This is a cute space, but it seems cluttered.

I love the mis-mash of everything. The ottoman and the white stair ladder storage thing are interesting. While its comfy, it does need a touch of lightness. Seems a bit weighted but I still like it!

I can tell you use every part of this condo. However, to me it lacks theme or direction in the decor. Also, you seem to have an affinity toward clocks and/or time (with the big clocks) and this is not to my taste. It seems kind of dark, but i'm not sure if it is the photos themselves or the actual condo.

On the flip side, I appreciate that you did the renov. work yourself and have people over to enjoy the fruits of your labor.

It's looks really comfy and the space is devided well.
It's not really my style though - but OMG the cat in that round tray! :)

Maybe it's the lack of color, but it doesn't excite my imagination. :) Cat is funny though!

My kitty wants a round tray!! Where did you get that great comfy chair?

love the kitchen rug -- where did you get it! it would bring a nice bit of color to a room without overwhelming it and a go great in lots of rooms!

where did you get that cute rug in your kitchen? Love it.

I agree with Jasmine and hiwelder... seems a bit cluttered and dark. I do think you have a lot of great pieces though.

Nice merge of romantic, cozy, and modern. I like the casual, colorful kitchen in particular.

Furniture layout in the living room confuses me. Why is the couch on the 10 foot wall and not on the 17 foot wall? So you walk down the hallway and you’re looking at the couch shoved in the corner to get by it. Sitting in the corner of the couch you are staring at stairs. This makes the room look awkward and uncomfortable, at least in the photo. Too many little things of similar size all over making the place look smaller. Don’t mean to sound harsh. I just decluttered my own living room for the same reasons.

it never occurred to me to put plants in my lanterns!

Someone said this place lacks theme or direction in decor, which is totally not true. It's eclectic, and I think it all works very well together. I love your mirrors and frames above the sofa.

cozy i would enjoy coming home

Well, I appreciate all the commens- negative or positive. :)

The tray is a Thomas O'Brien from Target. It was for serving and one say when I was rearranging, Gracie jumped in it and made it home. It's been hers ever since. I had to buy a second one for serving, which was adopted by foster kitties. :) They still have it at Target.

The rug is also from Target. It's part of their "Home" brand. I saw it on someone's tour on here and bought the runner version. It was pretty inexpensive- $45. :)

I put the couch on that wall because I love my patio and love being able to open the sliding glass doors and see out into the patio from the couch. It's oriented toward the TV as well. I had it on the long wall, but felt like I was facing the dining room.

I do use every part of this condo! I cannot bear the thought of having space that is not meant for people to be in.

I have been thinking of editing some of the pieces out, but I love everything so much, it's hard to decide what I can part with. It's not really cluttered when you are in and among the space- just photographs that way. :)

Again, thank you for the kind words and the critiques! I am just happy to see my condo on here- and my Gracie. She's so happy to be an internet star for her 15 minutes. ;)

cassielynn: I just did the mirrors and frames above the sofa and was unsure about them. Thanks for the vote of confidence. :)

Lady J: I am kinda short and couldn't reach the lantern to light it, so the conversion to a makeshift planter was born. :)

Whats going on with the curtains in the bedroom? The mounting seems kinda awkward to me. LOVE the 4th picture though... look at that friggin cat!

yuck . sorry this is like a massive hangover combined with a night before spew . nice cy though

I think part of the problem is the pictures - for whatever reason this place seems really dark. Maybe have more lights on when taking pictures? I love the EAT sign in the kitchen!

I am assuming by the floor plan your comments that the dining room was originally the 2nd bedroom? 800 feet is actually a pretty big 1 bedroom.

Hey it looks cosy, warm and lived in in the best way.

I must admit I think the coffee table is too heavy for the space and with the couch it is overwhelming

What a cute little kitchen!

I love it and don't think it looks cluttered at all! Great job with everything.

There are some great individual pieces (i.e. the tray in the living room), but overall the furniture seems improperly scaled to the size of this space. On a happier note, that backsplash is fantastic.

Of course, your bestest "fur"nishing is the fuzzy Gracie; what a beauty!

I'm not a decorating "theme" person. I like to live with what I love and if you love it, it's never out of place. Your home would make me feel right comfortable...most everything is round.

