apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

The space feels chaotic to me. The stainless steel carts look like a manufacturing assembly line of sorts.

I do like how the rug is skewed - but it seems like the furniture is then arranged around the perimeter of the rug and it becomes the new walls of the space.

Based on my known tastes, I should hate this one -- but the carts with their long-necked lamps like weird outer-space zoo animals just amuse me so much. Never in a million years could I live in this design, but I would love-love-love to visit it.

This is going to sound creepy, so apologies to Jim in advance.

You taught me history of graphic design at OSU. I recognize your place as I still visit your website 4 years after being in your class. This is a man who definitely leaves an impression, with his classes and with his spaces. I wish you could have included a pic of the statues of liberty & empire state building installation...but with only 5 pictures, and so many great elements in your apartment, I understand.

You guys should see his house in OK...It's just as great as this apartment. Jim, you should send in a tour of your house later on. Or put up a link to your website.

I'm working on my Masters in Illustration at FIT live in Chelsea now. We should meet up for coffee and design talk the next time you're around.

LOVE IT! very creative, loosens up the mind--great energy. Lot's of conversation pieces too.

Love this:
"Minimal furniture provides a respite from the busy-ness of the city."

I agree with that last comment Jen - I appreciate the desire to thwart the "spinning room" effect, but I'm not sure this layout actually succeeds.

Also, those tentacles create an unsettling "war of the worlds" atmosphere for me.

But I like the artwork - the monument valley panorama; the clock; the little doorman guy; and the wall of square frames - how did he get them so straight?

The first picture made me smile - i like the rolling carts - but then I was a little disappointed by the rest of the space. However, it seems like a nice idea, the execution isnot as good as the idea. I do like the square/grid wall piece though....

(look, a double decker feedback sandwich!)

spelling faux pas - meant to say Lots, not Lot's (god, who wrote that?)

Jim,
That looks like a large number of Ikea mirrors on the wall. I've been planning on doing that myself; in fact, I've already bought the mirrors, but I'm not look forward to hanging them. Any tips on hanging them and getting them to all line up correctly?

Blech. Look at the first table in the first picture. It is covered with plastic toys, vile little tsotchkes, suspicious battery-operated toys, what the hell? Does this person run a souvenir shop.

I also hate those vile, tentacle-like lights snaking all over the place. It reminds me of an alien ship where humanoids are held down and given rectal probes by uncaring visitors from other galaxies. This apartment needs one thing, and that is a well-aimed toss of a grenade.

where are all those wingy lamps from?

While I admire the creativity, I can't help but be a bit disturbed by the carts and the long-necked lamps -- I feel like I'm about to be examined or probed. And JenPDX's comment about the rug being the new perimeter is spot on.

I like it. It's different, and sure looks easy to clean. Jim, where did you get library rack?

I like it. It's different, and sure looks easy to clean. Jim, where did you get the library rack?

I appreciate the theory of what Jim says he's attempting to do, but these photos look busy to me, in spite of the minimalist furniture.

I'll tell you what Jim is trying to do: he is trying to capture enough human tissue data to plot an alien COLONIZATION before getting back on his spaceship to his home on Planet ZYBORG

Some fun experiments here, but I don't think it succeeds as a whole. The living room area feels uncomfortable to me and not relaxing. There would be a constant compulsion to adjust the carts to make sure they lined up properly.

oh, well if *that's* what he's doing, go here:

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/ny/031406/slinks/slinksn-slingks-surreptitious-web-links-to-other-good-sites-007071#comments

I want a Metrocard tower too! Where did you get that?

It's just vulgar!

I applaud the cerativity but the place doesn't look very comfortable nor inviting to me. But I'm the type that hates white walls and prefers really cushy couches and warm colors.

What's great about this contest is it's giving us a look at intriguing spaces that don't fit the shelter-porn magazine model.

This apartment is really fascinating not because I would want to live in a space like this, but because I've never seen anything quite like it... in short, I didn't know that anyone WAS living in a space like this. The complete lack of soft cushy emotionally warm pieces is surprising and rare, I think. But that's probably because he finds emotional comfort in things besides comfy beige sofas and natural materials, historical references, etc.

The living room looks very commercial and office-y (sort of like an eyeglasses store). I like the freaky little mechanical toys all over the place. The Nelson bed is beautiful, I'm surprised I hardly ever see it anywhere -- I think it's one of the best beds out there.

