apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Very nice. I agree the living room would be more cohesive with a combined TV/bookcase unit.

I kind of feel "eh" about it.

Even though there are distinctly whites, blacks, browns, and blues, I still feel like it's lacking color.

I also feel like a lot of the furniture stands out by name, not by how you're using it.

I'm not trying to slam at all, just explaining my inclination to shrug with indifference.

I like the floor.

roger dodger: ssssssnnnnob!

that argument is more boring than you think Sara's taste in design is. give it a rest and let her be proud of the space she's created for herself based on what she finds beautiful. your idea of "how pieces work together" may be complete bullshit to someone else.

god snobs are the worst.

Speaking of design, Dodger, who made the soapbox that you're standing on?

looks good so far. definitely get curtains to cover two windows/ac/radiator. nice ones, hung properly.

and fix corner area with bookshelf and tv. maybe buy some pretty art books and things to put on shelf to make it look good. although shelf is cool itself, it is downplayed by ugly tv next to it. i know you live there, and tv is practical but hide it, since you spent so much effort in rest of room.

In middleschool we used to use "dutch" as a euphemism for "turd."

Anyway. I think the place needs some color, too. Too bad all the wood is blonde. Mix it up, gurl!

Looks good, but could use some "stuff" -- books, knick-knacks, pillows, etc. Maybe it's a bit premature for a house tour.

The place looks very clean and calm. My only suggestion would be to replace the rug-its too small and the color looks dull against the floors. I'm sure it feels great to curl your toes in your current rug, but something bigger with a lower pile and blue/yellow colors such as in your art would look nice.

I would like to see the dining table pulled away from the wall, if there's room. Same with the bed. I have a big pet peeve with the sides of beds pushed against a wall, it reminds me of living at home. Always seems a little dormish.

I also feel like the space is lacking in colour a bit. Maybe some cushions on the couch that bring all the different colours together? Maybe some plants? I big graphic palm would look great in the living room corner.

I love the shower curtain, towels in the same blue would be great.

Overall I feel like this apartment has soooo much potential (eg. #1, that huge door, so great) and I think Sara is just getting started. Good luck and have fun doing it!

There are far more (by orders of magnitude) interiors that lack any kind of design sense in the world than the ones that do. Plus I have seen many more lacking cohesiveness and good design on AT than I have seen ones that do.

Stop your bitchin' dodger or save it for more deserving cases.

This place is well put together, could do with more art and a better resovled TV/bookcase unit but the owner has already acknowledged that.
Also, the owner found deals on these pieces so it's not as if they had tons of money to drop in one shopping trip and, voila, instant MCM apt.

I think part of the problem is the pictures. It's nice and all to have a hyper closeup of the rug or some other elements but pictures that show the whole room would let us have a better idea of how the elements work together.

Can you paint the place or is it one of those "don't touch the walls" place?

I don't think overhead lighting shows this space at its best advantage.

This space can easily evolve a lot as time passes....

But working with what's on hand, I'd probably try some different furniture arrangements. The space (to me) lacks flow or demarcated living areas areas - which is something I like. Maybe moving the furniture away from the walls. Or place the pieces facing each other at right angles to the walls to make it more conversational

The current rug placement, in particular, seems a little awkward and less than optimal. I'd move it next to the bed and enjoy walking on it first thing in the AM.

The floors and individual pieces of furniture are quite nice, but the overall feel is dreary. Was the apartment photographed with overhead lights turned on? I think a bit of color or art on the walls and a daytime photo shoot would do wonders.

I can certainly appreciate the slowly acquired furniture design aesthetic. Not all of us can pick up a copy of DWR catalog and have a room delivered next Tuesday. Most of us have to be patient and always keep looking for something that might work. So while my living room will ever make the cover of Architectural Digest, I've been able to afford a fabulous apartment that make the jaws of most twenty-somethings my age drop when coming into my home for the first time.

As to the TV corner problem...I'm not sure if that's the best place for it. I feel it is trying to compete with the fireplace as a focal point but fails, because the fireplace is so great.

I would move the tv and unit to where the blue swivel chair is. Then, move the swivel chair, ottoman, and floor lamps to the corner where the TV is now with the chair facing towards the center of the room with the lamp on its left.

Put the video/dvd equipment on the bottom of the tv unit, and take the papers and place them on that nice bookshelf and either keep that in the living rooom somwhere or move it into the bedroom, placing it close to the computer desk.

