Name: Tod and Corey Marie
Location: Lansing, MI
Why we use color:
"Running a small press comic book publishing company, we live and breathe art. We moved from San Diego into a tiny apartment in Lansing, Michigan, in order to escape the inflated cost of living and finally be able to run our business full time. I.e.: no more day jobs! We needed a space that would function as our home office – but also a cozy apartment to "go home" to at the end of the day.
Using color and design, we were able to take an already small space and transform it into a functional space suited for working AND relaxing."
Color Tips:
"Accessorize with Color. In order to keep the room warm and not too bright, we chose to accessorize with our brightest color, instead of using it on the walls. This helped to spread the color out through the room, and kept our room from looking like a Jack-O-Lantern.
Use White Effectively. Even if you like a lot of color, stark white will enhance ANY color. White trim looks good in any room, with any colors on the walls. A white stripe just above the halfway point in our room also makes our ceilings look much higher. As artists, we've also found that working around white (For instance, a white wall, with a white desk) helps us stay focused. Too much color in a room where work needs to be done can be distracting.
Love it! A perfectly balanced, fully realized room. Kudos. I wouldn't change a thing.
I could live in this place. I love the contrast between chocolate brown and that shade of blue with shots of orange and white. Yum. Of course, this makes me realize that my votes are probably coming from a very personal connection I make the first time I see any pix.
This is my kind of color scheme: rich neutrals that function as colors (that dark brown!). And how can I resist someone who cites scrapbook paper as an inspiration?
What I especially like is that it looks flawlessly put together as it is -- and then you look at the individual pieces and realize that changing to a completely different color scheme in a few years would be a matter of a couple gallons of paint and some new pillows and maybe a vase. It's a very smart use of resources to get a "look."
So well done without looking "done." Definitely a place to call home.
Love the color combination of brown, blue, and orange. A favorite for design on paper and now come to life in this living space. Great job!
Chocolate and Blue my two favorite colors. This is perfection
BRAVO BRAVO BRAVISSIMO
This is a stunner. It seems so fully realized and well thought out. And I find the color combination so unexpected, but modern and pleasing.
I LOVE this! My favorite colors!!
Wow, another contestant from Lansing!? We live by Sparrow Hospital - we should meet up sometime! (Our entry has yet to be posted) This is so lovely and dare I say, classy. What a great color scheme.
Warming and cooling at the same time. Superb job!
I like it. But I think you cleaned up for the photos a little too much! It seems very matchy-matchy... I'd want to deliberately muss up the scene so it didn't feel quite so much like a window display.
I told you guys to enter!!! Instant success!
This is great! Graphic, bold and still soothing enough to relax in. I was going to ask where you guys found the cool light box style lights for the wall...then I realized they are just painted white squares. So creative and resourceful, I am starting to get really excited about this contest.
I agree with K. It seems too matchy-matchy for me too. I love the colors and how the room flows...but I wish there was something more surprising color wise. It reads like a website flash page.
Fantastic! Great job - funny colors. Clean look. I could work their in a "Lansing minute."
Peace... Annie
Oh ug!!! Sorry- I see blue and orange together like that and all I can think about are the broncos. I was one of the few to survive a childhood in denver hating football. The world stops for it there. Blue and orange give me flashbacks.
I like it! It looks very put-together.
However, I also kinda agree with the comments about it being matchy-matchy... to a degree, it almost seems like a "Changing Rooms" theme room or a very well-decorated office (IE open to the public). But you've done it very well, and it's hip, and must be very pleasant to be in.
My fiance would love this room - he loves brown and baby blue together. And he's an indie comics artist/self-pub too; he'll be up at a show in Michigan at the end of the month, and does the poster art for the indie comics show here in Columbus. So it's not impossible that we'll run into each other one of these days. :)
PS - I have noticed today that the more effective entries in the color contest, so far, make very skilful use of neutrals.
as an art student, one of the first things you learn about using color is that brown can help out a lot of color schemes. blue/orange/white is pulled together by brown, for example.
Sorry, not a fan. Looks like someone's been watching too much Queer Eye and copying Thom Filicia on a budget.
re: too much queer eye
There are far worse sources of inspiration around these days.
I like that it looks light-hearted but grown up, it's fun, and integrates white to make even that look intentional. I also like that it looks like you'll be able to update/change it easily down the road.
The ONLY bone to pick is the extra "wood" color of the various mis-matched doors, which I thinks adds a little visual distraction. I'd love to see the doors trimmed out in similar molding to unify them all, and would love to see them painted gloss white or gloss chocolate. But this is just armchair pickiness about a room that I think is pretty successful.
MMMM, chocolate. :)
I like the color choices. I have to say though that the room seems extremely busy having been inspired by a minimalist artist. It also makes the room look smaller...and slightly suffocating...and slightly over the top.
I like it, and can fully appreciate the time and money it took to put this place together but honestly its so last year Jonathan Adler.
Been there done that....
Turq-
Why do you say "money" it took to do this? What makes you think this cost a lot?
And if this is sooo last year, tell us... what ARE all the cool kids doing now?
can I have your couch?
I like the pillows on the couch and the pattern of the shapes throughout the unit from the painted squares to the round mirror. Very bold.
This one is for Patrick (the other one)...
I am not saying it cost a lot but when you add up everything in the room I am sure it wasn't cheap. You figure in paint, supplies, all the furniture in the room including the rug, mirrors, lamps, coffee table, desk, chairs and ottoman. Not to mention all the fabric for the pillows and running around picking up ALL the items etc...etc...
