I would have liked to have seen the bedroom, and/or what seems to be a workspace in the loft, rather than your view at night.

Great colors, and I love the beams in the loft.

The staircase and view are both awesome!
In Toronto, where I'm from, that staircase would be too steep to pass code even with the railing. That said, if you put it in and not the builder, then I guess it's a non-issue.

Wow this has to take the cake of shots-that-make-voting-accurately-astronomically-difficult. Your kitchen shot and living room shot are great, but a picture of your floor? And your view?

Anyway, I would not mind seeing more of your place do you get a 'cool' from me.

I thought we might have a contender here...only to be annoyed yet again by poor picture choices.

there should be a bit more rules in this contest. like not showing a picture of a sunset/sunrise?. and instead of focusing up close on certain parts, just show the whole room.

i second that, trixie. from what i can actually see, it looks cool, but the sunrise? the floor? we couldve gotten some really neat (titular) loft shots, or the bedroom.

I really liked what I saw but I can't vote super cool with a picture of the floor and sunrise! How does that show us your apartment at all??

i agree, I'd like more shots of rooms as a whole. but i still voted it "cool" because i love the use of color to delineate different spaces. i am inspired and took a couple of mental notes for my condo. anyways, i could accept a picture of the view if you had really large windows and the view was a large part of your interior "landscape." but I don't see any pictures of any windows...

Nice pics..but it would have been nice to see the loft area up close. Could have done without the picture of the floor and the view...and have more pics of the space. I voted cool because I liked what I saw.

I LOVE the round ceiling pendants, do you know where they're from?

Something about this place isn't gel-ing. It's like you have a couple of nice things sprinkled throughout, but the overall effect gets watered down b/c of the clutter and so-so elements like the cabinets. And I agree that the floor and sunset shots were totally pointless.

OK, here goes. That view from the rooftop was a TOTAL waste. Unless you're adding all of Chicago to your sq. footage, which would put you over the size limit by just a bit. This one seems rough around the edges to me. It needs some re-organizing and some de-cluttering. And the photo of the floor [rolling eyes]. Another lost opportunity.

one better wear slip resistant shoes on that staircase.

What A Cool Space!!

hey, if people want to waste shots on vignettes and views, let 'em. it just puts them out of the running for the finals because - surprise! - i can't judge your space based on what just your floor and dresser leg look like, or the sunset that i can see here every day myself.

Yeah...I liked what I saw, but....the pictures? Geez.

ok-maybe it's just me...but bi-fold doors don't belong anywhere in a room that's entered in a contest having anything to do with "cool"...

I think this might be a case of "you have a great apartment". I think I would have been equally wow-ed if I saw the place completely empty.

Sorry to disappoint guys... we would've loved to submit more photos, but we were about to miss the deadline (for shame) and sent what we had. Trust me when I say... we have more to offer now... Thanks for all the comments though. We are just happy to participate.

Babbling - the pendant lights are Nelson Bubble Lamps from Modernica. We scored when they were closing their Chicago showroom.

Mr. Dangerous - the Bunny Cookie Jar is by Japanese artist Momoyo Torimitsu and found at Willow (in Ukrainian Village). My personal fave.

DesignGod - agreed... it really isn't a design element, but it is the view from our balcony and we think it's pretty and adds to the pleasantness of our space.

Do you have permanant scars on your shins from the stairs? :-)

They do look nice.

We have a winner!

Hello everyone - it's Brian and this is my place. I have to chime and add to what my girlfriend (plain-girl) said-

Not to make excuses, but I was out of town for three weeks (for work) and on top of that, my nice digital SLR was stolen - hence the issues with taking better pics. I had to use my el cheapo 10 year old 1. something mega pixel instead. As a big fan of AT, I'm quite upset with how the shots turned out, and that I didn't have more time. My apologies.

Regarding the loft/stairs - is was designed and built by David Green at Iron & Wire in Chicago. He's amazing and I highly recommend him for anything you need done w/ metal. I wasn't sure about the stairs when I saw them on paper, but turned out absolutely perfect in pitch, spacing, width , etc (no haven't hit my shins once). The hand railing was inspired by a mid-century building we saw on an tour of Palm Springs. We didn't change cabinets, etc as the budget wasn't there and they're perfectly fine maple (at least they're not oak). By adding the Icestone counter and stainless hardware, the kitchen came to life (for us at least). The Bi-fold doors are not our favorite, but did take the ones out of the bedroom and put up Marimeko fabric on a rod make of electrical conduit. Yes, I know - I should have put up a picture!

If anyone knows how pictures can be changed, I would be glad to update them. I'm planning on buying another camera tomorrow morning... Anyone?

Brian

There is no way you can miss the bathroom picture.
Not the staring-the-floor picture.
I love the stairs. I love the credenza and the way you displayed the Catherine Holm bowl *droll* with other things.

Its Brian again -

I forgot to mention, check out the blue ball bearing at the top of the stairs. This so they can swing around at any angle you want for future redecorating of such a small space. The base is made out of 8 bamboo layers and is felted on the bottom for ease of moving.

Those stairs are pretty cool, and it makes me want to see more. At least they showed their kitchen!

What are those shelves in your living room? They look like just what I want for mine.

Should have waited until next time around when the stars aligned and you could have put your best images into the contest. (Not worth breaking up with the girl friend over this.)

Jenninfer in sf - the shelves are elfa shelving from Container Store. They're the best bang for the buck by far. We used silver w/ walnut shelves. If you can, wait for their big annual elfa sale. I believe it's 30% off!

I really like the kitchen, but the living room seems *so* cramped. The lounge looks like it's 2 feet away from the fireplace. I used to live in a 350 square foot studio that felt much more spacious than this place.
What's in the loft, by the way? I notice there's a desk next to the fireplace, so I'm guessing not an office space? It would be cool if it was a larger living room space. I think I'd prefer if that was the sleeping area and it was open underneath. It's too bad that the fireplace sticks out into the room, and that the bedroom takes up so much space at the expense of the living room.

Cool Staircase. I wish I could move in tomorrow.

I love the lounge and the rocker next to each other instead of a couch. And I love the stairs, altho navigating them tipsy might be a bit treacherous. I like that you went the non-standard route of the Eames chairs without the eiffel base - which would have made the kitchen seem really busy.

What I like most, tho, is that you focused on really good key pieces and made them work together in the small space, rather than a huge space filled with lots of crap. Thats the essence of this contest and i think this could be a contender!

The floor?

the elfa shelves work here. love the kitchen dining table. do u have a sofa?

Brian here again -

The floor is marmoleum.

Modfan - thanks for the kind words. So few understand how a couch just isn't always the answer.

Thanks!

the kitchen rules!

I don't get the loft. What's up there? I feel like I'm missing something....

What a great staircase!