LOVE the palette, the ceiling, the fireplace; but the walls…I don’t get it. The proportions of color blocking are so awkward and abrupt. Also, the dying plant and the uncovered light switch and outlet…ooops. Sorry, but the room just doesn’t look finished.

I'm also with ashk. I LOVE your palette, and this room has some really beautiful pieces, but I really don't think I can get behind that paint job... Why didn't you paint the whole room?

Love your floors! Was wondering what the fireplace cover was made out of. I am in desperate need of something to cover my fireplace up and was wondering what materials you used/how you keep it upright. Best of luck in the contest!

Laura here....

First off, thank you to all who have voted so far. There are SO many gorgeous entries so far and I'm still working my way through them.

@ashtk, you are right, the room is definitely far from finished....I just couldn't wait a whole nother year to enter!

Regarding the abrupt look of the color-blocking, it's possible that photographer error contributed to that. It's hard to tell from the photos but the colors are centered evenly on each wall with a 17 in white border all around....I guess kind of a floating accent wall. Hopefully I will become better with the camera settings in a way to capture that one day.

@Cashew
Funny you should ask why I didn't paint the whole room...the idea to color block came about after I painted the whole room and hated it. It made everything glow red and yellow and the two colors touching together made me feel like I was living in a McDonalds or the inside of a Ritz cracker box. Yet, I still wanted to commit to color in a way that went beyond pillows and accessories.
Thank you, I love the palette myself. I am stubborn and I was NOT going to let my sensitivity to visual noise get in the way of finding a way to make these colors work for me lol.

@Julianne7
Thank you! The fireplace cover came with the house, possibly from the late 60's, so I'm not sure of the source. It's made from a metal panel that is folded and crimped on the inside edges to just fit into the space.

Loving the floors, too - is it painted hardwood?

I love the ceiling treatment and the salmon walls, as well as the spare clean furnishings. Not a fan of the yellow and brown colors in the last photo. Maybe it just needs a pop of salmon in that area to make it as extraordinary as the rest of the room. Nice to see salmon and black together. I have the same color in my entry way with black floors, and was terrified that it would look like halloween. You've definitely elevated these colors to a new level. Thanks for sharing your beautiful room.

Laura, I love your room! I voted for it even before I knew it who you were. :)

I never would have thought to paint like that, but I really like the pops of color it adds while still keeping the room light and airy. I like how sparsely furnished it is too. It definitely doesn't scream "unfinished" to me--I just figured you were a minimalist. I think it looks great now, but I can't wait to see what else you do with it.

I love the ceiling, but where is all the furniture?

@ alahoop Thank you! That's funny, I voted for yours before I saw your name in the comments. I though it looked perfectly finished and was left wondering what else could be done, remembering that you said it wasn't finished. I guess the work is never done lol.

@lorrinm Thank goodness the previous owner left some of the furniture because there would be even less! This is the first unfurnished place I've lived in and unfortunately renovating the kitchen and bathroom has been eating my funds for the last year and I'm the type to use milk-crates and hand-me-downs before I will buy something that I less than love...and everything I love is not cheap :( But, I have AT to drool over until then.

@lazy-lurker...Thanks! The wood on the floor just has a dark finish.

Thanks again for all the feedback. I'm definitely taking it in and it's nice to get feedback from folks interested in interior design/decor. Listening to your grandmother say "Ack! Paint everything white" gets a bit tiring.

The combination of the neon colors with the sparse American folk furniture and accents is brilliant...It's like Warhol meets Quaker meeting house!

Thanks, LittleMiss! You know, I rushed to make the curtains and pillows (out of fabric I already had), hang pictures and rearrange the furniture before I took the photos. It all needed to be done, but I kept putting it off, so the contest was a great motivator.

We're in a similar position to you though, in that we moved without enough furniture and are making do with a lot of hand-me-downs that aren't necessarily our style. But as I like to say, done is better than perfect! :)