I would have to say that Hollywood Glamour is pretty hot right now. Also mixing old and new together. Putting a Danish modern peice in with a mirrored peice. Flocked wallpaper, chinoiserie peices, using suite materials for upholstery and drapes, lots of full length mirrors, 1960's Miami style bamboo, leather, chippendale, Louis furniture revamped, I can go on and on...
I also think that the timeless Eames, Saarinen, and other influential designers of that era will never go out of style.
But I do think the minimal mid-century/retro style is slowly dying...
Maybe I should submit my place....hummmm...
Just wanted to thank everyone for all of the kind words and votes!
We spent less than $500 on this room. We recovered the couch, found all of the furniture at thrift stores/furniture stores, etc. Tod built our desk and the media storage cabinents.
I also didn't mention anywhere that we moved in approximately three weeks ago.
Btw -- we'd never heard of Jonathan Adler, so thanks for the suggestion!
So this is new! Are you enjoying it?
It didn't look terribly expensive to me, just very thought-out. Most of the work is done with paint. I was going to say that "I bet the most expensive things are those three oblong light-boxes on the wall by the sofa" - and they aren't even light boxes, just painted. D'oh.
I forgot to mention that I really like those cat-shaped throw pillows you have. (Actually, I noticed them the first time, but I forgot to make the comment about the cats fitting the color scheme... ;)
... perhaps cat singular, not plural.
Yes! Very much so! When we originally drew and planned out the design, I was worried that it would be a little overbearing, and it's really not in the slightest. It's very relaxing to be in.
We currently do not have a TV (partially because we don't have the money for one, and partially because we watch DVD's on our laptops and don't want to get sucked into channel surfing) and not having a living room centered around a TV set is so liberating!
The room also feels a lot bigger than it is. (The "living room" portion of the room is only about 8 feet square, with low ceilings to boot. I wish I could have posted more pictures, I would have posted some before pictures!
As for the kitty pillows, he's only about a year old, and maine coon. He was napping, we didn't dare wake him. Rambunctious doesn't begin to describe him.
Just so you know....
Tod's sister sent me this link. I think she is proud of you both. Did the motor home look this good too??
It would have, if we'd gotten the chance. :( Unfortunately, we had to leave it in California and re-think our cross country tour. It's still going to happen, but not exactly the way we had originally hoped.
i can't say enough about the color brown. in fact, sometimes i just sit around repeating it: brown brown brown browon brown...
the maine coon is kind of a knock off of contemporary artist jt yost's cat lucy, though.
I painted this myself also I came up with all the ideas for Star Wars
I think this living room looks awesome, and I hate the color brown and also the combination of brown, orange and blue.
Still...it's a freakin' SWEET paint job!
they aren't colors i would choose, but the design is lovely. we're in the middle of choosing colors for our rooms, and it's tricky to use color to make things live without turning a small aparmtent into a crayon box. you've done well.
Story in the Boston Globe today about who started the blue/brown color combo trend:
http://www.boston.com/yourlife/home/articles/2005/10/13/the_mod_couple/
And, yes, Jonathan Adler stakes a claim...
Nice planning and great balance!
very nice...by the way..I went to Tufts University and Brown and Light Blue are our school colors...so NO one invented them
I think I'm likeing the cat most of all, curled up on that couch! And the desk-- such an interesting shape? Did you make it?
Being an artist myself the room makes me want to sit down and work. It looks like the perfect combination of living and working and no wasted space, which is very important if you are an artist with lots of stuff.....Very good job and on a budget that is unbelievable!
The third picture is what sold me on this room.
The first picture, with the two contrasting doors (yes, wood and white) wasn't too nice to look at and the other pictures look too matchy (as everyone else has said).
I want to have something Shocking! thrown into the mix. A dirty statue, perhaps? Kidding.
Anyway, the couch is something I could spend the whole day reading upon.
And that is important for me.
I haven't seen the others, but from this you deserve kudos for furniture selection, low cost, and paint choice.
I absolutely love the color scheme! The blue is cool and crisp, and the browns are warm and inviting! Very nice!
Lansing-woo hoo!
Corey & Todd, you have made the best use of your small space to make it seem much larger! On a limited budget, you have done extremely well! It is very retro, with a modern look, but is very cosy and appealing to all tastes. Your room makes me want to curl up on your couch with the cat! LOL This is the best room by far, as it is very relaxing, with it's cool colors!
very beautiful. i love these colors. i've got a lot of blues and browns in my room....
I like the furniture, but why not finsh the room and paint the doors? They really take away from the work.
Imaginative use of color and well-executed technique. Imagination and effort means they don't need to flash a lot of expensive furniture or accessories to impress.
A very nice room. I'm with PToo on the doors. Need a paint job and a change of hardware.
A question on the cabinets -- I really like the white/brown media cabinets. Are they custom? AND will they fit records (ie, albums, you know -- vinyl)? And if they do and they are custom, pleeeease pass on the maker info.
I need cabinets.
Hi Jayme -- actually Tod built those. They were (very loosely) based on a design that we saw in ReadyMade magazine. Ours don't fit vinyl, but it wouldn't be hard to build some that did.
Corey --
Thanks for the quick response. Maybe I'll see if I can dig up some plans. I'd like something easy and enclosed and have relatively minimal carpentry skills.
They look great though.
cheers,
jayme
Your choice of colors make a small space look larger! Nice job on a limited budget! Are you for hire?
haha, sure!
This is just too dope!
Wow! What an eye for color and arrangement!
You guys are good!
But then again, you ARE graphic artists, I would expect no less from you.
You should get into the Interior Design business, could make some serious change there between graphics gigs...
Turquoise:
Grab a dictionary . You spelled "piece" incorrectly 3 times. Once I could say it was a typo but 3 times?? Perhaps you should focas more on learning how to spell and less on being the "cool kid" with the "trendy fashion"
:)