I should have said lighting was the biggest challenge! :) As you can see from the layout, I have two sliding glass doors and the door that leads from my bedroom to the balcony and that's it! The patio space, from where the dining room begins on back, is covered by the floor above, so my main source of light is the one sliding glass door in the living room. That explains why I have lamps everywhere and all the plants are squeezed into the living room. :)

As for the ottoman/ coffee table. It is heavy for the space and I would like one in particular that I saw at Anthropologie, but I need that style of ottoman for seating, so I am stuck with heaviness. :)

A positive note for the lighting issue is that, at night, with all the candles lit, it is super cozy and romantic.

Thank you again for the kind words and support from everyone. It's nice to have a space that I love appreciated by people. I am glad that you can tell I love my home, because I really do feel at home here.

And, of course, Gracie is my best accessory. She is the sweetest, most laid back cat. :)

The dining room was orginally a bedroom, but it is dining space for now. :) It may migrate back into a bedroom one day.

The table and chairs from the doorway into the dining room may one day migrate to the bedroom, if I get the courage to make it all white. :)

Love your clocks, inventive terrariums, and of course snuggly Gracie. It's the dark pictures that aren't doing the place justice, I think.

Thanks for sharing your cute home and kitty. Animals are always my favorite accessory! I've been obsessed with chesterfield sofas lately. I was wondering, where did you get yours?

Hi Rita Marie! I'm seeing problems, but I swear my criticism is entirely constructive because I see some great potential here:

I know you've got an eye to incorporate a vintage, flea market feel, but lots of the items miss that mark. They look more like Hobby Lobby or Pier 1 buys -- the large clocks, the frames on pedestals in the bedroom, or the little "Cucina" sign in the kitchen. These items look faux eclectic.

The repeated groupings also contribute to that manufactured feel. One random grouping may feel kitschy (in a good way), accidental, and breezy, but several "random" groupings start to look like a very laborious undertaking. Time to edit! I like the mirrors -- in fact I think you could do with more. But the clocks look oddly placed, and the wall of frames is overwhelmingly jumbled. Think of this as an exercise in balance: if you've got one awesomely random mirror wall, perhaps the adjacent wall should balance it out with a more orderly, formal arrangement.

Now, the items in your place that DO work are those that look truly eclectic: the scattered terrariums (which I just adore!), the white and blue containers in the kitchen, or the various trays and stands in the living room (such as those on the upholstered coffee table).

Those items look like they came from a page of an awesomely styled Anthropologie spread, and what styling looks more flea market chic than that? WWAD: what would Anthropologie do? Look to them for inspiration and edit those items that you don't think are making the Anthro cut.

@BalconyRomancz: what pleasant commentary. Your mother must be so proud.

@akay: that was some darned good advice!

Yeah, um, but are people entering because they want *advice*?

I agree, this home is very cozy. But now I have to go back to find the cat!

@patrick: okay, fine. "I enjoyed that comment, and found it full of suggestions that might be helpful to the entrant, as well as to me." It's a contest, and akay gave feedback. Are we to keep comments only to "here are the things I found awesome?" I can do that, I just need to know them's the rules, as do other people, evidently.

shanalulu--

I hear ya.

I guess just put yourself in someone else's (Rita Marie's) shoes... if you, like her, posted your home out of pride, and because you considered your work to make you a contender in a contest, how would you feel about reading five paragraphs of "helpful hints"? I think it would be weird. I know it would feel weird.

I will say akay did seem generally enthused, and prefaced the ideas with a vote of confidence and positivity, so it wasn't really harsh and certainly fell within truly constructive criticism, so points for that, for sure.

For me, since it's a contest, I tend to vote my opinion. On posts where people are asking for help, by all means, let it rip!

Akay: That was some good advice. I was feeling that way about the clocks, but was unsure. I took the ones that were not antique down and really like the feel of the space now. My friend is happy because he got the others for his home. :) I actually replaced the ledges with the tin chandelier pictures in the bedroom with my collection of flea market and antique oil paintings afetr I took these photos and it looks better. :)

I thank everyone for the kind words. As for the criticism, I am proud of my home and have utilized the criticism that is in line with what I was already feeling.

