apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

very pretty; but no surprises... doesn't feel lived in... i respond to a sense of the individual that lives there... i like quirky touches along with the pretty :)

still, i voted cool.

I like a lot about this, uses a lot of the basics that get brought up in AT (expedit/parsons type stuff) effectively in a white environment, which renters like me are sometimes stuck with).

Very elegant and very cohesive.

That said, I have to agree with k.'s comment about the lack of a "lived in" feeling. And I want to hang some art on your walls.

it's cool, but it does look a bit like a West Elm catalog. and I haven't complained about the "vignettes" photos yet...but this one made me go "huh?" why waste a photo on coral and a vase that we can see in your living room pic when you could have shown us a snap of your kitchen?

aw man, now i sound like everyone else....

i'm still voting cool-- it does look like a nice place

I think it's a great place, but needs a pop of color.

I agree with the previous posters, the place is beautiful and uses a lot of the elements we see in many apartments here, but it lacks a personal touch. Looks too much like a showroom than a home.

has a nice boutique hotel vibe. i really like how you changed out the shower head and the wall inset in the tub. and while i can't see it, it looks like your shower curtain is on hospital bed tracking (as i see no bar). very nice.

Lana is fortunate that she started with an apartment with that has great bones - but I'm loving the mix and her editing skill: the traditional table with the Panton chairs, the coral pieces w/ the Blanc de Chine Buddha head and oversized Rook...
...this looks like a cozy home - but not like a page from a catalog.

Very elegant, lots of "cool" tones. I agree that you need some art on the walls. I like the textures around the fireplace, but the mantle needs a mirror, a piece of art or more significant "objets d'art"--something to make it more inviting to look at.

This was almost Super Cool for me. I dig the cool whites and everything, but some splashes of color would really make me say 'wow.'

You have an interesting floorplan layout--you have to go through the kitchen to get to the bathroom or bedroom. The white is very peaceful, but there's very little variation that I can see. It looks like every room and furnishing is based around the "white" philosophy, which is definitely cohesive, but it started to bore me. As others have noted, some accents of color are needed to keep it lively and interesting.

Nice job using a very limited colour palate. I like the cohesion in the design of the whole place and the mix of modern and traditional. Even though it is simple, it feels like a real home to me. Having a restricted colour choice is often harder to pull off than going with lots of loud vibrant colours and you did a great job with it.

how does the overlapping squares frame work now? are there any flaws with this bed? please advice!

Beautiful furniture and arrangements, but a bit too much on the clinical side.

While I understand where some people are coming from with the "lived in" comments, maybe for Lana this is lived in. We all live in different ways.

Can I ask what paint you used on the living room/dining room walls?

Love the circular rug!

I loved the layout and the black and white in the living /dinning room. I really love the head board and would love to get its design if that's posible.

Zzzzzzz.

What goodnightdean said (exactly): "it's cool, but it does look a bit like a West Elm catalog. and I haven't complained about the "vignettes" photos yet...but this one made me go "huh?" why waste a photo on coral and a vase that we can see in your living room pic when you could have shown us a snap of your kitchen?"

I haven't complained about the 'vignettes' either, but this entry pushed me to the edge. I like this place very much, and I actually voted super cool... But like others here, it does feel a bit too polished, and could use a bit more of a lived in look.

Love the overhead shower fixture, and the storage inset in the shower wall. The bathroom is definitely my favorite part, which makes me wish I could see your kitchen!!!

VERY elegant! It can come off a bit cold, stark and West Elm-y, but it's consistent. On top of that you know how to use LAYERS! HELLO AT readers...PAY ATTENTION! I recognize the mantel vase from Z Gallerie (own it as a matter of fact). I also appreciate the un-conventional furniture layout. This competition is finally starting to look up. If I'm not mistaken, the vignette is a competition requirement, so I'm not going to take you to task on that one.

i like it, but there's something missing. i feel like it's trying too hard to be something and it feels self conscious. maybe it's just too matchy match. it needs something quirky, something more spontaneous and less predicatable. it's a start, but it needs "wow" instead of west elm.

jaudre, the bed is West Elm.