Anyway, those are my two cents...great job so far!

The furniture's a fabulous start, but every time I come back to this apartment's photos, my fingers itch for the Cure book. All the emotive bits (lighting, flowers, candles, pillows) seem to be missing. I'm not calling for clutter -- some of the ultra-minimalist apts featured here have seemed warmer because of clever use of one or two bold accessories and some color.

Given all that she's done to provide "good" furniture, warming the place up would probably be an 8-day cure rather than an 8-week cure.

REALLY like it.

The building by itself has enough caracter to highlight her choice of exquisite taste in furniture. If you hate it, then is because you can't afford it. I find dwell magazine as an inspiration for design and I can't never get tired of seeing a nelson bench next to a eames and noguchi. sorry about that! If she can organize the TV station and the computer desk in her bedroom, that will become a killer pad.

What is UWS ??

While roger dodger might have been less constructive with his input than others, he's still entitled to voice his opinion as everyone else... =P

kudos for letting go of everything and starting over, that's hard to do. to me, the space has an unfinished, still developing feel. you have a really good start...you already have your style identified with the pieces of furniture that you've bought, but overall, i think it's lacking in cohesiveness. i would suggest (as pervious entries have mentioned) adding the same more splashes of color to what you've started...for instance, take the wall paintings, and the shower curtain and tie that into the rest of the space as you see fit. very nice place! mine is all handme down free stuff that hopefully i can pull together one day, haha.

UWS = Upper West Side of Manhattan

Very nice pieces, but I feel that there is not much defining the spaces in the apartment. It feels like furniture dropped in a room. Were this my place, I'd try and effect the following changes:

1. Get rid of the poster in the kitchen. I have a strict "no posters" policy, unless we are talking true vintage posters that not everyone has a copy of. 99% of the time posters make a place feel like a dorm.

2. Pull the bed away from the wall. It looks uncomfortable, and when a bed is against a wall there is no way to chase someone (or be chased) around it.

3. Find a way to pull the dining table away from the wall. It's cool looking, the chairs are great, and they should be set off in their own space to really shine.

4. Add some color!

5. Deal with the lighting. It's kind of stark right now, and a lot of that is probably the lights for the photos, but I think there needs to be a few more light sources at different heights and color temperatures.

6. The TV situation definitely needs to be solved. Sounds like the renter is on the right track there.

7. The computer station in the bedroom has to be dealt with. I believe that visible electronics in the bedroom is bad mojo. Especially when there is a visible octopus of cabling to go with it.

In fact, I might move the computer to the kitchen, and turn the living room into a dining room/lounge area. I think that could work, though without seeing a floorplan I don't know for sure.

I like the way you're slowly working on putting your place together, and that you're starting from scratch. That's exciting!

I think for the living room, some nice curtains and colorful pillows and throws for the furniture would go a long way in making your place look homier.

Have fun!

I am afraid I agree with the more 'negative' comments. This place has great potential but at the moment it lacks personality. It needs more style/flair whatever you want to call it.
Agree the rug should be more colorful and much larger.
The egg chair would be fantastic in bright red or yellow (perhaps recover?).
Maybe put up some large wallpaper panels (not on the wall as this is a rental) behind the sofa in a funky pattern. Also add some items that aren't so 'designer'. Good luck with decorating your space, it won't take too much time/money or effort to get the 'wow' factor.

I think something like painting an accent wall; getting some flowers and doing a good window treatment would be really good.

This place might be a good candidate for my eventual evil plan for a window treatment where you use translucent corrugated fiberglas panels like they use in greenhouses, and drill holes in the centers of each plane them, and thread them onto a rod, and slide them back and forth like curtains. They would look and behave like VERY starched pinch-pleat curtains combined with sheers or something AND YET they would be very modern. I think they'd be the perfect bridge between the stuff and the apartment, itself.

Because this place needs something that looks KIND of custom, and not just off the rack and yet still insanely wonderful, as I'm just dead sure my idea would be. I think it would kind of help anchor the stuff and take a little bit of that DWR show-room kind of look that makes the stuff look kind of temporary.

Here's what I suggest for your fireplace/tv/books:

http://www.donfoote.com/graphics/custom_library.jpg

Something like that. Obviously it would have to be custom so would be expensive but I have always liked the built in around the fireplace look and you can get the carpenter to do different trim for a more modern or less modern look.

