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Small Cool 2009: Amie's Life Reflection
Interntaional Division #07

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Who Lives Here: Amie Herring
Location: Bondi, Australia
Size: 1150 square feet

What is your one favorite element in your small, cool home? It's a reflection of my life and my passions; surfing, cooking, family, friends and travel. With all these elements combined to make my home homey!

Give Amie 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!
 
 

What was one of the biggest challenges you faced in furnishing your small home? No money to spend on furniture to frunish my new home! I found old furniture on the streets and fit it into my house and stlye! Eclectic, kitsch, old and new with a touch of flirty girliness!


Give Amie 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!

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Small Cool 2009, Small, Australia

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Comments (26)

Nice job! I like how it doesn't look dull or gloomy even though there isn't much light in the photos. I like how you seem to have made it home without any paint, and without any clutter.

posted by Nolann on April 3rd 2009 at 1:28pm
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I don't agree at all, I think it could use some light and sprucing up. It has great bones so play around a little. The fire place would look great with some paint to make it stand out.

posted by Mz. F on April 3rd 2009 at 1:33pm
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i can't believe 1150 square feet is considered small

posted by tabithacat on April 3rd 2009 at 1:35pm
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Maybe it's just me, but is the apartment much smaller than 1,150 square feet? Is that measurement right?

posted by palindrome on April 3rd 2009 at 1:38pm
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boring. this looks like any apartment that has been tidied up. where in the floor plan? isn't that required?

posted by TheLiberator on April 3rd 2009 at 1:56pm
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1150 square feet? Is that a typo? Because this must be smaller than that...

posted by Juliet on April 3rd 2009 at 2:13pm
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sorry... but this is small nor cool.

posted by aad on April 3rd 2009 at 2:17pm
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Yah, I don't think that looks like 1150 s.f.
My apartment is 800 s.f. and it would totally eat yours for breakfast.

posted by twoheadedboy on April 3rd 2009 at 2:19pm
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Pictures are a bit dark to really make an good assessment, and I agree that it looks much smaller than 1150 square feet.

posted by suzy8track on April 3rd 2009 at 2:20pm
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It is really inspirational what you've been able to do without money for a bunch of new furniture! I especially love the pillows on your bed.

posted by LovelyDarkandDeep on April 3rd 2009 at 2:23pm
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maybe there was a mistake converting from meters to feet?

also, the fireplace is adorable.

posted by mrs yow on April 3rd 2009 at 2:30pm
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The kitchen walls look a little empty...and the kitchen itself looks cluttered. I'm sure there's some staging tricks that could be used to spruce it up a bit :)

posted by happiness on April 3rd 2009 at 2:31pm
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I disagree...i think this place does look dull and gloomy - like a little girl's bedroom with no little girl in it. I'm just not impressed :( I do like the idea of setting pictures on the floor, but at my heart, I'm a wall-hanger. Get a picture-rail up, girl! They don't cost much and the gallery look is way in.

posted by bfootnovellista on April 3rd 2009 at 2:35pm
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This is one of those rare posts where the space looks a lot smaller than they claim it is! Usually, spaces are accused of looking bigger.

For such a sunny country, this Australian entry is a bit too dark for me. But I may consider clicking the thumbs up button if you teach me how to surf?

Good luck Amie!

posted by marc from vancouver on April 3rd 2009 at 2:44pm
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What is the real square footage here?

I love the order that you have created. The big table in the kitchen is nice as well...and the flowers. Can we have a cup of coffee!

posted by Betian on April 3rd 2009 at 3:18pm
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gah! I would die with that kitchen! There is hardly any counter space, plus it'd be a pain to actually cook a real meal in there, what with the table between the fridge and the rest of the necessities.

posted by minnesara on April 3rd 2009 at 3:21pm
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there is no way this can be 1150 square feet...

I just looked on my apartments website, and it says mine is 1153 sq ft. We have a 2 bedroom 2 full bath. Walk in closet in the office/bedroom. Large living room, our bedroom is huge, and our bathroom is really large as well with a large walk in closet on the other side of it. I just don't see how that measurement could be right at all.

It's really hard to get a good look at the place with the current photos. I would try shooting it at night with as many lamps as you can on. Even put extra lamps in the room (just not visible) to try to get more light in there. Currently you shot a lot of them with the shades drawn on a sunny day, so not only is it dark inside, but you're getting the super washed out area of the window in a lot of them.

Hopefully some better lighting would let your place shine (yeah i know, bad joke). It would help give a better look and also get rid of the noise in the photo that is very distracting and makes color inaccurate.

posted by jmorey on April 3rd 2009 at 3:28pm
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yeah, I agree and what's interesting is the inside light is correctly color balanced but the lighting outside is very blue, distracting and the pics do look dull and dreary.

I have a 600 Sq Ft 1 bedroom that feels much larger than this space but agree that you've done reasonably well w/ what you have and little to no money to buy furniture. I'd also say it's much too white for my taste for what art you have is low, on the floor and small and not much in the way of colors to bring life to a room.

Nice try though

posted by ciddyguy on April 3rd 2009 at 5:46pm
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I really like your fireplace (and the artwork above it). Your bedframe is also cute. For having no budget, I think you've done a great job. As you are able to add more I think this place will look really great.

Maybe you're stuck with that table in the kitchen, and I know you can't buy a new one right now. Maybe you could move some of the chairs out to the living room to give you more space in the kitchen. Would the table still fit if you turned it so the long side was against the wall? And maybe you could put the microwave on top of the fridge to free up some table space, since you don't have much counter space.

Thanks for sharing your home with us, and good luck!

posted by amazonikon on April 3rd 2009 at 5:49pm
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It kind of looks like your still moving in. It doesn't have any personality. What makes an apt. cool is when you look at the apartment you automatically can see the personality shining through.

posted by MilenaB. on April 3rd 2009 at 7:35pm
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Blah.

posted by Cyb on April 3rd 2009 at 10:16pm
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I have to agree with the other posters.

But, I really like the art on top of the fireplace, and the pillows on your bed look great!

posted by fineur on April 4th 2009 at 2:24am
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Hi Amie, just curious if you got the painting in the third pic from Hoi An, Vietnam? I have one just like it and got my photo taken with the artist. :-)
Lovely!

posted by topia7 on April 4th 2009 at 12:43pm
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I'd like to see it after you've lived in it longer and it's had more time to reflect your personality. I like how you positioned the surfboards and I love the arched doorways and fireplace, but the rest kind of looks too 'just moved in' still.

Have you thought about putting the microwave and basket on top of the fridge to give yourself more table room? The fridge looks small enough (like mine) where you'd still be able to reach the microwave fine.

posted by WickedElf on April 5th 2009 at 10:06am
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For some reason I like it -- it's the only contestant I gave a thumb up. There are more here than meet the eye, this peaceful yet dynamic ambience, the color of light... (My advice: get rid of the Ikea cushion 'cause it's too recognisable for your space.)

posted by tulpoeid on April 5th 2009 at 12:25pm
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If this is only 1150, the resident must be an idiot when it comes to design.

posted by ChrisGal on April 6th 2009 at 9:37pm
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