Who Lives Here: Ryan and his boyfriend Location: Oakland, California Size: 924 square feet
What is your favorite element of your Small & Cool home? Our eat-in kitchen. We have a restored Wedgewood stove that I love to cook on with a bar-style table for four nearby. It's great to be able to sit down with friends and a bottle of wine just steps away, pan to plate, from where I'm cooking.
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What was one of the biggest challenges you faced in furnishing your Small Cool home? Storage. I'm a recovering collector of all things kitsch and I often rotate art work (which means I have a lot of it stashed away) and ceramic pieces. We have one small storage closet and because we both hate clutter and nic-nacs, we have had to be very creative about where we stash things. Clutter can break a design. The Container Store has been a great resource for us in finding hooks, shelves and storage boxes than are stylish and tactfully used to hide what we love for later use.
Thumbs Up Voting is only activated for 48 Hours — so don't delay!
Check out all the entries on our contest page.
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How To Cook Tender, Chewy Wheat Berries on the Stovetop
Your dining room is so stunning!
the vintage vibe works here...love the stove. the kitchen is HUGE....so nice.
Love your Pointer pillow and the rest looks really nice too.
Mmm.. I want some of that pizza!
I'm pretty much in love with your place, but that dining room is orgasmic. My god!
Beautiful dining room. And I love the stove!
nice! is it laminate flooring or hardwood?
love, love, love that stove and those kitchen curtains!!
Really like these colors.
AHHH! I want to come over and eat and hang out and then fall asleep in your ridiculously cozy and inviting bedroom. PLEASE!?
I love this home. It's so cozy and warm. Ryan did a great job designing and decorating this charming home.
LOVES IT!!! So cute!!! You have the most amazing style!!!
Jonathan (the boyfriend) set the dining room table. The kitchen is my (Ryan) domain and I sewed those damn curtains (which I love, they are vintage french linen). The rest of the space we share. Thanks for all your great comments! They make me so happy!
Oh, @jackycs, the floors are hardwood, bamboo.
Love the dining room area!
The mix of kitsch with sleek furniture, makes your home very unique and welcoming. Also in my opinion, you're the only contestant who got away with night photography successfully.
Love the kitchen and dining areas and that pizza looks delicious! Beautiful.
This feels so homey. Great, great job!
bootiful
I love the quirky accents...dog pillow, funky cookie jar. Awesome house!
The seascapes are gorgeous. I wish paintings of the sea would replace animal heads in popularity.
Adorbes! Such a lovely, livable, cozy space. I want to pull up a chair at that big beautiful dinning room table, feast on the homemade pizza, and peruse the prize pieces around your home for dessert. I have many curious questions... Is that a ceramic cookie jar on the stove? Where did you find that bed frame? I'm dying to get a close up on your TV stand... I love the color! You sewed those kitchen curtains?! BEAUTIFUL! -Five pictures just wasn't enough for this home.
I love your place Ryan! You have such great talent at making a place warm, inviting, and unique! I have the same seascape painting from Grandma Belt in my bedroom. Did she really paint the same scene twice?
All I can say is wow!
i agree. the dining room would be fairly plain if it weren't for the impact of the dark furniture, dark wall color and the glow of candlelight.
stunning!
Pretty nice, I would like to see more, with photos taken in the daytime.
so THUMBS UP.
Love the kitchen!
@scarlethue -- I tried to take photos in the daytime but couldn't get home in time (before the deadline). I was literally racing against the clock one day to take pictures before the sun set. I was worried it would read badly online, perhaps too moody. Thank you for voting. We have to get in the top 16 to go onto the next round.
I like that the photos were taken at night! It's different. The whole apartment is to die for, but the kitchen is especially delightful. Great work!
Can you please come to my place and help me? Seriously. Your place is charming.
i like it but it seems like two different homes.
the bedroom has nothing in common with the decorating in the rest of the house.
@Coletta--Jon and my style can be very different and I think we've struck a nice balance. But I agree, it can be a little schizophrenic at times...that's our "nice balance".
A little "push and pull" is always good in a relationship. ;)
It's beautiful and I love it! And I'm so glad you guys have a TV just sitting out - I swear that's a rarity on this site.
I just had a woodgasm.
@michpc--I have them all the time. They're great!
ryan - you've made this so lovely. when' the dinner invite?...
Rx
Ryan--hands down, this is the best place!!! I hope that you win! You have got a classy, warm, inviting place brother!
love that stove!
Your home is gorgeous - I would vote for you if I could! I'm too late though... darn. Great job!
Okay, I know I'm coming to the party a bit late, but I just have to say how gorgeous your place is. I don't know which room I like more - the light, fun, airiness of the kitchen (which I bet really pops in the daylight); the dark, formality of the dining room; or the warm, inviting mix of the two in the living room. Bravo, sir.