apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

love the zagat-style descriptions. best of luck to the finalists!

how can these three be the finalists when Noa and the gang got more votes than anyone else here!?

Best of luck

I asked a person I knew to look at the contest today and vote for the messiest closet -- they said they had already received an email from "Ben" even though they had never heard from him before. Is someone sending out spam emails in an effort to win this contest? Pretty shady if you ask me...

Voting irregularities!? Can we get some inspectors in here please. Thank you. ;)

Sadly to say, I trust this system tho more than November's gig.

Go Amanda and Ross!

wow. i live in sydney (aus) and just now received a spam from this "ben" character asking that i vote for his apartment. sad state of affairs if you ask me, mate. but fairly consistent with voting practices in your country.

I vote for Ross and Amanda. I think the wierd configuration of their closet leads to their woes, not just hoarding tendencies and organizational laziness.

Personally, I am saddened and ashamed at these allegations against Ben's closet. I have always looked to Apartmenttherapy.com as a bastion of morality on the internet, and now this coxcomb's wardrobe has besmirched one of its finest contests. I can only hope that the site takes immediate action against "Ben" and his closet, and puts and end to his foul trickery once and for all. It seems that the old saying still holds true ... a vote for Ben is a vote for terrorism.

Ross and Amanda 2004!

Indeed, Van, yes indeed. Voting irregularities is something to expect when voting for the President, but NOT Apartment Therapy!

Very disconcerting indeed. I would like to see a special investigator appointed. These are certainly appauling allegations to say the least.

And, with our friends in Australia watching? How terribly embrassing indeed.


DCP

Looks like it's friends vs. spammers.... corporate vs. grassroots......very exciting... R&A ALL THE WAY BABY!!!!!!

Fairness Committee et al,

I'm CLEAN, I tell you!

While I'd like to win a contest, I do not spam (nor do I know how to).

Judging by the current vote count, I'm not sure who's spamming whom! The Ross and Amanda factions are out in force.

Is the "Fairness Committee" is the Swift-Closet-Veterans for Truth (and misinformation) organized by the Karl Rove of Ross and Amanda's faction???

Smackdown continues...

Ben
"It's the closets, Stupid!"

I'm now thinking there is also steroid doping involved. Ben, we will need a urine sample. Which is probably somewhere in that closet already...
And M. Van Nostrand-- you get 15 bonus points for combining "coxcomb", "besmirched", and "trickery" in one posting. EXCELLENT A-PLUS.

Hey "Ben". Whatever, dude.

Is that Jon Benet-Ramsey in the back of "Ben's" closet? What the f&%k is going on here?

What is with the CON, "AND they have a staircase"? Should these people miss out on a much needed closet makeover because they are lucky enough to live in a duplex? Sounds like sour grapes to me. They have my vote because they are not slobs, they just have a difficult closet to organize. I too have an under the stairs closet and there is a lot of wasted space.

Why is this competition getting so ugly? The whole spamming thing smells funny...like something rotting in Ross & Amanda's closet.

Hellos to all in apartmenttherapy.com. I am glad that Japanese votes get time tonite (9 am USA!), as I am now up early / late voting first time from Japan (oh yeah!). Pretty bad that Ben cheats in a contest then writes about losing him closet. Much bad behaviors Ben! Bad Bad Bad all three!

In all fairness to Ben, if we get pee sample from him, we should get pee samples from all the contestants.

I'm sure the Messed Up Closet Owners Union are going to want to chime in on that one.

Perhaps someone should call the Hill? Maybe we need an sub-comittee on this. Could be good PR.

DCP

No hablo inglés, y yo no conoce "Ben", pero recibí su email. ¿Está esto el voto del lugar para el ganador de la competencia?

Si. Este es el lugar. Vota con su consiencia! Gracias.

Can hanging chads be far behind?

Porter Goss, Perry Mason? Aussies and Japanese?

bad bad bad Amanda and Ross...

never underestimate the power of the network...

Soldiers, mount up.

i love it when a plan comes together.