Too perfect - not lived in. It need something...

This reminds me of a nice bed & breakfast. Where are the books? Where is the art? What's in the kitchen? It's relaxing and simple. I'd like it for a weekend.

I really love this space. I think it is incredibly polished and accomplished what the owner wants. I am not bothered by the lack of color the way Lana does it. I think the textures take the place of color in this case, and she does texture very well. I might have chosen baskets instead of the clear boxes in the expedit, but regardless, I love this one!

Very chic... but do you actually live here?

Your shelves are almost empty, everything fits into a very tight monochromatic colour scheme, I don't see any books or art? I like spare but this (to me) feels impersonal.

Nice use of textures, and I like the dramatic impact the use of black here and there has on the space. Overall though, this one's not for me.

What's with the comments? If the photos show a messy space, people get upset. If the photos show a clean space, people complain it's not "lived in".

I like it, although it's not my taste. A splash of color would make it look like a magazine photo, with a bowl of Granny Smith apples and a Carry On poster, like all the rest.

It's plenty personal, without being Etsy shop "quirky".

I was scrolling through, not going to comment because hey - if they like all white, so be it. Then I saw CMS's comment and it hit me..where IS the art? Anyone with that kind of taste should have SOMEthing (besides a white vase). A big Abstract Expressionist painting, or a Warhol, or crazy elaborate rennaissance portrait....

I think it's cool, but needs some color accents to cheer it up. I live in Seattle, so I know how gray it can be here most of the year. I think I'd get depressed very quickly living in an apartment that was all black, white, and gray. Stick some greens or reds in there for some pop.

I honestly cannot believe I voted against this, since it has a palette and elements I usually love, but it just seemed uninspired. I agree with the art comments - Lana, I'm sure you'd pick something gorgeous - throw it up there!

(DesignGod: are vignettes really a requirement?! I think we all agree to scratch that next year...)

i love it. my color scheme is similar, just that i added one accent color to each room. pink in the bedroom, orange in the livingroom, green in my office/studio. but i like your cooler look, too. to the people who say that it doesn't look lived in, my impression was that it might be a little overstyled for the pictures. i think it is easy to fall into the trap of making it look too perfect if you know it's going to be published.

ok, i have one complaint. the clear boxes on the two bottom shelf of the ikea expedit unit have. to. go. they have wicker baskets that fit exactly, and you could spray paint them.

Love it, but would like to see it warmed up with some accents in a bright color, like poppy or parika or pear. Heh, didn't intend to alliterate -- I happen to love those colors with brown, black, and cream. It's all very neutral.

Personally, I love this place. The contrast between the darks and lights are sufficiently contrasted to make up for the lack of colors that many seem to disapprove of. Maybe color would be too distracting...

The place seems lived in, as far as I'm concerned, if she's tidy, don't fault her for it =) Should Lana have ruffled the feathers of her place to appease? (personally, I could use some lessons on tidyness, tidiness? whatever... you get the picture)

Regarding art: I guess one wo/man's empty is another wo/man's full.

Really, the recommendations are all good, but you (general) tailor a place to your personal tastes, and I commend Lana and all of the contestants for opening up what is most personal to them to be subjected to criticism and praise =).

I like the fact that you kept the same theme throughout the house. It seems like a vacation rental to me. It's something that can be pretty and cozy but not very personal. But maybe the personality comes through from the color theme you placed throughout the house. Well I think it's enough for me to vote "cool". Thanks for sharing.

I voted supercool. I think you have a beautiful place. I love your color palette. It's funny that many think your place is predictable when the predictable thing is to look anthropologie/etsy. COME ON HIPSTERS!!

I think it is lovely, and also want to know what the paint color is on the living room walls!

Serene, well edited, and beautifully presented. Cohesion is important in a small space, and this certainly has it. I love the many different textures and layers of decor. I think some bold art on the walls would take it up a notch and personalize it, and I would paint the inside of the fireplace black to conceal its "fauxness." Super-cool.

