apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

i have been enjoying this contest and find myself visiting the site many times a day to see what else has popped up. i have been really impressed by several of them and i think the judges have a difficult task ahead of them. you have all inspired me to add more color in our new apartment and it makes me smile to think that there are others out there that obsess over these decisions the way that i do.

one thing i am finding though it that i feel like there are just too many entries! i think it's fantastic and fair that you are giving everyone a shot but i can't keep up anymore and find myself voting but not providing comments as much as i would like to.

i think news spread fast about the fantastic prizes avaialble with this one!

I would have to say pretty fair, overall I am surprised at the lack of negativity and have found that people comment but focus on the things they see as positive. There are also so many entries this time that it makes it difficult to get a long thread going.

25,000 separate visitors?

Do my 45 visits a day count as 1 visitor or 45 visitors?

in most cases, i would have liked to have seen more of the houses/apts. it's hard to base anything on just one room, which is what i think most people tended to submit. it would have made it easier to get an overall sense of what's going on and how everything works together. it's hard to tell seeing just one room, particularly when it's a kid's room.

jon b, i know, this must be at least visit number 15 for me today! (visit #2 in the past 30 minutes)

Why are some people acting like doing a kid's room is any easier than doing a regular room? Have you ever done a kid's room? There's a lot of scary stuff out there. And, most of the ones submitted haven't been "traditional" or Disneyfied, which I think is great.

And, the contest specified a room -- 1 room.

Hey, on the second round, can you make sure every entrant indicates maker and color name/number of their wall paint colors? Everybody pretty much asks, and not all entrants respond.

I think negative comments (thankfully) have been minimal. Maybe that makes for boring reading, but I know it will make the contestants NOT regret they entered, whihc is far more important.

And I think as more entries come in (and in and in and in...) people's voting patterns change since they have more of a frame of reference. The head-to-head part should prove really interesting as people really have to rank and polarize their opinions.

And I'd like to congratulate all entrants so far.. I think, overall the comments have been so civil because the entries have been SO great... including the photography itself and the comments each provide. A HUGE resource-- from ice cream to Paul Smith-- as color inspiration. And special thanks to all entrants who tolerate our "I would have..." comments, even when unsolicited!

But, to echo an earlier sentiment, perhaps there should be a "Baby AT" category, given the plethora of nurseries...

Although "Baby Smackdown" doesn't quite sound right.

Can somebody get their friends and family to come in and click for them ? :-) I did not initially realize the judging is going to based on polls. I somehow assumed there is going to be some sort of wiseguy/gal panel. Since the prizes are "valuable" therefore in my opinion the judging needs to be done by a panel.

If I think of myself I do not like to criticize people's honest effort and I rather not say anything or not submit a poll instead of giving them negative review or lowered rank. I will never be a good judge I guess.

Also the small photos make it hard to properly evaluate the entries. 4 photo limit is also kind of difficult. Also there is needs to be some rules about whether somebody can focus on a few colorful objects and corners instead of the the whole room. The scale of effort, thinking and creativity are totally different in these situations.

As the stakes of a contest gets high, I have seen people think of lot of things.

But all in all I am enjoying the contest. I am getting some fantastic ideas for myself. But I have the same question as Jon B :-)

my 0.02

A "plethora" of nurseries? How many kitchens have we seen? Or dining rooms? Livingrooms? Bedrooms? The numbers are actually pretty even.

It's difficult for me to judge in regards to color primarily, and not simply by whether or not I like the room as a whole. Or maybe that's on in the same? Nevertheless, I am truly inspired by this contest [and a bit envious as well].

Steve--
Was just sort of kidding about the number of nurseries. I think anything is fair game here. And one of my favorites so far is indeed a nursery, and agree kids rooms are no easier and are indeed even more prone to cliche, which we've not seen in any of the nursery entries.

Wow, funny to see people say they'd trust a panel of judges more than they would the general AT public.

And yes, I'm assuming people can get friends and family to vote. I believe "new blood" on the site is a devious plan of the contest's creators.

But, um, that's only an advantage if your friends and families agree yours is the best solution! :)

You can lead a horse to water but can't make him vote the way you want...

