apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Sometimes, when you can't paint a rental, people don't know how to infuse color into their space. I love this! I don't know how I feel about the cow-hide rug (I'm a vegetarian!), but I like that this space feels warm and inviting and not stifling, like it could. I'm assuming that couch lets out?

This is fantastic, what a wonderful use of a very very small space!!

My friend Tommy knows how to work it! We went to design school together in Colorado, and to see him go from Wyoming, Colorado, and to the big city has made me proud! Congrats!

what is the black chair next to the desk?
cute little place, btw.

very small, very cool! great example of multi-purposing a tiny space.

Happy to see a truly tiny space, there haven't been enough of these. Very impressive. Love the art, it's perfect for the space. I'm normally not one to nitpick over small design details but I have to say this is bugging me: the Ikea floor lamp next to the tv. It just looks wrong to me, and it doesn't seem like you need the additional lighting.

Like it al lot. Kudos on the Eames RAR. The white metal cabinet is really nice. very well put together.
Love it.

joel maria pirela

Tell me about that fold-out sofa! I have really been loving these masculine spaces that are so well designed. Very, very nice. And just look at that itty bitty kitchen...

I like what I see, but where are your clothes? Shoes? Is there a bureau/wardrobe just out of frame?

What is the art on the wall? It looks like a DNA codon sequence.

I like it a lot - and I almost REALLY REALLY like it.

Just my $0.02: Before the finals (which I hope you make), I think it'd be very worthwhile to do three simple things:

1. Affix the TV, lamp and other cords to the back of the white locker with some simple cord keepers (vs. the coils you can see underneath and the lamp cord on the side)
2. stash the TV tray, broom, umbrella and laptop bag in the closet
3. Hang something great (i.e., similarly colorful/stylish to everything else you have on the walls) in the blank wall space above the desk.

Then my "really really like" will be unconditional. :)

Great space - congrats, and thanks for sharing.

This is great - stylish and functional. A little cluttery for me personally, but I think you've done great with the space you've got. Would like to see where you stash your wardrobe, etc. Very nicely done!

About the cow-hide rug... it doesn't fit anywere.

I really like this space. Finally, a micro-apartment! Insta-finalist in my estimation!

Debl, it looks like there is a closet right beside the front door. I love that it's really clean and neat yet personal things are visible. I don't like abstract art but I absolutely adore the pictures in your apartment and how well they work with the rest of the space. I think you have just the right amount of decorations and they are all proportioned correctly.

One question: How do you not have curtains?

Is that table, stackable set of three small-to-large rounded rectangles, from target? I almost bought that, looks nice!

Does anyone know where the white locker is from or who makes it?

If you look at the plans....next to the bathroom is a closet which is where the shoes and clothes are kept.

I would stash my wardrobe and clothes in the closet by the front door.

The white cabinet looks like the PS series from Ikea.

I love that the leaning desk/shelves match the color of the window frames. That really ties it together plus they have a really small footprint.

Also love the couch and the way it's adjacent to a wall painted the same understated color.

And the rug goes beautifully.

It's great to see another very small apt. I know how hard it is to fit what you need to live with in a tiny space. Here it's done without clutter and it looks easy. I like this entry--a lot.

Great use of the leaning bookshelf and desk. I never saw potential for those in catalogs, especially since I'm not a furniture-on-the-walls kind of girl, or maybe I just lack vision. They're perfect here. This place is tiny, but it's full of style and comfort. I really want to see this in the finals; I love it.

That said, I agree with helloat--hide those cords!

The locker is an IKEA ps piece.

Nice. I am personally squicked by the cowhide rug but your other pieces pick up the colors well. Cool art.

would love to know where the art above the tv is from?

Very nice, wonderful choices for such a small apartment.

A lot to like in a TINY space.

My only advice would be to tighten your groupings, but that's no biggie. Lower your art a little, too, so it "reads" as one piece with whatever is beneath it.

If you need the storage, I think you could fit another Ikea PS locker next to the one you have, giving you a simpler line and more concealed storage. Don't mind me, I'm just playing with a very nicely handled space.

