apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I wish we could click on the before and see it a wee bit larger. It's very small (and dark). But there's no doubt, it's a terrific transformation! Well done.

where did you get that contact paper. i like the couch a lot.

Too bad you had to paint and close up the fireplace. Nice couch & good job on the bookcases.

how do you cut the lack shelves? didn't they splinter and crush (assumed they were hollow-ish)?

looks great!

Which IKEA cabinets are those at the bottom of the shelves? Do the doors slide open? Can you tell us more about how you cut them to fit?

p.s. If you no longer want the Eames lounge chair shown in your "before" picture, I'd be more than happy to take it off your hands. ;)

Anna- I was just going to say the same exact thing!

I also want to know which cabinets those are? How tall are they?

I totally scoped those chairs on CL, in my daily ( ok 8 times daily) "mid century" key word search!
Looks great, love the contact paper idea.

What colors are on the walls? A mauve shade? Do tell....

Yay! Thanks for the larger picture.

I'm truly sorry, but I far prefer the "before" to the "after".
The "after" is very cluttered and really boring. To me, the "before" has some cool character, color, and looks cozy. Why did you hide the fireplace?
Windwolf

I'm afraid I have to agree with Windwolf :(

I'll disagree with you both. I think it looks great! If Andy preferred the before I would just be glad he was happy. However, he is happier in a room with more sunlight, comfortable, inviting furniture and colors and lovely storage. I far prefer his "new" room. It looks like a place that would put me at ease as a guest and make me a bit envious of the space.

What happened to the Panton Chair, sheepskin throw and Eames Lounge???

The place looks GREAT! Very well thought out. Like the art over the fireplace - Story? Congrats!!

Kudos to the after -- you gain enough seating so that you can entertain guests properly! It looks very grown-up San Francisco; more Gump's than IKEA.

I agree the before has more interest. The after looks so ...blah.

I like some of the after - like the cut-to-fit Lack shelves from IKEA. But I agree it does look cluttered, and the new furniture isn't anywhere near as nice as the pieces in the before. I hate those two new hairs - they look straight out of the '80s to me, from a cheap dentist's waiting lounge.

I'd have kept the original chairs, added the couch, and used smaller tables, end tables or an ottoman in place of the space-hogging coffee table. Also not a huge fan of the two mis-matched frames over the fireplace (mirrors?). I'd have gone with one large mirror, or simply kept the large artwork which was there before.

Sorry it took a second to reply--I cut the LACK shelves with a table saw, and they only chipped at bit at the edges but I painted that over and it didn't show. I had to drill new holes to have it screw to bolts. The bottom cabinets were very cheap IKEA ones, I forget the name, about $150 each that I also cut with table saw meticulously.

I'm sure some like the before, but the furniture is simply in a better room; the fireplace had to be closed according to an inspector; the contact paper was cheap from Cliff's and was necessary after we were broken into (someone had scoped out a computer in that room from the street). You must trust me the chairs are NOT eighties but very cool 1960 design. As for the rest--I'm no minimalist! I love lots of things I love, especially books, surrounding me at all times! Also the room was not usable as a get-together room before. I'll post more info later--thanks for the comments!

The cabinets are APSVIK

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/10114614

THey are 30 inches high, and we store the guest blow-up bed and sheeting in there. The doors slide sideways (crucial to save room) and I had to cut all the pieces, plus drill new holes, in each but it was much cheaper than built-ins! I may mirror or paint the doors to add interest.

The walls are actually just taupe with a chocolate chimney--we painted all that four years ago. I can find the exact colors if I search in the basement. The rest is all craigslist finds and IKEA. The art is by a friend, and the top piece of art is a clock with a pencil attached that draws a circle every hour. The white frame are to unify them--bought at Community thrift and painted.

Thanks everyone for comments! It was fun to take the room from empty to a room everyone wants to sit in, and now I've got ideas to take it further--perhaps remove some junk and shelve my books! Oh, and a rug.

It does look more cozy now. A rug would help enhance that, but go with something simple - probably a solid color, maybe with some texture like a shag (although they're a pain to keep clean).

I like bookshelves full of books, but with all of the other small-sized objects in the room and on the walls I think that's what makes it feel somewhat cluttered. Maybe try swapping those objects out for fewer, larger pieces and see how that works.

I trust you that the chairs are '60s originals, but I still hate em! I think it's the pattern, because the colors match your room perfectly. Hopefully they're comfy.

Hey, if you like 'em that's ultimately all that really matters!

Do tell, where is that couch from? I have been looking for a small-mid scale couch in hat color/style for 6 months now. I am DYING to get that couch!

Happy New Year!!

Well done! I too have customized Lack shelves in my appartment, even the wall colour looks similar... ;)

Please tell me how exactly did you mount the shelves on the wall? I used the original IKEA hardware and steel brackets on the sides to improve stability, which unfortunately are visible... Can't see anything like that on your pictures!

The couch I found on craigslist, but I think it's very similar to couches sold at Therapy on Valencia street, and Room & Board has similar ones. We got ours from the apartment my brother was moving into, down the street!

As for the shelves, I did not use other brackets. I weighed a shelfload of books and it met the load the shelves could hold, so I stayed with their hardware! The key was that I drilled MANY new holes in the hardware so I could mount it to studs in about eight places. The hardware does bend with the load, making the shelves tilt foward slightly, but of course the shelf is against the wall and holds it up. I'm really happy with it and may make more to hold my growing book collections...

Thanks for all the comments, and I may have to have sunspot42 over to convince her about the chairs. I'm still on the fence myself about the pattern, to be honest. Maybe change the colors in the room a little to mix it up? Or a rug might bring it all together a bit more, as people have said. And I do need to reshelve my books!