i remember seeing this space here last year....i love it

ahhh-mazing.

Cool. Even better the first contestant that showed us photos of the apartment. The day/night contrast is helpful. I thought about doing the same if I entered. Well done. Curious to know what you are using for the projector to play off of.

Great job! It looks way bigger than 450 sq. ft. thanks to how all the elements are arranged.

SO COOL. I'm in awe.

Love the divider. That's brilliant. This is so well currated. Love the color scheme and how warm yet bright and open it feels. Impressive!

This apartment wows the hell out of me. Definitely small, definitely cool. I love the lighting in that first shot.

Very cool idea with the projection screen. I like the look of the desk with the camera. It's just something that catches you off guard. :)

Beautiful! I love it! It's clean, spacious, fun, and seems much larger than 450 sq/ft.

Nicely done. Very nicely done.

Amazing space!

Great use of space.

Any leads on where I can purchase the screen?

oh my god I am SO in love with your entire desk area. So inspiring! I have been coveting that West Elm desk for the longest time but couldn't decide what chair to use with it... everything seemed much too overwhelming with such a petite desk. It never occurred to me to use the Ghost Chair! Allow me to steal your idea once I move into my first own place!

I also love that little reading nook by your "bedroom", that lamp complements the Eames rocker perfectly, and I love your sheer room divider/projection screen (great idea) and the fact that you separated the bedroom from the living room using a screen and a credenza and NOT an Expedit bookcase or something similar (one of my biggest pet peeves!)

ok this is getting too long, but you do have some SERIOUS style. Your place is so stylish and yet warm and inviting at the same time, not a lot of people can combine those two elements that well!

Nice space Chris. Where is the blackbird from in the 3rd picture. He or she is underneath the floor lamp. Thanks!

love this place!

Yay Royal Tenebaums! Love your place. You can tell someone actually lives there, but organized at the same time. I would never be able to do it!

Love the light in the space! Where is the comforter from?

THIS better win

Finally! Pics that give me a sense of the space! Great job overall. Love the projection screen/divider -- but does text end up backwards on one side? I guess no foreign films with subtitles in that case! Brick headboard/wall is very nice touch. And love the old typewriter!

This is really inspiring! A lot of money went into the furniture, I can see that, but still a great inspiration for everyone who has/wants to live in a small space.
Love the screen.

was the brick wall in the bedroom something that came with the unit or did you add it after ?

I really like the use of this space. That little bit of green coming through is very nice touch.

absolutely amazing and a true inspiration

you really made this space livable and usable. i can see someone living in and enjoying this loft. i admire that you played with the layout and found a way to make the space flow but yet creating distict spaces with purpose. job very well done....congrats.

This is awesome, but I want to see the kitchen and bath.

There was clearly alot of thought put into this place.

I appreciate how efficient, organized and well-edited this space is - both in the choice of furnishings and also the color palette.

This place could make me actually WANT to live in a smaller space.

I see those little round hanging globes in a lot of kitchens in the home tours here. In this tour, it is the fourth picture to the far left. Does anyone know where I can find those? I think they're adorable!!

topherburk - I'm pretty sure it's the Eames house bird (http://www.dwr.com/product/designers/d-g/charles-ray-eames/eames-house-bird.do)

How come this apartment was 500 sq. feet when it was featured on unplgged?

http://www.unplggd.com/unplggd/home-tech-tours/houston-high-tech-in-a-small-space-tech-tour-097467

very nice space and good presentation, too!

That screen is A-MAZING. Love the placement of the artwork too. And all those windows!!!

Love it. Where did you get the credenza in the living room?

Thanks all for the comments!

kayonyc - The screen is actually a Tupplur Roller Blind from Ikea that I completely unfurled and strung up with curtain wire. It was only $40 and works well.

topherburk - The black bird is an Eames House Bird, reproduced by Vitra.

alethearh - The green comforter was from pottery barn's 2008 winter collection.

