apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Fabulous! Great looks, great tricks, and even some DIY! I'm loving it.

Props for the BC entry!!!

Great individual pieces, but the whole doesn't hang together for me it's missing some je-ne-sais-quoi..

any suggestions folks, I love getting feedback!!

I love that one of your dining room walls matches the design on your chair!

a little weekend project with a scanner and a projector!!

I love how your one wall echoes/amplifies the chair upholstery pattern. Love the first two photos. In the area of the third photo, I am less gushingly in love but I'd probably come back around if you used your DWR cert. to get a bigger, less dead-muppety rug, lost the dayglow candles and the mirror on the wall, and --possibly-- moved the artwork off the easel and onto the wall to replace the lost mirror.

While I'm on the subject, I am intrigued by your use of an easel for art display. The mirror is on the wall so I'm guessing you don't have problems hanging things on the wall, so why an easel? This topic is consuming me at the moment because I have cranky plaster walls and a painting that seems too heavy to trust on a painting rail hanger, and I'm considering the easel route but am not convinced I like the look of it.

Awesome! Glad to see someone from Vancouver on here as well. We need an AT:Van.

I think your place looks great. Your living room is your best shot. There are definitely a few interesting accessories in there and it looks very livable.


My criticisms are entirely centered around your walls. Your green wall is a bit loud for my tastes (in a bedroom) and it kind of clashes with your bedding. Also, the painting/stencil in the dining room REALLY shouts out at me.

Then again...you're a self proclaimed eclectic person...and I'm pretty simple.

Good work

I could never lose the 'dead muppet'rug...it's the only place my cat feels comfortable pukeing-don't ask me why!!
The dayglo candles match the bedroom wall and some other accesories on the other wall(not seen), it's so hard to show a full room with only a few pics...maybe if I'm a finalist I'll post more photos hee hee!!

re the easel art thang..I'm one of those people who moves stuff around alot- the easel is a way to display a piece without commiting it to being in one specific place forever- I also have a good sized art collection so I can change it out as I feel the spirit move me! Alot of my small accesories are interchangeable too, some things get put away for the winter and out again in the summer etc- I love the lime green as it matches the leaves of the tree outside my windows!!

beautiful, it just seems so large!

Goddamn Canadians! Had to go and submit a space that looks like real, but stylish, human beings live there and not some designer for Metropolitan Home with an expense account.

Which is my snarky Bostonian way of saying, AWESOME space. Love how that wall paint job matches the pattern and color of the damask on the comfy chair.

GO CANADA,EH!!

Great place, I love it! Very cozy and inviting.
(P.S. I think I see some of that aforementioned cat-puke on the rug.)

Bravo!
Kind of like "Kelly Wearstler Light"...
Really loooove the wall tie in with the brocade pattern on your chair, your orange-red brocade patterned sheets, the touches of aqua in the dining/living, shades of gray throughout, glass and mirror throughout--dark wood accents throughout--put together like an artist.

Would love to see that stripey chair in the living room in shiny aqua satin, like the pillow or maybe the chartreuse or poppy that is in your bedroom---depends on how closely the rooms flow....
And why yellow candles, when nothing else is?
Bravo again--one for each of you.

i like the blackamoores on either side of the bed. i really like the antique touches of the space. very personalized.

Eclectic to a fault - not a single thing matches anything else. The individual pieces are stylish, but I'm not sure they work together as a whole.

the candles are chartreuse , actually close to the bedroom wall but they read alot yellower in the pic! The little chair in the LR is a turquise and gold pinstripe- it's a new piece but looks like an original 50's piece!

This space has tons of personality and looks like a fun place to relax or entertain. Thumbs up from a local gal... :-)

thanks a bunch KBBC!
btw Christopher, explain 'matches'...I don't match my shoes to my handbag either!!

Your bedroom makes me happy..Jonathan Adler-ish, antidepressant living. From a homesick Vancouverite in the Bay Area. Will have to check out your store the next time I'm home.

Lovely funky place.

Have you considered restraining the rest of the colour pallette in the bedroom to black/white/grey to set off the green? For example, an oversized black & white damask print for the bedding. Also the symmetry of matching bedside lamps would be nice.

Link below is a little slick, but gives an indication of the colour scheme I mean.

http://de.escapio.com/hotel/aticos-room-mate-laura/bilder-popup/duplex-room-mate-laura-madrid-spanien

I have to go with Christopher on this one: I think it's a little too eclectic. It all needs to be tied together somehow. And personally, I hate the Noguchi coffee table. I know...everyone else usually loves it...what can I say.

