apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Yowza. Me likey.

A little austere for my taste, but the band of light won me over! Very lovely.

May I ask where you bought that cute tiny table in front of your couch?

oklagirl--
That looks like an Eames tray table.

Yes, I'd like to see a rug in there, but only if it could still stay as drop-dead gorgeous as it is.

Killler. Love the lighting, love the way the bed is right there but not in the way at all.

Hey oklagirl
Patrick is right. It's an Eames tray table. It was a present but you can get it at DWR.

That doorway is awesome!

It's a little clinical for my taste but you did great job with that lighted storage!

Wow! I can't wait to see more pix! This is one of my very faves. I think this is the best bed-visible-in-a-studio I've seen yet.

What kind of lighting did you use inside the storage under the bed?

Wow. i really really love this. --- so clean and i just love the platform bed nook.

There are a few things I'd do slightly differently ("top layer" and arrangement), like a rug as Curtis mentioned, but the shell is really amazing... sophisticated, smart, and super efficient. I'd LOVE to sleep in that alcove.

You're also incredibly lucky to have an actual entryway and two closets for an apartment of this size. Score!!

the bed'n'books idea is stellar! what i miss in all the small/cools is the lack of kitchen/bathroom photos! that's where small/cool becomes especially difficult! but this apt. is wonderful, and still maintains such an open feel with room to move, grow, etc. nice!

Hey Pixie,
just regular fluorescent tubes.

hmm, i agree with the people who say this looks clinical. it looks well executed and i like the layout, but it looks cold and unfinished to me.

The best storage ideas so far, for those of us who love the minimal look but still want to keep some stuff. Sexy too.

Where did you get the gray sofa? It's such a perfect size!

Beautiful. White and clean doesn't need to mean "clinical." The details seem very simple and the finishes well executed.

I agree though about the rug. Your downstairs neighbors must be very tolerant. I think that would "soften" the place up just enough to convert the "clinical" nay-sayers, too!

Though, I would do a white or light gray rug, so maybe not.

I like what was done here in terms of raising the bed --a way to separate the space without making it smaller.

I would have liked to have seen a different second photo, I think. As the furniture is now, it does look a little unfinished and I don't care for the placement; however, the pieces are nice and there's a simple solution.

Love your approach to problem-solving, though I don't resonate to your specific taste. But one thing that's cool about your thinking is that your solutions would work just as well in a completely different style and/or color scheme -- it's a great apartment for inspiring a new way of looking at problems.

Oh I am swooning. Who did you use for the built-ins? They're wonderful.

Thanks for the comments!
Okay Munching- The Conran Shop.

I'm not sure I'm feeling this one. The space has a lot of potential. The floors are beautiful. The view is killer!


Did you just move in? Hmm. I feels too random.

sorry typo...

I'm not sure I'm feeling this one. The space has a lot of potential. The floors are beautiful. The view is killer!


Did you just move in? Hmm. It feels too random.

Stellar! Insta-Finalist!

That's how I voted!
The only thing I would do is to dress up the bed with a heavy fabric duvet and use it as a additional seating/lover's nook area. So it doesn't look like a bed in the middle of the living area (I know that was your idea to begin with) but it will be a cherry on the top. Kudos on the lights under the bed. That's awesome. I like your choice of furniture. Clean and modern.

You're a genius.

hshppy
Thanks for you comments. Actually I've been living in the apartment for five years. Hopefully I'm moving out soon since I'm putting it on the market tomorrow.

This space is lovely. Not my style, but when something works this well I'm no coziness partisan. Nice suggestion from joel maria pirela if you were inclined to treat the bed as a sort of jewel in a setting (riffing off the cherry on top image).

To me, this is what all those other "white" apartments were trying to acheive - the rest didn't do it for me, but I think this one really pulls it off well.

Plus it's nice to vote on someone's design style and not their furniture collection.

Great job!

Overall I think it's a great use of space. I'd like to see some of the colours from that great painting picked up throughout the space. The grey couch and thingy on the tiny table start, but it could be taken a bit further, maybe in the bed nook as some others suggested.