The tentacle style lamps are cool BECAUSE they're a little disturbing, I think.

Angling the furniture to create a second grid within the outer grid is a great idea and creates a lot of visual interest (that floorplan looks like a Russian Constructivist poster). IF you've got the space... I barely have room for one grid, lol.

Thanks for a look at your thoughtfull put-together space!

this is calming? i like some of the elements (the art, the rug), but overall it's just too chaotic for moi - there are lamps flying all over the place and nothing really seems to "anchor" the room.

I don't care for those carts or all the space they are wasting.

I love it! It looks like an inspired space with all it's quirky-ness. You can tell that the person who lives here has an interesting character. It's far better than the typical apartment trying desperately to imitate the slick magazine photographs.

I really like the whole idea of the rug thing, and I think that the carts are kind of wonderful, and the MetroCard tower is great.

And I think that warmth DOES come from the red rug, and I really like his determination to create a new set of rules and to follow them, and to think outside the box, or the grid, or whatever. I might have made some different choices within it, of course, but I would LOVE to see more apartments with this approach. That great diagonal apartment did this in the actual architecture. This one was done in spite of what already existed. I'm grateful to see both of them in this contest.

How to turn a 600 sqft apartment into 400 sqft. And those carts look like an electronics assembly lab. Nice bed though; the angling works a little better there.

"Calming" is not a word I would use here.

I would like to see it in person, though.

"Violate the given grid of the space."

This is good and all in theory, but in reality, in small rooms this leads to a lot of wasted space. Note the wedge-shaped useless areas around the perimeter of the living room (ie, between the row of carts and the wall).

"Move furniture away from the walls (many other rooms remind me of spinning a room and all the furniture is flung to the perimeter walls)."

All you've done is move a few pieces a few feet from the wall. It's essentially the same effect – furniture around the edges with travel space through the middle. Again, a nice notion, but not as functional as the convention you're trying to avoid. Being different just for the sake of being different doesn't make for success, it just makes for weirdness.

Liked the first picture for its originality and quirkiness.

But, the title points out to me the problem I have with it, overall... "Calming" and "Violation" in the same sentence.

Still glad to see it, still like parts of it, envy the condo-ownership aspect, glad it's in the contest.

Definitely one of the more original and personal entries so far. Not particularly my taste, but the fact that it says so much about the homeowner is what I like about it. But really, how can you watch your TV at that angle??

Phyllis Gabor? I thought I was the only Phyllis here, :)

this feels "honest" to me, meaning he didn't try to hide his daily life. some of these spaces look like they have gnomes who put their stuff away every nite :) !!

Or maybe they have OCD beyond even my levels, which i thought not possible!

He's not going to win because the the minimalist modern seems to be the most popular, but i think this space is plenty modern.

I love the originality of this apartment, especially that tower of metro cards. However I most loved that link to his former student, Bri, those horses are beautiful. How do we see Jim's website?

I love, love, love the carts, but this feels more like a work space than a living space. All the furiture seem to be approximately the same size and with similar finishes. There's no hierarchy of where to look and as such it reads as clutter to me. Also the angled grid within a grid is very second year architecture school to me. On the floor plan it seems clever but I suspect that in real life it would be hard to read and just leave visitor wondering why things are at wierd angles away from the wall. Also, yet another Eames chair? How orignial. I am so bored of the requisite Eames chair. If every one is so desperate to prove their knowlege if mid-century modern (which FYI EVERY design magazine declares is over anyway) why don't I see more Saarinen, Wegner, Bertoia, Prouve. I'm not impressed.

minh--
Um, you've not been reading the comments on, or counting the votes for, the minimalist entries so far, have you?

They are NOT doing the best of the submissions.

But even so, in tiny spaces (even the high end of the cap here is SMALL, c'mon) and given the mission of AT in general, wouldn't a more minimalist approach be not at all INappropriate?

(which is why the performance of the minimalists has surprised me...)

mid-century modern is out? So I shouldn't buy this??

http://hivemodern.com/products/?view=sub_product&sid=718&cid=34&cid2=111

You shouldn't worry about what anybody but you thinks.

What really irks me about this entry is the floorplan submitted--to label all of the furniture by designer is just pretentious and tacky. This place is way too DWR. Jim should start reaching elsewhere.

I do love "flor" tiles, and think it's one of the few really innovative, affordable things DWR has offered in a while. But in this place, it just looks like a showroom.

