apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

If you are a designer I would to have you decorate my apartment!!! You did an awesome Job!

GREAT JOB! I love the colors!

i think this is one of the best examples of "fall color" that we've seen yet. looks great!

Awesome!!! Modern/Contemporary and very livable. Great job!

this entry made me smile, a big smile, and not just because of the "flair" that you added to the room. The white walls, builders grade carpet and vertical blinds signal a run-of-the-mill rental. But the decor is great. The glass table, the shapely lamps, the gold accent keeps it light, but still masculine. Rock on, NC and all southern entries.

Very nice example of the sane, practical thing to do in the Land of No Rent Control, where rentals are not forever so you *don't* paint. I love that it's about $250 in accessories from having a completely different color scheme. (Okay, more if you buy designer pillows...)

Didn't go insta-finalist because at that level, I want to be surprised or completely blown away, but it's a good example of what you can do to give instant life to a generic space.

I love the way you mounted the rug on the wall.
That's a very clever and different concept! I hope you win the contest.

seems like a shopping spree at home depot.
does the skillful use of beige count?

Very beautiful..totaly agree with another post..these are the closest to "fall colors" we've seen so far.

Hi love how you hang the carpet on the wall, gives the wall color. I have a India quilt that I would like to hang in the wall, how do I go abouot it? and where can i buy such materials to do so?

thanks,
susy

Yes, snarkelune, the skillful use of beige counts.

I'm fairly unimpressed with this one. I really don't like any of the stuff on the walls. The second picture (where you can't see the walls) looks nice. I do like the colors, though.

Coordinating beiges is not a no-brainer. If Don's sofas were yellowish beige like mine, they'd clash violently with his cafe-au-lait beige carpet.

The orange accents on a more golden beige would also give a much "hotter" feeling room. With the orange and the bluish-silver metal, he has that hot-and-cool thing going that's so "in" this year.

I love the fall colors and the accessories are awesome. I would love this type of detail in my place.

Susy,

It's easy to find quilt hanging tools online - just do a search on "quilt hangers" or "quilt hanging tools". Be sure that the quilt that you are hanging is in relatively good condition and out of the way of funky smells. Damaged quilts don't always do well when hung and all quilts tend to absorb odours. I hope that this helps.

I like how this is an example of color being used well without smacking you over the head.

Great job love the colors. What a great eye for detail.

I feel like this doesn't go far enough. Granted, it's a rental apartment, so your options are limited, but I feel like the color in this case is just a bunch of pillows. How is that creative?

I don't love the rug on the wall, either. If a rug is on a wall, I prefer it to be something that doesn't look oddly heavy. This is just a shag rug in the wrong place.

Picky point: It's flair, not flare. Flare will set off the fire alarm.

this is a great entry for a fall colors contest. don's use of the oranges, golden orange and playing off the colors of his "wall" rug really adds punch to his space. the modern/contemporary style of the furniture, placement of the rug on the wall and accessories adds flair and takes away the generic look of the space. had he been able to paint the walls, and it is unfortunate that he couldn't, would've added much more "wow" factor to the room. i am very impressed with his eye for color ,design and detail. good luck!

Great colors and beautiful design. I love it.

I applaud you for using the rug in a new way, as a "tapestry" on the wall. Kudos!

Suggestion, take this the best way, please! All of the colors are so intense, so warm. A little bit of a cool color would break it up and add a lot of movement to the space, as well as clearing up the heaviness from the dark colors.

I would run to the store and get a icey-turquoise throw for the sofa, and a vase or a few candles in the same color. I always tell my clients that a room is like a cocktail: it just isn't done until you add a little ice!

What dredsista said.

i have to agree w/ A. Non. most of the color comes from throwing in a few colored pillows and accessories into a white/beige room. while it's a nice look, i don't think that it particularly shows exceptional skill.

I like that if Don decides he'd like an aqua and white scheme next summer he can swap out the accessories in an hour.

I am too fickle to paint a room orange. I'd be tired of it in a month. But pillows and candles, I could do.

The color and design are beautiful. I could see this in almost any magazine design issue - EXCEPT for the window treament. I kept looking at this thinking "I like it but something is not right - what is giving me that "generic" feeling..." then my eyes rested on the windows. Don't think it needs anything with color but something more interesting - a material of some sort or something? Maybe it just didn't translate well in the picture. I am not a designer so I really don't know. Your color choice is brilliant.

"...it's a good example of what you can do to give instant life to a generic space."

Agreed. And that counts for a lot. Creating a warm and coherent atmosphere in a generic white box is nowhere near as easy as this makes it look.

HEY BIRD AND BEEF THANKS SO MUCH I SHALL SEARCH FOR IT

your symmetry scares me!

