What is the orange ball thing -- thermostat? It's spiffy looking. You have some great items in that place.

I remember the creepy feel of Naugahyde on chairs (skin crawls). I'm all for authenticity, but some materials are best left in the past.

Really impressive!

Very nice place, good-looking renter.

You certainly have style and a sense of decor. I realize you live in 400+sq feet but the bed just seems so in your face. I think I would maybe move it to where it's not the first thing you see when you open the door...but the color scheme and everything else is just super cool. And please, take this for what it is worth and no disrespect...you ARE easy on the eyes. :O}

Great space! Love that bench at the end of the bed & the dinning set looks really unique. I grew up with naugahyde material in my home and still appreciate it today. The vintage chairs look terrific with the West Elm table.

What a lot of lovely pieces Ricardo has. I would feel so at home there. Love the grey walls.

Also Ricardo is as stylish as his apartment, I bet he turns a few heads in the street :)

Cue "omg so hot!" ... oh yeah, the apartment is nice too" cliched AT comments. Get over it already, people. This is a design blog, not Match.com. Have some respect for everyone involved here.

surprised the grey works with the extra color touches... it all looks a little too 60s ( mostly all the wood). I might refinish or stain the wood furniture to give it a more modern look. Red bathroom is cool- a little dark- , I was thinking of adding a red element to mine ...

I don't actually like MCM, myself. But this is a good example of how any style that is well done and with a sense of humor and lightness is appealing to me.

This apartment is adorable! It's so light and sweet and there's a lot of really good choices that make the space seem much larger. It looks like there's a lot of room to move around and still stretch out and relax without resorting to "miniaturized" furnishings. To me, this is a huge accomplishment.

(@J808 - Well said!)

I love this apartment. The touches of colour, the grey walls, the sense of masculine comfort it just exudes everywhere. It's a great man-apartment that shows a confident man that's settled in and who has devoted time to his surroundings without over-designing. Plus, nothing in there that looks like "I took kitchen cloths and made a pillow case" or "I let ink run on canvas and called it arty",

I really like the little orange caps on the legs of the side table/bookshelf! I've never been a big fan of brass caps on the ends of table legs, but painting them a fun color is a great idea!

Check out the resource list - nice job of pulling everything together from primarily Craigslist and ebay. It's so much more personal and collected-looking that just going to DWR and buying a bunch of MCM reproductions. You have good taste - I like that it's masculine but you can't really put your finger on why. Everything looks good together.

I love that most of this comes from Craig's List.

You my friend have exceptionally good taste! I applaud you for finding such fabulous items on Craigslist. It's such a gem of a site. I've been on there trying to find rental homes that are Mid Century. Here's hoping : )

Also - I really like the bed where it is. Since it's the exact width of the window it feels natural there, I don't think it would look nearly as good anywhere else. It's a studio, so I guess I just expect to see the bed. I like the bright cover on it too.

This is one great tour; lots of color inspiration. Extremely well done, thanks for sharing!

Though probably harmless, It is somewhat skanky, in my opinion, to read folks licking their man chops via the keyboards as the youngsters showcase their design skills. It reminds me of certain bars - long gone - in Baltimore and Portland, Oregon. That said, I LOVE this apartment. I love the story about painting a room three times before finally settling on his original color scheme. There is something about these rooms that seems at once effortless and very thoughtful. This tour seems to me to be more about vision and instinct and less about budgets and big names. That's Apartment Therapy at its best.

OMgosh go argue somewhere else. You both are acting childish.

That being said....the apartment is nice on the eyes as it the renter.

Love this. Clean and simple yet still warm and comfortable feeling.

I didn't realize this article was meant for critiquing the style and choices...there's a reason Ricardo is here and you're not...

I love it how simple this set up is. This just didn't feel only 465sqft to me. It's slightly smaller than mine, but because the layout is so much better here, you could really do more. But, where are your other clothes and shoes? Look at the way you dress in the photo, I know you appreciate finer things so where is the other closet? =)

I LOVE IT! Amazing style. You did a great job, Ricardo.

I was really getting tired of gray walls in so many tours...until now!
It's testimony to this gentleman's eye for interesting items, placement, and color that the air conditioning and heating units and the vertical blinds don't detract from the overall effect.
I hope that someday we'll get to see what he will do in a place without the restrictions and limitations of a rental. A new tour on my list of favorites.

I think the orange sphere item mounted on the wall is a radio, 70's vintage.....

Nice job

Its such a nice place..I wanna decorate my home soon.

Well done....very thoughtful and I love all the textures. I am in the process of doing the same...getting rid of most of my current stuff and purchasing items the better suit my ever evolving style. The fact that you found most everything on craigs list makes this even more impressive.

Something that I liked about the way this tour was presented was that wider views of the space were shown first and then ended with close ups and vignettes. This would be like seeing a place in actuality where you take in the big picture and then are drawn in to examine its interesting details more closely. I thought it was effective for this tour.

Wonderful.

So inspiring, especially considering the sources for everything. Nothing against some of the other house tours we've seen, but it can be discouraging seeing a list of high-end stores as sources.

Pure talent. Incredible. I love your metal artwork and that kitchen table and chairs.

