Love it.

amazing.
like what you did to the Malm.
love the grass planters

oh, hells yeah. i'm all about it. the bed, i recall, fondly. this is fun stuff.

hey, i used to live there. i was in b303 so i had the same floorplan & i see that youve done nearly the same arrangements. i still miss that apartment sometimes, enjoy!

Awesome loft!

I see they left that nasty tar type stuff on the columns though, like mine. http://www.flickr.com/photos/art_chel/2309517396/in/set-72157604038576650/

What kind of ceiling lighting did you use in the entryway by the pictures? It looks very neat from what I can see.

Beautiful loft, but 825sf is not small. I think they need to revise the size limit next year.

Cool space, but it's easy to look like that when you have an 825 sf loft all to yourself.

Where have I seen that bed before? Was it Ikea Hack?

Undeniably cool, but so not my style.

I liked it a lot! The pictures gave a nice open effect in the living room and that smiling face on the wall is lots of fun. Simple, worked well.

Wow ... you have this kind of place at 25??? Jeez, I started out in the wrong field, apparently.

Love it. How did you do the large photo/poster behind the TV?

hi there, what are the floors made of? are they concrete with polyurethane?

ridge_van winkle...it's Atlanta, so it's probably pretty affordable, which is a good thing! So don't feel bad :)

Kudos to this entry. It's cool (no doubt), but not many storage or space challenges here. However, I love the IKEA Malm hack.

Nice. I like your juncus effusus grass plants. I've been looking for those for my own place.

i like it for design purposes... it just doesn't look very liveable

i must say this contest making me realize why i'll never buy iconic pieces, so lifeless

not all negative- i think your space is beautiful, just more a showroom

I agree with Li, 825 sf seems pretty spacious for 1 person.

You are 25, I am 25.
Your apartment is both smaller and cooler than mine.

What's with all the snarky comments about any space that's over 800 sf being HUGE?! Not EVERYBODY who reads AT lives in NYC where the definition of "small" is much different than most of the rest of the country. For MOST people anything less than 850 sf IS small. So get over yourselves and stop complaining about some of the postings being too "large".

it's cool...but a little too industrial for me. i prefer a cozy space.

I absolutely love this! It has a lot of character for being so minimal and I love the exposed brick, piping and giant columns. Super cool!

I love the urban look of this space!

Daily Nuance--When determining 1) how someone uses a space, 2) how one overcomes storage issues, 3) how one uses decorating (etc) to make a place beautiful and pleasant--by any criteria you want, there is no comparison that can be meaningfully made between someone living in 300 sq feet and someone living in 800.

Upping the square footage, while being nice and inclusive and all, has diluted the entire contest--both in judging criteria and in entries, just because there isn't that much of a challenge to pull together a great space when you have 800 sq. feet.

That said, I love the architecture of this space. I'm over the moon about it. The decorating--not so much-- though there are great touches here and there like the wheat grass.

Daily Nuance - I think the comments on square footage are due to the fact that last year the contest had a minimum of 650 sq ft, and this year it has been raised.

I love the bones and some of the design elements are really clever and cool, but predictable for the space. I would love to see what someone could do with this apartment and a ban on bamboo, black leather, and chrome.

yeah, the comments about square footage have to stop. outside of NYC, anything over 600 sq ft is completely normal. and now that there are branches of AT in Chicago, SF, LA and soon to be DC, you've all just got to get over it? ok? great.

moving along, this place is terrific. it's industrial without being cold. and of course, you're working with a great foundation.

Absolutely love the bed!

I normally love the industrial thing, exposed ducts, concrete floors. But this entry just isn't doing it for me.

Very cool but if I lived there I would have a few more textiles on the windows and floors. Other than that it is cool!

Alana: I totally agree the challenges, and solutions, for somebody living in a 300 sf space are a bit different than those for somebody living in an 850 sf space. However, 850 sf is generally still quite small. Maybe to better satisfy everybody, it would help if there were two different categories, small and super small, and awards for each.

Obviously my suggestion of 2 different categories this year is out, but maybe in future years.

Great loft, and some cool pieces (such as the bed) but something seems to be lacking.

I love the juxtaposition of huge industrial scene with the grasses. The image on that wall makes the wall seem to have a great deal of depth (not all of them do) and the earthy tones of the rusted metal in the image go wonderfully with the aged brick. So that gives me the feeling of being in an industrial zone.

But wait...I didn't pick up right away that the grasses were in planters, so that I thought you were in the country somewhere, with grasses outside your window. In another shot, I see they are in planters, and there aren't huge amounts of them, but they are JUST the RIGHT touch, and would be GREAT ideas for anyone looking for plants in their own homes.

