The judges are doing a great job so far.

Another house. Only two out of six prizes for small cool apartments were given to apartments. Four out of six went to houses.

What's the difference if it's a house or an apartment? The small space challenges apply to both.

I'm not saying these aren't nice houses by the way. But I thought it was an apartment contest. Oh well. On to the finals so all the designers architects and remaining houses can win the big prizes.

anon--

THESE ARE THE HONORBALE MENTIONS... NOT THE WINNERS.

Gosh I love this place. It's so very lovely; the furniture is unique and so well chosen. I'd love to live in this apartment. Good choice!

Dear anon - I tend to tout abiding by the rules in these contests, just to make the playing field level for all. But in this contest, I think it's more about semantics -- house, home, apartment -- than anything else. I don't agree with you in this case because I think a small space is a small space is a small space and how contestants dealt with all their design challenges is what they are being judged on. Anyhow, that's what I think. Could you tell us why this bothers you so much and why you see such a difference between a 450 sq. ft home vs. a 450 sq. ft. apt.? Thank you.

P.S. I like that the judges get to pick their honorable mentions, regardless of how idiosyncratic their choices are. It best reveals how they are evaluating.

YAY! I am so happy this got an honorable mention, especially after the truly nasty comments that "design aficionados" made on the original thread.

To me, it feels wrong to deny 37 apartments from entering an apartment contest while dishing out $800 in prizes to houses. But hey, if I'm the only one who feels that way, then I guess I'm wrong and I apologize for the comment.

anon
don't apologize!. the name of the contest is "SMALLEST, COOLEST APARTMENT" not "SMALLEST COOLEST HOUSE"! all house entries should have been disqualified

The rules state as below:

The Smallest, Coolest Apartment contest is a contest for all small apartments and homes in the lower 48 states under 650 square feet. We are seeking the most ingenious and beautiful 120 submissions along with all the tips and resources we need to maximize our own homes.

I'll repeat: All small apartments AND HOMES.

The key is under 650 square feet.

It seems to me that the real key here is homes, vs guest apartments. Places where real people live, vs places that architects beautifully create to be inhabited on a part time or temporary basis.

I'm lovin' that the judges can give a $200 shoutout to whatever the heck they feel like picking. There was something built-in interesting about this one, even without the groovy couch I wish for them.

I think the size matters more than anything else
in just this one instance.

congratulations BT!

You're right. The rules have been updated. Problem solved.

I'm with r (in d); if we're going to quibble, I would rather we quibbled over whether or not the place was a primary residence. It's not specifically in the rules, but it seems unfair to judge vacation homes against full-time homes.

but I may have no grounds on which to complain--we'll have to see how the finals shake out.

also, I didn't mean that comment to apply to this house. it seems to be a full-times residence, based on BT's comments on the original thread.

The rules say that basically any space below 650 sq. feet, whether apartment or house, qualifies. Personally, I don't really see a difference. It's not like a 650-sq.-foot house has an advanatage over a 650-sq.-foot apartment.

And I second Li. I think people were very unpleasant about this entry, so it's nice to see it win something.

I am also enjoying the arbitrary picks, with all the different styles and judges.

I loved this entry & I'm so happy that BT got this acknowledgement.

Are the "Six Honorable Mentions" the same category as the "Five Special Mentions" mentioned on the Rules Page? Or is that something different? Did these six Honorable Mentions get the $200? And who gets the book - all of the people who submitted?

I love AT, but I have to say that, based on these judges picks so far, what started out as a wonderful design contest has turned into a farce.

The judges seem interested first and foremost in "keeping it real" whatever that means. I'm having a hard time understanding the criteria by which design entries are rising to the top.

Congratulations to so many who made unsung but wonderful entries.

The whole point of the contest (or so I thought) is to enjoy seeing what creative use people have made of their spaces.

Last year people whined about whether the judges had too much influence, or not enough. Or that people rigged the contest by voting multiple times, and that that wasn't fair. Now that they work out an elegant solution so that judges can give prizes for entries that spoke to them, people complain.

I don't think we even KNOW who the finalists are yet, do we? So why don't we all take a deep breath, see who made the finals, and remember that it's all in fun, and in the spirit of sharing ideas, and that you can't win 'em all. Just like not every high school valedictorian who is also a track star and a poet is going to get into Harvard this year, not everyone is going to be able to win the contest.

And maybe the unsung heroes will wind up being featured on SSBS or in a magazine. There's more than one way to "win" this contest.

Before I suggest a group hug, it's time to sign off till next week.

I also love AT, but I have to say that this contest seems pretty screwy this year.

Three pics per entry. No, wait. Rule change: 5.

All entries need to be in by March 13th., No wait. Extend that.

It's an apartment contest. No wait. Rule change: Add the words "and homes". OK, now houses can clean up in the prizes.

April 4th, finalists are named and they have until the 7th to get their pics ready for the finals. No, wait. Did we say April 4th? Our bad.

Five $200 special mention prizes. No wait. It's 6, and 4 of them go to houses who weren't initially allowed as defined by the 'rules'

The first round of voting was supposed to end March 30th at Midnight, a day before the final four entries were even posted, one of which was not only the biggest 650 square feet I've ever seen, it had a garage bigger that most other entries apartments.

According to the rules, readers are supposed to be going over the entries in the finals today through the 13th. Kind of hard to do without posting the finalists. Guess that's changed.

I love you guys, but your rules are a mess, and those are just the changes that I remember off the top of my head.

also anon, that's bothered me too, mostly because there are laws regarding how contests are run and it seems like Maxwell might inadvertantly get himself into trouble.

I hated this entry.

