apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Melissa, beautiful colors. Where'd you get your bedroom rug? I've been on a desperate search for a new one for my living room.

I love the buildup of colors - from the almost (but not quite) whiteness of the bedroom, into the really rich tones of rust and green in the basement and in the sunroom. Yours is a great way to show people how to you secondary and tertiary colors that can be really rich without resorting solely to primary colors.

Calming and beautiful. Definitely my favorite entry so far.

Seconding the love for that bedroom rug. Do tell where you got it!

I took a deep breath and relaxed while I looked at your photos. Love that the berries match the pillow in the sun room.

Your colors are subtle, but very warm and well done. The picture of your sunroom is so cozy. Seems like the perfect spot to curl up with a cup of tea and a book and pet the cat. I absolutely love this place.

Really stunning. Sophisticated but still warm and inviting. This might be my favorite so far. And the print above the typewriter is gorgeous. This is a place I'd love to spend time in.

Beautiful, Calm, Sophisticated. Love all the natural light.

I am loving the details... the vase in the last photo, the painting in the orange room (the blue one above the couch), the fabric or print behind the typewriter, and most of all the chalkboard (what appears to be) hallway! I'm stealing that one!

Cant tell what the rooms look like overall. but nice colors

gorgeous. love the bedroom.

Looooooooooove. You get extra points for showcasing vintage pieces so well, and for admitting that you didn't get the hallway paint color right the first (or second, or third) time. I think the bedroom could use an accent - maybe a beautiful leaf green or lavender or blush pink? It's lovely as is - but your favorite color (whatever it is) would really pop with the dove gray.

Anyway, submit more pictures as a House Tour when this contest is over. I demand more glimpses into your home!

i love your bedroom. do you mind sharing info on your rug?

thank you.

Beautiful! It's sophisticated and layered and has a personality!

Cool colors! I like the use of the chalkboard!

Very pretty, but it's hard to get a sense of what the overall spaces look from the pictures submitted. I feel like I only get to see a small curated corner instead of a whole room, Nor do I get a sense of how the rooms relate to each other. Would like to have seen more. And that's a good thing!

wow, this is gorgeous! I want to sit on your sun porch on a pretty autumn day and sip tea and knit. sigh.

Thanks everyone for your nice comments! The rug is from target, it was available last year. The artwork over the typewriter and desk is actually from a stencil which I repeated in an alternating pattern over a canvas.

beautiful colors. would you let me know the name and brand of the paint used in your bedroom? i think it might be good for my yoga room.

thanks,
doug

I think this is one of my favorites so far.

What is the paint color of the wall with the "feed the cats" writing? It looks deep blue to me.

I really love entries like this where the colors and things chosen are not at all my own personal taste ... I would probably never choose them to be in my home, YET I look at these photos and think ... "Boy ... I really could live here." It's just so pulled-together and cozy that it kinda transcends anything else. Plus, that sunroom looks like a really really happy place. nice job.

I'm confused. You're using "safe" colors. Where's the bold colors? This contest is about the boldest, brightest house in the world. Not about the warmest, calm house in the world.

Beautiful colors. I am very intrigued by the silver canvas in your bedroom - so soft makes me think of rain. Also really love the blue canvas in the living room. Did you paint these? I really love the orange color in your living room. You have a beautiful subtle way of using color.

P.S. - your explanation of how you used color to form a relationship in your rooms to the hallway is fascinating.

I love this house. LOVE it. I like the great touches of old appliances like the typewriter and radio. (esp that wine rack!!) I like stuff like that but never buy it because I try to avoid clutter, but you have totally found a beautiful way to display these things. I second (third?) the beautiful bedroom rug, and taht quilt on the bed looks cozy! I'm also digging that cool artwork in the basement picture.

I have a question that whatizthat's comment makes me ask...why does color have to be bold to be beautiful? i see that bold color is part of this contest's entry requirement but why? why is it not just a beautifully put together palette, whether bold, or subtle or calm? some of these entries feel like tiffany boxes and/or someone's play date at a paint store. bold isn't enough in my opinion to make the colors work. it's how they all work together. can anyone enlighten me here? thanks.

my favorite by far! and way to take a photo, thank you. all in all, my eyes are pleased :)

Looks like a very calming and relaxing space.
I also love the simplicity of things, nothing to over the top.

Very Nice.

Hi, to answer some questions -

The bedroom wall color is Benjamin Moore, Par Four. The chalkboard wall is black chalkboard paint. I made the paintings in the bedroom, living room, and basement.

