At first glance, I thought this was a Guess-the-Decade post. How cool is that living room?!?!

I absolutely love the rug in the living room...can i have the source please?

thanks

Yum... It looks warm and cozy, but obviously well-styled. I covet your couch and chair.

I thought AT posted a topic "how to photograph your apartment" in the last week or two. I'm taking it the majority of the people missed that one. Rug in the living room is cool, however I suppose I am saying that since its the brightest thing in the apartment. Good of you to enter, but definitely not my favorite.

I like it-- quite a bit actually. It's not my style but it's done so well. It looks like a real home without compromising on style. As for the comments on photography; no they aren't good photographs, but they do let you see what the apartment is like which is the most important thing. Sometimes the photographs are good but you are left with questions as to how the apartment really fits together. That said I think it may hurt them in the competition; as there isn't that eye candy feel to them that an apartment this nice could absolutely evoke.

The poor photography kills it for me. :(

Just to add to my photography point. I just took a look at the floor plan. There is no reason why you shouldn't have been able to get both windows completely in the photo. It looks like there is a pretty nice credenza of sort in front of the chopped window. That would have been perfect to balance out the photo. It looks like you have high ceilings and huge windows, which uh...last I checked definitely qualifies for small and cool. Plus the straight facing, downward way you took the photos are wrong. You should have sat on a chair, which would have given the photo more floor and height volume. You don't need a $2k camera, you just need to do a basic things when taking photos of apartments.

Living room rug! Where can I find it?! It's beautiful.

Dear Archie29 and clampers,

Got the rug at Coast Plus.

Looks great! Wish I was closer so I could have taken the photos for you.

love the high ceilings and HUGE windows. floors are wonderful!

I appreciate the eclectic mix - ethnic, pop, MCM, etc... Looks cozy!

We've seen worse photography, let's be honest.

The bones of this place are amazing.
Your use of colour and contrast is fantastic. Love all the warm mustards. Tons of texture and interest.

I'm curious if the cabinetry in the kitchen looks as purple as it does in the photo. I'd love it if it did.

And what the heck is that flooring?? Oversized tiles of what? Leather?? Looks like hammered copper in the kitchen. Whatever the case, looks beautiful.

Thanks theserovingeyes ,
The floors are just poured cement and the kitchen cabinets are black, it’s just that some of the images were so dull I cranked up the color.

Thanks again,

Evan Harrison

Snarky much, photography snobs? Get over yourselves.

this place has great bones...

Great mix of styles - looks easy to do but is not.
Colors are terrific.
Is this a photography contest? The place is terrific.

uh cookie, the point of a comment section is make comments, like you did. I'll speak for myself, but I though I offered some helpful criticism on how to take better photos. Should I or others just gush over every post and say we like peoples items? Because that is what a lot of people are doing. I'm looking for innovative ideas, not looking to go shopping in someones apartment.

Every year I am confused by the comp. I always think its about the space, the use of the space, not some nifty decorating color or item. Yeah, some of the items in the photos are pretty cool, however as someone said here or on another post, good photos are essential for a competition like this and are somewhat representative of how serious someone is taking the competition. If I wanted to take a few lousy photos of my apartment and show them to people, I wouldn't need to do that here, I could just tag them on subway tiles here in NYC. Sad thing is, this potentially could be one of the better overall apartments that's been posted with what appears to be, high ceilings and large windows.

Its kind of that new found mentality people have in life, that everyone is a winner and we need to tell people things that make them feel good even if we don't believe that. Not me, if something sucks. I'll say "that sucks" Sorry...

last comment I'll make on this post, yes reneeruth, in part, this is a photography contest.

Oh dear, here we go. Let's not fight, everyone.

Hey Evan - My pleasure.
The more I look at your post, the more I like your place. It's really inhabited-looking. In the best way. And doesn't feel like L.A. to me - for what that's worth. I'm from Toronto, and it seems more in that vein. An urban, cold-climate sensibility that I like.

Hi theserovingeyes,

That’s probably because I from NYC…born and raised, guess I just can’t shake that east coast look.

Evan

Ahh, cool. I knew something was up!

Who’s the BITCHY QUEEN with the photography problem…DUDE, CHILL OUT AND GET A LIFE!

Hey century-- what was your screen name for last year's contest? You said you had a new name for this year... who'd ya piss off last year? :)

To your point, I think this place is better than the photos let on, and not everybody can see past that, sometimes.

However, I would have gone with "I think the photos don't do the place justice." and call it a day.

But, um, EDH, this is your place, no?

You just lost the Bitchy Queen vote. And believe me, you'll need them.

LOL!!!

What color is that in the living space? I love the the way it looks with the yellow chairs

Battleship Grey

this is not really my thing, mainly because the color palette doesn't do anything for me, but I have to say I ADORE the dog portrait in your "bedroom" (did you paint that yourself?) and the quirky headboard (DIY?)

LOL... NO DIY in my life, those days have come and gone.