I love the shelve above the sofa!

I love it! Beautiful!

Hmmm. Intrigued by the commments about "too eclectic."

I don't agree... while not much matches, almost everything relates to a neighbor (and even room to room). There are a LOT of repeated shapes here. And pairs and symmetry carry quite a bit of the load and keeps stuff from going haywire.

And if I've not convinced you, pick up a copy of Domino, to see what passes for ecelcticism in there. This place is tame by comparison.

Nice job, bball! You had me at "full bar cart." :)

Ohmigod, is that West Elm silver antler on your dining table?!??!

How much do you want for it?!?!?

I LOVE this one! Everything looks great, plus not too empty and sterile like some but still very stylish. It's hard to believe some people can live like that, without any "stuff". I think what takes real talent is finding a way to have all your stuff and decorate with that in mind. Anyone can hide all their stuff and make their place look like a showroom/catalog/hotel. Yours looks like a showroom that you could actually live in, bravo!

How lucky you are to live so close to Stanley Park! My parent's are building in West Van later this year. I'll have to check out your store when I'm in town...

me likey. i totally want to curl up in your library chair with a good book.

I don't know what people are seeing here, I want your living room! The candles do come out looking very day-glo but I love the chair (where did you find it?) and the muppet rug makes everything look cozy! The red lampshade seems out of place to me, I'd like something more similar to the more organic-looking one on the right. The side tables are awesome and I love seeing the Noguchi table being used - my dad made one for my sister by hand and I am still pissed that she doesn't use it, it's a huge waste! I love the way your living room is put together, I just want to live there! I agree with eclectic and maybe it's verging on a little over-the-top but in the nicest way!

I love the textures, especially in the first picture. I don't so much love the bedroom, it looks a little too red/green in a chiasso/christmas sort of way. I do have to say though your taste in pattern is very now, very hot! Get some draperies to replace the blinds and i think you'll have a hot place.

**********************************************
Two Men.
One Bed.

=

Not my thang, baby!

**********************************************

oh my goodness i love this. i want this.
i love the wall painting in the dining room.. the green wall.. the lights... eeee

Nice to see another Canadian entry!

well folks i'm writing this from my laptop, sitting on my brother in laws back porch in Maui!!!!My apartment seems a million miles away but I still love my little home and love that other people love it too!!
I wanted to fill you in on the 'red' lamp in the LR, it's actually a 1950's wooden light fixture used as a shade, the light coming through turns it a warm orange, but when its not lit it's the same wood color as the little side table-I love mixing woods, it keeps a place feeling warm and organic.
Aloha!!

Dear HedKandi,
I think the idea here is to comment on the apartment, not the lifestyle.

How do things work at YOUR STORE? I'm looking for a sofa and am getting really scared. It sounds like the consumer takes all the risk if something is damaged. The sellers can just point fingers back and forth at each other (manufacturer shipper seller) and the person who bought the item is left holding the bag. I know this doesn't have to anything to do with your space, but you did link to your site. Oh, and I do love your sofa.

HedKandi, I think you took a wrong turn, honey. This is not the site for you.

The chair and wallpaper are gorgeous. I love the green in the bedrm but like the suggestion of black/white/grey color scheme in there.

HedKandi I don't think you should be using this as a forum to express ignorance toward anyone's sexual preference etc. It's a design site, keep your comments on topic.

HedKandi - If you dont like the gays you probably shouldnt be involved in design... or theatre... or literature... or any of the arts really. And I'm pretty sure my auto mechanic has a thing for me so you might want to avoid that area as well.

Anyway.. love this space. Its a great example of how color, texture, and pattern can be used to create a rich and layered look. I love that you use the Noguchi table without any other design 'icons" nearby - its refreshing! This place reminds me of the kind of "full" modern design that you see in places like the Todd Oldham house or the Eames house.

Really like this one.

Love the glass door on the bookcase because I hate dusty books.

I hope there is a house tour, I would love to see how the ikea bookshelves with crown molding looks! If you guys don't end up with a tour, please send in some pics of that anyway, I think its a resource that a lot of folks here would love!

yay canada! and i love this place. i like the eclecticism, pairing vintage pieces with newer ones.
i really like the green walls in the bedroom, and was thinking of doing the same myself soon, but in more of a lime-green.
i like that you've got a lot of white and grey which really anchors all the colors. there were some pretty nasty entries in the scc last year that looked like a clown puked all over the apartment.
but this, this is tasteful eclectic color.

