sc5911.jpgOur seventh annual search for the smallest and coolest homes in the world has come to a close...and it was epic! Of course, with just under 200 amazing small spaces to discover in one short month, it's pretty hard to beat for pure inspiration, But, in terms of entries, votes, reader participation — the straight up numbers — this was also a record breaking contest. Ever wonder just how much is going on behind the scenes during an event like this? Just take a look at these stats…

We started planning for Small Cool 2011 during the wrap up of the Room for Color contest in the fall, meaning that it's been underway since November. Fast forward through all the planning, prepping and building to April 1, and things took off like a shot.

The editorial team received 453 total entries and published 196 of them — 40 Teeny-Tiny, 53 Tiny, 43 Little , 31 Small and 29 International small spaces hit the site during the month of April. Those wonderful 196 entries inspired 10,839 people to participate, casting 65,864 "favorite" votes. The maximum number of votes received by a single entry was 1349 and, memorably, the smallest entry of the year clocked in at 78 square feet.

All of this Small Cool excitement carried over to our traffic across Apartment Therapy, where, during the month of April, 45 million pageviews were enjoyed by our over 7 million unique visitors.

And, all of this energy culminates in what really is a celebration of living simply and living well - by honoring these 2 lovingly designed small homes, one in Brooklyn and one in Denmark, we're reminding ourselves and the world that bigger isn't always better and small really is cool.

Hats off to our 2011 winners...

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...and our division finalists...

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And, to everyone who generously shared their home by sending in an entry as well as to all the voters and supportive commenters, THANK YOU and we hope to see you back for Small Cool 2012!