I think Ben's finally getting mad and posting fake comments. This is a fun contest, I just think it should be fair and fun! Good luck to all the competitors! - Suzie

they've been plotting since the beginning! Ben is the war hero and Ross and Amanda are the country club brats?

yo pienso que Amanda y Ross realmente son los que deben de ganar esta competicion. Obviamente, son los mejores y tienen un chingo de amigos que piensan igual. Vamos! Joder!!

i think ben is the funniest. i vote for him for that reason. all these folks are out of hand, but ben made me giggle. and i don't think we've heard even a peep out of the others. ben is the only one to really seem like he WANTS this makeover! GO BEN!

you fat americans. arguing over a free closet shelf is simply bizarre. just the same i've come especially sickened at the behaviour of this "ben" chap. seems it's given me a fair itch on me arse. can't even enjoy me Foster's.

this is getting ridiculous. you're not an aussie. i can tell because i lived there for 2 years. you wanker.

ben, this is your mother, victoria. you know how important it was for me to win this contest. i can't believe that you entered against my wishes just to siphon off all of my votes. what, do you think that when the folks from Astec come upstairs to renovate your closet that they won't pass by your parents room and see that MY closet is in the same house?? this is about respect, ben. this is not about you, ben. apartment therapy is not your forum for coming out of the closet. it's about cleaning up MY closet. well after this stunt, you can just clean out your own closet like that eminem guy you are always listening to.

silver... i'll show you a wanker.

i was born and raised in adelaide. same town me prime minister john howard is from. congrats on your overwhelming two years, you wanna-be surfer boy-poseur. regardless, we aussies have a special "treatment" for inbred koalas and surf poseurs like yourself.

no se si esta energia negativa es el producto de los esfuerzos de Amanda y Ross, pero espero que ellos no esten haciendo nada hacia ese fin porque tanta karma volvera. suerte, amigos...suerte. y ademas, creo que Ben es buena gente. el vive con un gato. a menos Amanda y Ross tiene cada otra!

Bueno, alomejor si Ben es una buena persona Silver pero....Ross es un gato. Amanda y Ross viven juntos y el closet tambien es el quarto de Ross.. entonces.. si ganan esta competicion.. tendra Ross un quarto limpio y con mas espacio para poder vivir como un gato feliz. Entonces...suerte Ross.. suerte... Meeeow!

Speaking of wanking, can we get back to those soldiers mounting up? That sounded like fun.

The A&R friends have joined together to comprise some ridiculous comments. The WINNER here is Ben. His closet is the result of a hardworking person who obviously has no time left for organizing a closet. THats right Ben is only one person juggling work, followed by volunteer work for the Homeless, weekend volunteer work for the afflicted children of Africa and then ofcourse his cat. What could possibly be the reasoning for the two people, Amanda and ROss,not being able to get an organized closet. Aren't two heads better than one. No, not in their case.

Monroe, whatever dude.

OK, you want to get serious? Let's get serious. Ben's closet is not his problem. His stuff is. His closet is a plain rectangle - not a design challenge in any sense. Ross and Amanda, however, have an impossibly shaped closet. They can only use about 33% of it. They don't have too much stuff for their closet, they have too weird a closet for their stuff. That, my friend, is a design challenge, and that is what this contest is about.

BTW, Ben may feed stray cats for a living, but Ross and Amanda just got back from a volunteer tour in Iraq, followed by a humanitarian mission to Darfur, only to resume their 100 hour per week job rescuing small pets from high places (and designing new Brownie and Boy Scout merit badges in their SPARE time). Don't just assume that "Ben" wins the saintly competition here...

Monroe -- I don't understand your commentary, isn't this about voting on the merits? What do I care if one of the contestants has a cat? And who knows, maybe Victoria runs a leper colony in Zimbabwe -- should I vote for her because one of her friends told me about it? I wish people would just vote for the messiest closet and stop listening to Ben's (and "Monroe's") silliness, he /they are being really silly. ... Maggie...

Speaking of silly, this entire website just got taken over by craiglist junkies, ex-BBS'ers, and people who don't want to be productive at work today. Hmmmm...

