Seriously, though, where IS all your stuff?

Really really beautiful. What is that picture of an LCD display and a button supposed to show?

This is so beautiful, and I love tours of family houses, and better yet of people who have an actual kid and not just a baby!

Could you please please tell me where the child's table set is from?

After seeing that their proudest DIY was the kitchen - I would have hoped to see better pictures of it.

Love the coffee table, where is it from??

It's all good to have a clutter-free, simplified home, but it makes me so sad not to see their wall space used to its advantage with any kind of visual imagery at all. The house seems beautiful but bare and depressing because of it.

The renovation itself is lovely, but it's so spare and minimalistic to the point that I get no sense of the owners' personalities.

The white walls here just look bare and boring when there's no furnishings or decorations (however minimal) to perk the room up. A red or green chair here and there isn't up to the task. If an absolutely minimalistic lifestyle is what they are attempting to maintain, then the space would greatly benefit from colorful walls.

this is a great example of the home owner's personalities. they just don't clutter walls and surfaces with tchotchkes. i think this is very serene and cool. it would be really fun to hang out there! well done.

I love this home! I didn't find it devoid of personality at all, I feel like I got a sense of this couple's personality.

A great mixture of textures and pops of color.

I think art on the wall would look great too. They just moved in late last year. When it comes to art, I think it is better to wait until you find something you love or that has meaning to you, not just to buy something to fill up the space or strictly for decorating purposes.

Wanted to mention, my favorite parts are the flooring, the deck and the little one's play table.

where are the pictures of the house? really! I don't need to see pictures of the Tivoli radio, lap top computer, their child's play toys, kettle, stove clock, shoes, or their tiny house plants. I only see glimpses of their "fabulous" roof deck, and their kitchen & bath. What a dis·ap·point·ing post!

I am absolutely in love!

I found this home completely boring, devoid of any life. If you have to take a photo of a person's shoerack, in my opinion there isn't much to see. I agree with a previous poster that I could get no sense of individuality from this home--and "green" can be extremely warm and inviting---green does not have to equal deprivation.

yeah..that is pretty minimal! It feels very un-lived with little personality, unless of course that is their personality. No family pictures? No art? Not even an end table!

I have to clarify, as the author/photographer of this home, that this family moved into this home less than a year ago - as 2 busy working parents, they simply haven't had time to put much attention into art on the walls . . .With a 3 year-old and full-time jobs, I can understand. They also didn't want to buy so-so stuff they didn't love, so are taking their time to find the right items. AND their aesthetic is minimal, yes, but the light, oh the light in this home -- it's spectacular. As I said in the text of the tour, the light becomes a major design feature in the home.

KatieG1234 and Judithwq, I urge you to think a little more constructively before you leave your comment.

so much lovely light! My husband would love this minimal space, think I need a bit more 'stuff'!

Yeah, but why...would anyone want a detail shot of an Ikea oven?

This home is beautiful! I love the lack of clutter and extra stuff.....Why do they need to have end tables, or art on the walls? As a mother of a three year old I say you don't need them. I actually had to move the end tables out of my living room....That coffee table is a piece of art...That wood wall is gorgeous, why would you want to hang anything on that.

While I do agree that this post is lacking in photos, I don't find this home to be boring at all. In this case, less is definitely more and I really like it. While it certainly is not everyone's taste, I can appreciate the simplicity. With that being said, I would like to see a few colorful art pieces on the walls.. particularly above the couch and bed.

I would also like to know where the child's table set is from. Pretty please!

I'll take the adorable child! Nice place, too-- really dig the shower curtain.

Echoing what others have said: would love to know where the child's table set is from!

This could have been presented in a much better way. Photos of stark architectural features, windows flooded with light and gorgeous balcony views would have been much better received than detail shots of a dying succulent and a child's toys. Frankly, I don't much care to see someone's disorganized laundry room or their running shoes.

While my biggest problem is definitely with the photographer of the space and I am sure the owners love their home (as they should!), I know we have very different design aesthetics and would never see eye to eye on home design. For example, that singular shot of the wraparound balcony shows me this house is planted in the middle of an old-house neighborhood, overlooking homes built in the late Victorian era. I don't know what it looks like from the outside, but I'm guessing it doesn't fit well with its surroundings, an insult to the neighborhood in my opinion. I can't imagine how disgusted I would be to see someone on my own Victorian-lined street buy an old house, even a crummy one, and redesign it into a modern minimalist abode. The whole idea has me feeling disgusted.

Plus, what good are beautiful windows flooded with light when their curtainless frames look out at the ugly side of a privacy fence, clusters of cars and other peoples rooftops?

For all of your clamoring after the table and chair set--consider using a search engine. It was the first result on Google Images when I searched "childs play table chairs minimalist modern."