Mid-C Frank - Text does end up backwards. There is an application that will flip it, but it's something along the lines of $200. Movies still go forward, so I'm good!

Scoot - The roman brick wall was already there. When they renovated it years ago, they bumped out two closets covering the brick on the sides. If I wasn't renting it, I'd restore the wall and have a pair of armoires/alternative storage.

lal - Those are the Asker utensil holders from Ikea.

Kathryn - When I moved in, the building owner told me it was 500sqft, but when I measured it out to draw the floorplan for the contest, it turned out to be only 450sqft. He owes me 50sqft! I will take it in the form of a solarium.

icf1000 - The credenza was a Craigslist find for $60. I believe it's a Steelcase from the 60s/70s.

I LOVE it. You do have some serious style, Chris. There isn't one thing that isn't perfect, including the cool bag on the floor in your living room, the typewriter on the coffee table, and the projector image (is that how you watch television????? I love it!) on the divider curtain. Fantastic.

Can I get a great big "WOW!", please? Really great use of space.

So proud of you, Chris :)

freaking amazing. i am in love with the projection screen/room divider. pure genius. definitely my favorite so far!

I'd say the furniture Tetris paid off, because that is a very efficient and successful use of space. It's smaller than my place but seems infinitely roomy. Excellent job!

P.S. Tell your landlord you're taking 10% off your rent, because you got 10% less square footage. :)

(Don't really do that.)

Zowie -- I can't stop looking at these pictures! You did such a great job of defining separate areas, while keeping the style cohesive and maintaining an uncluttered feel. Brilliant!

@creativeintheory & @waterlily

Thanks for answering my question.

Holy moly. I am amazed. I love the screen, the desk, everything. Genius.

Royal Tennenbaums, yay!! I love this little space. I want to put it in my pocket! :)

its an oasis, in texas, and texas surely needs them

I am completely utterly in love with that projection screen. When the screen is off it almost looked like a wall..and then on...I just melted.

The space is well laid out and has interesting details without being cluttered. It looks like a very comfortable and not 'confining' space despite its size. How kewl!! I hope this does well int he contest.

saer
http://cravenmaven.wordpress.com

W.O.W!

Very, very nice. Absolutely love it, can't really find anything I would change. And I am incredibly jealous of that room divider, incredibly!!

I live in a small space too, but not NEARLY so cool as this! Amazingly well done.

Living in Houston, I hope Houston wins! Kudos to you Chris. Smashing design layout.

This is definitely one of my favorite layouts I have seen in a while. Kudos!

Really nice place. I love your use of of textures and patterns, alot of personality here. Even with a very neutral palette, it's not vanilla. I like your mix of high-end MCM furniture with low-end (possible CL) finds like the metal desk.

absolute favourite!

wow.

can i give it two thumbs up?

Really wonderful job. I love the colors. Honey and cream!

This is an excellent use of space. Looks incredibly larger than 450 sq. ft. This is definitely a contender!

I feel like the living area needs more color -- it's sort of a haze of beige and light wood. The bedding helps, as does that bright blue thing under the coffee table, and I'd love to see that blue picked up elsewhere in the room for a little relief.

Great job! Im crossing all my appendages for you! :)

I remember seeing this place when it was posted here a while back. I still love looking at it and really do appreciate the two-sided projector screen.

can i give an extra thumbs up for the movie thats playin? <3hearts

I love it!

Thank you for showing pics in both day and night time - I always find it misleading when it is all one or the other as the light can totally change how a space is viewed by someone who has never been there and is just relying on photos.

It looked really well thought out and def not a compromise.

Excellent job!

My hometown! You did a great job. :-)

Awsome design! I love the balance of light and color. Being a girl, I would definitely add some flowers on the table. Other than that, job well done.

Kudos Chris

Where in Houston do you live? I LOVE your space. Are you a graphic designer???

marlamischief1 - I'm in the Montrose area and indeed I am a graphic designer. Thanks for the comment!