Well, I'm inspired. I've got a huge easel and haven't ever been happy with a use for it--now, it's a coat tree!

But it is a photography contest, sad to say. I do like this place, and think better pix would show it off even more.

@EDH: "BITCHY QUEEN?" "GET A LIFE?" There's that famed NYC friendliness! Unfortunately, must echo patrick -- ingracious entrants with poor photo skills and inordinate love of the caps lock? Notsomuch.

Re: bitchy queenery
People in glass apartments shouldn't throw stones.

Re: photography
Not terrible, but certainly subpar. Here's a hint; use of a direct flash is a sure way to ruin the shot. Bounce it off the ceiling or a piece of white paper.

Re: the apartment itself
I liked it a lot, and thumbs-upped it. I like the low retro furniture coupled with the exotic soft furnishings, the art and the unexpected touches of whimsy and overscaling.

I actually love this place. My guess is that it's pretty awesome in person. It's very "old Hollywood apartment" cool. (Who saw Mulholland Drive?) I know that the photo quality is pretty poor, but it almost adds to the mysterious, vintage quality of the shots. But, yes (unfortunately), the brighter, more professional looking entries garner the most votes.

As for the "bitchy queen" comment, I gotta hope that Evan was joking around, or just being a bitchy queen. So let's give him a break and assume his humor didn't translate well in print--because I really like his entry.

I like the "normal" photography in this competition as when something looks too polished I get suspicious and in a way it doesn't show the reality of what a normal apartment looks like. If something looks more like it belongs in a professional shoot for Vogue Living I lose interest - I want reality!

but enough with the bloody photography!

I wasn't a fan of your bed head or whatever that was, it just looked a bit claustrophobic to me, but I just loved your living room, it looked warm and cosy and inviting, the sort of place where it would be great to have friends over for a casual night eating food off your laps and just laughing and drinking etc.

EDH - I'll apologize if you feel that I have voiced an unfair opinion about your place. I just want to reiterate that I've made no assumptions of your living style nor was I critical of the place itself. In fact, your place is a perfect entry for the competition. There is certainly a coolness about the place itself. I am just very particular about how people portray that in this competition. For the others that say they prefer reality versus something in Vogue living, etc, I'm not sure I can entirely believe that. I thought the whole intention was to capture a magazine worthy story.

As for your "get a life" remark, lol, I suppose that means everyone that stops at your post and even comments doesn't have a life...

Just remember when you publish anything of yours, anywhere, whether its on a blog, in a magazine, etc, you are subject to criticism. Its never all going to be that good. I entered this competition many years ago. I lived in a once in a lifetime find, 600sf loft, in the village here in NYC. Over 8 years of living there, and probably several hundred visitors over that time, if not more, everyones jaw dropped when they entered the space. I posted here on AT, I think season 2 and I was shocked by the negative comments people made. My rug wasn't the right shade of brown for this person or it was this or that. My walls were too white and so on. I remember that someone said by having photos in frames stacked leaning against the wall on the floor, made the apartment look like I just moved in when in fact I was going for that quintessential old fashion loft look, perfect for the bones of the place. I couldn't believe that people entirely missed the uniqueness of the actual loft itself. Everyone was too busy picking apart every item in the place. I share this story with you so you hopefully don't think I was intentionally trying to put your entry down, because that's not what I did here with you or anyone else's entry. Frankly, I don't care about what color rug, or where its from, all I care about is overall presentation and seeing truly innovative ideas, from the unknown. It seems like 90% of people come up short in that category.

Patrick, that was a somewhat humorous comment by you, but no, I don't think I p'od anyone off last year. I moved out of the aforementioned loft and with that went the nyc.rr email, so I needed to set up a gmail with new name. I don't remember my last screen name to be honest.

I enjoy this competition just as much as the next person, but there are times every year where I sit here looking, scratching my head, thinking to myself, oy vey...

Century--

All those old entires are archived... what was your entry?

Century,

Terribly sorry for that comment, it was a stupid thing to say, the truth of the matter is I knew how BAD my images were, just hearing it from someone else set me off, plus for some reason this place is a bitch to photograph and I rushed the whole thing, I wish I could do the whole thing over but it’s late, maybe next year.

If you would like to see better images of my place go to Desire To Inspire and search:
Evan's incredible loft....and a dilemma or go to: http://www.desiretoinspire.net/blog/2009/4/21/evans-incredible-loftand-a-dilemma.html
( I didn’t come up with the title) I took these images the first week I moved in but I HATED most of my furniture so I’ve been spending my time trying to replace or cover most of it.

I also had another post on Desire To Inspire, a very old friend of mine past away and she’s been my inspiration for YEARS, search: Maxine de la Falaise or go to: http://www.desiretoinspire.net/blog/2009/11/3/maxime-de-la-falaise.html

Sorry again,

Evan

Love the perfect balance of the living room and the interesting things you have. Also enjoyed the Maxine link.
Didn't think the photos were so bad.

