
thumbs up
Who Lives Here: Adam
Location: Houston, Texas
Size: 710 square feet
What is your one favorite element in your small, cool home? It is hard to choose a favorite element. I love the beautiful old windows that over look downtown Houston. I love wrought-iron window between the bedroom and the living room. I love the original sink in the kitchen from when the building was built in 1929. I love the beautiful non-working fireplace. But I would have to say my favorite element is the beautiful wrought iron staircase in the living room with the butterflies sculpted to match the lines of the stairs.
Give Adam a THUMBS UP if you think this home belongs in the finals!
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What was one of the biggest challenges you faced in furnishing your small home? This apartment had several design challenges. First, the front door is through the kitchen so the first thing guests see is a stove and a refrigerator. The apartment has high ceilings so I decided to draw the eye up and created an alter above the stove and utilized the space above the refrigerator as a display area. Now when guests first enter their eyes are drawn up to a fun whimsical display. I was inspired to paint the walls Mountain White as a reference to the the time period of the building a Spanish Colonial building from 1929. The color is a modern interpretation of a mid-century kitchen.
The second design challenge was the split-level apartment. The living room is made even more narrow by the staircase. To solve this problem, we decided to paint the rest of the apartment the same color - Finesilver Gray. We chose Finesilver because most of the furniture had white trims. Furniture placement was done to make the room wider - the couch is under the windows to give the impression of a wider space. Finally, since the living room is so small, we decided that there was no room for a traditional entertainment area and instead chose to hang the tv on the wall. The VCR, DVD player and Apple TV are hidden in the side tables within coffee table books.
With small spaces, organization is always the key. We edited and reedited until only the bare essentials were left.
Give Adam a THUMBS UP if you think this home belongs in the finals!
Thumbs Up Voting is only activated for 48 Hours — so don't delay!

Do you have a Small Cool Home? Enter Here by April 13th!
i like the brown sofa!
view ss622's profile
Where did you get that neat cabinet next to the fridge, the one that is holding the microwave?
view morina's profile
what's on the wall above your bed? and by the stairs? i'm intrigued.
view creativeneurosis's profile
What is that on the wall? Do I need new glasses?
view ftpansy's profile
Yea for Houston! I like your home, too.
view Brandyjane's profile
Lovely.
view theserovingeyes's profile
What is the brand of paint? I love it with the green window coverings in the bedroom. And the fan looks great--I'm wondering how you have managed to make it look decent. Mostly they are an ugly Southern necessity.
view kelleyk's profile
I love the layout of the space, along with the furniture and decor.
creativeneurosis - Hanging above the bed are Inhabit Wall Flats squares.
http://www.inhabitliving.com/detail.aspx?ID=850
You can find them at many stores...the above is just 1 link to them. They range from $80-$86.
They look great above the bed!
view AprilAries's profile
We edited and reedited until only the bare essentials were left.
Who is "we"? The profile says that only one person lives there.
I like the living room. It took me a while to work out why, but I think it's the multiplication of rectilinear forms (or the bunch of rectangles, to put it a less pretentious way). It's very subtle but it provides a lot of cohesion and structure.
view Blandwagon's profile
love this!
view jerseyfresh's profile
I absolutely love the layout of your living room and your sofa! And have a random question- where is your coffee table from? I have been looking for something just along those lines.
view maybemanda's profile
Oh! I love the butterflies! Where did you get them or is this an DIY?
Besides, very nice living room (what great windows).
view Lillian's profile
I love the kitchen. Where's the shelving unit next to the fridge from?
view Gvinton's profile
coffee filters? haha, i love it just the same.
i like the idea of something fluttery like that on the wall. is that hard to clean though?
view s2k's profile
i really like how you set up your front room. it's giving me some ideas of how to re-set up ours. thanks!
view s2k's profile
Airy. Liveable. Lovely.
view leotam76's profile
Great arrangement of furniture! I may have to steal some of your ideas!
view suzy8track's profile
So creative! I wouldn't have thot of putting up those things you have on the wall...super cool.
plus that coffee table...is that marble top? Looks divine!
