apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

it looks like the apartment makes a lot of metallic clangy noises! I recognize a lot of Ikea love in here... Has anyone ever tried out a Benz slipcover? (they make slipcovers specifically for Ikea furniture!)

http://www.bemz.com/

This apartment should win the grand prize. The amount of functional design seen in this tiny apartment is what this contest is all about.

Kudos!

Really great use of the (TINY!) space.

And I think the use of curtain walls, and the existing brick, keep this from looking too Tin Man.

Would like to see just ONE tiny deviation in color from the all-white/silver plan (which I love, btw...)

But one shot of chartreuse (or terracotta or soemthing changing seasonally?) would be like the perfect lime wedge in this equally perfect little gin and tonic.

Nice job.

Love the play of the the different size frames on the wall against the pattern of the rug -- but I woudl lose the key holder -- perhaps place it on the inside of a closet door.

it is a well laid out apartment and makes great use of space. but it is a bit too stark for me

It actually looks FUNCTIONAL. Love it!

Where is this place in NYC? Looks just the layout of the studio we lived in!

I like it for personal nostalgic reasons. Great use of space. A little more metal than I personally want in my space, but nice to see the individual tast of this home!

Nice mix of Ikea and higher-end stuff. The frames mirroring the rug is really cool. The long curtains remind me of the Delano in Miami. Ay tan de moda!

Another monochromist after my own heart.

A man after my own (metal) heart. Great layout and use of a small space. I think in a small space it is important to go with a scheme and carry it all the way through, and this definately does that.

I also love the white/silver color scheme and with the layout, bricks and placement of the windows it could have easily become a cave and it doesn't feel that way at all.

I like the exposed brick. Not sure about the rest - it's all a bit blah.

Rather funny, this apartment has been posted on the fenwick-keats website for sometime under availible rentals. Just an observation.

I like all the metal and white, and I like the curtain behind the couch, too. And I agree about the frames and the little squares on the rug. Very nice detail -- plus it shows us some wall art, although the point of this photo is more about the placement of those pictures than the pictures, themselves. They look like personal photographs, though, which really helps warm the place up, I think.

Too locker room, and that's an enviornment I usually like. A little bit of orange in there would go a long way.

foo dog--
AH! Locker room! THAT'S why I like it!!!! ;)

What is wrong with these people who go shopping at Ikea, buy a room full of furniture, and then claim they have ANY sense of design? While many things at Ikea are perfect nice, simply emulating one of the little show rooms in the store is just lazy and uninspired. Sure it looks very nice and I love the white curtains (although it seems like it makes an already small space into two even smaller), but I've seen it, over and over and over.

And just to be nitpicky, I actually don't see any chrome in this place. I see metal furniture painted to look like stainless steel.

Matt quoth: "Rather funny, this apartment has been posted on the fenwick-keats website for sometime under availible rentals. Just an observation."

Link, please? I couldn't find it.

However, browsing the rental listings there gave me a fresh appreciation of how good the entries here are, compared to the vast mass of apartments running loose in the wild.

What an effecient use of space! This really looks quite comfortable although I agree with a few others that a shot of color would be welcome.

One of my favorites so far. This has given me some ideas for my own studio.

Breckinridge--
Cuz I've also seen "all Ikea rooms" that looked like pure crap.

This does not.

And to nitpick the nitpick, I believe most of it is brushed, galvanized or powdercoated aluminum.

ikea...

ikea...

ikea...

Are you Steve Job's illegitimate son?

It looks nice, but really needs some color.

I'm actually impressed when people can use Ikea and make it look good, like Joseph has. I think this is a great apartment that makes the most of its square footage. I actually think that many of the showroom rooms at Ikea can be nice and innovative. I think all the Ikea haters are actually closeted Ikea lovers...

What's so awlful about IKEA? I like your place... bachelor, clean, low maintenance. Looks like home to me.
Thanks for the pictures.

That's how we like our bachelors... clean and low maintenance.

