apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Nice sleek place, but not a lot of color.

not interesting enough. safe,though

Nice, but the only real color I saw is the red wall.. I love that red wall though. Do you remember what tha paint is called?

I agree with Alex -- this is very safe. I love white as a color to highlight, but think it is overused as a highlighter in this room. I would suggest curtains of a different color.

Thanks Andie, the paint color is called either Red Dragon or Chinese Dragon (I forgot exact name) from Behr.

I find the curtains too heavy for the space (I'd dump them entirely, but that's just me), but overall it's cohesive and sleek, as others have said. A bit dark, and the use of white as leavening looks a bit contrived.

The lamp over the table looks... saggy and limp to me, an odd contast to all those crisp lines elsewhere-- like a dead octopus hanging from the ceiling (that's not necessarily a critcism, sometimes a floppy lighting fixture is just what is called for). :)

I like this alot. Just because it doesn't scream, "LOOK AT ME! I'M ALL RED!!" doesn't mean it's actually safe. Xing knew where to start and where to stop with the color. And fyi, mixing red/white/black is not as easy as it seems. I've seen some absolutely horrid renditions of this "safe" combo. I think overall, this entire space has a nice sophistication to it. And I like the use of textures. INCLUDING the 'dead octopus' hanging over the table. (I can't really tell from the photo, but I do believe it appears to be a macrame piece...very "IN" right now, Juliet!) I also like the lighting next to the windows. This is a home I could personally see myself living in. Great job, Xing!! ENJOY!!

I agree with Elle. More color is not necessarily better - you don't want to live in a crayola box. At the same time, using color judiciously is difficult. The red wall creates a warm, welcoming touch to the room and the white balances it out well, without over-powering it. The red book on the shelf is a nice touch to bring some red to the other side of the room. The mix of styles and textures improves the look of the room. In all, I think it is a very comfortable, inviting space.

I like this quite a bit. It's got the red wall thing which I just criticized on another entry, but the way it relates the the rest of the room works so much better. There's a Donald Judd essay about how red, white and black are the most powerful color combination. I'll have to look for that.

I love your place. When I read your title calling it "eclectic" I thought Ugh. I usually hate when people use the word eclectic to describe their place, find it a cop out because it usually means cluttered and non-committal. Your place is not that eclectic. Anyone who finds your place boring does not understand the difficult of restraint.

Your place is lovely and exhibits a high degree of restraint and elegance. It is beautiful in its simplicity. Even though your pieces are of different periods, they are nonetheless cohesive. I love the use of the bright walls with your neutrals. I would love to lounge on the day bed sipping tea.

Great work. This is one of my favorites. Thanks for sharing.

Sorry. I felt compelled to say a little more. I truly appreciate how difficult it is to create such a simple elegant place. And to achieve simplicity while using red walls! Incredible. I have seen a lot of red, which I love and I am always preaching simplicity. Few can pull it off. This is truly a fine acccomplishment.

Xing - looks classy!

I love the fact that it's in Bellevue. It gives me hope. Beautiful place, Xing.

It's ok. I don't like the arrangement of the furniture. It seems like everything is crowded together and like I'd trip over things. Either that or everything is pushed against one wall. You do have some beautiful pieces and I think that your use of color and light is very calm. Which is hard to do with red.

Elle: Macrame? Really? *flashbacks to 1975* I guess everything old really is new again. ;)

Thanks for all the kind words regarding my place.

Actually the two lamps (one is behind the other) hanging over the dinning room table are handmade in Bali (I bought them for about $2.50 each). They had some small red embrodery accents on the white muslin, but it is blurred into the highlight in the photograph. The fake Eames chair & barcelona day bed are picked up from Craigslist for pretty cheap. The dinning room chair (which is actually oversized), the coffee table, the console table are Chinese antiques. The shelf that holds travel momentos, the tv bench & the curtains are from Ikea. Originally, I had a console table & fish tank on the red wall in the dinning room, but I found it blocked traffic flow to the back yard. The photography lamp lights up a drift wood that I picked up in Oregon's Cannon beach.

You made red serene. Your place is beautiful; I know we're supposed to be talking about color, but I just have to say that I love the textural elements of your place--namely the tufted leather and sleek hardness of the wood with the fur pieces elegantly thrown about. It contributes to the balance here, and I love it.

I like it a lot, cool look.

It's great to see an entry from Bellevue :)

Xing,

Love the red balanced with solid pieces & restraint...and your decor! I went to the link with your blog/travel pics, and I would love to see a series of your nice photos on one of your walls...maybe the subway series as a group, or one of them blown up very, very large! I'm a photo freak, too-not many in my smaller apartment, but see the hong Kong taxis photo in my entry just mutual interest :)

Nice place to live. Congrat's.

Xing,

I like this room a lot. Do you mind if I ask where you got the bed? I have never seen one like it.

Thanks.