FINALLY! A place I can relate to. I too live in Weho in an eerily similar apartment and I've been dying for ideas to spruce it up. I was thinking of painting it a similar shade of grey and there it is! Although my apartment looks to be a wee bit smaller. That's right SMALLER.

This house has already been posted on here before... I know because I LOVED it and saved some of the clips for paint inspirations.

Great style! Glad to see a few more shots!

@ rsr: I dig what you said: "Something that I liked about the way this tour was presented was that wider views of the space were shown first and then ended with close ups and vignettes... I thought it was effective for this tour." I agree. A lot of the tours I don't like- it's not the spaces, it's the absurd amount of "filler" close up vignettes! I always want to say: "Yes! I can see by the 3 different shots of the flower vase & picture frame still life on the window sill that you can arrange a flower & picture frame on a window sill." (or on a dresser, or a mantle...) But I want more wider views that show how the space works. A close up of a cute pillow on a sofa doesn't show me how the sofa looks in the whole space. Ricardo not only did a terrific job of decorating/arranging his space, but he presented it very well with wide angle fotos & carefully chosen close ups (though, overall, I am tired of seeing close ups of people's plants. At least Ricardo didn't go too overboard with the plant closeups. Came close, though.)

@ LyonStill, I also feel that the bed is too much "in your face". This is a serious challenge in a space this small. For 2 years I lived in a 300sqft space (with pets!) & no matter how I tried I could not get the bed to not be the focal point of the room! I eventually just decided to make it look more stream lined & plain so that it would look less like a bed. If Ricardo goes one day without making that bed his space will look like a cluttered nightmare! But he probably already knows that! The bench with the Naugahyde cushions helps break up the space by defining the "living" area along with the couch (love the couch!) & TV wall. I would have probably used a bench with a back rest, or even a love seat, at the foot of the bed. But Ricardo knows his guests & how/where they will lounge around his place. Probably not wanting to leave...

The minute I saw Ricardo's smiling face, I said to myself, "This is the guy with the smokin' hot desk." That's what an impression you made on Small Cool, Ricardo. I'm so happy to see an expansion of that tour. Your attention to detail and ability to shine on a budget are remarkable.

I LOVE everything about your place! I could move right in. It looks collected and the small details look personal, not purchased to make an "effect."

Love! Love! Love! I smiled all the way through! You have great taste! One of my fav tours!

I'm not big on one style of design throughout the home, but this is extremely well done. I laughed at the tiny elephant on the nightstand - I have one just like it to hold toothpicks.

I'm old enough to be this boy's mother, so I'll refrain from the oooh-la-la comments.

A beautiful environment in which to live. Well Done!

I love that he was able to put together such a great space on a small budget... there is hope for teachers like me and others on small incomes!

Oh. So. Retro! I was never a big fan of mid-century but I am now! I love all the splashes of color. They really pop but are yet still subtle enough to not take over. Ricardo absolutely radiates happiness - just look at that grin! Wonderful job, Ricardo!

That desk is the business. Period.

Having lived in a 350sq ft studio, I love that he made the bed the focal point for the room. What a wonderful room to relax in and watch a movie, whether in bed or on the couch. Great job!

A piece as amazing as that bed SHOULD be the focal point of a whatever room it is in. Dividing up an already small space just makes it feel more cramped (living in 400sq feet myself, I know this from experience) This is light and open. Fantastic job. I need some of his Craigslist mojo!!

Love all the amazing furnishings. However have never been a big fan of large beds used in studio apartments. For me they always demand too much attention and make the main room look more like a movie set for a porno just without the extra lighting. That being said it's pretty extraordinary that you found so many pristine mid-century pieces like you did. The kitchen table and chairs belong in a museum! The sofa and rug couldn't work better together. Loved the paint colors too. If this was only a one bedroom apartment instead, with the bed in a bedroom where beds belong it would be close to perfect. Good job!

Yummy! And I'm not talking about those nectarines! Nice decor too :)

Nice guy pad.

WOW! What great photography.

Cool Paul

I love those grey paint colors. I can appreciate re-painting the kitchen a million times -- I did it too when I first moved in to my place. I'm also curious about that orange dial thing on the wall. Love that so much came from CL -- a stylish apartment on a reasonable budget!

I am so VERY impressed with the use of space! You have done a great job! Very masculine but not to much! Love it!

Thank you to everyone for the sincere comments, nice compliments, and overall positive feedback I've received about my place :)

The orange globe thing mounted on the wall that some of you were wondering about is actually a little vintage GE portable radio from the 70s. It can either be mounted to wall by hanging it from its base as seen the pictures, or it can simply be placed on any level surface. I think it looks cool on the wall. There's a little magnet inside the bottom half of the globe where the battery goes to keep the globe balanced on the axis. The very top silver part of the globe is the speaker. Rotating the top half of the globe turns the radio on and allows you to select a station. The bottom half also turns so you can adjust the volume.

Ricardo

Really great sense of style, and great peices! I have been searching high and low for a mid century planter, and have been unable to find an affordable one. I really like the aircraft picture hanging above the sofa; probably my favorite peice.

LOVE[period]

Any chance you picked that bed up from Craigslist in Asheville? My mom and dad had the exact same bed when I was growing up and my mom sold it a couple of years ago. She's totally the type that would have been just like, here, take it. She hates mid-century and my dad loved it. He lost on the rest of the house, but he won on the bedroom!