apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Uh oh. JC said this is "A bit kitschy." I think he might be on to something.

I saw the orange wall with stencils on Trading Spaces.

That is hideous? Are you decorating for a some kind of halloween creature?

It definetly has a youthful, urban outfitters sensibility. Not my style but thanks for sharing.

I tried to paint my daughter's room orange and it was so bad it would burn out your retinas. Seriously - it looked like the lights were always on.

But this orange is good - it looks bright without being painful.

Color is only thing that's actually wrong with these interiors.

It works alone, but definitely NOT with the boring brown sofa and accessories. There needs to be more richness in the decor.

I actually really like the orange with that brown and the pink. Hmmm. Nice - I don't think I've seen that particular combnation a lot in this contest. I think those three tones work well together.

I could do with fewer of the stenciled shape on the walls, though.

I like the second photo but the detail on the wall is a litte much for my taste.

Yeah!! Another vitra. I Love mine!!

Why is everyone so cranky?

I agree with Christy, orange is hard to do right and it's easy to go too bright. This is a great orange, makes me think of clementines.
I like the colors of the accessories you've used with it, your real phone (ahhh, real phones) and that adorable dog!

I love the 2nd pic. I like the first pic, but could never live there myself. I bet the people who live here are fun, though!

What I REALLY like is the apparent shrine to Rick Springfield on the wall in the 2nd picture.

But I kid. The room looks like lots of fun, love the orange.

Yum Dreamcycle! Super lively and bright. I thought the pattern on the wall was all textile at first glance! As you are brave AND skillfull with patterns -- I could see adding even MORE to the mix.

Atomic Orange! We used the same color for our living room, but we put several washes of yellow over it to temper it a bit and give it some depth as that's what our room called for. check it out: http://la.apartmenttherapy.com/la/fall-colors-2006-southwest/36-gina-and-bradleys-bold-exotic-travels-013785

I really like this one! I like the brown and orange together. I like the use of different shades of orange and different shades of brown. I love the wall stencils- in white they really POP out! I would love to hang out in here!
Thanks for sharing your place with us!
I

totally dig it! fantastic phone.

Where did you guys get that black and white picture of Chicago's Lake Shore Drive? A chicagoan stuck in Boston, I would kill for one of those!!!

Love the pink lampshade in the first pic. Where did you get it?

The orange is nice, I'm not sure about the stencils though they do make me think of snow.

i LOoOooOOove it! I think its very cool. I love the orange (and the orange phone is awesome!!!!) I sure hope you don't take what some of the others said personally. :O(

Love it! Could you tell me more about the LSD/john hanckock picture? I would kill 4 one of those, too.

Yikes! Tough crowd here today. Myabe if you had a cat on your sofa instead of that dog! ;)

I would have expected many more positive comments.

Like how you have flip-flopped the white-to-orange ratio on the opposing walls, and used furniture (and phones!) and not just wall color to make a color statement.

A seriously happy room, and a "non-kids-room use" of a great orange. Nicely played!

i love it. esspecially the second picture. i think i have that lampshade, is it from urban? mines still in a closet because i haven't found a space for it yet.
looks great!

Oh this is Doug's room from Trading Spaces, no? I loved that episode...what happened to the kidney bean table? ;)

Grace

This is really impressive, one of my favorites. I like how the conservative neutrals of the big furniture items play against the orange wall, the inversion of the colors in the second photo works very well. Several contestants have pretty or striking color choices but this one I actually think is sophisticated use.

Not at all my aesthetic but something to learn from!

I don't know what it is about this contest - maybe its the fact that color can be such a strong personal preference, but I'm seeing alot more assholish comments than other contests. That's right, assholish.

Lots of you flexing your web muscles. Very courageous of you.

That's a big part of why I haven't entered. I don't have a need to see how snottily all the anonymous people can trash my decorating style. The CB2 gift cards were tempting, but not that tempting.

the orange is great, i could never pull it off, but glad to see it in someone else's place!

I really want to know about your DOG! I had a dog exactly like it growing up, but she was an SPCA special. Curious if you know! Thanks!

I really enjoy this room. It uses bright colors but they don't feel overpowering. And I like the media storage on the wall used as a display space like that.

I bought that exact same color for my Santa Fe style kitchen!

some interesting pieces on their own, but color design not working here.

Well done! Completely disregard all negative comments.

ahh, don't let the naysayers weigh ya down. the stencils are very evocative of the eames print, and the orange phone and panton chair are just plain fabby. instant cred. the chicago skyline piece is great too. there are a few competing 'hot' colors ... the pink lamp the red ikea credenza that compete with the orange statement. and the post cards on the wall are a bit clutery, but otherwise a very contemplative execution! mid-century modernism meets bohem whimsy.

Wow, I hadnÂ’t checked here for a couple days, figuring my home wouldnÂ’t show up until the last minute and already itÂ’s here!
As for the cranky comments: who peed in your fruit loops? I didnÂ’t realize how some people could get (not bad in this thread really, but I have seen some really harsh comments for several other homes) over decorating! Lighten up, no interior designers were killed in the making of this room ;) For me IÂ’m not taking anything personally so donÂ’t worry. I realize what I like isnÂ’t everyoneÂ’s cup of tea and thatÂ’s what makes the world interesting! This contest would be very dull if everyone had a room straight out of a DWR catalogue.

