apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

The bathroom is nice. And the bedroom is off to a good start. But a white roman shade would help a lot. Orange Salmon though? Really?

love the bathroom! what a great way to wake up in the morning.

i love your home!!!!!

Much love for Ithaca! The orange is right on to help break up the long, dark, cold, depressing winters.

So pretty and fun! I like the little hedgehog.

The color treatment here is awesome - so light and airy and useful in a "mostly dark" city like Ithaca.

I think if this were coming from somewhere sunnier (i.e. los angeles) this might come off as too bright but for some reason knowing the locale makes a big difference to me.

Your home is really nice. The bathroom is fantastic! I love the orange. The bedroom looks very soothing (though I do think the window treatment needs reevaluating....maybe it's just the photo but it looks kind of like you just moved in and hung a sheet up with clothespins). Very fun, sunny colors.

Your place looks great. I love your orange salmon paint. Would you mind telling me what the color is?

I also love the orange. I think it's perfect. Nice place!

Yay! I'm so excited to get posted! (one half of TGS here)

Thanks for the comments so far. I didn't want to offend the AT readership with the blinds that used to be in the bedroom and purchased a white Roman shade, but it's not here yet. I'm using a gray/brown cloth with white pin stripes as a temporary solution, but I love how it interacts with light. It has a bluish glow during the day (from the trees outdoors) and a golden sheen at night. Part of staying happy as a grad student is to find beauty in cheap/free things (like daylight through fabric and steam condensing on mirrors). haha.

The living room is two shades of orange from the same family (one is orange and the other is more salmon). I bought the paint at Home Depot 3 years ago when I couldn't take depressing walls anymore. ahart - I'll check if I can find the cans somewhere and report. :)

Thanks also for not being offended by the fake mouse in the kitchen... Leslie the Mouse (male) is the star of our kitchen.

aw, i really like your house. i actually kinda dig the clothespinned curtain, too! i noticed that you managed to put a different flower or plant in each photo, well done! im generally nto a fan of orange, but it looks so nice and salmon-y on the couch-wall...

best of luck, im voting finalist.

Thanks! The fresh flowers in the bedroom and bathrooom are from the Ithaca Farmers' Market ($6 for 10 stems!). The Chinese lanterns were grown by a neighbor.

I feel a rush of happy chemicals

I wish I lived here. And all this on a grad student salary!

As a recent student myself, my eye went straight to the copious file-box storage at the foot of the bed. Props for the crisp-looking, classy/practical solution!

So gorgeous. J'adore!

I have that Hockney print, too, against a green wall, which looks nice -- but love it with your orange too! Your orange walls make me drool. Yum.

"Rush of Happy Color" is right! I love what you've done.

I'm completely with theninthcloud - a place like this is perfect for Ithaca, in a way that it might not be for sunnier climes.

what a great way to perk yourself up everyday! I went to school in gloomier Buffalo and would've loved to come home to study in this place!

May I ask where that desk/console is from? It's lovely!

woohoo- go grad student couples! :) what are you guys studying? (this is mar of mar and bry)

Cheerful, 80s Scandinavian/Ikea feel. You could do the showrooms for Ikea.

Thanks for the additional comments!

LauraC - I love the Hockney print! I bet it looks great against your green wall. Did you see it at the MFA? Garrowby Hill was my first exposure to modern art back when I was in high school.

Lizz - We found the desk on craigslist. I'm not sure where it's from originally. The other half of TGS is a cyclist - he likes industrial design with bold colors, so it was perfect for him.

mar & bry - We're both physicists. :)

Great work, is the paint color in the first picture the salmon color too? B/C I think it is gorgeous there but it looks so pink in the second picture I could totally believe them to be two different colors. And I would say keep your pinstripe curtain in the bedroom if you like it, just get it hemmed and put it on a curtain rod instead of using clothes pins. But I love the minimal yet comfortable (yet realistic) feel of your place. Congrats!

The bedroom is very nice-- well done!! I'm personally not a fan of the salmon or yellow, but it's certainly very colourful and I can see how it could make someone feel happy in the long snowy winters of upstate NY. Nice job.

Love how cheery the space is--this grad school space kicks my previous grad school space's butt! :)

This entry serves as a great reminder of why context matters so much when choosing color. The colors and spaces needed by a person living in a snowy climate can differ so much from those living in a desert, or surrounded by forest.

For Ithaca through much of the year (and especially for grad students who need to keep up that high energy level), this works just perfectly.

Thanks for all support from people who know about the Ithaca area! It's a challenge to shop here too (nearest C&B about 6 hours away). I guess it's ok because I should focus on studying... haha.

Anne (in Reno) - the desk is against an orange wall in both the first and second photos. They were taken at different times (night for first, morning for second). Thanks also for liking the realism. I didn't want to cover up my personality. :D

ahart - I'm sorry I don't know where the paint cans are. It's probably in the shared attic somewhere. But I'm positive I bought it at Home Depot.

I love the orange-salmon and yellow colors! They are my favorite hues because they do indeed cheer me up. They also demand a lot of attention. Great use of them!

WOW! I would never think to use yellow (I typically hate it) but in this bathroom I am impressed with it's use. The orange is great - and I CANNOT believe the pantry space in full view and in such order. In my place I NEED doors to help with the orderly illusion.

The bedroom - seems soothing - would love to take a nap there. Each room has a great living sense to it.

Good job Hope!

No, not feeling the orange salmon. But I love the shower curtain and yellow paint combination.

Great job! On a budget no less. Love the yellow desk. And I would have never picked out that orange salmon color but I think it really works in that space.

The yellow color in the bathroom is PERFECT.

I do wish you would lower your Hockney print about a foot, maybe just 8 inches, but that's just a pet peeve of mine.

Your exposed pantry is truly amazing - I'd love to see a shot of that head-on just to see how you did it (and try to emulate it myself).

And thanks for reminding me what a difference flowers make - headed to the florist right now...

I love this entry. Clean and modern, but lived in. Reminds me of Olso.

TGS - What a lovely home! Your color combinations are truly unique and fresh, seemingly blending Asian and Scandinavian influences. The colors really speak for themselves, fitting well with the theme of this contest. I can tell that you chose what felt right to you, instead of mimicking a cheesy catalog scheme. I love the clean, minimalist look, but also the feeling that this home is lived-in and warm. Gorgeous!!!

INCREDIBLE colors! My sister-in-law went to Cornell and I'm sure she'd appreciate these images. LOVE the shower curtain...where did you find it?

BTW...you're the FIRST place I've commented on and if I could vote, you'd be an instafinalist in my book. =)

GOOD LUCK!