apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I don't know. Re Jen and Roy, I guess I see why you have to set a deadline of occupancy for the contest, but if someone did all that work and just sold in the past 6 months, I don't see why they couldn't be in the contest. JMO.

I mean, we don't know if people are entering apartments in the contest that they just moved into and didn't do any work on, other than furniture arranging.

Fiona - the next part of the contest involves rephotographing the apartment. Can't do that if they don't live there anymore can you?

Go Patrick Go, good luck!

I can't understand why some apartments were selected over others. What was the judging criteria, what were they looking for?

Everybody's a critic ;) Congrats to the 16 "finalists!" I'm sad Diana didn't make it though. And kudos to everyone who entered, just for having the guts to do so.

Well here it goes...in no definite order, that is.
Apt 4- Jen and Roy perfected a dreamy oasis that fit everything in (dining, sleeping, office area) more efficient than anything I've seen. Luvit!
Apt 20- Matt and Sharon created a space that is utilitarian, relaxed and unpretentious, clean and just plain fun. Luvit!
Apt 18- Hillary...Oh Hillary...simply put...the best in show! She simply exercised the best use of space anywhere, ever, and on the cheap! I mean come on!! Luvit!
Apt 2- Brandon gave his abode that quality of 'move right on in or if not just sit down and stay awhile appeal! The two C's come to mind...comfy and cozy! Luvit!
And last, but certainly not least...
Apt 26- Cilla and Ant...I mean what can I say when you've got lemons (and a NYC budget) make lemonade (heck) or perfect it with IKEA! Luvit!
Good luck you guys you ALL did a great job creating a space that makes you feel good (enough to show it off) so my fingas and toes are crossed for ya! ;)

I call (in roughly that order)
-Patrick
-Robert
-Brandon
-Anita
-Cilla & Ant

I might actually have to try and do my job now that I can't be distracted by this contest any more. In no particular order--
-Patrick
-Anita
-Brandon
-Robert
-Jen & Roy (even though they are no longer eligible)

My top five, roughly in order...

Patrick
Robert
Hillary
Brandon
Matt & Sharon

Jen & Roy would have been toward the top of my list. Marlon would have been on there too, because his place still haunts me.

Hmm. I cannot believe that Christina and Stephen didn't make it! (www.apartmenttherapy.com/main/archives/002537.html)

I notice a slight skewing towards more recent entries, perhaps? But it doesn't seem that the voting made that big of a difference too. That apartment, for instance, got far more votes than some of the spaces listed above.

I'm not trying to be snarky; I'm just trying to figure out how it worked...

Makes sense, Kim--but, ouch, the way you pointed that out brings back memories of my sarcastic 3rd grade teacher! ;)

Aargh! Too many good choices, although I'm favoring Patrick particularly after seeing his before photos. And those "before" were not just pictures of a "gut reno", that was how he was living. Been there.

Biting my nails.

thanks faith! it's okay, i'm just happy to show off the creative work stephen did in our space.
(i think i'm too sensitive to handle the final critique anyway)

go patrick, go!

everyone have a nice weekend.

Wait a minute Faith is right! Christina and Stephen's was an early favorite. Definitly in my top 5. How is that not on the list?

My top 5

Brandon (2), Anita (9), Patrick (13) and my two favorites Robert (28) and Hillary (18)

I also loved Jen and Roy's apartment (no longer eligible)

Sorry, but the best I can do is narrow it down to six - Brandon, Robert, Patrick, Hillary, Anita, and Matt-&-Sharon.

Honestly each one in that little bouquet of apartments is so gorgeous that they could almost be considered soft porn. Obviously, I mean that in a very good way.

And yes indeed, Jen and Roy's apartment is sincerely beautiful and it is going to make their Buyer very, very happy. Actually, at their closing or something (in case they're afraid to jinx their deal beforehand), they should turn their Buyer on to this website, so that THEY can update us with how they will have made it their own -- but only if it will look good.

Marlon should win something.... he had the best one of all even if it was too big

YEA! Marlon should get something his apartment was HOT, Hot, Hot

sure-fire, sublime + fabulous top 5ers
Patrick!
Hillary!
Robert!

taste blinds me; judges, we feel for you, "cool" being soo subjective,
(w/ jen + roy out, i just can't narrow down the rest. i'd change a few things, in some of these, as we all might, but like a lot, for color, design, character + styling, and would love to see similar lists)
Anita's--yummy
David n Alex--energy!
Laura's--fun, unexpected
also winning, for sheer oomph,
Robyn's--smarts, potential, that view!
Frank's fish tanked house of passion...

hmmm, what is each judges' criteria, hmm.
thank you, this has been very fun, to everyone who posted, AT, and every entrant especially!!