Where is it from?
view tdeb's profile
Angled rug is awesome :)
view alisaan's profile
Great use of space. I like the symmetry and order of things, very clean and well thought-out design.
view PrinceGnarls's profile
Beautiful.
view shannonhall's profile
I didn't notice your fireplace at first, but I love it! Lovely home.
view theresaclare's profile
those butterflies remind me of the umbra wallflowers, they are little magnet/tack things that you can put on walls or any metal surface. Plus, they're plastic so if you're worried about dirt you can just wipe them down no problem. I've been looking into buying some and they run about 30-40 bucks for a set of 25.
view Cambra's profile
Go Houston!!!!
Adam, did you prime then paint your Wall Flat squares? How did you hang them? I've been debating whether to affix mine to another surface (plywood or foamcore) and then hang or attempt to hang directly on the wall.
Please tell us more about the butterflies! They're awesome!
view Heather C's profile
Your house is so beautiful!
view mvitav's profile
I was thinking the same thing about the butterflies, Cambra. I just saw the wallflowers in the new Umbra newsletter. These look more sophisticated though...I didn't realize they were even butterflies.
Those windows are incredibly gorgeous. Score!
view estydesign's profile
love this apartment--where did you get your sense of style?
view bettygibson1's profile
He was born with a great sense of style! Love it!
view lsalinas's profile
this is really nice. clean and refined yet still looks like someone lives there. most important of all not all one note. it has a nice blend of eclectic pieces that makes it feel more personal.
view raddlesnack's profile
are the butterflys really coffee filters. They look like oragami.
Please tell us who you made them.
I bought wall tiles on sale $4.50 each and I can't wait for them to get here. How did you install yours?
view denverdigs's profile
amazing...where in Houston do you live? I have been looking everywhere for a place with this much character.
view Paige Pleasant's profile
Thanks to everyone for the really great comments! I need everyone's vote for the next round!!
I will try to answer a few of the questions...the butterflies are origami and were handmade for me. They are attached to the masonry walls with sticky tack.
The shelving unit in the kitchen is from IKEA. I added doors, drawers and my own knobs to dress it up.
The paint is ICI Dulux.
I was lucky enough that the bedroom ceiling fan was black with reversible black blades, so it ends up looking like the fans that were original to the building.
Blandwagon: you hit the nail on the head; the space needed to be clearly defined and the rectangles serve as the guides.
The coffee table is a vintage piece from my grandmother's store with chrome base and marble top.
The wall flats in the bedroom are not primed or painted and they are attached using the stick-on backs directly onto the wall.
Thanks again for your support!
Sincerely, Adam
view adamgibson's profile
Looks amazing! I am proud of you!
view haileykahn's profile
where did you get the white chair?
view wukemon's profile
Can I move in? LOVE this space!! Love the stairs, love the windows, love the floors, love the furniture. I especially love the Florentine guilded demilune table against the stairs. A very unexpected and sophisticated touch. Especially with the contrast of the stark white wall and black wrought iron stair rail. I just got back from Italy and it makes me miss Florence very much (tear). Oh, and I'm heading to the grocery store tonight to get some of those candles you have in the kitchen. I always stop to look at them but I must have some now because I see how very cool they look in my new place ... uh, I mean your place. Eh, eh.
You got my vote!!
view SweetRosieBrown's profile
Hi Adam! The apartment looks amazing - I am so happy for you. Hope you win :o)
view CCJ's profile
Very well done. Interesting scale and if I had a nice dressing room off the bedroom the size wouldn't matter to me.
Great work.
view jkscgs's profile
Is that one of Dale's paintings above the table?
view hktrac's profile
oh those butterflies are amazing
view Olha Pryymak's profile
Espectacular!!! Pero ésta no es la casa que yo conocí!!! Está increíble!!
view CaroRguez's profile