In a locker room setting. ;)

Would readers prefer to recognize a label, or to know the stories these homes could tell? What about the resonance of a bed sold by Charles Kuralt's daughter in Pittsboro, NC, or the wire basket used as the muzzle on a mule. Where are the heroic rescue stories, items inherited from a batty maiden aunt or precariously extracted from a condemned industrial site? I want to know if minimal, mid-century, or post-modern styles have human echoes, or are to be acknowledged only as items bought from Ikea.

A lot people comment negatively on all the IKEA products that we see in the postings here, but I think it points to an interesting reality: the United States really doesn't offer many resources for good, moderately priced design. There's very few options between IKEA and The Terence Conran Shop. We don't even have Habitat here anymore. We see a lot of IKEA products because often they are 1) actually good pieces of design, and 2) affordable.

Congrats to Joseph for taking one tiny room and creating functional areas within it that actually read as defined spaces. It doesn't look generic at all. In fact, it looks a lot like the Philippe Starck-designed room I stayed in at the Hudson Hotel in NYC.

Further, instead of giving free publicity to IKEA or any another retailer, I love that his favorite resource is "his imagination".

only--

Perhaps his first trip to Ikea was with a sweetheart or heartthrob, and that "day" was all they needed to make the first purchase special? I'm just sayin'.

Items do not necessarily need provenance or quirk to "mean" something... or to provide visual pleasure or provide satisfying function. imho

I don't get the negativity towards Ikea. He has to spend a lot to have a valid entry? If you want to criticize the design, criticize it, but I don't think criticizing *where* someone bought furniture is a valid count against it.

If it was all DWR, would people be derogatory? (with a post like, "DWR, DWR, DWR"?) Don't think so, and really, what's the difference except that one is very affordable and one is not as "in reach" as the name might suggest.

I think he did a great job.

it's small, it's cool, it's functional. dig it. that "joseph" cutout is right out of my childhood bedroom, though - might rethink that.

Flea markets are not awash in great undiscovered modernist furniture. Modern has been "in" long enough that the professional dealers bought the good stuff, spruced up the finish, marked it up, and put it in their shops. They get to the flea markets at the crack of dawn, too.

If a person on a smallish budget wants to walk into a store and have a choice of flexible, functional, clean-lined furniture, IKEA is often the only available option. Even West Elm is noticeably more expensive, and once you get to mod boutiques -- we're talking serious money!

Criticizing people for buying from IKEA is like criticizing people for having a floor and a ceiling. IKEA shopping is a basic tool, if you want to achieve a pleasant environment without decades of scavenging for the perfect item. You can use it blandly; you can use it brilliantly.

(Though I defend IKEA, I rarely buy anything there, but that's because I do shop at flea markets, and that's why my apt isn't "finished" after all these years.)

"If it was all DWR, would people be derogatory? (with a post like, "DWR, DWR, DWR"?) "

Actually, yes. Too much of anything to just that, too much. If his place were filled with expensive DWR furniture, I would feel the same way. Same goes for West Elm, Crate and Barrel etc.... When I saw this, the first thing I thought of was "Oh... Too much reliance on Ikea." Looking like a furniture display is not the goal. There is no individuality in that.

Don't get me wrong, I sleep on an Ikea mattress, my sofa was a custom Ikea piece, and there are plenty of bits and pieces of Ikea in my home, but the last thing I would want is for somebody to visit and think... "Hmmm, looks like an Ikea vignette."

Joseph, I am not trying to trash your place, I do agree that you have done a lot with the space, and I like how you have worked in all of the essentials, but I would like to see more variety in the origins of your furniture.

I like this place a lot and agree with p(too)'s suggestion of a single bold punch of color... I love IKEA. They provide sensible and stylish options, especially when there are budgetary constraints. I'll often opt for IKEA, even when I have the budget for pricier options. End of my pro-IKEA mini-rant #312 on this site.

::sigh:: despite it all, I love those IKEA cabinets -- I'm looking at getting two myself.

