apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Looking at your bed really makes me wish i was home asleep and not at work. Very very nice.

To misquote Yeats, that is no bedrom for old men. I would imagine it might be a tough bed to get out of once you start getting creaky. This is easily the best room.

I would submit my bedroom, but I don't really have one. I lofted the bed to make more space to entertain.

I love the illuminated cabinets. I love the intimate scale. I would love to see the room with natural light. I bet the golden paint looks especially beautiful in the afternoon.

What is the rectangular padded item near the desk? A quilt? A dog bed?

One of my pet peeves, however, are framed items leaning against the wall it marks up the paint and just looks... well, lazy. Get a nail already.

That, and random sticks-in-vases. (It just screams "Oooh, look at my design-conscious vertical element!")

Okay, and those new-fangled sink bowls that sit on top of the counter make me peevish. It seems a waste of space and creates crevices underneath that catch dust and soapy water droplets.

well the lighting is great... and the variety of vertical and horizontal lighting is pretty powerful.

I remember seeing this apartment in the Times. You guys are to be congratulated on your intelligent retrofit of the under-the-floor storage.

The colors are great, and the plants don't look lonely.

My one Teensy little thing is the low bed... I dunno if I'd like to have to get up off the floor level every time I was getting out of the bed, but I realize that was probably an unavoidable element. Or you just embraced it.

Thanks.

I like paintings leaning against walls.

Just reread my soapbox post, and was thinking more about pet design peeves.

Maxwell, what are yours? Is it worthy of a new thread?

Hey, why isn't there an option between "super beautiful" and "not my style"? I really like the look of it, very comfortable, but I do also have concerns about the very low bed/raised floor issue. Having begun to feel the vagaries of aging joints and back I have to say its not for everyone. Also with the cushioned storage do you always have to take your shoes off before walking around in there?

Are you afraid to commit to hanging the pictures on the wall or is that a design decision? Sometimes I like the leaning pictures and sometimes not.

I've slept in this room. From first hand experience, this bedroom is wonderful. I'm a friend of Max's and I was lucky enough to stay in their apt while they were out of town. It's inspiring ( I came home with loads of ideas). I've noticed they've changed the artwork since I visited. That's probaby why it's unhung. I bet you change up your artwork on a regular basis, dont you? The color scheme is extremely relaxing. The sweet little things on the shelves are interesting and wisely chosen. The storage is wicked smart. We should all take clues from you, you obviously know what you are doing.

I love it. But then I still have the article from the NYTimes on my computer, and the ReadyMade article in my file. I wish I could do something similar to my bedroom -- but it'll have to be in a future apartment.

And I, too, lean art against the wall and sleep floor-level. I love the look of both.

This truly is the best bedroom so far.

Not my style but...
This bedroom has style,
looks intelligent,
is conducive to rest,
is that retreat away from the outside world...

It has all the basic elements of what a good bedroom should be. There is a very clever use of a small and not particularly well proportioned space

And looking at the other entries I think I can post my pics and not embarass myself. I'll probably rank 2nd or 3rd for what I've seen so far.

Oh. Wow.

I LOVE the lighting. Overall it looks very soft and relaxing- wish I could see it in natural light too though. I'd like to see the colors of the walls in contrast to the linen and decor. Are the window covers linen too? Or that pull down kind?...anyway, very beautiful bedroom! Thanks for sharing

Made me want to make my own bed area cozier. I loved all the different lighting options and the overall feel. The only elements that would interfere for me with having a completely restful and delightful time in that bedroom were the large wall clock and the shadowy items lurking behind the opaque screen.
Thank you for showing.

Very nice Maxwell, just as I wrote in an earlier post, keep it simple to make your bedroom a retreat.

Very appealing.

I like how it all glows. I don't like that the bed looks poofy. In my dream bedroom, I will have a bed that feels poofy without looking too soft.

Very beautiful. Personally, I think I might feel a bit claustrophic by the long shelves on either side bed, but that's just my own neurosis. This is a really cool room that utilizes a lot of clever ideas!

Can someone post the NYTimes URL? Just stumbled upon this site from Cool Hunting...

