Small Cool 2011

You have a guest room in 450 square feet! WOW! Is this a Hong Kong thing? It works wonderfully though, and an inviting guest room it is!

I LOVE the blue shades in the bedroom! I also just noticed the wire hanger wall sculpture/hooks - very "small/cool!"

Nice use of space! & those curtains with the script print ... LOVE!!

Love the crisp white with pops of color. Nice.

What did you use to make the floor plan?

I'd love to see a closer-up picture of your birdcage lamp!

Also, great banquette seating in the living room, and the set of four photos above are wonderful.

Love the color, love how uncluttered the space feels, love it all!

Beautiful space. Where did you source those great posters/prints?

Very nice and uncluttered for a small space!

I used to live in HK. 450 sq ft is like a standard size. My apartment in HK was about 580 sq ft and it has 3 tiny bedrooms, but the living/ dining room is pretty big.

So I actually found that for the same square footage, the apartment floorplans in HK seem to be more practical. Many HK apartments look bigger than the apartments with the same sq ft here too! Usually a 400 sq ft apartment will have 2 bedrooms. I just wonder why?

And... I love the photographs of HK above your living rooms. The sitting area is very nice!

LOVE this!!! I'm an expat in Hong Kong and ADORE this space; the layout is brilliant. The hangar piece is smart and I love your city photos. :)

You have a guest room in a 450 square foot apartment...now that's impressive. :)

I love what Erica has created, but speaking as someone who lives in a 450 sq ft apartment, there is NO way her place is that small. Maybe she meant 450 sq meters?

All the same, it's spare, clean, modern. I love how her workspace is set up, and love how she's varied the curtain patterns in her living room. Well done!

Bedroom is great!

love the living room the most. the sketch painting on the wall makes it sophisticated and interesting.

Thanks for all the great comments! I didn't realize my entry had been posted until just now :]. Some answers to posted questions:

-the pink wire hanger is Norman Copenhagen

-the floor plan was made in Adobe Illustrator

-You can see a close up of the birdcage lamp here: http://www.airbnb.com/rooms/53930

-Wall art: the living room prints are from a set of old 1970s HK slides, the vintage HK travel poster is from Picture This Gallery, the wall hanging is Marimekko, and the guest room wall art are night market t-shirts stretched over frames

-I know it doesn't look like 450 sq ft, but I chose very small pieces to make the space feel bigger and the kitchen is TINY!

450 sq meters would be enormous. i'm pretty sure it is 450 sq feet. i live in a 323 sq foot 2 bedroom--also outside of the US--and i think this could be the size she is saying.

We stayed with Erica for two weeks and her apartment is perfect! She's an amazing host and I think the tiny kitchen with the perfectly organized shelves is one of my favorite spaces!

good use of space. love looking at the international postings:)

Love your Thonet chairs!

I love the mixed curtains in the living room. It would be too much of one curtain on that wall. Its a problem I have and I'm gonna steal this idea.

Wow every room has a window... and light! Great!

I was hoping to see an HK flat on this year's challenge! Whereabouts is this? I love your old HK photos and the kitchen lamp.....

overall i like! i can't believe that a guest room fit into the space! but those blue blinds, ecck!! reminds me of a trailer park in belton missouri

I believe this apartment would be much more beautiful if it were more cohesive. I'd like to see the owner start with one element -- for example the brown of the sofas and one of the curtains in the living room -- and then use that color throughout.

Why? The rooms feel as though they belong in different apartments.

The dining room is sweet! I'm very envious.

Yep. Please, please, consider this:

1) Buy a bunch of fabric in that brown color of the sofas. Use it for bedspreads and instead of whatever it is you have on the kitchen wall below the fan.

2) Buy some brown-ishy matchstick blinds instead of the blue ones in the guest room.

3) I also like the curtain that looks as though it has writing on it. I'd use that in places as well.

450 sq feet and a guestroom...impressive!

I'm very lucky to have stayed here. Simple, minimalist design patterns with a cozy touch make it a perfect place, and with a perfect host to match! Definitely grab it on Airbnb when in HKG.

Erica's creative genius shines through in this inviting and comfortable apartment which I was able to call my home during a visit to HK. Of course her personal beauty, charm and gracious hospitality are the real marketing tools when it comes to Airbnb.

High five!

pink Wire hanger thing so cool. Wish it was a DIY.