I like the couch, where did you find that?

Anyone who was *just* buying the obvious MCM pieces would have an Eames side chair. And a Bertoia chair. And any number of other iconic pieces that showed up with amusing regularity in the Smallest Coolest entries.

I'm not saying those who have those pieces aren't using them creatively -- just that Sara's chosen to skip quite a few icons, so it doesn't seem fair to argue that her tastes are straight from a list of major MCM pieces.

Ya what kind of couch is that? Maybe just because of the bench coffee table but this apartment reminds me of a recent NYT slide show of two Asian architects on UWS. Only they had purple and yellow chairs, i think.

Better lighting could pull all these great ingredients together. I suspect the living room has one big overhead light which is making things look flat. If you can replace this with some spots which direct the light toward your artwork, and add some soft lighting at different heights -table, floor etc, I think things will really start to come together for you.

I only just now really looked at the fireplace pics, and I really agree with Jamie Pup about the built-ins. That would look great and clean and feel less jumbled, which (although it would seem kind of "traditional) would somehow create a very modern kind of lack of "busy-ness".

I also think that a more squared-off top for the fireplace screen like this:

http://www.fineliving.com/fine/personal_space_selects/text/0,1663,FINE_8071_15100,00.html

...and some really, really smart tool sets like these:

http://www.stacksandstacks.com/html/product538_0.htm

...would look insanely wonderful and anchor that whole modern idea with the fireplace beautifully.

I defend my use of the snob label for roger & co., because I've seen that attitude a lot here and elsewhere (such scorn for dwell/dwr!). roger's argument reminds me of all those tedious arguments you see in the designaddict forums about the barcelona chair. sure, it is label whorish to go out and buy something because it was designed by van der rohe or saarinen or eames and it looks nice in the DWR catalag, but it rises to the level of snobbery to look down on label whores as philistines with "no real taste" of their own because the buyer doesn't know how to match it with the right flea market/antique quirky piece that no one will recognize. it's just another way that people make themselves feel better by stepping on someone else's head.

I do think there is a justifiable desire, when spending $3,000+ on a chair, to buy one that some people are going to recognize as being that costly. It does irk me when someone mistakes a piece of equally expensive furniture created by a living designer whose work isn't sold in DWR or featured in dwell for IKEA, but what are you going to do? If you love it, you love it, for whatever reason. I don't see the utility of mocking Sara's choices just because the pieces are recognizable. the recommendations about color and lighting and "more stuff" in these comments are far more useful to Sara than looking down our collective noses at her for buying pieces that are sold at DWR.

and mary, your name was a euphemism for something at my middle school as well.

The recurring assumption that people buy these MCM items for their name/designer/status gets really old after awhile. Maybe people (myself included) like the style? Or grew up with parents or grandparents that had some of those items and it brings a sense of nostalgia. The slams and criticism for those who favor DWR or classic MCM pieces sometimes just reeks of jealousy.
I think you have great taste, Sara. And a very good start!

Mary Mary, just cause I'm from the region I feel I should clarify:

Dutch = from Holland
Danish = from Denmark (part of Scandinavia)

People are always confused about this, so I thought I'd chime in!

I like the blonde wood and white walls. I like the furniture. I'd love to see some pattern in the living/dining room or more color and art.

Maybe a wildly patterned rug would do the trick in this room.

Great start, though.

sara, great furniture and love those uws prewar apartments. i would suggest painting your apartment even if you used non colors like greys for the walls and white for the moldings. if you could see a recent issue of world of interiors, that featured jullianne moore's townhouse it could be a good inspiration for you. she lived in a 19th century home with 20th century furniture. the living room walls were grey with white trim the dark walls helped anchor the furniture and the white mouldings kept it crisp and controlled. is there any possibility that those are built in shutters that are painted over in the living room? also the carpet is too small for the living room, maybe it would work in the bedroom.

sara, another thought, think about adding something organic and something with texture. for example; a nakashima style coffee table, check out soji on 17th street near west elm and a thiick mohair throw on the sofa or a dark mongolian lamb pillow on the sofa. it will help cozy up the space.