Thank You A.Non -- I'm sorry but I just don't think this is all that great...I just feel that I'm looking at an open house for a Condo for sale...it looks too contrived for me...pleasing to the eye, but not much flair.

Holy predictable.....

Knowing how to accessorize is using SKILL!!
That's where most people slip up. This room is beautiful as is.

Thanks for the flare/flair comment. Flare is what my pants have, flair is what I wish they had instead.

Awesome! I think this is what a "real" person would do in a "real" apartment where painting and other big changes are prohibited. This person took a white space and made it beautiful by using color in accessories and other things instead of just paint. Skillful Indeed!

Also, this is one of very few entries where FALL colors were actually used. Good job!

Could we clear up the meaning of Fall Colors Contest please? I was under the impression this was the annual color contest in the fall, as opposed to the contest of fall colors. I can't imagine so many people really have just fall colors in their homes. And...if you look at nature, fall colors are also blue and a bit of pink. Some trees turn a luscious pink and then a purplish shade before they fall. And "fall" has different colors depending on where you live.

I think this is a lovely place. Calm. Neat. I like the furniture arrangement and the sofas. Personally, I'd like to see fewer things on the tables and I love the pillows, but would like the yellow sofa pillows to be larger in scale. Just my op. I'm not a beige person, per se and I have a dislike of white shades unless they're on a drop dead gorgeous lamp base. But that's me.

All is all, its a lovely room.

I really like those sofas. Nice.

Jackie, I had a similar response when I saw the 2,000th entry with bright green walls. I'm thinking about sending in pictures of my space--white, navy blue, charcoal gray, chrome--just to be a brat.

I agree with Zeb
this is too generic - good colors
but still screams "creative use of conventional materials and colors and apartment"

Yes, it's very generic and conventional. Feels like a J.C. Penney catalog or something to me. I see no passion here.

Maybe something is wrong with me or these are not new yorkers checking into this particular blog. Maybe I accidentally checked into apartment therapy/idaho. But this isn't cute. forgive me but it looks like my first apartment many years ago. sorry. this is quite ....stinky.

You have not "transformed a drab room full of dull earth tones"—you've created one. Boring.

I still enjoy this entry.

Alot of the other designs make me wonder "would I want to come home everyday after work and open the door to bright green and hot pink walls"

Definitely not...

This entry is conventional, but whats wrong with conventional?

Some of y'all are being total beeeatches.

It's ok when you are a beeeeatche Patrick (the other one) but it's never ok whenever someone else is real. Why do we have to act like you - rip people in a turnabout way. truth is - this isn't so great. it's quite boring. it looks like a bachelor pad. i'm sorry.

Um, I have NEVER called someone's home on this site boring or "stinky."

And as a bachelor, I don't like how you are equating "bachelor pad" with boring.

And since you are so into "being real" why not use your real name on here?

What's happening to Apartment therapy???? Whatever happened to these great apartments we used to see? Whatever happened to the design porn i so couldn't wait to check out? I keep logging on dying to see the wow factor but i keep seeing apartments that look like the pads of the young 20-year-old bachelors I used to date fifteen years ago in South Carolina. Where is the modern cool New York style I used to see here? I so used to crave. This is getting to too
ordinary. And, thanks for this entry. it's quite nice and homey and I'm sure a lot of work went into it, but it does look exactly like something at an open house. Come on Apartment therapy. bring it on! Return to your roots.

I dont get your point - Patrick who just called fellow readers beeaaaatches. No one uses their real name. not even you. Unless your family name is The Other one. If so, my apologies. But i don't think so. so again, I dont see your point.

Give me an effin' break.

You started it.

No, actually not. When I don't like a place, I either abstain from comment, or, IF someone asks for suggestions, I make them. Constructively.

Having been in one of these contests before, I know how much even an off-handed "witty" comment can be really insulting. So I do call people on it when they make them. And you made one.

And btw, may we have the pleasure of knowing your first name?

Come on Patrick ligten up! You have made stinky comments. you are not quite being honest. But as much as you think this blog is about you - it's not. So lets move on. Geeeeeeze. And you are starting to scare me - with the beeatches and effins and say your first name. Lighten up.

Anyways, nice aparmtent, but I'm sorry it just doesn't cut it for this contest. And if someone is super sensitive, they probably shouldnt put themselves out infront of a bunch of style conscious people. this is uh why we have contest - to judge. And sometimes we get snarky. And yes, people have gotten snarky when I put myself out there, but that was ok. I didn't let it bother me. I balanced that off with the nice comments. In truth, it was the snarky comments that really helped polish up my apartment. And how do you know that Itchy is not my real first name or part of my name? Again, lighten up dude.

The competition for who can make the nastiest, most humiliating "witty" remarks about entries may be one reason why there are fewer "eye candy" entries this year. I'm just sayin'.

Yeah, *I'm* the one who needs to lighten up.