Maybe a great art piece on the wall above the bookcase (between bed and window)

Great job though, I'm just pondering what I would do. ;)

Perhaps it's in light of the Nutshell post I read before this one, but all of these photos look like miniatures to me.

Interesting layout, though.

Amazing! I personally would like to see some more art and perhaps a rug, but great ideas and execution.

Love the furniture choices and grouping -- very organic in feeling, which adds a sense of warmth to the room.

I love the idea of this place but I would love to see it even more if you changed the light bulbs from having a blueish tint to something warmer like a yellow or rose.

Formidable!

I love it.

To echo other comments, "I personally would like to see" me in there. Heh. I would be the color and the art and the heat. This apartment would balance me.

It's just absolutely gorgeous. I didn't realize until this contest how much the monochrome white appeals to me. Naturally, since I reside in Opposite Land, I'm finding this out after moving into an apartment with melted peach sherbert walls. Sigh. (I chose the apartment for the glass block in one wall, not the color of the walls, fyi.)

WOW!! That is ALL that needs to be said.

My biggest challenge with studio living is how to entertain. Usually the answer is don't do it. Once you have over 3 people in there they are tripping over everything. You have to tell people "don't bring a date" because they may have no where to be. It doesn't really matter how cute a space is, and how much work you've put into it if you can't share it with your peers and loved ones. With this space and the flow you've set up, you could easily host 12 people without feeling like the walls are caving in on you. Great for night caps, etc. The starkness will allow you to transform it into anything as your mood and the seasons allow. Love the fluidity, speaks of life and brilliance. Might I suggest that the bed has the feel of an exclusive V.I.P. area/conversation pit, so crisp... as a sleeping area should be.

Definitely my favourite so far. Great problem-solving with the bed and storage. Love the use of white to keep things bright and airy.

Thanks Luke.What a great post.

i love the bed/book storage combo/platform. if i owned (ha!) i would absolutely be stealing that idea.

Please buy some art, not much but it needs something. Love the layout.

Beautiful! Great sleeping alcove. When I lived in a railroad apartment with 8x10 bedroom alcoves opening into the hallway I realized that big bedrooms are a waste of space. Sleeping doesn't require much room.

Textiles! This place is naked and needs some clothes. But the bed/storage solution is absolute genius.

WOW is right. I'm not sure I could live with it, but I love the minimalism.

just beautiful and well-executed. the last picture sold me :) and will use it as inspiration for my new dwelling soon. thnx. best so far.

The bed and storage solutions are pretty freaking amazing. I love this place, but I'd love it more with a rug. I'm a minimalist, but this needs a bit more warmth and texture (I love all the white).

Absolutely insta-finalist!

Wow this is gorgeous. I haven't read the comments yet, but I am sure you are getting comments like you need a rug, more stuff, blah, blah, blah - don't listen. Your apartment is absolutely marvelous. I truly admire your restrained hand. This must be an absolute joy to come home to after a chaotic day.

I love how light and airy your place is. It's simply divine. That light colored floor is beautiful without a rug. I do so tire of hearing how everyone needs a rug. Congrats on your bravery. I am a lover of minimalism, and am just in awe when someone pulls it off so wonderfully. Your place looks very simple, but I know that is deceptive. This is a hard look to pull off, but so worth it when it's time to quiet the mind.

Great work.

while the work and the resolving of the storage area is quite good, I see many large walls of white screaming for some large oversize paintings, or color prints. The way it is right now, if you did not know this was an apartment, I would very well taken the photo for the waiting room of a doctor in Soho. Time to move on to the next apartment...

Which doctor do you go to?

I like the Gothic doorway. I like the view. I really like the sleeping alcove. The floors are great and the lighted storage is really resourceful and inventive. What I like most about your apartment though is its emptiness. Whether it’s by design or lack of fund$ or some unknown third reason (the rest of your belongings were lost by the movers five years ago?) – I am attracted to your apartment’s bareness. It kind of reminds me of a European film set from the 1970s. The highest compliment I can give you is that Charlotte Rampling or Dominique Sanda would look perfectly at home in your space.

Tony G.

Very minimal and too modern for my taste.

wow, I love the lights.

