a few others [maybe swap them around every once in a while?], or maybe try a collage frame to group a bunch of the photos, which I think would look less cluttered than what you have going on right now. I appreciate you working with what you like, but I think the friends/family snapshot-sized photos are a challenge. Good luck!

i really like some of the picture displays - i think the cubes are great and so are the white picture frames by the door. the random picture frames sitting on furniture and clipped to wires/string could use some editing, though :)

agree with animalhouze on the big living room furniture and suggestion for just the couch and some cute (smaller) chairs. this place definitely has potential!

(also like the creative advantages to a small space!)

agreed that the pictures are a bit too much. i would say pick a few that you truely love to hang, and then set out some of those flip books they make for photos so you can satisfy your urge to see different ones.

I actually loved all the photos...

Goodness, people are being so mean about the photos. Hey, at least someone is trying to give their place some personality with limited means. It may not be my style, but I do appreciate that the photos have meaning for the person living there. And I actually think that if you're going to use photos as your primary decorative element, piling them on is probably the best way to go--it's what makes it unique.

This is out of control.

"... I always have to find new ways to display pictures when I run out of space..." -Jodie

Have you heard about facebook, face-pic or flickr.com?

Ah...what about those digital frames? http://www.digitalframez.com

:-)

i understand being a poor post grad. :) i think this has nice potential. keep working at it. i'd suggest studying the AT when it comes to warms and cools. do the cure & it'll look really nice!

A really good start, I think. Keep going!

But gagicab Thats all you see. You can't really judge the place because besides the couches all we get is photos.

And i don't think its mean when people give their opinions. If your feelings are easily hurt then you shouldnt make things public.

I love the hutch, but the super modern furniture next to it looks a little mismatched.

It's nice that you like having pictures of your friends around, but it looks a little juvenile. You're lucky enough to have a big, beautiful apartment, why decorate it like a college dorm?

Paint!

I appreciate someone who doesn't have access to lots of money or an Ikea, as those are things I deal with.
So she loves her photos, so what? It's a refreshing change from all the tragically hip modern art in so many other homes.

Finally, another subscriber to the small-spaces-keep-me-safer-from-home-invaders theory!

My husband thinks I'm crazy.

OMG, IDK but the photos r 2 much!

I like the big furniture and love the dining table with stools as it is good for a small space. The living room is nice as are the photo cubes, but I think that the cubes would be more stylish with black and white pictures of various things rather than repeated pictures of faces in blazing color.

I'm afraid I have to agree with those who feel the multitude of little pictures in bright frames is all too much. One of the aspects which the owner loves (pink pictures frames pinned to the curtain) is one of the things I dislike the most.

Hi everyone,
Well I appreciate the comments-*its kinda like being an invisible artist at my own art exhibit and listening to what everyone says-very tear inducing I must say- but it is competition* yes my picture addiction is out-of-control - but of course it does make me feel at home. And truthfully- I must admit there are more *yes more!* areas of my apartment covered with pictures. I am a maniac!

The walls- my landlord wont let me paint! Depressing as it may be. I don’t know what color would compliment my permanent brown shag carpet. Might be a challenge.
and I am so indecisive I would probably change the color on a weekly basis.

The couches- I love these couches- I really do. Yes- they do swallow me. When I have bronchitis and am curled up on the couch watching Rachael Ray in mid December I think to myself- *im glad I didn’t go with those small dainty couches * Although I do think smaller couches look amazing- They don’t accommodate my wild cocktail parties mid-summer and boggle parties I have planned for the fall. :)

Jodie Ann

It's a cute college-y apartment but not a contest winner.

Maybe you should get one of those digital picture frames. You can have ONE frame and an endless loop of your favorite photos.

I would like to jump on the digital picture frame wagon. I think it's an excellent idea. OR you could put them on your computer and set them as a changing screen saver. You'll outgrow the picture phase in a few years when college is over and you hold on to just a couple of special friends.

I'm also a little concerned for your safety. What's up with pushy boyfriends and stalkers?

I live in Reno nevada- of course there are stalkers and criminals. I have over 100 registered sex offenders within a 1 mile radius of my apartment and with statistics like that im lucky if im not meeting half of em when I go out drinking at the near by bar. Digital frames give me shivers.

You are "addicted to photos" and you have what looks like several dozen 4x6 photos displayed throughout your apartment but digital frames give you shivers?

Something about some cheap looking metal device that rotates photos just isnt appealing to me. Its just not personal and has no character. It has no warmth.

Hey, sorry to see you got a bashing from some of the cretins who are posting such insightful, useful, vicious comments on these competition entries.

Anyway, just wanted to say I really like the square frames you have by your dresser. You mentioned you can't paint but it looks like your walls are already white... Have you thought about painting magnetic paint on the walls and then slapping some white back on top to make sure you get your deposit back? Could be a fun way to get more "picture" space that would be easy to switch around and free up some space on your shelves.

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/ny/at-home-cure/rebeccas-cure-week-15-magnetic-paint-048438

Ive never heard of magnetic paint. Interesting idea. My father has a pacemaker and I wouldn’t want him to get zapped when visiting so I might not be able to include magnetic fields in my design.

I wish I could paint. I would love a lavender living room- kinda Martha stewart? or a yellow kitchen!

I actually got those cubes really cheap. Thanks for the positive feedback. I actually didn’t even know my apartment was posted until 35 comments were already posted- but I must say the comment by van_winkle was really funny. This one even made my mom laugh:

My coworker just made the comment (and not said in a nasty way): "It's like that girl lives in one big myspace page!"

My friends and co-workers are still referencing that one!

oh dear.
When you make more money, throw out everything and start over. Charming to have photos on display, but there's a thing called albums. It does look like you are a nice person, and have done as much as possible to make a comfortable place to have friends over.

I like your place, it's interesting how most of your furniture is black and white and I also think the photos make the place warm and happy. I really liked the photo cubes :)