I didn't realize Jen and Roy were out. Also, forgot about many of the earlier entries like Christina and Stephen. So, after viewing their apt again...they're now in the 'in crowd'! Cute cute cute!
However, I posted a monster decor suggestion for Chris and Steph and it posted but somehow I think the thread dropped it. It was basically suggesting that they use their loft space as a media/audio center and to furnish the perimeter of the room w/ storage benches topped with cushions. I don't know, but I think it (my suggestion) was quite brilliant. (If I can so myself) ;)

I love what I see with Anita's apartment design. I just wish there were more pictures, especially of the living room. The lighting's my favorite part.

sad... no more jen and roy...

my votes are

1. anita
2. robert
3. cilla

i like how there are uncramped distinct spaces within each apartment.

PAS,

What a brilliant idea! How fantastic, thank you! Wow, that could really work and Stephen is pretty handy, I think he could definitely pull that off. Thank you! That could really make a great little nook and free up the space in the lower level.

Thanks again! Have a great weekend. Christina

To continue in my self-appointed role as sitegeek...

There are 524,160 ways to pick 5 out of 16, in order from 1 to 5...

There are 4,368 ways to pick 5 out of 16, if you don't have to put them in order...

Looks like we have lots of posts to go to cover all the bases. =) Along with the giggling and who-is-this-guy-again posts, which make it worth the read, tho i'm going to get in trouble at work for laughing out loud too often.

Keep those predictions coming!

Hi. I'm entrant #9 with my sister. I don't mean to toot my horn, but this is why I hope to make at least the top 5.

1. My apartment has never been professionally photographed, thus the glaring white floor.

2. My apartment is undiscovered, in that it has never been published, and has never won a competition, etc.

3. My apartment is actually a bargain, because instead of getting my master's degree in architecture (cost-$100,000 +), i built and designed this apartment (my first built project) completely for less than 1/2 that price, and everything you see in the pictures is basically new or painted over, except of course the exterior windows. and yep, this includes the showerroom and ikea kitchen cabinets.

4. I truly believe my apartment can be an inspiration to others, because of the way it was laid out, so that 2 comfortable bedrooms with closets/storage, 2 living spaces, kitchen, and shower room could be fit into this 500SF space and yet still not feel cramp or dusty. (If I make the finals, I'll have a chance to show my plan, which would help people make more sense from my verbal gibberish.)

Ok that's all, Thanks for your time and support! The comments have been really helpful to hear. I'll keep it in mind for future projects.

#9. Anita (and Ivy's) Interlocking Alcoves

here are my top picks-
anita -for the most creative use of space i have seen (who else has sleeping pods?)

hillary - has to crack the top 5 just for having the smallest, yet livable space on a frugal budget

others - brandon, paul, kim & eric

My two centsÂ…

I find AnitaÂ’s utilization of space, material and colors inspiring. I too live in a dinky New York City apartment and can only wish to have such vision. Can you help my sad space?

Anyhow, my preference - in this order

1. Anita
2. Robert
3. Cilla & Ant

I'm totally perplexed by some of the judge's selections (IMHO, won't say which.)

My five (roughly in this order today, but so close and I want to see more pix)

Apartment #28 Robert's Golden Handcuffs
Apartment #18 Hillary's Light n' Comfy Hangout
Apartment #23 Paul's Multi-Purpose Pivoting Perfection
Apartment #9 Anita's Interlocking Alcoves

and the sentimental favorite (because of the saga of redemption)
Apartment #13 PatrickÂ’s Cosmo-Urban Studio Rental

Very disappointed that this can't be on the list
Apartment #4 Jen & Roy's Minimalist Reno

Sad that this is not on my list, but maybe next time
Apartment #22 Robyn's Downtown Dreamy

Sad that this is not on your list--could have been a contender
Apartment #27 Sarah's Chelsea Mini Storage

I hope it's not too late, but here are my picks for the top five.

Anita #9 - can't wait to see the plan of the alcoves! love the red ceiling. how do the pull outs under the bed work?
Cilla #26 - i love orange
David and Alex #29 - cool storage space
Robert #28 - i like the full height storage in the bedroom
Kim and Eric #21 - again, the orange

i think i'm a sucker for storage and colors...

Good luck everyone!

I hate to sound like some kind of campaign manager, but I think Patrick's victory is two-fold -- resoundingly conquering his clutter and beating back the oppressively looming spector that renters often cower under, which is the temptation to NOT do anything fun, since they don't own it, and don't want to make capital improvements on what they don't own.