The planters are narrow, so even the smallest apartment in this contest (or home viewers) could probably fit ONE planter in their home for that greenery. Is it an easy-care plant? Of course, I want some!

Columns! Love them. And it's not like you can move them or rearrange them. Some people wouldn't like them or not know what to do with that area. I suppose there are several option for that area, like a cafe table and chairs or a game table for chess. And you made it into a museum space. It looks like a museum there. Very good job.

Columns reminded me of the great Egyptian ones, like here:
http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/columns.htm

So that is another idea that came from your space. Could you tell use the source of your hanging Annie Leibovitz items?

The whole space is peaceful and calm. And yet it combines many different elements. From museum to rustic. Industrial to modern.

I think it's funny that you said that everybody has to start somewhere. Most folks would like to END with a space that is neat, pulled together, well-organized. That's why people keep coming back to do The Cure. They want more of what you already have.

Ah, and the leaning chalkboard. I thought at first it was yet another leaning mirror. Nope. Nice touch!

I like all the stuff you've done with graphics/photos (nice NORTH BY NORTHWEST airplane sequence).

Agreed that 850 sf outside of most urban areas is an average or normal sized apartment. US government energy usage stats concur: http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/recs/sqft-measure.html. (as of 2001)

But this is not the 'coolest average-sized apartment' contest is it? Small range should, by definition, exclude the average range. And because smaller spaces impose different challenges and limitations, I think commenters are objecting to the larger entries this year that haven't offered a lot of interesting solutions for readers who do live in small spaces. They could, but in general they haven't.

I like this entry a lot. I like the exposed industrial surfaces in contrast with the glossy floor. I like the rust-belt photo mural that visually expands the room beyond the wall. I like the restrained ornamentation and discreet furnishings. All of those ideas can be applied to smaller spaces, so I voted cool. But nothing about this place looks challenged or limited by the size of the space IMO.

Oh yeah-yer the bed guy. Great place. Love those PILLARS!

Glad to see your unit survived the tornado! I'm a half a mile from you and was luckily just out of the path. Love your place!

Is that a chalk board wall? Very cool!

Thank you everyone, for the support and comments.

Yes that bed was featured on Ikea Hacker, Blue Ant Studio, and most recently here on AT.

Glad to see some fellow FCM residence past and present. Speaking of, vicgoreia I think you left a pot when you moved out. Jk, but really I am in B-303. Call Sandy and ask..lol

For those worried about size. It's really only 799 gross sq ft (It was really late when I submitted this).

@mdeathstar its a "digital print" on wallpaper material hung with water based paste.

@ cmngrrrl: Yup, concrete with a black sealant and near impossible to keep clean, but I love them.

@ Yokie: Thanks, I found the Horsetail Reeds at a pond shop. I think I called 7-9 places before finding them.

@ JenJen: No hard feelings at all. My friend Marley is OBSESSED with shabby chic and it makes me nearly hyperventilate just walking in her place. I want to bring over an industrial steamer and press everything in sight. So, coming from the other side I know what you mean.

@ TRUE BLUE: Your critique truly made my week.

@ art: Awesome bathroom remodel. The lights are from Ikea, held with industrial strength velcro. The wires were secured with a rubber based glue, so when I leave I can just peel it off. Being in the complex (hope your place is ok) feel free to ping me and come over if you want a closer look.

Great urban style.

But as for the square footage debate: There's a big difference between this entry -- a single person in 800 square feet -- and the earlier family apartment that squeezed in two adults, two kids and a dog in the same space. It's unfortunate that even with the larger square footage allowance, almost all the entries are from single people or couples without kids.

Maybe next time Small Cool could be about the number of square feet per person.

Lisa Hunter:

Just a few comments on your comments. I know that James' place is pretty big. But guess what, in this case, we could easily ditch the bedroom and the entire hall and put in dining/desk combo where the desk is now...AND put in sleeping where the chair behind the sofa is now:
http://gallery.apartmenttherapy.com/photo/042508james/4main%20space

Which by my estimate would be about 292.5 sq ft according to the floor plan:
http://gallery.apartmenttherapy.com/photo/042508james/6Floorplan

(19.5' x 15' = 292.5 sq ft)

That would make for an apartment of 506.5 sq ft.

So, that would have the front door open right next to the little hall to the bathroom, and I'm losing the columns in that measurement too.

Now, without the bed, the bedroom, the columns, the museum entrance, is it still "cool"?