"items inherited from a batty maiden aunt"

Have you seen my batty maiden aunt's place? :)

Also, as someone who lives in a flyover state, there are no Eames chairs sitting on sidewalks (which I am now starting to see as a blessing after this contest), there are very few modern stores, much less mid century design stores, and those that do exist are extremely expensive. I am awash in antique blue and white dishes, Thomas Kincaid "paintings" and Precious Moments figurines.

I think IKEA is great for "the rest of us", both due to cost and convenience/availability and I would never judge a place for using too much IKEA as long as they have injected their own style to it and it is a good solution for the space.

However, in terms of this contest, I am just as sick of the small, white IKEA triangle table as I am of the damn Eames chairs.

i like the layout (and ikea!) but it feels bloodless to me. it seems to be crying out for a little color, or at least some organic materials to warm it up.

"There's very few options between IKEA and The Terence Conran Shop."

I think the furniture collection at Crate and Barrel is reasonably priced and would fall between Ikea and TC. Also, Room and Board.

I like some stuff from Ikea, e.g., kitchen cabinets. A lot of it, though, seems kind of teenage dorm roomie for me.

devyn--
re: "I would like to see more variety in the origins of your furniture."

I'm sure joesph might as well, but as wende points out, um, not so many options in anywhere near a similar price range.

And actually, I think Ikea would sell MORE stuff if THEIR vignettes looked more like THIS...

There is a BIG step between Ikea and most R&B and C&B. CB2 sneaks in there, a bit...

And let's not forget, he's gotten liveable, airy zones for lots of distinct functions out of 385 SQUARE FEET!

More successfully than some with double the space and triple the budget (some of those yielding an equally homogenized look, btw...)

"...needs a little color"...

No it doesn't. The color scheme is extremely well unified.

Besides, maybe Joseph is a very colorful person with great friends and an exciting life, and this is the neutral backdrop to all that. He lives in NYC, after all -- there's a whole colorful world outside his door.

If you look closely, most greys are actually combinations of other colors. This place works.

i don't think the problem is with ikea pieces but with apartments that seem to replicate the mock-rooms seen at ikea or in their catalogues. that's where the loss of identity comes in.
same way with DWR, Arkitektura, Limn, Pottery Barn, West Elm, or whatever floats your boat. use them as resources, but don't be their clone.
but i have to say, i still prefer seeing an ikea-clone over a pier 1 imports clone.

Ikea offers great designs at compelling values. Some of what they make is crap, but if one is discriminating about one's purchases there ARE nice things to be had there (I am partial to their wardrobe systems).

The other thing I like about Ikea are the sort of hot, trashy women who seem to be there in great number when I shop there. I sort of lurk behind them and watch them shop for furniture. Thus far, security has yet to ask me to leave the premises but I suppose it could happen.

Okay, let's take a look at C&B vs. IKEA. And let's start with buffets, since there's an IKEA buffet-type-thing that seems to show up a lot.

IKEA's price range is $80 to $400. Of the 10 sideboards shown, 5 are ultra-clean-lined.
http://tinyurl.com/z36ja

C&B's price range is $380 to $2900, counting only the buffets without hutch tops. Only two sideboards are near the $400 mark -- the median is closer to $1000. Only 3 of the 12 entries are ultra-clean-lined, without lips or semi-historic detailing. Most of their sideboards are rustic or traditional in feel.
http://tinyurl.com/eshys

R&B seems to achieve a variety of modern, sleek styles, but as far as I can tell, the prices start at $1000 and go up from there, at least to $3000.
http://tinyurl.com/gjykw

In my book, $200 and $1200 are not comparable prices.

Tobias G--
I don't disagree at all that the place works as is. I like how monochromatic it is (and since it is so much so, even the color of brick becomes a statement.) And silver is my favorite color.

I just think Joseph might enjoy a really, really inexpensive way to change some things out down the road, and that his great neutral envelope will easily let him...

