After close deliberation and examination of your votes, the judges have decided that the first four places are clear, but there is a tie for fifth place. Therefore, we are allowing six into the semi-finals. Call us soft, but we would rather stretch a little than make an unfair call.
Now remember - we're looking for The Best Use of Color by these folks.
- Ky's Vibrant Panels of Color
Washington, DC
- Bernie's MoMA Influenced Anti-Drab Campaign
New York, NY
- DM's Colors That Speak for Themselves
Boston Suburbs, MA
- Candace & Tal's Grown-Up & Whimsical Nest
Prospect Heights, Brooklyn, NY
- Curtis Paints Paris By Numbers
Upper West Side of Manhattan, NY
- T & CM's "Mod About Blue" Living Room
Lansing, MI
Ouch. That was harder than I thought it would be. Ultimately I decided on the the room I'd be most comfortable living with which is....
I was really suprised to see so much orange in all the entries and had no idea it was such a popular color. I am not the biggest fan of the color but when it came down to vote for the finals in the east coast I went for Ky's.
I like how clean it looks and the minimal style of the room. It's still comfy and yet stylish and modern.
Ky- you should sell you photos to Ikea...more impressive than the catalog!
Good luck to you and all the entries...
Not surprisingly they're all from the early part of the entries where the judging was more loose and there were two weeks more votes to add up.
Im not one to criticize, I love these contests but I would love to hear how the final 6 are chosen given the lack of time and attention that the later entries are given in terms of comments and voting.
Cheers,
Man, this is hard. I don't suppose you mean "vote for ONE at home and ONE at work?"
Yeah, I thought not.
How about "one from each WiFi network I can access from my living room"?
Naaaah... knew ya wouldn't go for it.
All really interesting uses of color. Curtis has definitely won the "Best Use of Art as Color". That is just the coolest idea ever. What a tough thing it is to choose among these standouts!
yah for some reason when these finalists went up, i was so disappointed.. maybe because i'd seen all of these before, many many times on this site.... so i took jimkk's route and chose the one most livable to me.... Candace Tal! which was a suprise to me because i had been deciding between Ky and Curtis all afternoon....
Go Curtis!
Cur-tis! Cur-tis!
Oh Curtis - it's just DEVINE! NEW YORK CITY- REPRESENT!
when will baby blue and chocolate stop being cool? it makes me cranky....
curtis, duh. if yucky diners had lounge areas, this would be it.
I do agree that the earliest entries were favoured because people had more chance to look at them and vote. But Curtis's room was one of my favourites anyway!
Does anyone have a spare Xanax for james?
when will baby blue and chocolate stop being cool?
1979.
sorry, but it is very 70s to me. i voted for DM's dining room because it is splendid and has lingered in my mind.
I really like Bernie's stripes and the use of light green and orange for the walls. Lots of color, but harmonious. Very creative!
The last option, T and CM is really doing it for me. I like the rounded patterns on the walls, and I think I'm seeing the the inspiration for the color scheme sitting on the cabinet. Very cool.
...and Curtis is creeping up...
Ky does a color nicely, but I think the winner should be skilled in using more than one color and I love Candace & Tal's Nest. I really wish AT would use the couch picture as the feature, since anyone can pick out a cool rug, but not just anyone can mix together different designs and colors so beautifully.
I agree with James, that whole brown and baby blue thing, yikes. It's so, "Please believe I'm a cool hipster! I dont even take showers because I love greasy hair"! On the other hand, I think KY has done an outstanding job using a bright color to highlight the room and bring in some life.
Aargh. I just looked at the West Coast voting tallies this morning, and damn is my room taking a spanking!
C'mon y'all, where my peeps at? Am I destined to be the Susan Lucci of Apartment Therapy? Do you really want to see me wandering down Hollywood Blvd a broken person in a tattered Nolan Miller gown, mascara-and-tear-streaked face, botoxed lips--sadly clutching my still-unused acceptance speech. (Think Norma Desmond as channeled by Courtney Love.) Do you want to see that? Well, do you? Do you?!? Then vote Enrique.