One of the things I love about home tours is, when they show their work space, we get to see exactly where they are sitting when they're on the site. So, even if we don't know your face, we know exactly where you're sitting when you're posting:

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/photos/071907sara/images/sara%20uws20_medium.jpg

Nice apartment.

A bit late for me to chime in, but I just wanted to say that I agree with Wende: a little warming up and a little rearranging is all this place needs. Maybe a little editing, too--I'm not sure how practical some of the lighting is. Something I learned from doing the Cure is that the difference between too empty/too full or too warm/too sterile can boil down to one or two objects in a small space. Like Wende suggested, an eight-day Cure would really do the trick. I think even an eight-HOUR Cure could do wonders.

You have some good pieces. The apartment has good bones and detailing. The fireplace is gorgeous. Some suggestions:

I suggest not lining all your furniture along the walls. It will create a friendlier and cozier feel. Try positioning the chair or tv area at a slight slant to the wall.

Definitely need to bring some color to the walls. Curtains would help. Even a large mirror to break up the large white spaces would be nice. Also some large prints if you can't paint. Maybe a large block of colored vinyl as a backing to help frame and bring out the colors of the wall pieces in the living room.

I know you like the rug, but a colorful rug with an abstract print (swirls?) will help to break up the blocks of white that one perceives in your spaces.

A small vertical entertainment center with doors that close for the living room would give a very clean look.

I think the space is amazing, and the furniture choices are gerat. You have alot of great pieces and with them all competting for attention it looks a little busy.

I suggest you do something with the light. You have great taste and there is so much potential. With the proper lighting, you can give each piece a place to shine on it's own in the same room.

Move a few of the pieces and work with the layout. And PLEASE do something about that horrible fireplace and mantle....it's messing everything up. Maybe you can even just paint it white and help it blend in.

Also the clutter in the area where the tv should be hidden....but I know you are working on that.

Great job!!!!!

I think, as I've said before in other spaces, that there is lacking here a layer of finishing detail. People sometimes get so paranoid of clutter that it paralyzes them into not having anything on any horizontal surface.

This place just needs a good styling. And a bigger rug in the living room. And cord control.

But otherwise, nice stuff to start with.

and ps: I don't think Roger Dodger was being a snob. I think his to be a valid point... that a collection of curated pieces does not always yield the intended end result. But I'd add "...without the finishing details." Candles. Vases. Objet. Coffee table book. Pillow. Something.

whoops... "that there" = "what there"

That there was a mistake, y'all.

Whoops, again. Reread it, and nevermind.

I agree with the other comments about color - something other than white would help to warm up the space.

Can you change the kitchen cabinet pulls? - to something more in keeping with your MCM aesthetic.

Your work-in-progress is off to a great start - I recently moved into a plain white box that I hope to soon post on AT -- when I get the nerve!

I really like what Sara's done so far. I think swapping the tv and the egg chair is a great suggestion, as is patrick's suggestion of finishing detail.

Speaking of detail, I didn't notice the white vases on the mantel until I looked at the pictures a second time because they fade into the mantle and the white wall. Maybe they could be grouped as a collection on the shelving unit to the left of the fireplace?

I like the pictures above the mantle and the chair - the trees bring a nice organic touch into the room. Maybe some dark wood vases or candlesticks on the mantle would work, because they would stand out more and would frame/highlight the picture of the trees?

Or, if you're allowed to, you could paint the space above the mantel a grey or brown, which would help both the picture and the vases stand out. (There seem to be two directions for color in these recommendations, one a grey/organic direction and the other a more bright colorful tone similar to the art above the couch...)

I think the fireplace screen needs to be a nod to the modern, too... to bridge the traditional envelope of the room with the modern elements introduced into it.

Some of the comments on Sara's apartment, which I believe shows a personal and original sense of excellent design, are remarkable for their nastiness, particularly Roger Dodger and rr. Of course, given that Roger Dodger evidently believes that the best source of design ideas is the design section of Barnes and Noble, it is impossible to take his comments seriously. He is not a design snob, so much as a design bigot, without any original idea of his own, other than what he may be able to glean from a Martha Stewart book at Barnes and Noble. In short, it is evident that he knows nothing about design and possesses little, if any, ability, to think on his own about how to create a living space.
Paul

I agree with the need for color... other than that, I think this place is great! I'd love to see a nice blue(see the post on all those great French blue colors) or dark brown over the fireplace to make the mantle/ vases pop... if you don't want to do something so dramatic, I'd keep all the mouldings/ window frames a glossier white, but paint all the walls a creamier off-white or tan color to add a little bit of contrast. I also agree that some throw pillows would help - orange/ red - something really bright.