Beautiful hide, btw, and I like the tan wall color very much, whihc really elevates what you've got going on.

And I love it when single guys in NY don't have curtains. Yeee-haw! ;)

Finally, a real small space!!

You've done a great job.

The cowhide creeps me out, but after that it's great, and has the twin merits of being truly tiny and done on a low budget. Can we hear more about the art? (Which I agree needs to be a little lower.)

Great job in such a small space! And I, for one, do not mind the clutter (cords, laptop bag, umbrella). Small amounts of clutter are a fact of life and the fact that your room can absorb it points to your decorating skill. Some rooms are impeccably decorated but one piece of clutter would wreck it - not functional at all. Nice job on your apartment!

where are those leaning shelves and desk from? anyone know?
But yep, this is a winner! :)

Wow. I love your place. I can tell you are a thinking person.

Sorry if I'm echoing other sentiments - but the rug really grosses me out. Perhaps this an idea that should be addressed on an open thread. I am not a purist (I do eat meat sadly to say, trying to rectify that, but I don't use leather), but if you have ever seen an animal killed (I have, my father was a butcher) then you would never own an animal skin rug. Think about how the animal must be killed for a rug. Very skillfully, because of course you don't want a scar. Very slowly, by draining blood, again because whole animal must be preserved and then literally split wide open from head to toe and with almost everything else discarded. And don't give me that argument about using the whole animal. C'mon people we are not eskimos. We are wasteful Americans. Most of the animal gets discarded. Don't forget these skins usually come from poachers who are killing illegally. I hope someone makes a movie similar to Blood Diamond to show the illegal animal trade that goes into making these rugs.

Sorry for the tirade. It's just that I have seen so many of these in this contest. In one otherwise beautiful entry, there was a skin and a loving portrait of a dog. The irony of killing one animal wastefully and then walking on it while revering another is apparent to me.

All that said - your place is amazing. Very cute, good use of space and great art. With all that great art, I know you are thinking person. So lose the rug. Hope you win a prize, but here is another irony. The people I have voted for as finalists don't really need anything! Their places look great as is. So I hope you win a prize and I hope you buy a new rug.

Really, sorry for the tirade. Good luck.

That accent wall is really kind of perfect. It's not white, and yet it's still pretty neutral. I like how it has a white unit on it, and yet it matches the couch which is up against a white wall. It's a great counterpoint, and makes the furniture seem very grounded in the space, without needing to quite feel built-in.

Peggy--

Do you wear leather?

And, um, illegal cow poachers? You sure about that?

Uh oh. I sense a brouhaha in the offing!

no ptoo - i don't wear leather. I said so above. And yes, illegal cow poachers, don't be naive.

I can understand how some people might find the hide unpleasant while not being averse to leather in general.

For me, it is not so much an objection to the killing of animals for ethical reasons, but the blood & guts imagery conjured up by a hide still shaped like the entire animal. It's just gross, which is different from saying that it is unethical.

I likewise much prefer eating chicken cutlets to chicken on the bone, for the same reason.

I love the locker! Colors are perfect and rug is marvelous. Hope you win......Best of luck.

You said "use" leather, so I was not sure. Some people forget that the leather of purses, belts and shoes "counts" as leather.

Okay, so you seem pretty committed to the cause, (except for the meat eating, which I'm not sure how you rectify that), so you are entitled to preach, I suppose.

I think skins make people nervous since they most closely resemble the animals we sometimes try hard to forget we are eating.

I *do* think growing up a butcher's daughter gives a very interesting (and HIGHLY personal) spin on the subject.

But the end note of "don't be naive" seemed just a *touch* snipey.

Personally I don't like animal hides aesthetically and I can certainly understand the ethical concerns (former vegetarian, fell off the wagon, don't intend to get back on it), but haven't we seen several of them in this contest? Wasn't there a deer head somewhere? Why is everyone ganging up on Thomas?

WoW! The smaller spaces ARE the bigger challenges. Thank the goddess for high ceilings! I like that this space is so well done AND so small. I love that it's not pretentious or sterile. Oh & the hide is great. It makes me imagine a young man from cow town moving to the big apple to realize his dreams.