(I am starting to fantasize about how cool it would be to combine many of these rooms into one multi-color showhouse extravaganza... Kelly's Surfin' Safari nursery, Turquoise's (ironically) gray Luxe retreat, Gari's choco-swank bedroom... DM's fierce red dining room... but could also see going totally cool, with Enrique's tangerine dream, Eric's subdued retreat, with Deborah's bedroom flowing gorgeously into Kate's bath oasis and back into Billy's gridroom. And for pure fun, Curtis, Jon's new-retro... oh, and maybe one ride (or two!) on Michael's Rice-a-roni rollercoaster. ;)

And I could go on!!

Too many great choices!!!!!

I just love that synchronized swimming photo, and wonder if Enrique might consider it for his new photo wall mural.
; )

Or perhaps the brown-and-blue show house... (don't bite -- I had a brown, tan, and turquoise bedroom circa 1983 and loved it)

The contest and judging . . . it's too much of a blur.
'Tis a shame AT couldn't spool it out over more time.

The motivation to stack the deck is strong with such generous prizes. That really bothers me, but I don't know what is to done about it . . .
25,000 hits?! WOO-HOO!

I think the voting options are rather limiting. I would have preferred a numerical score, such as a simple 1 to 10. Then I think the results would have been a better indicator of audience opinion. Also, it might make it easier for AT to calculate the finalists?

In any event, this has been a fantastic contest. The great response will help even out any voter discrepancies.

If this were a standardized test and 25 studends got 100 on the exam they would all get "A". Ditto with design. I see nothing wrong in giving many of these designs top billing. And the biggest thing for me, why I applaud all the entrants, whatever score I gave them, is that they had the courage and confidence to enter, which is more than I had. In fact, I chickened out. So I truly appreciate the contributions. I'm learning so much and enjoying it so much. Thanks to AT and thanks to all entrants (and thanks to Ptoo because I always find his comments useful).

Katie -- I don't know about others, but for the most part I have gone with the "if you don't have anything nice to say, say nothing at all" mentality.

Barbara -- The rules specifically said one room (which some have gone against) and 4 photos (which others have gone against), so you can't really blame the entrants for not giving you a view of their entire home. :)

Are we going to hear about this in NY Times or WSJ anytime soon 8-D.

I'd also say this contest has me heading over to the LA site more often... no doubt ALSO part of evil-genius Maxwell's plan to dominate the world.. one apartment at a time! ;)

I think it was Guido (I hope) that hit the nail on the head with this one at the start...unlike so many of the past contests, this one focus's on color, and I think its something that is very personal and widely variable even amoung the standard crowd opinions on AT. I think thats why we've had so many positive remarks on so many different rooms.

And the fact that there aren't a lot of negative remarks?? Well we are just a classy bunch here, is all. :-)

No, THAT can't be it. :)

While this contest has me satisfied with how I'm using color in my own apartment, it's making me want to WEAR more color.

Well, there sure are a lot of entries out there this go 'round! I'm having a hell of a time keeping up since I've been on an extra-crazy work/travel schedule for the past 2 weeks, continuing into the next. So, I've only been able to pop by the site at the beginning and end of each day. It's cool that folks are being pretty civil in the comments threads. But, I have to admit that I'm enjoying the few negative ones that I see... mostly because consecutive days of late nights/early mornings have made me extra ornery. And I just need the smallest excuse to throw down some juju on the haters--at least until the 3rd cup of coffee kicks in and I return to human form.

Um, what was I saying? Yeah, the entries are really great, a few of them truly inspirational. (I'll play my cards close to the vest and NOT reveal my faves.) I'm bummed that I'll miss the run-offs and final smackdown! (I'll be on vacation--no mobile, no blackberry, no internet. Well, at least, I still PLAN on going on vacation... if Hurricane Wilma cooperates and stays out of my scheduled ports.)

Final thought on entrants campaigning for votes among friends and relatives. Bring it! Let's turn some new people onto this site and our crazy-ass community of design savants (and the people who love them)... ESPECIALLY the LA site, which is slowly coming into its own and developing more of distinctive voice under the guidance of the terrific Alec Holland--who we love despite his referring to us left-coasters as "Angelinos" (and not the more correct "Angelenos"). "Namaste" my yoga-sculpted ass, Alec.