It looks like someone who just discovered interior design went shopping in SoHo on Sunday, and had everything delivered on Thursday. It's sort of like looking at a catalog: all this expensive, sort of similar stuff together. This look more like a collection than an apartment someone would enjoy living in, and judging by the comments, clearly many would. I wonder how much time the person spends here, or what they do for a living? Does this stuff MEAN anything to the people who own it other than "I have nice stuff"?

Nothing special. Furniture looks like it all came from same store (DWR or Room & Board). Not very inovative or risky. Seems a bit textbook. More BEFORE than AFTER. As for rooms, nice bones. Need some color to really make them pop.

Good luck turning it into the warm and inviting place I think it could become.

this place has great potential. you've heard it all before, but it does. However, you need to hit a flea market or ebay or your grandmother's house or your great aunt's house and add some flavor. it looks like you spent too much time looking at catologues from dwr or something. that's not a bad thing but nothing seems original. just needs some flavor. I mean like a large drawing done by your little nephew and frame it and hang it in the dining room or hang a chalk board or something instead of a big pix in the dining area. i mean you have the basics now kick it in to gear. I'd just take my time.let it evolve. read magazineslike living etc --hit a few flea markets or visit some friend's home and raid their stuff or visit a student art show or your own closet and add some ummmph.

Sara,

I am dying to put something orange in your space. A pillow, a throw, something orange.

Love your space.

Lovely apartment and lovely collection of classic modern pieces.

But it feels a little bit sterile to me, as if Sara is trying to play it safe by sticking to name-brand furniture.

I'm looking forward to seeing this place evolve as Sara defines her own aesthetic and injects more of her personality into her home.

Be bold, Sara! And post updates!

I'd love to see what this place looks like in 5 years...

Sara,

I think you have really wonderful furniture (and I love that shower curtain-where is it from?) but I am not sure it looks its best here. It needs some warmth--and it doesn't have to come in the form of color, so I am not suggesting you paint a room orange, but adding a different tone of wood, more art or textiles might showcase all your beautiful pieces better. Also, I think it might just be a work in progress, in which case good luck with the whole process.

Also, I forgot to say, getting a couple of softer lights would probably also make a dramatic difference--some lighting that is less direct like opaque sconces or a combination of shaded table and floor lamos.

Sara's apartment remains a very inviting and warm place. She has a great sense of style, design and comfort.

Sara,
I enjoyed looking at your apartment, and I'm late in posting, I'm not even sure you will read this. It is really marvelous that you have an aesthetic and are willing to take your time building it. I do understand the desire to live as cleanly as possible, some of us just do not enjoy knick-knacks and clutter everywhere.

I really love your art. I especially love the pieces over your sofa, but find them a little too small. Can you get a larger (and of course simple) piece for over your sofa? These pieces can be incorporated perhaps in a vertical fashion. I love your white vases, and I really love your lamps. I like very stark looking lamps in my place and I use pink bulbs to soften the lighting.

Some of the comments are very good. The dining room furniture is lovely and deserves better treatment than being smashed against a wall. Bring it into more prominent display. The computer needs to be moved out of your room. You're already aware of the issues about the TV, this is a constant challenge in decor.

The poster in the kitchen has to go. Your aesthetic is too fine for posters. I feel like you need something a little edgey in there. Can you take a guerilla-style photo of some cool graffiti and have it blown up? Don't be afraid to create your own art. Even though the pieces above your sofa are lovely, you could have very easily made those yourself. I hope you didn't pay a lot for them. (And before art snobs start slamming me - I am an artist and what artists charge is usually ridiculous, and there is an artist in everyone.)

Beautiful place. I would love to see postings of how it evolves. Thanks for sharing.

Sara,
Sorry one more thing. I would advise against wax based art near the fireplace.

sara, thanks for sharing your lovely place. you've clearly put a lot of thought into it, and it has paid off. i do agree with walter "kimora lee" about painting the fireplace white; that might really improve the look. also, perhaps you should look into a new, more modern fireplace screen?
and let yourself have some more color, girl! it will enhance all the great furniture choices you've already made. well-done!