That lucite chair is fantastic!

the mash of neutrals works really well -- quite impressive.

Very nicely laid out. I love it!

I love this. Very ingenious. This is double the size of my apartment...ooh what I could do with a little more space!

i love the space- lots of ingenuity and creativity in the layout!

but i'm surprised by the... banality?... of the bedroom painting.

absolutely love how you've made a designated space for each area in only one large room :) very nice!

Awesome! I love your design. Very creative!

Way to represent Houston-more specifically, Montrose! I have design hope for this city after all.

it gonna be very hard to do better !

new entries - sorry lost case ;-)

i think we have a winner!

can you do my room next Chris?

What a great space, I wish you would come and do mine, anytime, just call, thanks.

Hands down, this is my favorite. So jealous with the projector screen, very creative. Do you have two long windows on both sides of the apartment? How does it get better than that! Thanks for sharing.

Ahhhhhhhhh-mazing! Great to see such a brilliant use of space and not only in my city, but in my neighborhood (Montrose)! I think I have a friend who lives in the same place. Any vacancies? Heh :^)

Someone has interior design skills! What a smartly designed space!!

this is SO freakin cool the projector screen is genius. you've fit so many great items in here without it being overwhelming, and have maintained cohesion throughout. well done.

Thanks everyone for the comments!

desertflower - I do have long and tall windows on both sides, it's one of the things about that convinced me to move here.

stilettoninja - Funny you ask about availabilites, I keep an eye out all the time for friends who I've convinced to go smaller!

very well designed, but the bed needs some space around it for me.... it feels less feng shui without a little bit of room for chi to flow....

The screen is sheer brilliance (get it?). Kudos on that West Elm desk - I spent WEEKS looking for the best-designed desk for small spaces, and that was my top choice.

So proud of Houston in this contest!

WOW!!! I cannot believe someone in texas has this cool of a space (I mean outside of Austin of course). This is hands-down my favorite!

you have my vote.
and you've got great taste!!

I love your green bedspread... where is it from?

miesh - it's from pottery barn's winter collection from a couple years ago. I think they have something like it right now on sale. It's incredibly comfy.

anyone know what building this is? I'm looking for a new place in houston... -karen

i was hoping i wouldn't be matched up against you in this competition! good luck today :)

khyde - Send me a message and I'll be happy to give you the name of the place. My contact info is in my profile.

lemondrop - Your space is gorgeous, good luck to you too!

thank you, but you totally are kicking my butt -- congrats :) i'll vote for you through the end

Hi there! Love your place. Would you be able to tell me where you got your coffee table from? I have been looking for one like that for a while. thanks & good luck!

farquhar - Thanks for the comment! The coffee table is a 5ft Nelson bench.

You were my favorite from the beginning, it was a lost caus for everybody else. ;-)

There are many lovely enteries
but this one is the best by far!

second place for me is "Beth from Sausalito, CA
verry feminin

Well done - Chris - you are an inspiration for us all. thanks

I've voted for you in each round and I only wish I could vote 100 more times!

Hi Chris,
Great pad. I am curious, did you do your final layout (and background) in Illustrator, or some other program. It looks great as well.
Best of luck to you!

m_persons - Thanks for the comment! I indeed drew up the actual floor plan in Illustrator. I then opened the vector drawing in Photoshop and multiplied it over an old paper texture I found.

FINAL VOTING FOR CHRIS -SUNDAY MAY 9th

Beth from Sausalito Supports Chris from Houston to WIN!

Please get the vote out GOTV for Chris -creativeintheory
I love his home. Yes brilliant, edgy and inviting, a fantastic mix of design and collective elements,
He is the true contender for SMALL COOL 2010 and in the final todays
PLEASE VOTE for CHRIS NOW BEFORE THE POLLS CLOSE!
Chris I was so ready for the challenge. We are fierce! Goodluck! best, Beth

tweetbird (Beth) - Thanks so much for the support! I've admired your phenomenal space since it appeared in the contest, so your kind words mean a great deal.