I think the leaning shelves and desk are from Crate & Barrel. http://www.crateandbarrel.com/family.aspx?c=996&f=14503

I'm sure if Thomas has symbolic and nostalgic feelings (like he specifically said) for this rug, he'll keep it, regardless of soapbox AT comments. Everyone has his own tastes and beliefs, and it's clear he likes this rug--and it does look great in this small space--so yes, maybe save this for an open thread.

It's like telling someone they are overdressed when they have no opportunity to change.

Insta-finalist! I feel like I am learning things by studying your apartment--it's a very good point someone made about how the white locker thing against the tan wall, adjacent to the tan couch against the white wall, balance each other out. Very nice.

Are the 3 rectangles next to the locker from West Elm? I've been considering getting the ones they sell--4 of them for $200. Seeing them in your space makes me more confident that they're a good idea.

When I read the suggestion about putting away the umbrella, laptop bag, TV tray, and broom I went back to try to find them in the pictures--it was like playing Where's Waldo! I don't know how anybody (particularly someone who lives in a studio apartment) could live without having any personal effects visible in their home. By which I mean to say, I don't think it looks cluttered at all.

Did everybody everybody complaining about the cow skin rug notice the sheep skin on top of the mirror? You could be complaining about that as well!

Nice place! The clock is great!

When I lived in an apartment that was high, I took all the blinds down and used no curtains. I got lots of sun and nobody could really see me without making a huge effort. It was great!

I was just picturing the ghosts of that cow and sheep floating around the room at night, mooing and baaaaa-ing!

Perhaps one of the best uses of beige that I've ever seen--bravo!

love love love love love the rug.

but then again, im a collector of vintage skins, hides, and especially taxidermy. i adore (living) animals, hate guns, and the thought of hunting makes me cringe. i know its hypocritical, but i am fascinated by the eerie feel that a deer mount from the 1940s has, or a quail or raccoon thats been frozen since the 60s. yell at me all you want, i cant change what happend 50 years ago and i'm giving them a good home til they can be put to rest. whenever the piece falls apart (which they often do, as i buy lots of mounts that are in poor shape, cause i like the look), i bury it. i know it sounds weird, but then again...im a weird girl.

Thomas, i think your place has lots of potential and you seem to have great taste on an Ikea budget. i'm voting you insta-finalist in hopes that you win the chance to buy some cord-keepers and upgrade a few pieces.

oh, and keep that rug ;)

When I rented, I really did try make my place nice, but you've really gotten it right. I'm enjoying looking at this more than once.

Your place is so not my style (I'm more of an ARTS & CRAFTS/MISSION kind of guy) but I really like your place. It's got oomph!! and it's functional. It's not cluttered and I really like that clock.

Regarding the rug. A couple of years ago I had an actual bear skin rug. (With the head attached!) That was obscene. Your cow hide is fine.

P.S. If you ever redecorate I say you keep the rug and go for a cowboy themed apartment.

Tony G.

I love it! Yay for micro apartments. The little desk integrated into the book shelf is pure genius.

I agree with thinking about grouping some of the objects in your nice apartment. It seems you have your "things" spread evenly over the entire apartment, and they all seem to be about the same scale. Another suggestion is separating the stacked ovals from the Ikea chest. I always find it weird to have two different storage units right next to each other. Maybe something needs to be moved towards the center of the room to act as a coffee table? I like your art and agree with moving the cool white one down a little! And I agree with PToo about the curtains... no need!

Nice apt!

T T- I love it. All of it. It's fabulous!

Roca

Patrick - You are down right devilish. I can appreciate that.

gorgess! love it!

Michael writes, "For me, it is not so much an objection to the killing of animals for ethical reasons, but the blood & guts imagery conjured up by a hide still shaped like the entire animal. It's just gross, which is different from saying that it is unethical.

I likewise much prefer eating chicken cutlets to chicken on the bone, for the same reason."

In other words, people like the cruelty disguised. If you eat a cutlet as opposed to a thigh you don't have to think about the chicken as you eat. So you walk on leather shoes (not cow shaped) but be *grossed out* by walking on a cow shaped rug.

I like this apartment a lot.