It doesn't matter matter if you like my room the best or not. Didn't we used to matter, you and I? Didn't I buy you chocolates when you were sad? Didn't I make you laugh? Didn't I give you a puppy? No? Well, um, vote for me anyway...
Judging by the rankings, I can kiss goodbye my weeks-long dream of a CB2 Arch Lamp and a set of 8 modern cordials (a steal at $1.50 each). But I can still win a Petal NY Soap and Bath gift set... maybe. Please, don't let me hear the dreaded words "No soap for you!" Vote for Enrique. I will walk your dog, kiss your babies, do your dishes, give you my unused frequent flyer miles, buy you blue diamonds. My fate is in your hands. And I will not go quietly.
[And... scene.]
I voted for T and CM's place, not because I love blue and brown (tho i don't hate it like some others) but because there's shows creativity, ingenuity (can you say budget?!) and most of all livability!
Ky obviously has serious design talent but his apartment is more well-styled than well-decorated, imho, a fact that would be apparent in real life rather than pictures.
On a related note: One of the flaws of AT's contests is that entries end up being judged by the quality of their photography... perhaps competition should make contestants submit (north/west/east/south) photographs of the room and then 1-2 detail shots.
Also, people, take the pics whenever the room is sunniest!
[i accidentally first posted in Ky's thread]
For reasons best known to the management, when you click on the various names of the entries, if you didn't happen to vote in the first round, you're STILL given the opportunity to vote on that now-defunct portion of the contest.
And once that's done, you think you've voted. So, it's a little confusing. In other words, there are now more votes for most of these in that first portion, than there were at first. So, some people are getting confused.So, b
I voted for Tod & Corey. Clean lines, good use of colour, and I'm all about the budget. Anyone can make a room look good with better resources, but making a room look THIS good on the funds they had available (or lack thereof) - well that deserves my kudo's!
Persephone: You have it all backwards! The REALLY cool kids try to do things that AREN'T hip in order to appear cooler. ;)
But seriously, I'm no authority on cool or hip, but considering that many of the products in the catalogue of the company sponsoring the contest fit the blue/brown/orange scheme (not to mention the 70's theme).. we must be doing something right. :)
I had no idea that our colors were so "in" until after we painted the room. Now I see it everywhere. But regardless, it's always been one of my favorite color mixes, so we're still happy with it, and will still be when dark brown and bog green fully take over..
Anyway, I used to be a we3bcomic artist, so I'm used to Internet slander and trash talk.
PS: We wash our hair plenty.
Dignity is so overrated, innit? ;D
Damn it. I didn't mean to post my last comment on THIS THREAD! That comment was a reference to my desperate plea (above), but was meant for fiona and sg (on another thread). It was NOT directed at any of the other entrants or commenters. Apologies!
In a vaccuum, Enrique, devoid of anything else, it's a universal truism.
I voted for Curtis, I couldn't help it. I know it's more art than color. But the colors of the picture are so gorgeous, they just make the room. I would live in that room in a minute and it's not even my style.
i still think B's stripes are the coolest and most unique, hands down.
I agree with you, Rachel. Bernie's use of color is the most daring and creative of them all, and he pulled it off.
Anybody got any water they can pour on my forehead by individual drops for the next 23 hours and 10 minutes?
these were my favorite east coast entries, no surprises here. curtis's room really stands out, though. his very colorful solution is also very creative and the design is timeless. it is the only completely unique entry in this group.
I voted for you enrique. You rock, you inspired me to consider wallpaper. Vote Enrique! he likes puppies.
Good luck, Corey Marie and Tod!
Boo, they should have used the picture of Tod and Corey's couch, it shows the color much better, methinks..
VOTE TOD AND COREY MARIE FOR A BETTER TOMORROW!
Yes, danae. It's true. I do like puppies. I love ALL of God's creatures... Thank you for your vote. Somewhere an imaginary bunny is frolicking inside a photo-mural of an idyllic, autumnal forest. Because of your vote. Bless.
CURTIS ROX!!!
i think ky's room is the best. something about its simplicity and the color orange really mesh together. its totally something i could totally picture having as a room in my house. it doesn't seem cluttered. other rooms were nice and creative but it was too much for me.