As a winner from last year's competition, the first second I saw your entry, I KNEW you were going to win!!!

Congrats, I sincerely believe you earned it and I'm so happy you beat Andrew from Brooklyn, especially considering he doesn't even own a coffee table!???

Love it! I have a Flokati rug just like the one in your living room that I got from Rugs USA and I absolutely love it.

Tweetbird (Beth from Sausalito) It looks like we have a WINNER for Small Cool 2010.

In the end I am delighted that brilliant design does win out over social network vote-a-thons. Although we do NOT knock the importance of pumping our "FB peeps" to get the vote out. It merely validates the essential truth: Our designer eye trumps the vote. Great job Chris! Now tell Max I say hi from Sausalito!

Thank you everyone for the comments and especially for the incredible support! This was a tough competition with so many differently styled and well-designed spaces that left me feeling nervous at every turn! There really were several insanely cool homes that could have easily been here too (lookin' at you Beth and Daniel). It was this blog and this contest that inspired me to try living small in a city and a state where everything is anything but. So thanks for that and again for the support!

Congratulation Chris!! Very well done on your win. This is Andrew from Brooklyn, who cam second to your wonderful win.

Your place was great, and you should relish the win!!!

Congratulations again!!

Congrats, it looks great! Glad to see Houston represent from the state where Bigger always tries to be Better.

Thanks again everyone for the kind words! Thanks in particular to comments from other contestants, your spaces are really inspirational and will fuel future creative entries for years to come.

I LOVE the screen idea!! but does it have to be extremely dark before you can start the movies? Hope I get a reply here since the voting is done and YOU ARE A WINNER! Congratulations!! :)

flobeau - Thanks for the comment! Movie viewing is optimal at night, but my blinds shut out enough light during the day for reasonable quality. It basically gets about as bright as what you see in that movie shot with the lamp on.

Congratulations. You may now exhale! Very chic space and sensible space planning. Appreciate the fluidity of your color stories and your selections of scale.

Well earned.
I, as well, was bamboozled by a 550SQFT notation on my floorplan...yeah right...if you use the closet as an extra bedroom!

Suzi West
2008 Finalist from Columbus Ohio

Chris--
This is a phenomenal apartment. Big, big fan. Brilliant idea with the two-way projection screen.

Just to drop-in regarding the reversed image on one side, being an avid projector-user myself, mine has a simple mirror-image button on the remote. Nothing like that on yours?

Anyway, once again, great work. This was easily my favorite space from the competition. Well done, all around.

jj
'08

where is the light? i'm a bit disappointed.

LLLLLLove it!!
The double-use screen is awesome. I want one :)

kathryn - That's because it is 500 sq ft. Even the owner says so: "After a month or two of searching I stumbled across a neatly preserved 500sqft space that leaned on the modern side of the mid-century in Westmoreland."

That's from an article on Swaplot. A Houston property blog.

m4bandit - I responded to kathryn's note on the size of my studio a few comments after, "When I moved in, the building owner told me it was 500sqft, but when I measured it out to draw the floorplan for the contest, it turned out to be only 450sqft. He owes me 50sqft! I will take it in the form of a solarium."

As it turns out, I can't have a solarium, but, in its place, he has promised me a blimp landing pad. Thanks for the comment!

Hi Chris,

I'm in love with your place. I'm trying to mimic your home theater system. I purchased the Sony Bluetooth receiver and I also purchased an Apple Airport Express. I'm starting to think I didn't need both. Please help me out.