I didn't like this one either but that's mainly because the pictures are so dark I have a hard time seeing what's going on in them.

I'd rather not see a contest, but just an ongoing series of great spaces weekly or monthy. Something to look forward to every week, someone else's ideas exposed for all to see and enjoy, someone else's home (home is an apartment or house or cardboard box) photographed.

I felt like I was cramming for finals, because I didn't know if the pictures would disappear after the contest (I now know the pictures from last year's contest are still here, so I'm guessing these pictures will be here FOREVER!!!)

I happened to glance up at a loft home tonight, and saw they had one red wall, with a blue art print of some kind and the adjacent wall was...guess? Some kind of light chartreuse, and it looked marvelous.

My thought was to run home and look for that apartment here. Well, of course it's not here. But it could be, if people would keep sending in a few pictures and some text to go with their pictures, as well as a place to answer questions. Just like the contest, except with no prizes.

I'd been trying to find pictures of rooms with the books all around the roof line, and here's one. And David and Im's space has books around the top too. Two different home looks, but the same way of holding books. It's something that works. And being able to show other people how it looks in a couple of spaces will give them ideas for their own spaces...apartment, house, McMansion, whatever.

If there are winners, there are losers (or...uh...non-winners?). I don't like that. I just like spaces to look at. And I've enjoyed them all.

AT makes me happy. It's edifying and it's fun. I check it out every morning after I read the news. I enjoy it as much for the great people who post and for the different lifestyles reflected. I think of it as a haven for creative, generous thinking, so this bickering makes me really, really sad.

I entered my bedroom in the bedroom contest a few years ago because I love my bedroom and thought it would be fun. It was. Winning would just have been an unexpected plus. (I DID think those black rubber sheets sounded pretty funky and cool.....) WHO CARES if the contest's light-hearted in its approach to "rules"? It errs on the side of generosity and inclusion.

Au, who thinks some folks should lighten up

I liked this entry- I'm glad it got honorable mention- it looks very comfortable and I love that it was all hand done and not bought. It’s also very refreshing to see someone deliberately live small- (I come from Texas where many buy bigger for its own sake, and then realize what a mistake that can be for the old bank acct.)

I think AT is doing a great job, and I think the square footage and that it's a primary residence is what to go by as to opposed the splitting hairs if its in a building or stand alone. I do prefer the apartments, and that's because I live in one- but hey that's personal preface- I like that the judges can say whom they liked and why as opposed to just numbers. As for extending the deadline- seen it done in many diff contests and it doesn’t mean that it was done maliciously- or that it hints at unfairness- it means that they had more entries than they expected- which is good! Compared to last year has the number what- tripled?

And as someone mentioned earlier- be a good sport, we can't win them all- and remember the whole point of this website is to have fun- no matter how tiny our places are ^_^

Jenna, after 12 years or so in a 500 sq ft apartment, I couldn't think of living in something bigger. In fact, if I actually cleaned up around here, I'd only need half the space for living. There's just me, on the human side.

I'd love to have more space for the feline kind to run around and do lots of leaping and climbing. Because right now a lot of leaping and climbing occurs on my body, and I don't always want to be the focus of attention, especially when trying to sleep.

It's not interior space I need. This kind of set up would be perfect for me:
http://tinyurl.com/nvsfb

I don't need that much interior space, as shown in that home. I don't need an extra bedroom, or even a bedroom proper, just an area for something to sleep on. And if it was nice weather, most of the sleeping would be done outside anyway.

I don't care WHAT small spaces they show, I just want more, More, MORE!

I have read at least two comments saying BT built this house himself. He did not and made a big deal of getting inferior quality because he was too cheap to pay for it.

I have personal beefs with this entry because I absolutely loathe the sight of log cabins, but that's just a matter of taste. Some people like to be surrounded by wood, I like paint.

I think the people that have problems with this entry feel the same way I do. This house just does not fit in with the spirit of AT nor does it represent any feat over small awkward spaces. The owners CHOOSE to live this way, and they also got to choose their floor plan, window placement, closet space etc. They got to start from scratch whereas most of the entries had to fix problems without the aid of carpentry skills.

I hope the finalists are spaces that actually demonstrate some creative problem-solving skills because, in the end, they're the ones that really deserve the extra cash.

I personally don't think that the design of this space is either unique or innovative in a way that maximizes the feel of a small space, which is what I consider when looking at each of these entries. I do not live in the city, nor do I have 'hard-edged and cold materials' in my apartment, most of my furniture is family heirlooms as well. I just think that the judging in this case has gone a little off base for what this contest is about. It is not about making up for rude comments that other people have said, if you enter your home, you should be ready to be judged. On the other hand, this judge is not a designer, he is a comedian so I guess I didn't expect much.

Love AT. Wouldn't it be great, given the wide audience, if this annual event focused on featuring design solutions that were widely replicable, not unique and particular designs for one-of-a-kind or peculiar spaces?

Like what to do with the thousands of unimaginative, shoe box studio and one-bedroom apartments that can feel so uninhabitable. Who has helped to shine some light on ways to take our cities' mass-produced "problems" (or at least challenges) and apply creative and beautiful design solutions for better living?

Looks to me like they're here and I hope they're recognized, too!

To whomever decided this was an honourable mention, all I want to know is what were you smoking for breakfast;)

It took a comedian to cut through a lot of the conventional wisdom surrounding this contest. Herzog explains exactly why he made this pick, and it wasn't to compensate for snarky commentators. He chose this house because it reflects BT's scrupulous conviction that living small is an honorable way to go. Among other reasons.

Well done.

Aulaire:

Bravo! Well said.