Hey Monroe, are you retarded?????

Ben is only one person.
Ross and Amanda are two people.

How, in your tiny little brain, does that equate to Ross and Amanda having more of an ability to organize? They arguably have TWICE AS MUCH STUFF!!!!!!

What's up with "Ben" that he has an overflowing huge closet and it's just the stuff of one person? Hello???? Anyone ever hear of the Salvation Army?

I'm sorry. You're absolutely right. Dammit, Ben, why don't you just stop being such an object-worshipping, capitalist, uber-consumer, slob?

I can't believe I gave up my vote on you.

Ben is a pig.

Ben lies. And doesn't know how to "edit" his wardrobe.

ben's closet is the messiest closet and as a new voter, I just want to say I see more hate mail rather than "messy votes".

Volunteer group in Iraq? Oh what liars! Get back to the issue at hand and who will win. I believe we all know who that is.

It's in the bag baby. Nice work everyone.

Dear Wired Editor--
I take offense. I NEVER want to be productive at work. Get your facts straight.

Dear All,

What is this, the Ohio version of American Idol? Ben is one person, Amanda and Ross are two people (presumably) with TWICE as many friends and two families. As Ben's cat's friends and family cannot vote, this contest seems unfairly tilted.

I don't believe that the configuration of Ross and Amanda's closet should be the penultimate criteria for this smackdown.
Just because the closet is mishapen....

It's been a VERY exciting contest but please, spare us the bitter, rancorous and hostile postings - don't we already have enough of that from the red states?

All I am saying, Is give Ben a chance....

And another thing, Oh So Illustrious Organizers of the Contest, how about considering a tie? (Or a least a Hello Kitty microwave for the runner up?)

MJW

Trust us, we have no friends.

If I understand one of the above posts correctly, Ben or one of his friends just requested that he be awarded a "Hello Kitty microwave" as runner-up. That's one of the saddest things I've ever heard. Is there any way to take away some of his votes just for that?

Ah, Hello Kitty very popular in my country! So happy to be number two Japanese voter in contest. Thank you so much for keeping noble competition open these hours for participation. We like Hello Kitty! and we like this "Ben," he look cute in pink backpack, just like Powerpuff Girl! But so sorry, Hello Kitty! microwave is price is right bob barker consolation prize, Winner is Ross & Amanda!

Do you people really think that "weirdass" is spelled "wierdass?"

Yes.

Look, these comments are just silly. Congratulations Amanda and Ross. I just don't have time for this, as I am far to busy being AWESOME.

Man, I feel sorry for Victoria. Where was she in all of this? What happened? She never got out of the blocks! Her horse collapsed and she got trampled by the carriages. She blew a head gasket and got put into the wall. She forgot to shave her arm hair and got held back by the friction of the water. She bought some faux Erythropoetin from a shady dealer and didn't get a chance to reap the benefits! She got hosed!...and her closet is the worst of the three!... aw, so sad.. so very sad.

Wow- Victoria. Now that is a closet that would create really good TV. Think about the drama that could come to life if fashion consultants had to make that one over! Seriously a scary challenge I must say!

I haven't laughed this hard in quite a while.

Common Astech Closets... clearly there are no losers here! Hook 'em all up! It's Christmas time!

Methinks that this contest is starting the smack of the recent US elections, since I notice all of the attacks against "the ben character." Are Ross and Amanda that needy that they resort to a smear campaign? It's a pseudo closet for goodness sake.

Keep the cat safe. Blue states for ben!!

Amanda and ross say nothing about their lifestyle, that's why it's gotta be Ben. Poor them, with a stairway, what crap. Least hes trying to be zen like, K?

Ross and Amanda 2004!

Ben 200 votes in 2hours. cheater

Funny.. you delete your cookies then reload and play again!... vote as much as you want huh Ben? Well.. we'll see if the web guys at Apartmenttherapy can filter out repeat IP's

I'm totally behind Victoria. As another single gal with bad closets, I empathize. And she's trying, look at all those matching plastic thingys. With professional assistance she could be an organizational superstar, and really, at this point, she's the only clean candidate. Go Victoria, get the mighty mo!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 10, 2004
9-30 a.m.