The only thing this space is really lacking is color on the walls. No need to go crazy, perhaps a blue silvery gray to warm the space up a bit. Also, I know a lot of people here will disagree, but I think I nice flat screeen tv over the fire place (especially if walls are painted gray, tv won't stand out so much) with art on either side of fireplace walls would add symmetry and would take care of the clutter of the TV in the corner.
I agree take the bed and center it in the room, again the silvery gray wall color will keep it neutral but give it some defining character and bump it up in sophistication. I would go with ivory silk panels in the living room if the wall is painted gray and would do one on the far side if the wall, one in the middle unless you plan to have art there and one on the end. The curtains have to be structured silk though like raw silk or even a shantung to get the look I'm thinking of.

I think what people are responding to is that while this space has potential, it looks exactly like its description: An unfinished place that had to be furnished from scratch in a relatively brief period of time.

While some great pieces certainly were chosen, many of them are highly recognizable and combined with the lack of a personal vision developed over time, the result does verge into the catalog effect mentioned by some of the posters here.

What this place definitely needs is some WILD finishing touches - things that bring bold color, textures, etc. into this very well-mannered space. Adding pillows, window treatments, plants and a few well-chosen framed photos or personal items will certainly help, but caution needs to be exercised here as well.

In those next steps, it will be important to avoid the classic design novice mistake that I have definitely made myself (and have seen many times on this site!) - being TOO tasteful. Basically, a space with completely nice furnishings that match perfectly can seem lacking in personality, and sometimes it's a touch of something in BAD taste that makes it cohere. In professionally done interiors, you'll often find an over-the-top piece or crazy juxtaposition you'd never think of doing on your own that, in the right setting, becomes a stroke of genius.

Can someone explain the purpose of these re-posts? Has this person not done anything to her place since July?

I don't mean to complain, I just don't get it. Thanks!

woah! didn't even notice the July thing, thanks for mentioning that. Reposts should at least be labeled as such so people (like me ;-) don't end up adding long responses the person will never read.

Sara-

I really enjoyed your apartment- the detailing in your apartment is stellar- between the shudders around the windows to the really nice tiles surrounding the fireplace, it is a very unique place.

The only thing that I thought the apartment was lacking a little was some color- with the blonde floor, table and chairs (which were really cool btw) and a couple of other beige pieces, it seems as though it could use some bold pops of color here and there. Those white vases on the mantle look to be a very nice shape, but they kind of get lost against the white backdrop.

Oh and one more thing, love the egg chair and the great front door.

All in all, great apartment and something that you can definately grow into.

Thanks for showing us!

I feel as though this home has no "soul" I love to see peoples books and interests. I definately dont think I would be comfy having tea or a glass of wine there. But It has great bones and I'm sure it could be something great.

I totally disagree with the person who said to get rid of the poster. I think the poster is one of the few elements that give the place color and warmth. Art and graphic design are both equally enriching and both add a human touch to your home. A framed poster hardly looks like a dorm, it looks elegant.

I think the blond wood furniture looks great, but it's designed to be neutral – to compliment more colorful things in your home. I agree with the comments that you need more color.

boring. too catalogy. The only thing of interest are the four small works on the wall over the couch. I get tired of people hanging boring poster they bought at the Met or framed art they at Ikea or Target. For crying out loud you live in NEW YORK CITY, a mecca for original art. Would it kill you to go out and find something that you like. I guarantee that it will make you place original and not an ikea showroom.

I will second (or third) the idea that the lighting is doing a disservice to the photos. It would be really interesting to compare these to photos taken during the day. Also, if this is how the lighting really does look at night, maybe a mix of lamps would provide a wamer atmosphere than one strong overhead light (I've been there too!)
The basic furniture pieces are great and the classics will never go out of style -- like others said, I think it just needs a few added details.

I appreciated the apartment because the owner obviously respects mid-century modern iconic pieces of furniture. The apartment reflects the occupant's taste--I applaud her efforts.
gail

I agree with the need for more color and personal items. I also find the arrangement of the furniture a tad haphazard and things like the shelving unit with the open shelf crammed into a corner when it should be in a space where one can really appreciate the design of it. ALso, when there is a open shelf, I would like to see items on said shelf...

The rug looks a bit small and sad on a floor that large. I think perhaps a patterned rug larger in size would tie in the room and the choice furniture pieces more. I would move the existing rug and put it to use in the bedroom next to the bed.