And for me, it looks completely livable, but I actually don't mind the fact that it also looks like it's straight out of a high-end shelter magazine -- I subscribe to almost all of them because I love them.

I thought, to quote from the rules "Our panel of judges will then select five finalists from among the reader's obvious favorites." Some of the apartments picked by the judges were CLEARLY not audience favorites as evidenced by their overwhelming score in the so-so category and underwhelming super cools and cools. Does audience participating mean nothing?

aparently the voting made no difference at all, that's disappointing.

here are my picks from the list, patrick, brandon, robert, and anita. i feel that these apartments all fit the requirements of being both small and cool. in my opinion, some of the smallest lack style to make them the coolest and these four really combine the two aspects quite well.

I find it interesting that in the original thread about Frank's place (#17), most of the early votes were pretty negative. But then, all of a sudden, his place gets a spate of "super cool" votes and glowing comments saying his is unquestionably the best (and as someone noted, "90% of the positive comments are basically written in the same voice"). Now in this thread, only one person has even mentioned Frank's place as a choice for being a finalist, and then only as a possible contender. Hmmm...

sitegeek here again...

i was confused by people saying the voting was ignored, so i just did a quick analysis of the votes, using a college grade model (give each super cool=4.0, ..., each noway=1.0, and take the average). i also checked to make sure that there wasn't a big margin of error due to the difference in total number of votes from one entry to the next. like i said, i'm a geek.

the voting and judges agree on 11 of the top 15, which isn't bad. if you look at the 4 that were voted "up", but the judges didn't include on the list, 3 are on the ragged edge between voted-up and voted-down. the only exception is the apt that came in 6th in the voting but didn't hit the list.

tho, i have to note that entries 25 and 26 have exactly the same vote counts, which i suspect is a boo-boo.

"boo-boo" is a technical term.

m

Thanks sitegeek! Great analysis. What were the voter grades on that 4 (of the 15 finalists) that the judges voted up but the voters didn't?

geeks are cool. thank you for the numbers.

i'm loved! i'm loved!

(geeks so need validation... thanks!)

the apts that came in 15th, 17th, 21st, and 27th in the voting made the judges' list. remember, showing up in the judges' list just means that ONE judge cast one vote for it. looking at those four apartments (well, no, looking at ALL the apts) i can see the charms that would have incented a vote.

i think all the entrants are winners! i would SO not have the guts to show people my home in this venue.

oops. wait. the one that came in 15th in the voting is one judges and voters agreed on...

sorry, read off the wrong column...

the ones voted 17th, 21st, 22nd, and 27th... i meant to say. =)

This is hard. I'm glad I'm not a judge because I've spent a great deal of time going back over the entries, discovering that I've grown to like them more and more. I'm amazed at how truly tiny these spaces are. I think all the entrants deserve props for imagination and grit (being willing to take comments on your space takes more courage than I'm capable of).
That said if I had to choose it would be
#28 Robert
#13 Patrick
#26 Cilla and Ant
#22 Robyn
#21 Kim and Eric

sitegeek, thanks, you rule!

anita, i hope you get a bunch of work from this.
i love your place and think it's top five or three-ish actually.

Thanks orangered! Unfortunately I don't think I even made the top 5.. no call... oh well.. i'll have to look for other venues to display my apt. got any ideas?

Haha Anita...you spilled the beans! You should have been in the top five. Our santuary didn't make it either. I'm so relieved, but thanks to everyone that said I should be in the top five. That is shocking!

Cpan...it's red...it looks a little orange-y in the pictures but it's a bit deeper in person =)

Cilla... relieved? why, may i ask? your apartment looks so warm and cozy, functional, yet not too uncluttered, i'm sure your future projects will make you space even better, so that maybe next year you'll win the smallest coolest apt contest with assured pride... it took me and my sister 2 years after the contractors put up our walls before we started feeling proud of it. and even in the time span of the start of this contest to the end of it, the space has evolved to allow us to feel that the apartment is finally 95% done. still have 5% to go... good homes take time to grow and it should always be like that. good luck with your future projects, i look forward to seeing it out there or on this site in the future! i'm sure it'll be great, from what i see, i believe you have a good sense of what is good.

Patrick, Laura, Hillary, Robyn & Robert. Good luck everybody!

What happened to the pictures?

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HELLO! DOWN HERE!

THE PICTURES ARE GONE. WE CAN'T SEE THEM.

THANKS. :)

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FILE NOT FOUND

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!!!!!

Please put the pictures back up!!!