Spanks

I think your bedroom is very nicely done, but I can't call it beautiful. In my view, the multitasking -- while an efficient use of small space -- ruins the "beauty" of this room. I cannot envision a prize-winning beautiful bedroom that has a bed actually abutting the desk with a visible active workplace. Also, I don't like the literally crawling into bed thing.

I think to be beautiful it needs to be dedicated to the one function of being the bedroom/bedroom area, and the connected desk ruins this effect for me. Again, its very nicely done, much better than mine (I'm waiting for children to grow up before investing in better furniture), not my taste, but it shows an idea thought through, executed, and with the key ingredient for NY life, clutter control (although you still have a lot of stuff on your counters/lighted cases, also, I don't like the overlapping edges of the light cases, it would look better if those dark shadows didn't delineate the sections and it looked like one clean line of lighted cabinets). What is the stuff around the base of the plants close to the desk, it brings the desk closer to the bed. Also, that rectangular box lamp -- yuck. Looks like a noguchi rip-off (oh dear, its probably some famous designer "light box").

I do think the plants look strange, I think that less stuff on the counters (smaller pictures in a series or just one or two of the ones you have) would look better. I think a single flowering plant or a vase of amazing flowers, with a strong but not garish color, would look better than the flowers.

The best part about your bedroom is that it looks very functional, like you don't have to think alot about stuff re sleeping, eating, working at your desk. Things are at most a few steps away. My back would hurt from having no back support at that desk though.

I'm not submitting my bedroom because (a) it is not beautiful, and (b) I have to have a desk in there, which I view as a massive compromise. I want my bedroom to be a haven, not a workspace.

This contest has been good for ideas, though.

I'm not submitting my bedroom, because I'm renovating the apartment at the moment (which is why I'm following this blog in the first place) and even when I'm done the only reason it will be beautiful is because it has two cats on the bed (take that, Bruno).

I do admire yours, though. How do you do the lighting inside the cabinets? Can you tell us what kind of lighting you use?

I'm seconding Diana's question. Where did you get or how did you create the lighted cabinets. They really do make this bedroom seem so peaceful, romantic, and functional. I can see myself sleeping quite comnfortably here or peacefully working away at my desk. If you have more room, I would get rid of the desk. However, this is NYC. I really admire how you've incorporated the a bedroom and an office in a small space.

I like the frames leaning against the wall, but I don't like to take the chance of having anything that might topple over or slide down--however slim--in the place where I am sleeping. I would hang them on the wall. As for the plants, I would have chosen something more sculptural--a mature bonsai plant or a tall succulent.

Great bedroom!

Your bedroom seems most inviting and warm and cozy.. but I don't know about "super beautiful". Your readers are just kissing some butt right now. If you had posted this anonymously I will venture to guess the comments would be a little harsh.

The thing about this bedroom is that I probably would not have chosen most of the things in it, taking each separately. But the total effect is, as I said before, appealing. No butt kissing involved.

This bedroom is nice but not my style. And my knees are problematic so everything is too low for me. But I am very curious about those lighted cabinets. How useful are they? The ones along the length of the bed - is the light emanating from just behind the glass so it's not obvious that there are things behind there? The vertical cabinet seems to be back lit with out very much stuff on the shelves (I would have filled quite qickly but you're much better at fighting clutter than I am).

i actually have to laugh because i have a hard time imagining the AT readers (and addicts) doing any butt-kissing.

"Butt-kissing"? Um, not bloody likely.

I saw the article in Ready Made about your bedroom and was fascinated by the floor/storage. After a month or so of carrying the magazine around with me everywhere and mulling it over, I went ahead and built essentially the same thing in my own bedroom. Our room is super narrow and pretty small, so I wasn't able to but the storage boxes around the bed, rather the bed takes up one end of the room and the boxes extend from there part way to the door. I did do a little bit of a built in office area under the window though... It's great- we can now fit ourselves and our infant daughter and all of our junk in our tiny bedroom without any clutter (a huge accomplishment for a child-having household). I think your bedroom is lovely- thanks for the great idea! I hope you don't mind that I completely stole said idea...

annie, photos? please?

Hmmm... I have been trying very hard to send in a couple of photos in response to the request. My emails keep getting returned and I'm not sure why. Where should I send the pictures and how should I do it? Does your spam filter block gmail? I can use hotmail if need be (although it seems to be having some kind of problems at the moment).