YEAH!!

The wall image does something that paint will never do, and it really expands that space.

The grasses, I love those.

The contrasts in textures and colors and forms, rough and smooth, shiny and matte, it's a visual treat without neon colors or neon lighting. Nothing in that space pokes me in the eye, but it definitely PLEASES the eye.

And it's adapting something to a new purpose. He, or the owners of the building, did not try to make it appear like some cookie cutter box. All those elements are exposed, from what was there before. Like columns.

So that is a lot of what grabbed me about this entry. It COULD be a small apartment without the bedroom and entryway, and it DOES provide some great ideas for ANY size apartment.

there are some elements that i really like... but i think barcelona seating works in certain kinds of spaces and i'm not really feeling it here. (but you are obviously feeling it a bunch)

however, when i was 25 i was sitting in second hand ikea not mies van der rohe, so what do i know?

Looks like a BB Italia showroom.

Very kool apartment. Not my style, but still very kool.

The posters, the graphics on the bed frame, and the graphic wallpaper all gave the unfinished loft a great arty kick. I like how your place looks like you LIVE there. Its not my style but I gave you a cool.

Imagine my surprise when I log on to this site tonight and click a link for this contest (which I actually wish I could qualify for) and one of the first names on the list for this contest was "James' Cotton Mill in Atlanta". This sounded WAY too familiar and like something I have heard about way too often.

Check it out, cool, good for Jamesy. Scroll down to see what other people think compared to me, knowing I would be a minority probably from what I know about the users of the site... MY NAME! Which brings me out of my lurkdom here..I now have a much more vested interest.

To defend myself though, and if James would spend even the smallest amount more of time in my place, he would know everything is not wrinkled, and shabby chic does not equate to wrinkled. I also already own a steamer, so he wouldn't need to bring his own ;) . Also to my defense his bedding looks like it needs a lot more attention in the ironing/steaming department.

I, like jenjen, do not think this place is very liveable. I am shocked there was someone that said it looked like someone did live there, because to me it looks the same as the day he moved in :). I also agree that this is actually isn't a very small sized place, and there is a lot more he could do with the space than he is. He fell under the criteria though, so what can you do? I think I should get an exemption.

When I spend time at his apartment, I am VERY uncomfortable sitting on his stiff furniture. Don't even get me started on the "wall art", also I have never in my life understood how people sleep in beds that are so close to the ground, especially after trying his out a few times ;)

As far as living goes, I am not loving his place. I will however give him at least a 'cool' since it is how he likes to live and he did a good job at accomplishing that.

yours truly,
Marley

i like YOUR choices, but the ceiling seems kind of low for a loft for me. not sure if this is the photos or another developer pinching the wrong pennies.

Oh Marbars what am I going to do with you?!

@ healthyhome: The complex is a circa 1800's cotton mill, so ceilings very between 8ft (mine) to 20ft. I do agree the height is a little low, but the location provides some of the best views of the stacks and pool so it was a trade off I was willing to accept.

amazingly industrial!!

"also I have never in my life understood how people sleep in beds that are so close to the ground"

Once you're lying down what difference does it make how close to the floor you are?

Awesome columns!!!

JenJen - if you think something like the Barcelona chair is lifeless you clearly have no idea what made it iconic to begin with.

I voted super cool. I think a lot of people would have shirked from the challenge of such a blatantly industrial space and James has gone in the entirely opposite direction - pushing the industrial further with the international style furniture and the graphics. I would probably go bat-shit living in this space - but only because I'm in love with organic materials ( i heart wood)

I love James' reasons for small living, especially since he says it without referring to "editing' 'paring' or 'evaluate'. Not that there's anything wrong with those words - but almost every entrant has used them.

James, how did your place hold up in the tornado? I was shocked that there was no mention of the storm, or any damage. One of the seriously damaged units there belongs to a good friend of a friend of mine. They were devasted, but glad that it was a rental, not their own home.

It's nice to see both a close neighbor, (I live in Kirkwood), and a fellow ATL entry.

@ Anthy: Sorry to hear about that. Thankfully here in B building only thing damaged was the entrance to the roof deck.

Which building are/were they in?

Thanks goodness!

I'm going to ask and then I will let you know. He said it sounded like a 767, hitting the building.

This is normally not my style, but I would live in this place in a nanosecond! I LOVE it!

James, I checked - they said it was the building that had the substantial roof damage. They were on the 4th floor, and the worst of it was the 5th, apparently.

This looks like Ethan Hawke's place from Cuaron's "Wuthering Heights."

Er, "Great Expectations."