It's the Otto Bloom table set from 2modern.com. http://2modern.com/modern-baby/Tables_2/bloom-Otto

The emptiness is lovely and the home is indeed a wonder. Congratulations.

What's great about a streamline home like this is that you can work in antiques and simple pieces that flow with the decoration and still have a tie to the past. I'm a designer and I put art deco knobs and hardware from lookintheattic.com in a lot of modern homes that I'm working with.

is that a herman miller lcw or a reproduction? what finish is that and where did you get it?!

i love the different colored herman miller chairs in the kitchen. nice touch!

chelsealynla.blogspot.com

Can't really comment on the home as there weren't that many pictures of it! I'm not sure why there were all the close ups of random objects?? I would actually like to see the home and hope that one day there will be a real House Tour!

Wow, some of these comments are so acidic! I love the layout and open and airy feel of this home! Also love all the furniture and toys for the little one - we have a three year old and have some of those same kitchen toys. I like that this house tour really gives you a "sense" of the home as opposed to just showing it.

looks dead to me.

Wishing we could live so minimally. It looks so serene.

too little stuff for me but adorable kid

Not streamlined. BORING. SO BORING.

I really like the home - it is crisp and yet warm to my eye.

I agree with others that fewer photos of "things" and more of the house / deck would be good. I never really get the point of photos of the vignettes in many house tours - one perhaps but not several.

Regarding the "shoe" shot, when I viewed the tour, I assumed he was into special editions or retro nikes. There was many complaints about no personality, I think there were that gave some insight of the personality of its occupants, this was one. For many guys I know, their kicks are some of their most prized posessions.

I love this home..it is my style, clean and simple. I love the fact that it is a clutter-free house. That is the type of house that I feel comfortable and at piece. Who needs a bunch of furniture filled with stuff????

If you want to see the exterior and rooftop deck, there are some photos on the architect's website.

http://www.benwaechter.com/#/Projects/Cape%20Cod/1

When we are finally able to buy, we would love to go the 203k loan route. Any tips on how to find a budget-friendly, green architect/builder in our area?

please get some art

The shots of the actual house and yes, its light, are lovely. But there were so few of them. I really don't understand "tours of houses" that are half made up of little vignette shots.

While the extreme minimalism is not my style, I appreciate that it is theirs. It seems to have been done well from what little I saw.

Kind of a shame to bother with making this tour post. It should have waited until they felt like showing more of the house itself.

Where is the personality?

This place looks like it is easy to keep clean. That's important in a house. Cute family

oh. my. goodness. "if you can't say something nice (or at least something thoughtfully and kindly constructive) please don't say anything at all".

i clicked on this post specifically because i also live in portland and am always drawn to this style of home although, granted, it is not particularly my own style. anyone who doesn't think this house and/or tour doesn't show any personality either doesn't know portland-ites. or doesn't have the same personality. or can't recognize an alternate personality from their own. i see quite a bit of personality in this home! the shoes? portland is the home of nike after all... is it possible that he works at nike? designed those shoes? just plain loves them? who knows? give him a break.

it is a very small home (on purpose) and was photographed without a wide-angle lens (maybe on purpose? maybe not?). without a wide-angle lens in such a tiny home, it would be impossible to get much more than small peeks and vignettes. so, ideally, for a better view, as a photographer, i would have used a different lens. but is that really a reason to tear this tour apart?

as for color, i've said it before and i'll say it again. color does not *always* equate to joy. i myself find the most joy in what other people might consider non-colors. to me, light for sure equates to joy and it is obvious that this space is blessed with a fantastic amount of light. i wouldn't necessarily squash that with window treatments if i didn't need to or want to, either.

if this busy family is interested in a family photo session to grace their beautiful walls with some big beautiful wrapped canvas photos of that doll of a girl, i would love to be the one to do it! kdimoffphotography.blogspot.com

as for the rest of you, chiiilllllll :)

thank you katid, aptly put. as i understand this blog, and the people on it, it offers a peek into how we are IN and INTERACT with our homes. i don't believe anyone posted on this site is asking anything of us the VOYEURS, they are simply & GRACIOUSLY allowing us an opportunity to see their space. it is an intimate glimpse and, like it or not, we are privileged to see it.

the home owners appear to be mindful people (vs. wholesale consumers like many of us) and are taking their time to CURATE their new home. i don't always understand why particular photos are taken but i, at the very least, appreciate the photographic quality of them. and they tell the STORY. thank you apartment therapy and leela for this SWEET post. (and thank you to lola & eric and anyone who has ever allowed us, the ANONYMOUS general public, into their home at the risk of being skewered like this)

...there is something we can all learn about living so intentionally. that house is cleverly & beautifully designed, well crafted and greener than any massive LEED platinum building just by its reuse, size and the marked lack of 'stuff' (nudge, nudge george carlin!). with that small footprint and mindfulness about 'having', we americans would all be better off- whatever our personal aesthetic.

i bet their electricity bills are low with that flood of natural light bouncing around on those white walls! the scandinavians know something about white walls and light in northern climates. energy efficient, natural and bright... funny that white is so hard for us to accept here!!