Didn't I JUST say I wanted to see more Saarinen? Definately buy it but pair it with something unexpected like a chesterfield sofa or something.

And can anyone seriously live in a place that doesn't have a couch??? Especially with the bed in another room.

If the former student comment is real, I'd bet something fancy that there's a nice big couch in the OK house.

I think that would be an AMAZING creative office space, but no way would I want to live there.

Funny. When people don't say what exact color their walls are, who made their couch and where they bought that side table, they get questions. Now someone has all his furniture labelled and he's catching hell.

I like the idea of the approach, but I think it's one of those things you just have to see in 3-D. On a flat photo it just looks discomforting and out of whack to me.

But I did enjoy seeing it.

regards,
trillium

Wow, next year I'll have to label my stuff!

Hecht's, Penney's, flea market, thrift shop, yard sale, IKEA, and the two most exclusive, the upscale curb and the upscale trash.

well you didn't exactly say you would like to see more saarinan - you said why don't you see more of it if people want to prove their knowledge of mid-century modern. :)

My question was sort of meant in a joking way. i would never make the decision not to buy that based on someone saying mid-century modern is out. I am just trying to decide if it would fit into my space - i think it's too big - but I love it.

Oops misspelled Saarinen - how embarrassing.

the student comment was for real. i keep checking at constantly as i am obsessed with this contest...i was really surprised to see a place i actually recognized (if only from pictures).

i just checked and there isn't a couch in the OK house (there is a nice-sized chaise, though). the walls of the OK house "violate the grid" in the same way the rug does here (imagine if the edges of the rug were walls). I think that works better as there is less wasted space, but this is an insteresting exploration of the same theme.

i feel weird about posting his website address since i'm not him. seems a little unethical or something, right?

kate(nc), you are far too kind. thanks!

I think the floorplan--with the identifying tags--is helpful, but with a cheeky sense of fun. And don't find it at all pretentious, tacky or irksome... Regarding the apartment, the skewed-angle placement of the furniture is a little unsettling to me. (But, hell, I'm a neat-freak Virgo with control issues. So, who am I to judge?)

Virgos rule! In neat, single file lines.. but they RULE!!!

Where DID you get all of those Metrocards?

There are elements of this apt that I think are amazing like the red carpet. The living room feels more like an office and the overall arrangement of furniture seems to shrink the space. I wonder if allowing just the carpet to violate the grid and aligning the furniture with the walls (but still spaced away from them) would get the desired effect and still utilize the entire space.

I like the little bear sitting on the table.

Do you want more metrocards? I always think I won't get enough use out of the monthly and end up spending more $.

Fellow Virgo here. I love those angled floor lamps. They're from DWR and none too cheap! I also love the Flor tiles. I just want to ditch those stainless steel carts and put all the stuff in a lovely walnut sideboard, but that's just neater-than-neat me! I'd also add a nice couch to lounge on.

stephen-

re: hanging ikea mirrors
i hung mine evenly spaced in a straight line, and what worked best is:
1) chuck whatever thread/hooks ikea have you. they will hang awkwardly from the wall and will shift and skew
2) make a grid of where you want to place them
3) use regular old pushpins at each point, then hang the mirrors by the little ledge on the back resting on the pushpin.

it sounds like it would be too unstable, but i have had mine up for a year in a poorly-constructed apartment building (read: the wall shakes a lot thanks to upstairs washer/kids next door/etc etc) and tehy have never fallen. i have taken them down to clean, and they are super easy to put back up.

also- one thing i lovd about this apartment was the contrast between the skewed line of the carts and the long, straight photograph on the wall behind it. really drives the angularity of the arrangement home

Re: Any tips on hanging them and getting them to all line up correctly? StephenB

The grid of pictures are actually B&W photos of NYC icons. The reflection from the window may make them look like mirrors. I have lots of guests who stay in the apt (when I'm not using it) and they enjoy recognizing the subjects (they also have to leave a tacky souvenir on the first rolley cart.) I used blue painter's tape to grid the wall for placement and attached the pictures with two strips of velcro, top and bottom. This allows easy placement and some repositioning. I wanted the pix to be flat against the wall. To remove the velcro from the wall later, I use a solvent that dissolves the glue and it comes off fine.
Jim

Yay Virgos! Statistically, September is the most common birth month, FYI.

Like other people here, I don't think this is the coziest of spaces but I admire the ingenuity of his choices. It certainly made me stop and look. And those Metrocard columns! Totally fab.