This is really beautiful.
I was thinking of getting a arc shower rod just this morning. I really especially love the bathroom and the painted fireplace with the whited-out relief detail. Ditto on the texture compliments, this is just what i'm having trouble with lately.

However, As a fellow seattleite i'm calling bullshit on your empty shelves.... girl i know you hid those books somewhere!
Don't tell me you don't own any. And with love, ditch those inserts, they sell a nice door insert now or all manner of non-plastic things. Because your decor is so sophisticated those really stick out.

Thank god for that green plant.

Well put together, but too monochromatic. I'd be depressed living there. I'd add splashes of color to it.

I've said this to a few people: more color please! But other than that, it's a really cool space. I like the black wall in the bedroom and furry things in the living room! :)

I really like the two color system... it really is the perfect space to collect some really great art!

very hotelish

I love the bathroom.

It's not the color scheme, it's the massiveness of the items. I would arrange things on the shelf better, move things from around the whole apartment, in fact. Put them all on the shelves, fill them up. It looks like it is at the furniture store. If, like one poster suspects, she hid all your books, I have to say it's possible books just don't look that nice in that room, and it's a choice to keep books out of the design vision. It's also possible, like me, she has few books, as for various reasons, including moving often, they are just a lot heavier to keep than a library card.

Most of the items have too much solidity, I think. I wouldn't add other colors unless she likes them, but I would add more in the same pallette in less dense forms, some patterns or groups of small things so everything doesn't look so giant. The visual metaphor for this space is ink. Some examples of white spaces don't have enough darkness to balance them, but this one has just a lot of heavy dark pieces even among large white spaces, and vice versa.

I just looked again, and suddenly notice that the shelf unit doesn't have a back, so the white wall does show through. I thought it covered the wall from end to end, as it was pretty dark in the picture, so that does offer more of the look I was suggesting in my previous comment.

I like it, but it seems a little cold.

Congratulations, Lana! Mark one up for our building!

I applaud the purity of Lana's vision, and she has some very nice pieces (like the candle chandelier over the dining table), but it all falls apart in the accessories. There's a definite impression that things have been purchased not because they were beautiful or meaningful, but because they matched. Things that should be interesting and quirky, like the coral or the giant chess piece, are rendered dull by the fact that they have no meaning other than their colour.

A home cannot be an adequate reflection of one's personality if every single thing in it was obviously selected from a couple of catalogues.

this space is just so overly designed. its not my bag.

I really like this, but I kept hoping for an unexpected pop of fushia or teal or lime.

My favorite room is the dining room. Loved her choices for the table and midcentury modern chairs and the contrast of black and white. Not so sure about the book shelf behind it though with the plastic bins at the bottom. The bathroom has very nice tiling. The rest of the place feels unfinished - it's missing visual interest on the walls and there are no colors at all in the space. I like the color of her bedroom wall she painted. It looks like she started on the right path but is missing the finishing touches.

Karen

Wow. A super cool vote from me. That's one bold bedroom! I love it.

You have a really nice flow to your place. I like the floor plan and you're super clean which is a plus.

I would add some cornflower blue to the place. I know everybody says blue and brown is so yesterday but, hey, it works so maybe you should consider it.

It does look comfy and you don't have a TV above the mantel. Thank God.

the simplicity is really nice but feels straight out of a catalog, would like to see some more personality, warmth

I agree with Mr. Dangerous, it might be fun to inject a little blue into the space. That being sad, what's with the snarky comments?

This house is beautiful, but feels like it has been staged. No other colors besides brown and white, and it doesn't even look like anyone has sat on the furniture. There are no books, no warm cushions...blech. I'd have to give this a big, big thumbs down for the sterility factor.

this is so beautiful, but it kind of reminds me of a magazine. you must in interior design to make it look this perfect!

nice space and lovely layout, but too white/neutral for me!
thanks for posting!