Evan, those are some amazing photos on your link! Your space is magnificent. I actually like it both ways. In the first set of photos it's very open and airy; very cool and California modern. In this set of contest photos, I can see where you wanted to go with it. You like texture. Were you influenced by your friend Maxine's home? I see similarities (which is a compliment). Nice job. Although I can't decide which version I like best! The one thing I do miss, however, is the mirrored table as desk in the first version. I liked it as a desk. Now, it almost gets lost next to your bed (and it's SUCH a great piece). Anyway, either version, you have great style.

creative license,

Wow, thanks.
I shelped that desk from NY to LA, it was my Mom’s, she bought it at the Louis Mitmin’ showroom in the D&D building around 1969-1972??? I liked it as a desk too and it looked great in the photo but it was a pain getting around it to get into the bathroom, I was always bumping into he corner.
And YES…I wish my place looked EXACTLY like Maxine’s.. who knows, maybe when I’m 85 it will.

Jesus christmas, Dude. That's what I am talking about. If those were the photos I saw, you'd be the clear winner. Who cares about winner. That's the magazine quality I was talking about. Good grief charlie brown. Well, you've definitely validated that you have good taste. Perhaps see if you can get your hands on that "hot tub time machine" and go back to....well..I'm just appalled by the difference.

And dude, no worries about the comment. Glad you entered. It's an inherent behavior of mine, to try to bring the best out of everyone, whether or not its welcome and guess what, we got to see better!

Not a big fan of posting links to other pics when the contest limits the number of photos.

Hey Century, still waiting for the link to your own contest entry!

Wow.
Those additional photos are great. Much more west coast then, with the bright walls. Not sure which look I prefer! The way it is now is much more lived-in and anchored, more masculine too.

But no extra photos allowed! We'd all show better if we could post 20 photos of every element.

Hi patrick (the other one) & theserovingeyes,

Those links were for century to see, if I had another way to contact him I would have, I really Wasn’t trying to sneak extra images in, plus there's no way I'm going to win anyway.

Ah, but you should!
I wanna live in a place with giant, charactery windows!

theserovingeyes,
oh in that case get eveyone you know to vote for me LOL, but really, thanks for your input.

Evan

Patrick, ain't happening buddy. Maybe another time. I am not starting an all out war.

theserovingeyes- "But no extra photos allowed! We'd all show better if we could post 20 photos of every element."

I highly doubt we'd all show better if we could post 20 photos, when the truth is, the person with the best 3 or 4 would win anyway. I think if 20 photos were allowed; call me crazy, people would photo each individual item and post. Here's one of my aunt in 1953, heres another of birdcage I picked up at the flea market in Manahawkin NJ in 1981, and so on...

Here's a tought and I know I'm treading on thin ice now, but maybe AT should take the comp more seriously and advise people on various things before posting. "Like hey you just sent me a photo of your living room" "can you take 3 or 4 of that space and move the coffee table back in one and up in another, because it may help show better in the photos" Or maybe ask the simple question of "have you ever posted photos of your apartment before and can you send a few for comparison" Evan's scenario is a perfect example of this. Wouldn't it be a perfect world, if every entry was drool worthy.

I wish there were a category for most controversial comments, I’d be a shoe in :)

century,

Why would you start "an all out war" by posting the link to your contest entry??? You certainly peaked *my* curiosity when you mentioned your gorgeous village loft. I'd love to see how you photographed your contest entry, what choices you made that you felt were harmonious with the bones of your place, how you propped your art against the wall, whether I would think your walls were too white or your rug too brown......

Why *not* post a link. It would be fun!

How did I get in the middle of this LLLLLOOOOLLLL,
I might not have one but this is a lot more fun!

@century: ditto creative license -- cough it up, we wanna see! You can't just dangle an amazing place in front of amazing-place-philes like that!

Did you just "buddy" me? Seriously, "dude"?

I bet, if it was a loft, in a contest, with comments about leaning art, we could find it without your help.

EDH--

If there's a prize for most comments, you'll have to share with theserovingeyes... since he's helped you keep the commentary rolling, and he's in the contest too, no?

jesus guys! chill out! it's a design competition! RELAX!!

evan, this is nice :)

Dear Evan,

What color is your space? You posted "Battleship Gray" but I'd appreciate knowing what brand paint you used.

Also, I'm sorry you're getting snarky comments. Your place is beautiful.

Terry,
Thank you.
I honestly don’t know the name of the color, my building offered to paint one wall for me when I moved in, I looked at a color chart, pointed at a dark grey and walked away.
I’m sorry I can’t be of any help to you but I will see if the renting office has any record of it, if they do I’ll get back to you.

Thanks,
Evan

Terry,

Charcoal Slate
Color- 30BB21/014
A2006

They didn’t have the company name but I think it’s Benjamin Moore… not 100%

@patrick: "Watch it, bud." "Who you callin' bud, pal?" "Who you callin' pal, friend?" "Who you callin' friend, jackass?"

Beautiful I love it! Funny comment thread...