Bri, Great to hear from you. Thank you for the kind words. I'll contact you thru your website. Jim

Cindy, I collected the MetroCards at the swipe machines in the stations where a rider realizes the card is used up. I taped them in back in rings of 3 rows and then attached those units together. I habitually keep collecting the cards even though I don't plan on any more columns.

Jessica, I labeled the furniture on the floor plan because I teach Design and use the apt and my website as a teaching tool. It does seem a bit pretentious, but the labels are there to help inspire and educate students.

Pixie, The lamps are Papiro lamps from DWR.

Justin, The library racks are wire shelves and shoe support brackets from Home Depot. They are mounted at a more extreme angle to better display the books and to avoid jutting farther into the room. The top of the shelf is supported by the bracket above.

Michael, While usable space is wasted in that it is not accessible, the benefit for me comes from the visual openness and airiness created by the angled furniture. The angle corresponds to the view of the Hudson River, visually connects the two rooms, and better shows the back of the Nelson bed headboard with those beautiful support brackets.

Thanks for all the great comments, good and bad. This is a great use of the Internet - to foster discussion and sharing and to allow us to peek inside other personal space design solutions. Congrats apartment therapy.

Re: How do we see Jim's website? Kate(NC)
Kate, http://www.jamesrobertwatson.com From menu on the left, click 'About Jim Watson' and 'NY apt' or 'OK house'. Thanks, Jim

"It is covered with plastic toys, vile little tsotchkes, suspicious battery-operated toys,"

This sounds like the rant of a compulsive hand washer. Hilarious!

I couldn't live in this apartment but I love the creativity and the courage it takes to live in a truly unique space.

I'd feel like I lived in a toy store - which would be fun. ;)

It looks as though you have single handedly kept DWR in business... There are qualities that I like very much. The angling of the Flor is a great way to create space within the space.

I don't understand why so much snotty-ness and so many negative comments to this space. These seem like the same people that are afraid of any color outside of beige, beige and/or beige. Who are also the same people that are terrified of anything modern, and feel the need to live in the past. While it may not fit one's specific lifestyle, there is no reason it can't be admired for what it is. A space that doesn't look like the pages of Better Homes and Gardens. This should be celebrated.

Wait, this contestant has another HOUSE??

Doesn't that kind of skew the whole manage-life-in-your-small-space thing?

Hmmm, Jennfier is on to something...

Jennifer and Patrick, Yes, I do have a house in Oklahoma where I teach college. I spend over two months a year in the New York City apartment where I have to manage-life-in-a-small-space as much as anyone. Jim

Hey Jim, I like how the place ended up, really well done. I hope it votes well here! Still around the corner, let's get a beer next time you are in town if you have time.

Jim,
I have mentioned that I think it is the brave soul who bares his/her apartment to this crowd.

I think your place is great. I am currently living in a triangle and really struggling with a layout, your place has given me a lot of confidence to damn the walls and do what I want.

I love the lamps/rolling carts and the whimsy of the metrocard columns. I like all of the individual elements, but together I think I would get a little overwhelmed. I don't know what I would part with, though, because all of it looks like fun.

At last, some QUIRKINESS. At last, a bed without a thousand different throws and a thousand different pillows.

Please excuse the long post, but, as a teacher, I have a desire to use this great forum to clarify some issues.

When I began teaching in Oklahoma, I was disappointed at the number of people who were afraid to take risks - they wanted to play it safe, to do it like it was done last year. I made it a challenge to prod and poke minds to encourage an attitude of trying something new. I realize most of what I do now is driven by that desire to shake people up and get them to see in new ways (somewhat Dada-like). The NY apartment was done knowing that students would see it on my website and in person during one of the annual NYC Study Tours. In addition to my home, I use it as a learning lab to show classic design pieces, but more importantly, to show possibilities and to get students to think outside their ruts. Carpet patterns don’t have to be parallel to the wall. MetroCards can become sculptural. Shelf brackets don’t have to be mounted the way they were intended. Souvenir kitsch can take on new meaning when gathered on a tabletop. Miniature Statues of Liberty and Empire State Buildings can become art and make a statement when mounted in groups of 96. Beds don’t have to go up against the wall - maybe the back of the headboard is worth looking at. Small 3” photographs can become dramatic if mounted in 6” frames and displayed in a grid of 25. Toys, puzzles, and gadgets can remind of us the childlike awe, wonder, and sense of play we once had but often lose as adults.