Re: The orange wall and Trading Spaces – Yes, in the very beginning, first season when I still watched it Doug did do a patterned wall like this (and this isn’t it) but he did the whole room, which I think made it very dark. I had an Eames print pillow and I was so in love with the print that I did it on my first apartment wall and then reproduced it here in our condo when we moved. Orange is one of my favorite colors (as I see it is for a lot of us) and I wanted to use it in my home, but I didn’t want it to take over so I just did an accent wall. The brown sofa may be “boring” but I felt it is spiced up some by the print pillow and the patterned reclining chair. If everything in the room had bold colors and prints it might take over the room and reverse the fun and relaxing atmosphere I'm trying to create.

Re: The pattern being too much – After living with this design for four years I do like it, but I think if we move I will do something different for our next home. Our bedroom also has a heavily patterened wall which took 8 hours to do and I while I also love it, will never reproduce again.

Re: Pink lampshade – I bought it at Urban Outfitters on clearance about three years ago.

Re: The black and white picture of Chicago – This is a fabric screenprint stretched on a wood frame. I got it from our local Salvation Army for $11 five years ago. The bottom says “Tim Harding for Colorfield Fabrics.”

Re: Could you tell me more about the LSD/john hanckock picture? I would love to, if you could tell me what a lsd/john hanckock picture is?

Re: Rick Springfield shrine in the second picture – wrong! It’s actually, bizarrely Frank Stallone. Hope this doesn’t affect your vote ;P

Re: Our dog – Molly is a mutt, some sort of long haired daschund mix. She was a stray that we got from a local rescue group so we don’t know anything about her parentage, but just that she is the sweetest, well mannered dog I have ever met..

Thanks for everyoneÂ’s comments (good and bad) and votes. Above all this is a learning process and I appreciate the opportunity to share my home!

Your pic of Chicago is looking south down Lake Shore Drive (LSD), with the Hancock as the predominent building. It's very cool, this coming from a Chicagoan.

Don't take the harsh responses about the orange personally, I always feel that people that can't handle bright colors must be boring. It takes a strong (and interesting) personality to like bold color.

So I love your room. I think it is fun and nicely designed. It is obvious that a lot of thought and time went into this room without spending an outrageous amount of money. Our posting has been recieving some really mean and vicious comments, almost like we have personally offended the people that are leaving them. But I guess if it wasn't great, people wouldn't have anything to say, good or bad. Does this feel like high school to you too? But anyways, great job! We love it.

Devyn thanks!
LSD = Lake Shore Drive w/Hancock Building - now I get it! Gah, I'm such a geek I was searching my picture for mystery hidden drug images that I was somehow missing.

A bit kitschy

Young and fun. Love your phone!! :)

I love the Eames print on the wall! It's one of my favorite patterns, I have a chair seat that I re-covered in the black and red version of the fabric. How'd you make the stencil?

Awsome! Very inviting space with lots of positive energy!

I love this ~ It's bright yet warm and comfy! I love the way you've combined the color orange with hot pink or red and yellow in the vase. It's not overwhelming use of color - just right. This combination would work both in the summer and winter months. This is one reason I'm afraid to use color - can't think of a color in my living area that would look good throughout the year. You've done a great job!

I really like this a lot. Although it's not the first Atomic Orange in this contest, they're both very different, and I think I've liked them both.

I'm not into this style really at all but I love this. The white details on the orange pop wonderfully. The simple brown couch grounds the room, the chair with the circles and the matching pillows really stand out and add great intrest without taking over. I love the art over the wall tho I would probably not have the smaller images/postcards. Nice use of the 80's Centipede game on the bookcase - or is that Donkey Kong. I love the counter point of the other wall but agree that the red ikea stand feels off for me, I'd love to see you paint it orange and do the stencils on it, just as a little nod.

I really love that while your color palette includes 3 of todays very trendy colors (chocolate, orange, white, tiffany blue, green) your room doesn't feel like I've seen it everywhere already. Thanks for such a fun entry!

I KNEW that was Frank Stallone!

Not normally a fan of orange, but I love THAT orange. Nice.

Probably a bit too kitschy for my taste, but it looks fun and lived in! Too many "model" homes on here.

As a former producer on Trading Spaces that looks awfully familiar to me. Isn't this the room that Doug did? Where did that kidney bean table go? shag carpet?

Three words: Tacky, tacky, tacky.

And to the above poster, I believe the owner already responded that this was not Doug's room. I wouldn't admit to being associated with that show if I were you.

I really dig the orange wall, orange phone and the lamp. The room looks a little incohesive to me. Maybe I really wanted to see more atomic/retro decorating. The Ikea cabinet does not work for me, but the room is still a great start.

I really wanted to see a white sofa, but that is my preference. Also, that beautiful orange wall is a work of art in itself, I really hate to see the book case and the painting hiding it. At least remove all the little postcards.

Great start. I voted in contention.

In contention. It's a nice start, very colorful, it just needs more direction (what look exactly are you going for?) and a little more polish. You did a great job on that wall though, don't let the naysayers get you down.

this is great because I JUST painted a wall orange in my dining room and it came out so bright and awful that I almost immediately primed over it again. It literally put an orange tinge on everything, even the hallway! So I have respect (and admittedly, a little envy) for your ability to actually make that color work.

The stenciling really helps the orange from being overpowering. Not normally an orange fan, but this works.

this is so cute!! I really like the orange and brown combo... it seems really alive and fun. The second picture seems a bit unfinished to me. With all the pizazz going on in the first, the second seems to lack. I think you have a bit left to go, but it is so fun and original. Maybe a bluish or greyish color on the wall behind those orange shelves... and some big fat green plants next to the TV. That would fill out those empty spaces and I think would balance the color nicely... Thanks for sharing!

Remind me of a window treatment in those colors at www.DecorateNowPatterns.com. Orange is supposed to be the hot color this year. Wish they had a photo of what you did with the other walls and window.