I wear leather in small increments (shoes) but big leather things kinda make me gag too. To each his own.

The cow hide is super sexy...
The space looks so clean and larger than the sq.ft.
I love it.

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Not bad mate. Not bad at all.

You've got some interesting pieces there and overall you've done a decent job with the size limitations!

My Vote: Cool. Has Potential.

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Hed Kandi--

You're the one who said on another entry "Two men, one bed, not my thang" right?

How do you know what's going on in this bed?

Lots to like here. I'd prefer a different bookshelf situation-a little more consolidation so there would be less pieces in the room. Then I think the rug would work a bit better. Otherwise a very strong "has potential".

Impressive! And great use of color, really bright and happy.

Questions for the owner/AT readers in NYC:

Is everything new? Did you bring anything with you when you moved in that stayed? I'm seeing a lot of pads lately that look like everything is brand new. Is it smarter/less expensive to move into a city like New York with nothing and build over time? I'm not a New Yorker, I've never lived there, so I have to just step up and ask.

I don't mean anything critical by it, but it just seems like a lot of apartments I see in magazines/blogs look really swank - but almost everything looks brand new and I just wonder how it works.

Thanks in advance to any who can answer my questions.

Great place, just lose the dark nesting cubes. thay bug me. :)

I love walking on cows.

for an apartment with one closet this looks great. btw patrick (the other one) binoculars or telescope?

Love it!

Where did you get the cowhide rug, and where is the most reasonable place to get them (i know nature co. sells them...)? do you trust the ones they sell on ebay not to be gross?

also love the white cabinet! those ikea locker things are the best, they look great in twos, you should get another one for next to it. i have two red ones next to each other in my LR and the repetition actually makes the room look huge. you can get em on craigslist as you probably know, no assembly necessary!

Really lovely use of a small space - it has a wonderful atmosphere

and I LOVE the rug!

The clock is cool too - and combined with the bowler hat made me think Magritte - which then made me think Thomas Crowne Affair...

Love the DNA-ish paintings. Where can I get it? Seriously.

Hate the preachy, self important detractors. If I wanted a vapid, tedious screed about "da poor, poor widdle animals", I'd troll a vegan newsgroup. A simple "I don't like animal skin decoration" would be more than enough in this context. Do get over yourselves.

Thanks people -- I seriously missed the closet on the first look at the floor plan. And I really like this place!

While small, this place has just the right amount of stuff and plenty of personality. The cowhide definitely works here.

The apartment looks great - funtional and stylish, while still being seeming like someone lives there. My question is about the bed/sofa. Is it a pain to make the bed? I would just have it out as a bed all the time, which would probably make me want to get a real bed. Is it comfortable?

Cool apartment - congrats!

I love the neutrals with great pops of primary color! This place has personality.

I love this small apt. It looks inviting and homey. I love the art the colors bring out the neutral colors of the wall. I love the rug like Thomas says it's symbolic a little memory from home Wyoming. And now with his sense of style he has made this small apt great. With his experience of Interior Design he has used the flash of color on his art and the shape and arrangement of his furniture he makes this small apt inviting. I love the long window it brings character to the apt, and great lighting into the kitchen. The kitchen looks small but fun. I like the way the kitchen connects with the living room. The dark shelves bring out the color in the windows again bringing all the color together. Don't hide the broom, it makes the room look real and not set for a photo shoot. The only thing I feel is out of balance is the monitor and the white lamp on the locker. The lamp over powers the monitor. I love the mirror with the sheep rug and the reflection it gives of part of the room. Yes there is a closet, but how much room do you need when you are a single guy. I love the couch. it looks very comfortable. Maybe some colored pillows to go with the art. The painting above the couch measures great with the couch. I remember someone told me you should always look at the size and shape of an object before you bring into your house. Good Luck Thomas You deserve to win. You have my VOTE. NURSE SALLY

Thomas, I love the clock where did you get. I love the art under the clock. where did you get your desk. Everything is very organized and clean. Good luck again. M from Wyoming

Beautiful!

something makes me wanna come inside. i don't know what it is tho. maybe the wall color or the lighting. u have a feel good place to come home to.