Gorgeous.

BB, my guess is that it's the use of the color that's supposed to be bold, not the color itself. Melissa had the guts to paint her hallway four times, and every room in her house is a different color. That's bold, even if the colors themselves are warm, earthy, subtle, whatever.

Plus she's got an orange basement.

Charming, but in an updated/contemporary way. I love the soft yellow.

love the bedroom - some of my favorite colors - where did you get the coverlet for the bed? it would work in my room perfectly!

Oh dear! I recently bought and framed another vintage London Underground print. . .

http://img213.imageshack.us/img213/2981/poster00042ih5.jpg

. . .and was absolutely delighted with it, but now I see yours and I like it even better! What lush colors. Hmm, maybe I'll add that one to my wall as well, to make it a set, although they do look so great as bold stand-alones (and though nice on their own, I'm not so sure how those two color schemes would work together). But it looks GREAT with your decor; I love it all!

I love all the photos. (And I have the same London Underground poster).

the results reflect the thought put into how the colors flow from one room to the next

Looks beautiful! The colors are so calming. Can I come and visit? Is that kitty in the bottom photo watching baby chipmunks by any chance?

NOW I know why people get so afraid of color, they're afraid places like some of the other entries, which unlike this one, hear "color" and they choose the most IN-YOUR-FACE hues. This proves that color is beautiful and inviting and provides the Je ne sais quois needed to attract you into the space, not technicolor you to death. Great work!

I love the silver/grey theme in the bedroom. Very sophisticated and soothing, without being neutral or gloomy.

real cool Melissa

Hi, the coverlet on the bed is also from target (really I do shop at other stores too!) What's great about it is that it's reversible. The other side is a rich chocolate brown.

i thought this competition was about fall color, not fall bland. the only photo with any nice contrast is the couch and living room wall, which is nicely done, but the rest is a little monochromatic for me.

Hi there

Could you please tell us the name of the yellowish color? And the same of the basement orange?

Love the bedroom......wish the bed had been made.

A little too perfect for me, no delightful surprises. Makes me yawn. There is definitly "too monochromatic" the bedroom is well done but what does it have to do with fall, it makes me think of a dreary winter drizzle. I realize it's well done, but I don't get any sense of the person who lives there. Only that they look at decorating magazines. And to Jenny, what universe are you from??? The bed is supposed to look like that! And yes, EVERYONE has that London poster, it's as trite as a Van Gogh.
Cat is cute though!

Hi Melissa! The colors in your house are so warm and inviting. The livingroom color is like pumpkin pie, and the diningroom is like a fall skyline of color. I love it! Will you decorate my house when I get one? P.S. Even your kitty in the sunroom totally matches. LOL

Your sunroom is AMAZING!

I love the graphic elements and use of bold fall colors in your interior design, particularly in the dining room, basement and sunroom. Great work! I would love to sit out in that sunroom on a sunny Fall day with a cup of hot cider!

DC Lisa, the yellow in the dining room is Benjamin Moore, Straw and the basement wall color is Behr, Warm terra cotta. It's a very warm, glowing color especially when softly lit at night.

more please- love!!!

where did you get that desk?????????

I really like how the colors work together and how you've maximized the way the light works in the rooms -- you've done a superb job -- you're so right about the tones! What wonderful creature helped you find that house? (sorry, couldn't resist !!) It is so *you* now and that's the best compliment I can think of. Speaking of verklempt :)

I have to know, what kind of typewriter is that?

LOVE the sunroom.
Mind sharing what that paint color is?

I love the little vignettes you've posted. Like others I'd love to see more of each room to be able to make an educated vote so to speak. I love your choice of colors nevertheless, after using bold colors in my home for the last 5 or 6 years that are similar to those submitted over the years, yours was refreshingly bold.
b-t-w, did you take the cat to the paint shop? his/her color is similar to the sunroom :) What are the living/dining room colors

Hi, the desk/ wine bar is from crate & barrel. The typewriter is made by Royal, my husband picked it up at a street fair.
Coco, thanks for your comments on the color choices. I too in the past have used all manner of colors and have now edited it down to a palette that I find refreshing to look at every day.
And no kitty (Olive) didn't make it to the paint store, her colors are all beautifully her own!

Aaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh....

It's so nice to see colors that are rich but kind on the eyes. Love the color choices.

I'm jealous of your sun room and serene bedroom.