I agree art is needed. Especially in the daughter's room. It looks so empty and sad.

Wow. There's spare and minimalistic, then there's bare, empty, barren, and calling it all stylish and by-design. It looks like you moved in two days ago and have a garage crammed to the rafters with the contents of your moving truck.

(What's with the tone police? People said "wow, looks like you need some art or something on your walls," and it's suggested, in a rather bullying, authoritarian tone, that they need to consider their comments more carefully [subtext: or maybe you sleep with the fishes!]? Good Lord. People are none too kind to the owners of dwellings they find cluttery, but those claiming a minimalist aesthetic are off-limits and must be treated with crazy kid gloves?)

Bright and fresh! Love the way the sun pours in from everywhere - lots of vitamin D for y'all! Thanks for sharing your lovely home!

katid, 1250 sqft is by no means a small home. It may not be a McMansion (and thank goodness for that), but there's no reason to show us close-ups of the stove(? washing mashine?) clock.

Like I said in my first comment--the style of the house or decor is not the issue for me.

@asciident - precisely!

The owners say in the article that the kitchen is their favorite element AND their proudest DIY.

So what makes it great? I really would like to see something more than the shot of their tea kettle on the induction range or the control panel of the stove. Neither of those things tell me much about why this kitchen is a proud DIY.

Minimalism doesn't happen to be my style but like others here, the style of the house or decor isn't the issue for me.

stark.empty.sad....clean.neat. and i don't care about the shoes.
not my style...but not mine to hate.
YES...some art or family pix on the wall will give it some warmth and lived in feel...if they want it.

It's so great to have built a space where the little one can play ball indoors. It's so important in a rainy city. In a regular house parents would worry the kid could break stuff, that's not an issue here.

All those bare white walls leave me feeling cold. Im sure they will fill in a lot more stuff as time goes by.

You have GOT to be kidding me! This is about the most depressing place I've seen- even hospitals have art in them. Where is art? Plants? Color? Life?
I guess whatever suits them is fine, but I can't believe this is meant to be an example of good or interesting home design. It SO dull and boring!

Wouldn't plants inside be in keeping with a "green" space? Plants would make it feel more alive. I also can't imagine living without some sort of art on the walls. One nice painting wouldn't be clutter! Put up some of the kid's paintings! I think children need art in their lives.

I grew up with absolutely no art on my walls and turned out just fine. In fact, I grew up to be quite a creative person, I write, adore design and modern art.

Seriously, why is everyone so offended that there isn't a bunch of crap out for us to see? Many of the shots clearly showed the various built in storage where their belongins are likely stored, which should be admired, not admonished. A constructive criticism that a big colorful piece of art on whatever wall would add to the home is fine but a directive in a sanctimonius tone to put art up is not.

Love this! So refreshing for this site.

Reminds me of an art gallery space. The modern "white cube" experience, where each individual piece is lent weight by having it's own space, and popping off the white walls.

It's beautiful. They just need to purchase some of my art for their place. And tell me about that coffee table! So well crafted. That is all.

I'm so happy to see this home tour again. I recognized it immediately from last year and enjoyed another look at their home. Viewing the photos of the uncluttered rooms helped me breathe more easily as I have a tad bit too much stuff around me. I'd trade their home for mine in a second!

I also loved the view of the closet...and the shoes.

We're beyond loving this home and it's simple, modern, charm! Great post, family and photographs!

xo,
LOCZI

I think that the house itself is nice, but it doesn't feel like a home. I love the light, and I appreciate that fact that the homeowners are minimalist: lots of white, clean lines, no clutter. But this place looks bare and a little. The furniture is lovely, and I don't think they need to paint the walls. I don't like to have a lot of *stuff*either, and i try to keep my possessions to a minimum, so I admire them for either not owning a lot of stuff, or for having some serious storage. But sometimes it's nice to have around a nice picture frame, a book, a vase, anything that reminds us of a happy time (a gift from someone special, a travel souvenir), something that tells a bit about yourself. I understand that they are busy and probably are not done furnishing and decorating their home, but in the meantime, please get some plants or flowers, or maybe some fruit on your counter!

Of course this family was not popular only in AT community. For better (I mean with a wide angle lens) pictures and the footprint of the house do a search in Dwell's website.
The comments are nicer too:)