WOW what great colors and aramgements
Lill
Now thats brighter than florida in good taste to.
Sailor in FLA
The orange rooms look like they're from easyJet
The door mouldings in T & CMs just don't fit with the design on the wall. To me they just clash. You want a cleaner line around the door and not something so neo-classical.
Candace and Tal's just made me think of IKEA for some reason.
I loved DM's dining room, though. It's vibrant, bright, but not offensive to the eyes. It feels warm and inviting.
Love it!!!
I suspect some people are here because of their friends' ability to vote multiple times. If this were based entirely on originality and style, I think some of these rooms would never have made it this far (and if the nature of this contest heavily favored the early entrees.)
All that being said, Curtis' room is by far the most amazing of all the entrants from either coast.
I truly don't at all understand the fanfare around Curtis's room. I mean, I agree that the art on the wall is really exquisite and kudos to him for having such style...but this is not an "I've got a great wall!" contest. It's for the best room, and Curtis' room--the actual room--isn't quite in the league with any of the others. I mean it's just black furniture and a tan carpet....
I am rooting for the two leads, Ky and Corie and Marie. I ADORE these rooms and they have given me a lot of inspiration
Alison, I think you are absolutely correct. And not just on the fact that Curtis is incredible. Since when are there over 1000 votes floating around this place?
$2000 gift certificate, phooey.
(cue the soundtrack, "For the love of money...")
The rooms that I don't see here that I would LOVE to get a little cash assistance are the two with color squares on the walls. And I'm really missing that lovely place with both a red and a light blue wall.
Que sera sera.
Hey Kris -- a couple people have mentioned the doors/moulding. The reason we haven't done anything with/to them is because a.) we are renting, and b.) we've only lived here about a month.
Thanks Jenny McCarth and all who voted for us. I loved getting feedback on our room. alison- the IKEA comment would sting less if it was IKEA furniture (and prices)! Best of luck to those in contention for first place.
Candace and Tal, I think your room is da bomb! Really funky and cool. And a peg or two or THIRTY higher than Ikea. :)
For the record, there are several colors in the carpet other than tan; there's a peach and a couple of teals, etc. And most of the furniture is really sort of an espresso color, not much of it is actually black. And some of it has some silvery stuff in it, and one cabinet is chestnut or something.
There was sort of limit to how good the photography could be with the camera I was using for those "after" pictures, and there was a limit to how many pictures could be entered, but I do realize that one can only judge by what one sees.
Yeah, no dissing Curtis. Vote your taste, obviously, but we like Curtis.
I really like what Curtis did, but I voted for Tod and CM... basically for the crazy unity of what they did (that the probably-unpaintable-in-a-rental doorframes were the worst thing that people could find to pick on is a sign) and the budget they did it on. The colors aren't my favorite, but by the personal criteria I had for where my vote would go... they got it. :)
That said, I think all of these finalists are pretty darn swank. Fiance now wants to do a paint-by-number wall too.
"Persephone: You have it all backwards! The REALLY cool kids try to do things that AREN'T hip in order to appear cooler. ;)"
Yes, CM, tell us how totally cool you really are, how much cooler than everyone else you are. yawn.
"I had no idea that our colors were so "in" until after we painted the room. Now I see it everywhere."
This old dress? I only wear it when I don't care how I look.
"Anyway, I used to be a we3bcomic artist, so I'm used to Internet slander and trash talk."
Yes, remind us how much cooler and artistic you are AGAIN!
"PS: We wash our hair plenty."
But it doesn't look like it from the photo of yourselves you included.
The reason I voted against your room is because I find it boring and derivative. That you were so snarky in your posts is just additional incentive.
Well, too bad for you Simon. Cuz they won!
Well, too bad for you Simon. Cuz they won! :)
it's not over til the fat lady does somethin...
thanks to all who voted for me!
This is some heated competition, indeed. :)
nah, it's all in fun. you guys did a great job. may the best room win...
I am concerned about cheating. Something doesnt seem right here & I hope my gut feeling is wrong about this. Everyone did a great job. I just hope the race was fair. It would be unfortunate karma if it wasnt. All the best for the finals.