Lime in the gin and tonic, baby! :)

beeatch--
Don't be hatin' on the Pier, either... until you've seen their new Spring stuff. They have some new blood in that company or some hot new buyers, and LOTS of the new stuff is great. You'd be hard-pressed to identify the source. (But I hear you, and agree, about the perils of one-source shopping. EVEN if it's Ligne Roset...)

Reagrds to price range, I think Chiasso fits closer to Ikea, but would still yield an "all-Ikea" look.

Joseph--
Stay your course until you want to change it! Then buy great art with all the money saved shopping at Ikea.

I really like this. It works well ... I love the monochromatic theme as I use it as well. The IKEA rampage looks good, lets hope it lasts though ... Although it's ultimate decay will be an excuse to redecorate.

All my best,
Phyllis G.

The difference between "sleek, minimal" and just plain "bare, empty" is texture. The curtains, exposed brick and warm glow of well-placed lamps save this apartment from looking like a cubicle.

I like the frame/rug arrangement, too, but is that how the lighting looks there? Blah. Hopefully that's just the camera flash.

Industrial can still have a human touch. Would a "precariously extracted item from a condemned ndustrial site" fit here somewhere? One that's also functional, of course.

p2 - you are so right about pier one. They have some very nice things for spring. The catalogue got me into the store today, and it's looking noticeably less cluttered. Definitely lots of things there right now that are cleaner and more sophisticated-looking.

I like this apartment, and add my vote to those of you cheering on a very effective use of IKEA pieces.

And while I have a strong sympathy for pieces that tell a story (and were inherited from your batty maiden aunt or picked up at a thrift store for a song), the sad truth is that these looks can become homogeneous, too, even if the individual pieces are one-of-a-kind. We can all identify 'shabby chic' now, even if everything in the room was carefully collected from flea markets over a long period.

It's not the pieces that are in the room so much as the way everything is put together. And this place is well put together.

Joseph can you tell me where you got your curtains? Thanks!

Awesome job in subdividing a truly tiny apartment. Yeah, the color scheme is very monochromatic, but it has to be to maintain the illusion of space. For all the harping on the Ikea, this is the first apartment I've seen that actually uses their "locker room" items.

Patrick (The other one) said:"I'm sure joesph might as well, but as wende points out, um, not so many options in anywhere near a similar price range."

But that is my point. I see this contest as being about creativity, and it is with creativity that one overcomes the challenges of budgetary constraints, or living in say, Tennessee and not shopping at WalMart.

I am not saying you can't use objects from places like Ikea (but please, not WalMart), it's a matter of finding your own individuality and using it.

Some good stuff here, but the tiny triangle table in front of the curtain "wall" just seems impractical and looks messy, especially compared to the emphasis on the cleaner attempts to look "industrial" in the other areas.

New YORK is where I'd rather stay
I get allergic smelling HAY
I just adore a Upper West Side View
Darling, I love you. I looks better than Park Avenue!!!

:) r

This is a really nice use of space. Wonderful work.

i LOVE the use of curtains to divide up the room and was planning on doing something similar in my apartment. how did you hang them? any advice/information on the hardware you used would be great! thanks!~

Where are the pictures of the bathroom?

I too lived in an apartment not big enough to swing a cat.

Use of color would have made it smaller. You did well:)

frigging sweet.

I agree with "wende in san francisco" - some of the stores that have been referenced over and over again are a bit on the pricey side.
And speakind of sides - and sideboards in particular - my husband and I are currently looking for a nice sideboard that won't break the bank. Even though we have both spent countless hours searching it seems that the furniture design stores have agreed that for four pieces of wood and three shelves one must pay over $1000 - $1500. Therefore I commend Ikea even more for creating affordable furniture that you can bear to look at.
I really like the stark look of Joseph's apartment - although it may seem a bit cold at first glance. And the metal is really easy to upkeep too! ( trust me - you learn to care about those things when you don't spend much time at home)