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Small Cool 2009: Emily's Courtyard Musical
Little Division #14

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Who Lives Here: Me, my husband and our 3 year old son.
Location: Pasadena, California
Size: 800 square feet

What is your one favorite element in your small, cool home? I think the large sliding doors that open to the courtyard- makes it feel like a real community. There are a lot of musicians and fun people in the complex, so it sounds like something out of a musical or Rear Window, minus the murderous salesman...

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What was one of the biggest challenges you faced in furnishing your small home? We both work from home- My husband is an architect and I have a design business. So we have a built-in that divides what is now his office (formerly the dining nook) from the dining area (formerly part of a now-smaller living room) and I have a nice corner of our bedroom...Oh, and we have a toddler, so, yeah....there are challenges there. But for us, good design and using our hands made it all work in the end...


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Comments (39)

lovely and inspiring. But, oddly (as I think the intent is probably reversed)-- I found her deck refreshing and organized, and his area cluttered and overwhelming.

posted by k1ate on April 8th 2009 at 1:14pm
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love it. what is the color on your dining/living rm. walls? i'm looking for something like that for the cure. (picking neutral colors is not as easy as it seems.)

posted by k8theriver on April 8th 2009 at 1:16pm
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Beautiful watercolor floor plan! Very nice edited space.

posted by azure on April 8th 2009 at 1:17pm
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love the sofa and coffee table! do you mind me asking what brand/make they are? would be interested to see the remaining rooms of the house.

posted by mcmugg on April 8th 2009 at 1:24pm
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is the sofa from macy's? (i've been checking out their goods lately) :)

posted by AllisoninDC on April 8th 2009 at 1:29pm
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for the people asking: i have that same sofa. it's the corona sofa from macy's. and a great deal. but dealing with macy's is a nightmare!

posted by eightdouble on April 8th 2009 at 1:39pm
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where did you buy your rug? i love the colors...

posted by jidja on April 8th 2009 at 1:40pm
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eightdouble, how so? I was thinking about getting the chloe loveseat. i love some of the macy's loveseats and apartment sofas and the prices seem pretty great.

posted by AllisoninDC on April 8th 2009 at 1:47pm
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Lovely...I wish I could see more! Where did you get the narrow bookshelf in the nursery from?

posted by jenniejenjen on April 8th 2009 at 2:00pm
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allison. we were promised the sofa in about three weeks and it took about three months. we were refunded our delivery fee because of the long wait. they said it would come off automatically, but it still took about a half dozen phone calls to have it refunded. maybe others have had a better experience, but i found the macy's (formerly marshall fields) on state street in chicago to be one of the most unorganized and exasperating places i have ever bought a piece of furniture. that said... it is a nice couch and for 700 bucks it's pretty unbeatable.

posted by eightdouble on April 8th 2009 at 2:02pm
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Wow the rug really makes the living room - it's fantastic! In fact I love this whole place, one of my favorites from Apartment Therapy in a long while. It feels like a normal, natural home and yet really stylish and thought out. Big thumbs up!

posted by littleinkpot on April 8th 2009 at 2:18pm
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I have the Corona sofa from Macy's also. I didn't have any problems in terms of delivery or customer service. It's hard to beat for the price. It's comfortable and gets a lot of compliments.

Love your coffee table. I need something with subtle storage like that.

posted by coconuts on April 8th 2009 at 2:39pm
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Very neat and tidy with a 3 year old around.

posted by dkzody on April 8th 2009 at 2:46pm
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I like the first 3 photos and the floorplan. The fourth and fifth photos look cluttered.

posted by FilthyMcNasty on April 8th 2009 at 3:10pm
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Considering it's home and office, very efficient!

posted by whytephoenix on April 8th 2009 at 3:22pm
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Very pretty!

posted by Where You Hang Your Hat on April 8th 2009 at 3:35pm
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Wow- I really love the vibe of your home and kudos to you both living and working out the same tiny space. If you don't mind me asking does your husband have a bionic/ prosthetic arm? I noticed it in the third photo and it looked very cool.

posted by manni on April 8th 2009 at 3:48pm
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another satisfied Corona couch owner - had no problems, and it's a great couch for a decent price

posted by KateMick on April 8th 2009 at 3:49pm
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Come on now, enough about the couch! This is a very thoughtful space; completely essential, in that there appears to be nothing extraneously-only what is needed. I love the punchy Eames' chairs-I hear orange is the new black.

posted by kdinsd on April 8th 2009 at 4:14pm
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@littleinkpot, you totally made me think of The Big Lebowski, but yes, that rug really ties the room together.