CAMPAIGN TO GET BEN A NEW CLOSET
Upper West Side
New York City

To all clutter and design-concerned ApartmentTherapy.com habitués,
my supporters and all voters in the Messiest Closet Competition,

Regretfully, I tender this concession to my opponents, Amanda and Ross. You guys do have a really messed up closet. My best wishes for your future organizational and aesthetic domestic lives.

It has been a spirited and bruising campaign, physically and emotionally, and I regret nothing, except that I will not have the opportunity to have my closet professionally reappointed and reconfigured by Astech Closets, with Special Design & Clutter Consulting by Apartment Therapy. I thank the wonderful staff at Apartmenttherapy.com for their sponsorship of this event, and thank all of my supporters, my campaign staff and my Campaign Director, Heywood Ubuzzoff (on leave from NPR’s Car Talk).

Even though I and my staff have, almost from the beginning of this campaign, been accused of spamming, exaggeration, misrepresentation of fact, doping, cat-endangerment, vote-rigging, having links to organized terrorism, poor housekeeping skills, bad wardrobe editing instincts and of being whiny - say, all of these accusations and comments are not hurtful to me. Some comments were kindly and helpful (really!), some were baseless and mean-spirited (“Ben is a pig”). They are all part of the game of advancing and encouraging closet reorganization products and services. I’m grateful for the opportunity to participate in this great democratic contest and ask that we all move forward to a better-organized time in our nation.

Thank you.

Ben
Of 106th Street
Upper West Side
New York, NY

i can't believe you conceded. you have to fight this sh*t, man. after what Amanda pulled in 2000? I've voting for Nader's closet.

I am so ashamed that I wasted my vote for george war bush. What was I thinking? Why did I let my right wing extremist, neo-conservative, neo-evangelical thinking get in the way of exercising sound personal judgment? Growing up, I was led to believe that the republican party was a grass roots party of the people & for the people. In retrospect, it is clear that the last 3 presidents produced by the republican party were nothing more then the rich man's rich man hiding under the disguise of the overly misused term, "conservative". The economic dark ages of reagonomics screwed over the middle and lower classes of this county simply to benefit the rich and wealthy. George warmonger bush has quietly shifted this country back to those economic dark ages. Bush inherited a strong economy and screwed that up real quick. And even though 9 -11 did happen, none of bush’s reckless screwed up decisions are justified by that day in history. It is clear that he never had any real salient foreign & domestic policies when he became president in 2000. Now we have 4 more years of republican lies and a growing body count overseas. If we ever actually do get out of Iraq, nothing will have changed and nothing will have been gained. The American people have never been given a specific objective in Iraq or a clear definition of exactly what victory in Iraq is from the president. Invading Iraq never had anything to do with, WMD, freeing the Iraqi people or making Americans safer and secure. Statements about WMD, Freeing Iraq or Making America Safer are nothing more then a marketing spin used to hide the ugly truth and make the lies palatable to the American public and justifiable to the red necks who voted for him. Bush likes to make statements such as “It’s worth the price” but he never says just what exactly “it” is. If he really believes that, then he should put his money where his mouth is and send his daughters to go fight in Iraq. The republican party claims to be for smaller less wasteful government but the current administration is responsible for the waste of more money, resources and human lives then any past democrat presidency. I have a hard time sleeping at night knowing that the blood of Americans and innocent civilians is on my hands and the hands of those who voted for george warmonger bush. The real legacy of the bush cabinet is going to be one characterized by lots of wrongful deaths, lots of money and resources wasted, unnecessary tax increases for our children and grandchildren and the unnecessary destruction of various social programs that good decent people count on. Thanks to bush and his power hungry cabinet who all want to control congress, the senate & the supreme court, the USA is now a third world country hiding under the disguise of prosperity. Now that the USA owes all these hundreds of millions of dollars to countries like China, Germany, Russia & Japan, I wonder which language I need to learn for the day when these countries come to collect…