I like the lights, but not my style

Like the lights, but not my style

I love your solution for I LOVE the solution for your bed. The lighting as well. Heck, i want to move in!

This is the kind of entry that really makes me look forward to this contest. A few entries this year leave me with ideas to steal borrow.

This is one of them. I LOVE the bed/storage/light combo. It fits so well in that nook and along that wall, so it's not the sort of thing that can be replicated easily, but someday, if I own a small space, this is the sort of idea I'd think back on.

As someone mentioned above, this is a space someone could easily entertain in.

Kudos!

Oops! I added html to put a strike through the word steal above, but I guess that's not allowed in comments. Ahh, not like it matters.

Again, very well done on this apartment!

Just love it! Looks like a pleasant place to live. And, I want to move in. However, I echo the others that think a rug would be nice. Jawrite - you wouldn't happen to have allergies, would you? It would explain the lack of rug.

Thanks PJ!
=)
No, no allergies.

LOVE this space. it's a pretty amazing space to begin with but the placement of the bed won me over. clever!

I LOVE the bed/shelving combo as an piece of furniture and light source. I can't tell from the pictures but I don't think I'm crazy about the kitchen materials and configuration. I also think alot could be done with all that space in the entry way. Is this a rental?

peggy--

There are such things as rugs that appeal to minimalists.

But I hope a true minimalist someday moves into the floor above you.

And wears clogs.

The epitome of coolness! WOW! Love the chairs by the window :)

I Love it! You did a wonderful job and the bed/storage is great. By the way - I think it is 1000's of times better than the hip designer in a recent shelter mag who put his bed in the middle of a studio and I don't think it worked at all - but this one rocks! Yah, you could add a rug or not, change the bedding or not, use a dif. piece of art or hang it slightly lower, but whatever, its great. People change that stuff all the time, so whatever. I love that it's peaceful and has all that easily accessible hidden storage.

Wow. This takes my breath away.

The bed solution is brilliant. Well orchestrated, consistent, disciplined, and inspired space. I have to believe all of the comments about adding rugs or art or other decoration don't quite understand the aesthetic and the value in a great urban view enlivening a space. You fulfill the mantra of doing more with less very well which is not easy.

I disagree that "the comments about adding rugs or art or other decoration don't quite understand the aesthetic."

Actually, I disagree *with*.

Perfect. Don't change a thing!

The bed makes it! I bet the place goes fast.

very spartan...can we see more images of the sleeping space.

The bed/storage/light solution is a fantastic idea and would work well in any style of home - I agree, it's much better idea than the recently featured designer's bed in the middle of the room. I think a sleek rug and some art (not too colourful) would add some warmth to this home. I'd love to see more pics of the kitchen/bathroom areas.

Fabulous.

The bed reminds me of the daybeds used in Moghul India and in Indonesia.

A home needs one function only: to make the owner happy.

That said, if the bed pillows were put away, and bolsters & cushions in whites, creams, greys, taupes & black which seem to be Jawrite's colours run along the sides & back, the 'bediness' would disappear completely and it would have adaytime character.

I am sure enough spare cash would see Jawrite adding artwork, rugs etc.

I don't think lack of cash is the motivator behind bare walls and floors. I think it a definite style choice.

I do agree with the idea of making the bed nook look/feel more "upholstered" during the daytime hours. I'd go as far, perhaps, as fully upholstering the walls inside the nook, with wide horizontal channels, in a neutral or oatmeal linen. That bed nook (to me) is also an excellent candidate for industrial felt slding panels, as in Maxwell's house.

And I'm not normally a proponent of adding color to an all-white space, but if this were my dreamy abode, the wall between bed and window would become the palest of pale blues.

Speaking of spare cash, what's the list price Jawrite?! Offering any AT-reader discounts on the sale?!? :)

Does this really qualify as a small apartment?

Peaceful and beautiful. That last photo is wonderful, with the violet cityscape providing the color in the room like a painting would.

ha, ha, ha ... patrick (the other one) you are too funny. I knew you were going to slam me. But rest assured, that clog-wearing minimalist does indeed live above me. Hope you will be able to sleep tonight. I stand behind my aethetic beliefs.