Pasadena represent!

posted by graefix on April 8th 2009 at 4:25pm
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Hi all!

Thanks for the nice comments.
Yes, the sofa is Macys and yes it took 3 months, but they told us it would take that long, so we were okay with that.....
k8theriver- our walls are painted in Transvaal Beige (actually a nice warm grey) and we love it.
jidja- the rug, well we were looking for a really long time and finally found this one on Overstock.com, of all places....who knew?
jennie jen jen- my husband built the bookshelf in the nursery (along with the changing table)....

Thanks again, everyone!
Emily

posted by industrious lily on April 8th 2009 at 4:29pm
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i like how the apartment has so many diverse zones and thoughtful pieces in each one. i also enjoy the simplicity of the dining room set and 'chandelier' . tastefully done. that carbon fiber arm is pretty interesting itself!

posted by 8arch on April 8th 2009 at 6:20pm
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Big points for your awesome floor plan drawing.
(note to other entrants: show furniture and do your plan to scale!)

Both my husband and I also work from home (only 600 q ft) so I can appreciate the efficient layout you have achieved.

Cozy and calming. Well done.

posted by jac7890 on April 8th 2009 at 8:37pm
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Emily - I would love to find a coffee table like that. Please tell us where you got it?

posted by franky on April 9th 2009 at 8:35am
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Transvaal Beige. what brand of paint?
thanks.

posted by k8theriver on April 9th 2009 at 10:05am
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I find this combination of color, decor, and attention to detail quite endearing.

posted by dxrx on April 9th 2009 at 10:52am
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Hi again- thanks for the support!

k8theriver- it was from OSH's paint dept. Their own color... that was 4 years ago, so not sure if they still carry it...

franky- we found our living room table at a thrift store in Venice about 7 years ago...We finally had it refinished by the guys over at Silica Three (they have an awesome selection of mid-century furniture- great quality, maybe not thrift store prices, but worth it.) Ask for David...

Oh, and yes, my husband lost his left hand to cancer 2 years ago and now has an awesome bionic hand and carbon fiber arm instead- the things architects do for attention!

Thanks again!
Emily

posted by manni on April 9th 2009 at 11:08am
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Beautiful home for two creative people. I love the brown dinosaur in your son's room...

posted by cgomezeng on April 9th 2009 at 12:45pm
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I haven't seen anything so well organized in such a small space in my lifetime. How can two people work here and have a 3 year old? Must be a great design... you have my vote for sure!

posted by wombatboy on April 9th 2009 at 1:00pm
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its funky, its cool, its clean, its creative. awesome!

posted by etarch on April 9th 2009 at 2:00pm
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By looking at the floor plan, it really shows how well you made this smaller space feel/look so much bigger by careful design. Nice molding detail.

posted by baileyb on April 9th 2009 at 8:15pm
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absolutely fab!!! can we hire you??? love the mixture of mid century and modern! aww, and then the kid's room... absolutely cute!!!

posted by LLL99 on April 10th 2009 at 1:32am
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Beautiful house.......very organized and creative!!! i didn't know house with kid can be this organized... !!!

posted by NikoSii on April 10th 2009 at 8:00pm
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You have curated such a great collection of colorful and eclectic pieces, and they come together perfectly in your small space! Great job!

posted by oranginia on April 10th 2009 at 8:25pm
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beautiful apartment!

posted by divyakr on April 12th 2009 at 5:32pm
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Fresh, creative and beautiful; very Californian. Congratulations.

posted by Farhad on April 22nd 2009 at 12:33pm
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beautiful apt!!

posted by divyakr on April 22nd 2009 at 4:51pm
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I have been eyeing that exact rug for months on Overstock.com but was afraid to buy it because a lot of the customer reviews said the colors weren't as rich as they appeared on the website--apparently most people got rugs with an abundance of mauve and lavender tones. But yours looks fantastic, just what I'd want! I wonder if it's a dye-lot issue. May I ask how long ago you bought it? If you bought it recently, I'm going for it!

posted by shan on April 22nd 2009 at 7:35pm
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I love this! Everything about it is well organized and light and airy and...

posted by wednesdayaddams on May 2nd 2009 at 12:41pm
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