Most design contests are handicapped by a lack of explanation. Design, like art, can provide an aesthetic experience, but it must first meet specific objectives, appeal to a specific audience, consider numerous limitations, and meet determined criteria. Design should be judged on how well it works for its intended audience (my apartment was not designed for anyone who sees it solely as an entry in this contest - it was designed for me, my guests, and my students.) I’m not sure what this contest was intended to do, but I hope it was about sharing ideas, getting inspiration, and seeing innovative possibilities for apartment space usage. Because we are unique - different residents, lifestyles, occupations, and environments - there will be many types of small apartments. Lets cherish and learn from the inspiration of unique ways of looking at similar spaces. How we make those spaces our own is true apartment therapy.

I welcome comments by post or by email: email@jamesrobertwatson.com You are also welcome to peruse my website: http://www.jamesrobertwatson.com where I discuss almost everything (except for that one awful night in 2002) including further rationale for the apartment. Thank you for reading. Take care, Jim.

Next time someone argues that professional designers' work is automatically more popular here, I'm sooooo linking to this entry.

Jim

The purpose of this contest is to satisfy our voyeuristic desires to see the insides of other people's apartments and give lots of unsolicited advice about how we could improve their decor. At least I think that's the purpose.

NT has nailed it. It's like the Chorus Line character who broke into other people's apartments to rearrange the furniture.

I kinda like the carts although I would never be brave enough to position them away from the wall like that. Not my style but I like it. It works in some strange way.

Jim--
Two months a year means the bulk of your daily detritus is primarily elsewhere, no?

Things like files for taxes, healthcare paperwork, bills and the majority of your mail?

Those things are what makes small-space living such a beeatch for me... and I have long fantsized about a second home free of those things. Hence my reaction.

I also think places people live in part-time ARE great "labs for living"... my second fantasy home is severe and hung with gutsy art... stuff I might like to visit, but might not be able to live with, year round. The opportunity for risk in the same way a second bedroom or powder room presents opportunity to break the rest of your home's palette or vibe, for example.

In all, no biggie, just an interesting twist to this entry versus others.

Do like your eye, sense of humor, and commitment to the concept.

Glad to have discovered your web site, Jim. Lots of intriguing things there.

About this space: sly, ironic and devious, with more to it than first meets the eye. I'm voting for it because there's nothing safe here and much that's question-provoking and even vaguely unsettling, edges not often found in a living space and less so in a beauty contest; this is an elevator ride with William Burroughs.

Thank you Patrick (the other one) for (again) expressing what I meant to say. While I am a brat, I do love the wit and risks of this place...but I think the issue of "where's your stuff" that has been raised with many other contestants is too easily resolved when there is a second home. And IMO, that dilemma is a real part of 'smallest, coolest' - along with the aesthetic dimension.

Of course I am also with NT on that voyeuristic aspect.

Now I have to dig my way out of "to be filed" piles and get ready for work.

Okay, to me it looks like a re-sale shop and all the furnishings should have price tags on them! It doesn't look like "home", but a temporary exhibit space.

For all the space, this entry feels a bit cluttered. There's simply too much going on in the living room. Feels more like an art installation than a living space. But judging from what bri's comment says about the occupant, perhaps that was the intent.

Not my cup o' tea...but I think that you don't live here 365 days a year speaks volumes because you can make riskier choices. I like the punchiness of elements in the apartment and I do think there's a lot to learn from it!

Jim thanks for showing us all your innovations and inspiring us to be bolder. I consider being horizontal on a sofa to be one of life's sublime pleasures you should give it a try.

Hi Jim,

We're interested in your space & would love to talk to you about our HGTV show, "Small Space, Big Style". Would you be able to email us at smallspaces@brainbox.tv so we can get in touch with you?

thanks!
Sage.

At first I thought I liked this. It interesting how you placed the furniture on a diagonal and continued it through the wall. But the classic pieces your have don't make a strong enough statement to say that the rest of the interior compliments it. Your classic pieces actually compliment otherwise over replicated design gimmicks.

This one looks so contrived. I really don't care for it at all. Sorry, Jim.

There's nothing calming about those carts!

Jim, great response. I love your post.

And your apartment is beautiful too.

you have an idea, but it scares me. you might need to reconsider repeating patterns, and if you want to break your own rules of grid, then, stop making patterns that are so inorganic. stop grid-ing I need a hug...because this place is a little scary.
:(

not sexy. peter pan lives here.