I don't mind the artwork but I'm not a fan of the framed poster art either... That said, maybe the choice of poster art means something to Sara. I know when I put up artwork, it's always something that a friend artist has donated or I've purchased from. I like art that reminds me of the person who made it, and when I have personal ties to the person, it means more to me. Either that, or it's a vintage photo that communicates something meaningful to myself. A home should reflect your tastes, but it should also say a little bit about your personality too. Maybe some personal photos of friends/family would just take the apt to a new level. In any case, I think the sofa and the blue chair lovely pieces... A distinctive throw would soften the sofa to me and make it just that more inviting.

Drapes at the window would make the place look warmer as well... But in all, I'm envious of the furniture pieces!!

Hey! I went to that Magritte exhibit! I have no self-restraint, though, so I ended up with a huge poster that covers my wall. *ahem* The apartment does look a little bit like a DWR catalogue, but I admire Sara's tenacity in going for what she likes. Anybody know what that fluffy white lamp is? Eh? Eh?

one coat of paint and a bigger rug and maybe a puppy and id move in lickety split. though if you want to split hairs, i like the nelson as bench/table combo, and used as only a table it looks a little odd. but it is a beauty, isnt it.

I don't know if everyone should be attacking dodger: it feels kinda wrong to tell people that they shouldn't post their opinions when you're telling them your opinion of THEM.

I do think the apartment is lacking color: but this is probably just because a lot of landlords won't let you paint a rental. The color issue can be solved with throw pillows, drapes, and, yes, a larger, more colorful rug.

It's also a NEW apartment, and it's bigger than what she's used to, which is why it may seem that it's lacking knick-knacks. It takes time to get used to having more space to fill after constantly having to pare down. She has, however, been really good about picking investment furniture over dorm-room styled Ikea-like futons.

I agree with summerinbrooklyn about the art: my mom did all of my art. It's beautiful, personal, an I can be sure no one else has it.

In the meantime, the biggest, cheapest improvement Sara can make is LIGHTING. It doesn't matter what color your space is if you're using a bland overhead fixture with a 75-watt bulb. You can get decent lighting and bulbs at Ikea. :)

Hi Sara,
I think you have a lovely place and I appreciate that you are designing it from scratch on a budget. I was wondering, could tell me who makes the dining chairs? I have seen similar ones assigned to Arne Jacobson, but am not sure.

-Figs

where the hell did this come from?

Love the windows and the fireplace but I agree with the other people who say this place has no soul.
I'm always amazed at people who read AT and submit their apartments online but cram all of their furniture up against the walls or into corners.
She has some nice pieces but a coat of paint on at least one of the walls, some table lamps, colorful sofa pillows would make a huge difference. And PLEASE- move that table away from the wall!!

I really like this place - somewhat reminds of my own place, in the sense that it is strongly mid-c. However, there seems to be a lack of cohesiveness to it all, despite the great furnishings. The art seems to blend into the walls. Also, I would pull the furniture away from the walls - I did that in my place, and it makes a world of difference.

Also, I normally like white walls and neutral palate, but there's something not working here for me with these white walls. Yet, I can't seem to explain why I feel this way.

remind me again why we are looking at a tour from 2006????
it does not appear that we are looking at any "after" pics so what is the purpose?

will no one offer a tour this year?

Cold. Boring. Unlived-in.

i recommend a rug from www.chandrarugs.com


great looking stuff!

chandra rugs www.chandrarugs.comhref>

thanks for showing us your home-in progress. it seems to have great bones, and i hope you post more as you make headway. best of luck!

I really like it. Yes there are certain things that might work better (like the table away from the wall) but I like it's simple, clean look. Not everyone likes orange, green, purple walls!
The only thing I really miss is some life, as in a plant, flowers or herbs. And maybe curtains. i lived for a long time without any but have just come to understand how much impact they can make on a room, especially soften a bed room.

But really a very nice place. Thank you.

I think this apartment looks like a bachelor with no taste lives there. It's cold, cluttered and dated. All in all, I think it's pretty bad.

This is a perfect example of how lighting can make or break a room. Some one please turn off the overhead light. How can something so vital be over looked? It would change everything to enhance the lightening of the room. It has a nice clean look and some great pieces, just needs light to warm it up and give it character.