And, guido... Yeah, I'm loving that image as a potential photo-mural. But right now, I've been having lewd design thoughts about the photo mural of an Indian palace on pp 186-187 of the November '05 issue of (U.S.) Elle Decor. Now that's a room that kicks my ass and makes me weep tears of joy. And it's a nursery!

i've been checking back often, but not voting - how can i say 'instant finalist' if i havent seen them all yet? so yes, more options within the voting would have given me more incentive to be more precise.

other than that, i've been enjoying - and definitely inspired to be more bold with color in my own home. trying to figure out which space to tackle first, but i'm sure this contest will influence me as i do my own place.

oh - and having so many entries is helpful too -- can help figure out which kinds of rooms i like and i like less, to help decide what i want to do here. catalogs and magazines may be good for that too, but this is almost better, since they are 'real' homes.

Enrique--I was blown away by that mural in Elle Decor, too! Amazing, wasn't it? I have to admit that it was so elaborate that it was kind of amazing it worked, but it was gorgeous.

I think I'm in the minority, but I've been almost overwhelmed by all the entries. I've definitely felt that I haven't given the later ones as much time as I did the earlier ones, especially since they all seemed to roll out so quickly. However, I guess having too much choice is not bad!

i think a lot of the judges are friends of the entrants!

I, too, have been checking several times a day. It's been really fun, and we've been finding several things among the other entries that we'd like to try.

The only thing that I'm bummed about is that it seems like several people went over the 100 words, and a few used more pictures. I could've written much more, but limited it down to follow the rules. :(

Also, I was looking at the original photos I took, and in the next round, larger photos should definitely be available.. It makes a huge difference.

PS: Let the posts with kitties take on the posts with babies! ;)

Surfing though the entries. I noticed some posts have gotten quite a large number of total votes where as others have gotten much fewer. Not sure how to interprete that. People are having voting fatigue may be ?

I've missed the whole latest batch. More voting this weekend.

I have also followed "if you don't have anything nice to say...." I'll pick at rooms I like, a little (though not all of them - don't have time to comment on all of them), but if all I have to say is, "Why did you even enter this?" I keep it to myself.

I am disheartened to see high votes on a lot of neutral, neutral rooms, and low votes on rooms that are *actually colorful*. & I don't think "but neutrals can be colors too!" is a good excuse - this contest isn't supposed to be about the most sophisticatedly-decorated room, it's supposed to be about the best and *most fearless* use of color. At least, to my understanding. (To me, a lot of beige and brown with a couple of throw pillows or vases or etc is not "fearless.") Some of these neutralish rooms are very pretty, but I would not have entered some of them if they were mine.

Rooms even remotely, possibly categorized as "neutrals" are in the vast minority in the contest so far, and are NOT the leading vote-catchers.

I'll have to agree I'm overwhelmed by all the rush of entries and have fallen off on commenting much on the more recent ones although I've continued voting whenever I see a new one pop-up. As it is I've been spending much to much time visiting this site while I'm supposed to be working ;)

I am relieved we're seeing more variety now. At first I was afraid it was going to be an all orange smack down.

To me, it seems like most people are giving the high marks to the rooms that look most like they came out of DWR, ie the perceived quality of the design, not the color choices. To me this begs the question - how can judges separate themselves and look objectively at the color and not let the like or dislike of someone;s style interfere? After all, we're not experts. All the same I've loved having a look at other people's spaces, especially since I haven;t been able to get off the dime myself to photograph my beloved home!

To me, it seems like most people are giving the high marks to the rooms that look most like they came out of DWR, ie the perceived quality of the design, not the color choices. To me this begs the question - how can judges separate themselves and look objectively at the color and not let the like or dislike of someone;s style interfere? After all, we're not experts. All the same I've loved having a look at other people's spaces, especially since I haven;t been able to get off the dime myself to photograph my beloved home!

I agree Kate.
I also agree that voting fatigue has come in to play and that the mad rush of final entries becomes hard to keep up with. But in the end, I just love seeing these rooms so let the contests continue!