Very cool!

The bed nook seems a little underlit and claustrophobic to me, but the lightbox cabinets are a great idea. In fact, if you made the sleeping platform out of tempered glass or some other transparent material, you could let the light from the cabinets stream upwards around the mattress - lighting issue solved.

I was skimming through my usual morning-coffee websites and came to a screeching halt when I saw this entry. OH, WOW! This gorgeous space is in a league by itself. And I disagree with Patrick (the other one) when he I disagrees [with] "the comments about adding rugs or art or other decoration don't quite understand the aesthetic." I think Jawrite's aesthetic is an All or Nothing Deal, and you truly do get it or you don't! And the room is full of the life that paintings often (and usually not so successfully) bring to a space. The view the window brings in must change the light and ambiance constantly. The idea of Zen could be derived from this space, not just applied to it.

If I had to pick a nit, I'd say that the criss-cross legs of the bar stools (at least in the second picture) add too much busy-ness, especially when seen with all the objects surrounding the entryway. (The criss-crosses of the little table legs get lost, too, and would be great on their own.)

The translucent panels, the pale, shiny floor, the light--excellent!

Hey Patrick (the other one.) Email me at jawrite@hotmail.com if you want info about the studio. Thanks for the comments.

I would definitely use some color on the walls, but overall, my GOODNESS, what a fabulous space. The lights of course are the best and the positioning of the bed is genius. I am an avid believer in hardwood floors and no rugs (same in my apartment), so to me the space looks fine to me.

Patrick (the other one) - first entry got me laughing quite hard! (:

Okay, rughaters, I'm not talking a multi-colored shag, and anti-arters, I'm not talking a Neon lit LeRoy Neiman. But (as an example) I have a framed portrait in a lucite box by photographer Martin Schoeller that is as subtle and luminous as is this space, but would have an amazing relationship to the lit boxes beneath.

And a low pile gorgeous ivory wool area rug anchoring the seating area (and to put bare feet on when descending from the bed nook) would NOT, I promise you, tart the place up.

We had an interesting assignment in year 1 at RISD... it was to "exploit the plane" of a 18 x 18 piece of corrugated cardboard (and we got no further direction... the professor walked out and never came back that afternoon). The most successful solutions involved doing something *opposed* to the flatness of the sheet to make the flatness more flat, if that makes any sense...

That's all I'm saying about the addition of the *tiniest*, most subtle of layers here... there can be those additions and this apartment becomes *more* of what it is (cuz I love what it is!), not less. But please stop telling me I "don't get it."

elle1009--
Hmm, I usually hope for something more than laughter on my first entry... ;)

Totally P2, totally.

I love the look & mood of it. Twice I have moved into spaces with planned sparseness similar to, tho not at urban lush as this. I can't maintain the open space and minimal stuff for very long. If this space has looked like this for most of the five years you've lived here....wow! You get the gold star for great application of Maxwell's AT principles.
And if you enjoy no rug and no artwork, then that's the way your home should be.
Congrats on creating such a serene space.

Upon first glance I was going to vote not my thang. I mean, while the space is aesthetically beautiful it looks 'cold' and I'm into spaces that have some warmth and colour. But that is MY taste. Upon further review however I noticed great restraint, nice looking storage solutions and nice details...which makes me want to see additional photos. Therefore my vote:

Cool-Has potential

Just b/c I couldn't live like this doesn't make it less nice.

k*

wow. look at that doorway arch!!!

lit storage is phenomenal!
A

I heart this.

Love the floor. Love the light. Love the spacious feeling. Want to live here.

Ahh! How did I miss this the first time around?!

Wow, I would never leave and i would never have anyone in. This space would be just for me. I'm selfish.

The bed is amazing. It just feels so right.

Very interesting but it doesn't feel "liveable", but i be the view is amazing!

i also missed this earlier, and agree with all the positive comments about the bed and storage design. however, i am especially admiring of--and find this rare--the decision to make the view and the window the other focal point of the apartment. i am always surprised that people who have a great view make the choice to use it as backdrop, rather than center stage. this is terrific!