Patrick: Thank you so much for your comment. Some of the criticism (one, in particular) ;) is out of line and ridiculous, but I enjoy being in my home and try to just skip over that. I agree; people post here because they are proud of their homes and I try to be positive in all the feedback I give. If criticism is constructive, I welcome it, though it won't necessarily be what drives me to overhaul my home. :)

Rhodjar: The sofa is from Dillard's. It is sooo comfy!

Star Princess: I also got the chair at Dillard's. It is super comfy, too! Seating for me is all about comfort! :)

Cassis: Thanks for the comment. I love my terrariums. I also love the antique clocks I have- I feel like an old clock has been there when someone is getting ready for a big event. :)

Again, thank you to everyone for commenting!

Soft and welcoming.

@patrick, I offered the advice because Rita Marie was already here responding to criticism with great cheer. If someone is receptive to their criticism and creating an open dialogue, there's nothing weird about adding to it.

However, even if that were not the case, to say that it's strange to offer constructive criticism for an entrant in a contest on a site that's all about analyzing home decor ... well, it seems like a bad attitude.

When you put yourself out there doing anything in life, it's good to receive thoughtful feedback. So long as no one gets snippy, it should not wound your pride. If anything, it should bolster it that someone thought that you and your entry were well worth the time it took to put together their sincere thoughts.

I gotcha, akay, and I did acknowledge that you did it enthusiastically, and with truly constructive criticism.

But it IS a slippery slope, and not everyone during contests is as adept at constructive, upbeat advice as you were here.

And also, having been on the side of receiving "good advice," I think you can have a somewhat different perspective.

I guess I look at it like wedding photos... would you EVER tell a bride "I would have gone with a different dress?" or "Your reception had a manufactured feel?"

I positively love your place and can't believe that rug is from Target...my eye was drawn to it right away.

Oh, and I have to say that though some people have said the furniture is out of scale, I like that it's not scaled to the apartment. I was just thinking this morning how much I wish I'd known how long I would have certain things I bought because they were what fit or what I could afford at the time...I would have bought better stuff that I really truly loved! I have a larger than I should sofa in my place, too, and I don't regret buying it. I can seat a lot of people...AND sleep some when necessary too!

Christine: Thanks for the comment! I did indeed buy items that I loved, because I knew that I would be keeping them for a long time. :) While the furniture may seem out of scale for some, I like my space being filled with furniture. It makes me feel cozier. I had some smaller pieces in an apartment similar to this size, and it always felt empty to me. I have had about 12-15 people in my home at one time and everyone had a space to sit comfortably, so the furniture I have works for my needs. When they first delivered the sofa, I thought it was a little large, but as I added my other furnishings, I felt it made a homier space. :)

Thanks again to everyone for the comments!

@patrick: gotcha. It would have felt weird to me, too, you're right. I suppose the positive, helpy-like spirit offset that and distracted me. I do think that if someone's going to make "suggestions" in an entry's comments, akay did it just the right way. Ha.

@patrick, haha, I can see what you mean, but I don't think that's the perfect analogy because -- despite what some bridezillas think -- a wedding is not a competition.

It's more apt to compare this to an essay contest, a juried art show, a job interview, a cheesy celebrity dancing show, etc. You're putting yourself out there hoping to be selected above others for your hard work. If you present something for judgement -- be it your resume or your home decor -- and feel weird for receiving judgement, I think there's some oversensitivity coming into play.

It's one thing if you're minding your own business and someone sideswipes you by "helpfully" analyzing, say, your shoes -- that is unabashedly rude. But let's say you cobbled those shoes yourself (fun!) and put them in a portfolio. They are now a representation of your taste and ability and are ready for critique.

I think quite a few of us regular AT readers/commenters work in some kind of creative field where it's necessary to separate criticism of self from criticism of one's work, but this is definitely a skill that pays off in all areas of life -- like dating :)

i have looked at every photo and still can't see Gracie!!!

LOL!!! Gracie is in the 4th photo on the ottoman next to the mirror with the terrarium on it. She is sitting in the little basket, her fave spot. My condo has been rearranged an changed oodles since this contest. Gracie's basket is now in a much more lit spot. :) She has a new brother, Nico, who is as cute as she is.

RitaMarie, Gracie is ADORBS. I love her. Thanks for sharing your home (and kitteh) with us!