Here is the first of the 4 semifinalists from the Northwest. There will be 16 semifinalist entries (4 from each region) in total, each showing off new photos for your perusal. Our 4 judges are making the final decisions, but your comments and support can help them out...
Click here to go to the Northwest Semi-Finalist #1.











Delight:
I think I am you and you are me, and that somehow our souls and bodies got switched and you once lived in my place and I once lived in yours.
I love it, it's home.
-Jessica
view msjessica's profile
this place is nothing but real. It's a combination of practicality and nuance. It's personal it's intimate, it's hard-working, it's energetic, it's tired, it's maybe, a bit dirty. It's lived in, it's cleaned daily, it's home to people who are creative and are inspired and resourceful. Sorry to post words so fluffy and emotional, but look at it!
I love that it's not perfectly furnished with west elm neutral junk that all matches and has no personality. Please stop the neutral west elm garbage.
-Just a suggestion.
-Jessica
Thanks for posting this apartment. It gives me hope for AP.
view msjessica's profile
This is not one I would have predicted as a finalist. Sorry.
view patrick (the other one)'s profile
LOVE IT! I'm not into bright candy colors, but this works because of enough neutrals to balance it. I really like this. I would do something more with the window, though, to soften the look of the window frames. Maybe sheers, or a matchstick shade behind the green curtains?
view ohjodi's profile
The rug is amazing, it just brings everything together.
I love it: it's warm, it's cosy, has loads of charisma.
view Socool's profile
msjessica--
Please point to ONE entry this year that is all "West Elm junk."
And personally, "tired" and "maybe dirty" are not words I'd ever hope to have describe a Smallest, Coolest *entry* let alone a Finalist.
view patrick (the other one)'s profile
A wee bit busy for me, but I really like it - looks like home, not a sterile magazine spread - good for you! I really like the green and white kitchen, and I LOVE your yellow trays on the wall, I really like them, what a great way to show them off!
kudos!
view buzzybee's profile
Agree with P2; just not finalist caliber.
view Sydney's profile
I don't get it. This is a mostly cheerful place (I say 'mostly' because I find the brown in the bedroom depressing - makes the quilt look dowdy to me, when it should be the highlight of the room. And the very pointy object above the bed would not make me feel safe - but I don't like anything that could fall on me when I sleep). Anyway, it's a mostly cheerful place that looks "lived in" (as everyone keeps saying), and is clearly *loved* by its inhabitants. But that just puts it into the same category as these three entries, no?
http://sanfrancisco.apartmenttherapy.com/sf/041307/small-cool-2007-entries/7-jennifers-purposeful-pad-020911
http://sanfrancisco.apartmenttherapy.com/sf/041607/small-cool-2007-entries/9-moxies-lily-pad-021130
http://sanfrancisco.apartmenttherapy.com/sf/041607/small-cool-2007-entries/10-rebeccas-house-of-colors-021129
This one seems more cohesive, because there's more color and fabric everywhere. But it seems to be in the same genre.
view Sea's profile
This one deserves a TON of kudos for creating such a lovely, livable space for a family of three, including a 3-year old.
Think about it: Two adults and a preschooler in 380 square feet!
It isn't hard to create a beautiful bachelor or bachelorette pad.
It is slightly more difficult to meld two decorating styles when it is a couple's abode.
But to make a tiny space work for adults and children alike is much more difficult.. So difficult, the "Nursery" editors wimped out and made *their* size limit 1000 square feet, witch is a large "Small Cool" entry plus the M-R residence: HUGE.
view MamaChilanga's profile
Oops. Meant "which"...
view MamaChilanga's profile
Eeek! I'm with Patrick! This is not one I would have expected as a finalist. But maybe they can win and use the DWR swag to throw everything out and start over.
view Josh's profile
Also not a fan . . .
view Birdy's profile
This is a finalist? This is why it was silly to separate the regions this way in the competition. This entry wouldn't have even made it into the 40 in the Northeast.
view Gene's profile
you have go to be kidding!!!
view nyrealist's profile