Joy

joysambition - Both can fulfill functions that the other can't. The Airport Express can be a stand-alone wireless router, act as a wireless signal extender, connect a printer wirelessly, but can technically only stream high quality audio from iTunes. This means other sources of audio like DVD movies, YouTube and streaming music (outside of iTunes) will not work. That is where the bluetooth receiver comes in handy. The receiver acts like a wireless extension cord, so any audio your computer can produce can be streamed, however, the wireless range and audio quality of music can be noticeably lower (depending on your ear and equipment setup) than with the Airport Express. I think you can find uses for both, but if you just need basic audio streaming in a small space, the bluetooth receiver will serve that purpose well enough.

Hope this helps!

It doesn't feel like you have a collection of seats but you do!

You are amazing because I counted 6 chairs and a couch which seats 3. You can totally pull off entertaining an event!

Chris, your apartment is fantastic! I am currently trying to find an apartment with my boyfriend in the montrose/neartown area with little luck unfortunately. Your apartment amazes me! The fact that you incorporated a workspace, an entertainment area, and bedroom all in a space that tiny with out it looking cluttered or overwhelming is just awe inspiring.

Kudos, Moy

Congrats again Chris! So are we going to have a house tour of your apartment now?? a detailed one? did I miss anything? Can't wait to see the nooks and crannies of it....

I'm new to all of this home design/decorating! Help - trying to figure out how you come up with your sq footage. Based on your layout my numbers are coming up different: Total Feet converted to Total Inches then divided by 144. Doesn't seem to work for me.

nice setup..wheres the black lamp from? thanks!

I also like to use Illustrator to lay out my space and walls. It's a genius way to do it!

ShortOnSpace - I just did 1 inch = 1 foot for a generalized representation of the space.

deejaysoy - It's the Adjustable Metal Floor Lamp from West Elm. I switched out the shade on mine.

i love love love your place. I would totally live here :) Great layout and great use of functional furniture with such limited space. Total brilliance. If I give you my layout.. can you play furniture tetris too? lol.

Chris,
Ive been looking to do a similar set up with the roller shade/projection screen but the Tupplar blind from ikea has a blackout coating that doesnt let light through? Are you sure that is the blind you used? That seems to be the only one that ikea makes that accommodates the size id like but I was concerned that I wouldnt be able to use it for a double sided screen projection with the coating? Help!

Andria - You're correct, I just checked and it isn't the Tupplur I used, but the Enje roller blinds. Sorry for the confusion and hope that helps!

Where is that desk/chair from? Its great. Is it two desks or one? I noticed someone mentioned West Elm but do not see it there! What is it called? Thanks!! Looks amazing.

hi chris, i love your place and i have one question, please can you tell me where do you buy a green bird?? i love it! thanks!! Grace

hi chris, i love your place and i have one question, please can you tell me where did you buy a green bird?? i love it! thanks!! Grace

allie1234 - It's the Jay desk from West Elm, which is actually one desk. The smaller nesting part pulls out on rails like a drawer. They may have stopped selling it for the season, but It may pop back up again. The chair is a Louis Ghost by Philippe Starck for Kartell.

GraceST - If you're talking about the black bird on the ground, it's an Eames house bird reproduced by Vitra.

Your place is truly inspiring! Quick q...is that Ikea Grundtal Shelf that you placed upside down in the kitchen? Thank you.

Xenia - It is, more photos of it on my Flickr. I actually have another vertically hung one over my kitchen sink that works as an excellent towel rack and sponge/brush hanger.

This looks like you had a professional designer do your place. I love the chartreuse punches of color.

Fantastic use of space. Love it. Amazing. Love the screen like most people. I might use that for my balcony curtains. Great idea.

Where could I get a sheer panel like that?

Hi, Chris
Your pad is outstanding! Could you please tell me where you purchased the artwork above your bed? Its simple yet profound. Thanks!

Haven't checked these comments in a while!

borjaborja — It's an unfurled Enje roller blind from Ikea.

evan richards — Thanks for the compliment! The artwork is by Aondrea Maynard; I picked it up second hand somewhere at a store in Austin.