Yeah, that's it.

Which was your entry, Mr/Ms/Mrs Itchy? Would love to see it pre- and post- polishing. And see who called your place "stinky" or "boring."

And, so you think this apartment doesn't cut it. So vote that way and spare the negative comments, unless you have something constructive to add. Then at least your expertise can help Don R polish his place up to your exceptional standards.

Patrik the other one - you sound a bit peeved. oh dear. and a bit high falutin, too. Maybe you should take it down a THOUSAND. Geeze. You were the one calling us beeeeatches. tsk tsk. But all is well in bloggerville. So sweet dreams to you. May you dream of Ikea and pottery barn as you doze off -- slouched on your couch automatically hitting the refresher button. Have a productive week. I have to work tomorrow. You?

Apparently "itchy" IS short for something.

Kisses! Have a lovely day off!

Apologies to Don Ricardo for derailing the conversation.

quite entertaining.

Uhh...wow! Thanks for all the constructive critism, and the not so constructive also, I guess.

I never thought that my "generic" "boring" "stinky" "conventional" and "holy predictable" apartment would spark so much bickering between adults. Cool!

Thanks again,
Don Ricardo, NC

Don Ricardo,

I admire you and homeowner Amy from another color thread. You take the good, bad, and ugly all in stride; which takes a lot of strength and character. Plus a healthy dose of sense of humor.

I'm not defending super nasty posts that totally humiliate. I'm just thankful that you know how to take the positives and not let the negatives get to you.

You have a beautiful and incredibly tidy home. I think the earth tones with splashes of orange work fine. Brown and beige are fine colors and your use of them in combination is soothing; no one ever said good use of color has to be loud and bold.

My one suggestion is to soften the symmetry in the rooms. Everything is so perfectly balanced (two lamps, two pillows, two sconces, two coasters, etc.) The extreme symmmetry may give visitors the feeling that they must not relax or risk getting something out of place.

A designer friend once told me that a rule of thumb for couch pillows is to always have an odd number of them on the couch. For example, try three or even five pillows (preferably of different textures but from the same color families). If three, throw (yes, throw! don't place them upright perfectly)two on one side of the couch and one on the other.

Thanks for sharing your home with us.

Gekko, you're brilliant!

I went back and looked at the photos -- having, as my comments note, essentially liked the place from the git-go -- and yes, a big part of what was leaving my enthusiasm at a calm 350 degrees rather than a hot, passionate 500 was the extremely formal symmetry with more casual items. A more informal balance with maybe a little more mix of textures, and this would go from "really nice" to "please come shopping with me NOW" in my world.

And if Don cannot stand balanced asymmetry, he should ignore that entire last paragraph, as he's the person who lives there.

Patrick (too) -

As I have so many other times - I agree with you 100%.

The fun has been drained from "AT" by the various nasty remarks made under the guise of constructive criticism. I simply do not see the need for it.

Don - I think you did a fine job bringing in color to a blah apartment. They are right about the "too much symmetry" comments, though. Unless, of course, it personally drives you nuts not to duplicate. (I have friends like that!) So IGNORE the negative comments. You are the one who has to live there. Your space looks HAPPY!! I am so surprised at the negativity it inspired in others commenting on here.

Bummer I missed out on such a good cat fight, though. ;)

mental drink tossing eases mild seething (both of which i'm not above) in the faces of itchy, Athalie, etc.

Don R, i admire the wall hanging, lines of the candle holders, end + coffee tables, + punches of color, + yr spirit. i find yr place comforting.

I like that there are some punches of bright color here that are used in a very "livable" way. Thanks for sharing your home.

Don-
I think that you did a great job of bringing things together. I look at the room and wish for fall to be year round. It is apparent that you are a fan of orange, and the varing tones do wonders for the room. It is obvious that you take great pride in where you live and do what it takes to make it feel like your own (which can be difficult for renters at times). Continue to try new things and I agree with the comment about doing things in odd numbers. A great women once told me to the same thing...LGS
So keep on decorating and look forward to seeing you and more of your work in the future.
Do you! It works!

Vey nice and tasteful. But do I get this feeling of store display.

surprised so many people like this interior. all i see is an uber-neurotic desire for symmetry. gives me the creeps. especially those candle thingies on the wall.

and why do people hate spending money on some beautiful pieces of art? why nail a dusty carpet to the wall when you could get yourself a nice painting? or print. or whatever that would have added some personality to the room?

i think this one of the ugliest places i've seen here. fluffy brownish hell.

Don, I've been waiting for you to respond to that ridiculous and very disrespectful post. Since you have taken so long, I will respond...

jip is a Jerk!

Comments like that should definitely require pics of ones own place to follow.

Also, I doubt that hell is fluffy or brownish.

Show a little tact and respect.