Hed Kandi...oooh no you din'nt. get lost!
Fellows,
this space is glorious. It's very warm and inviting, and is well edited, without being sterile. love the dropleaf table and your pistachio wall in the bedroom.

Awesome, awesome bedroom. Adore that green mixed with the silver and orangey-red.

I like the green and I superlove those sheets with the green.

Stylin with a capital S! Westend, eh? A common stompin ground of mine. Tres cool!

Hed Kandi--

re:
"Two Men.
One Bed.
Not my thang."

I WHOLEHEARTEDLY AGREE.

THREE men in a bed is MUCH more fun.

Luke & Brian! Fabulous! I love it. hope you are having a great time in hawaii!

seriously, who comes to a design blog and posts homophobic sentiments?
Hed Kandi, are you incredibly ignorant as well as bigoted? give me a break.

btw, luke and brian--beautiful apartment. I love the magna-echo of the chair fabric on the wall behind it. Clever and lovely!

Of all the entries in the contest, this is the one I keep coming back to and looking at again and again. And of all of them, it's the one I would love to move into. Your style and mine dovetail almost perfectly, but yours is the apartment mine wants to be when it grows up. The damask, the bookcases, the silvery/charcoal gray, the apple green, the turquoise, the great lamps... I think this is pitch-perfect and I too am dying for a house tour.

And on a practical note, love that you made the awesome starburst mirror in the bedroom. I saw what was probably your inspiration in a shop the other day for molto dinero and was debating saving my pennies. But you've motivated me to try to knock it off.

I've come back to look at this lovely apartment a couple of times now. There are just so many interesting details - the pattern of the chair repeated on the wall, the very boldly colored accent pieces... it's unique and I hope we get to see more in the finals.

well our trip to Maui is almost over,we leave today...soooo sad!! Thank you all so much for your kind words-and three men in a bed is much more fun!!!!

What's up with the racist memorabilia--the "blackamoors"?

Sigh.

And another sigh for the ignorance of Hed Kandi.

Hed Kandi, I'm with you on the sentiment, but opening that can of worms is probably not a good idea in this crowd. It is supposed to be about the design, which by the way is appreciated by heterosexuals too.

why are they racist, if they were asian figures or caucasian, would that make them racist???And how do you know what race I am, or my bf?? how about a sigh for hb...!!

That's another name for "black americana" or "black memorabilia" by some people who think and write about such collectibles.

the term 'blackamoor may be offensive,especially towards anybody from the northern parts of Africa- but as a term in art it refers to figures that represent the turkish/moorish race,usually dressed in lavish traditional costume ,and can be found as early as the 16th Century in Europe- they have nothing to do with African American 'memorabilia' ,however they did resurface as a popular decorative motif in the 1940's/1950's along with all things 'oriental'- mostly because of the popularity of baroque and rococco motifs in design at the time and a desire for the 'exotic'!

PepperAnn--

re: "I'm with you on the sentiment..."

Are you frickin' kidding me? And "not appreciated in this crowd"? Um, what effed-up crowd do you hang out in where that thinking is acceptable? How sad for you.

And people think we have grown so much as a society in terms of tolerance and acceptance. Apparently, sadly, we have not.

bball--

And those Chinese dogs! You "Fooist"!!!

;)

;)

Patrick (the other one):

We are called to hate the sin but love the sinner. Just becuase something has become accceptable in society doesn't mean it is acceptable to God. We are supposed to correct one another in the spirit of love and compassion, however we do no one a favor by allowing them to continue unaware with behavior that is destructive to the soul. Reminding each other that we will all have to explain our actions to God on judgement day is an act of love. If we find our fellow human beings trapped in any sin, not just homosexuality, we are doing the loving thing to warn them.

Now, could we please return the focus to interior design?

Wow.

Destructive to the soul? Seriously?!?!? Wow.

All I have to say, is let she who is without sin, missy...

And sorry, I was responding to YOU, so I suggest YOU return to the subject of interior design.

How about we all just return to the topic of interior design and leave religeon, race and politics out of it; there are plenty of other blogs out there that cover any or all of those subjects.
Thanks

I want to thanks everyone who voted for us and made us a finalist in the Northwest section of this contest!! Check out my new photos coming up and please support us if you like us!!!

I really like your space. Where did you get your sheets? Love the green wall in the bedroom, btw. Echoing what others have said, can't wait to see more pics - esp the Ikea library, and the tv cabinet. Good Luck!

bedding by IKEA, believe it or not, that was last winter so not sure if there's anything left!?