Indeed! We like yours, too. Actually almost all of my favorites ended up advancing.
Well, it's been pretty fun, somewhat harrowing, ride. I've enjoyed seeing all the other entries, and will definitely make note of some of their approaches in future projects that I'm involved with.
I thank all the people who voted for me, and all the people who think they voted for me by clicking on my pictures and adding their vote in the wrong spot. Their hearts were in the right place, even if their mouse wasn't. And I appreciate all the supportive comments from my fans, loyal and rabid, old and new.
I knew you'd be blue, Tod and CM.
Anyone can make a room look great if they have unlimited finances to do it with. It takes a special kind of creativity to create a beautiful space on a budget. Way to go T & CM!!
Oy, it's not a contest, I suppose, until someone casts doubts on the nature of the voting, whines about how it's a popularity contest, or uses a preference for one entry to slam another's. :(
That all really sucks to the people in the contest, btw. It really diminishes the joy, and if color ain't about joy, I don't know what is.
and, oy2:
The bitching about "people with money have the advantage" is sooo over.
I mean, you've SEEN The Donald's taste, right?!
T & CM'S ROOM IS WHAT THIS CONTEST IS ALL ABOUT I MEAN COME ON LOOK AT THE COLORS THEY JUST FLOW TOGETHER LIKE THEY WERE MENT TO BE IT LOOKS SO THAT SEVENTIES SHOWISH I LOVE IT! GO CUZ
OK. Now that I'm no longer in this thing, and while I have some of your attention still...
If any those 239 people liked my paint-by-numbers mural enough to want one of their own, and want me to actually create the big gigantic "kit" for them, I'll take this opportunity to let you know that I've got over 200 actual vintage paint-by-number paintings in my collection of all kinds of scenes (landscapes, seascapes, snowscapes, still lifes, floral stuff, and yes, Enrique, a few puppies -- OK, really dogs)to help you choose from, or you can go find your own, and if I like it for your space, we can work something out. If you click on my name, it will show you some of the stuff I've done, including this other paint-by-numbers mural.
In the little profile thing, you'll find my e-mail address, and you can contact me, and we'll start figuring out how to get something going.
I mean, seriously, folks ... I think a snowy landscape would look great in somebody's Florida home, especially if they got a white Noguchi sofa to go with it. Somebody's dining room is going to need a mural of a still life where the wine bottles are as big as a person. Somebody's church social hall is going to need The Last Supper, so they can auction off the rights to fill in the colors as a fund-raiser. Etc., etc.
Kris: Dude, it's an APARTMENT. They RENT IT. They can paint it, but they can't tear out the mouldings and replace it with something less "neo-classical." I think they did a fucking awesome job considering what they had to work with (a shitty apartment and not much cash).
Yeah, if everyone had a million dollars they could make their house look "just so"...but then they'd hardly need to win this contest, would they?
sweet
Sarah--
Um, they could have PAINTED the moldings... I agree with Kris that the white moldings and various door styles really fight the vibe they are shooting for.
And see my earlier comment about people bitching about how money guarantees style success. Um, not always. And it's SUCH a tired argument.
Oh, and you kiss your mother with that mouth?
I'm going to go pretty far out on a limb and pretend that when people were talking about apartments looking like they had big budgets, that they were talking about mine, because I think it looks like that, too. So, I'm going to take it as flattery, kind of like Grace Adler took an insult from Woody Harrelson's character as an apology on last night's re-run of Will & Grace.
Just off the top of my head I can think of 4 of the pieces in my living room that were things I found on the street when I lived in Hell's Kitchen, and I gussied them up, one of which is my television, which I put the old progress shots of on my little flickr thing, which you see when you click on my name here.
And amen to Patrick's thing about money/taste/Trump, etc. Apparently the Ballet Russes impresario Diaghalev used to try to teach his ballerina things about art and culture, etc., and would say, "With the taste you can do anything; without the taste you can do nothing." And the old ballerina who was quoting him then said, "Which is sah tdoo yah knaw." ("Which is so true, you know."