Small Cool 2011

WOW. I am completely impressed. Excellent job!

Love it.

But...Do you not have a couch?

ok you got the statue?

Nice. Love how you used a space that would be traditionally for a dining area into a work area. If looks much bigger and all the little details make it look opulant.

amazing!

The bookshelves are a fantastic solution! You were able to both create the separation you wanted, while adding storage.

Original, stylish and clever. Life sent you lemons and you made some juicy lemonade.

Fantastic.

Amazing! Best so far by far.

Especially loving all the amazing lamps and rugs. Only thing I would change for my personal taste is the colour of the walls in the bedroom so that it would pick up better on the global aesthetic of the rest of the place. But kudos, just great.

I am in awe of this design solution to hold all those books, divided and create a private bedroom space from the living area.

I would like to know more about how the shelves are secured and the skims -material and how they are attached.

I love the style in general of this apartment.

I intend to enter myself but this is so good you get my vote, clever and personal, love it!

Brilliant.

great job creating individual living spaces in a studio! fantastic!

OMG I am in so love with this, I have been trying to find a similar solution for years now and I can't believe I never thought of those Ikea shelves! GENIUS! this is so perfect. I believe we have a winner!

Now *that's* what I'm talkin' about!!

Basically I judge all studios on whether or not the bed is out in the open. I'm one of those people. This is fabulous. Well done!

Yes! This is what Apartment Therapy is supposed to be about!!

This is seriously brilliant.

This is so good. I keep coming back to look at the pictures again and again. Love that you've a a piano in that tiny space and it doesn't even seem crowded. And love the special chest of drawers under the "American" sign.

Super frickin' job.

This is great - very inventive! I'm actually looking to move into a studio apartment in LA very soon and this entry makes me hopeful that I can achieve a level of sophistication and style in such a small space. Congrats!

Wonderful. After Small/Cool is over, regardless of how far Ariel gets, I'd love a full house tour. I'm dying to see the kitchen, bath and office area.

The mirrored table is a great idea too: adds extra light and space--or seems to, which is the point, right?

great job overall.

The bed nook is fabulous. Would love more details on how you put it together!

Well done!

This really EXCELLS for 420 sq. ft.!!!

Really creative and smart. I love how you named your floor plan areas by function.

The brown wall color is gorgeous.

These look like four different apartments entirely, cannot believe you packed this much coll, elegance, and refinement into such a small space.

I love the division of space. I've spent the last two years in a studio wishing I could create a "bedroom" like this. I'm moving soon to another studio and this is giving me a lot of inspiration!

I love the bookshleves! I wish we could know more about how we can divide our space like this...

Very inventive and seems like a great place to hang out with friends!

Wow- thanks for the kind comments!!

b77-
The Ikea shelving units are called Broder, and they are actually spring-loaded. They have a rubberized base (non-skid) and attach to the ceiling with screws. They have a square profile and accept shelf brackets on all four sides, which is what makes them so great! I made the scrims with a 3/4" hem on the top and bottom, and used a piece of flat 1/2" metal (available at the hardware store) to hang them, (they fit inside the hem and into the holes of the brackets) and as weights on the bottom. Ariel

Yes, love it. I bet the view from the front door into the apartment is great, too.

And yay for pianos in small homes (I have one in mine as well). I'm curious about the lack of sofa, though. I guess I spend too much time lounging!

Form, Function, Style. Love!

What is the brand/actual color name of the back brown wall? It reminds me of a soft fuzzy koala bear...

Kudos! I had to sign in just to comment. Great use of space and love the wraparound shelf.

Those screens are a great solution, but I miss a couch.

Fantastic to see what an ingenious and artsy person can do with such a witty-bitty space!

If I had seen your amazing place before now I might have thought twice about being so determined to get a one-bedroom apartment - but I never would have come up with that brilliant shelving/space divider. Bravo! (And I LOVE the chartreuse!)

fan-freakin-tastic! this will be in my top 3 for sure. creative and efficient use of space and beautiful aesthetic. so warm and cozy - gives me a conversational vibe. i'd want to hang out there.

Genius! That's the greatest ikea hack ever - they should market it for studio dwellers!

I amazed. Great job with the Ikea Hack. This is just brilliant.

I could so easily live in this apartment. It's beautiful, and I love the scaling of the furniture and that amazing solution to creating a bedroom. It makes me miss my old vintage downtown apartment! And it's perfectly okay to live without a couch - I'm in a house now, but still don't have a couch. The dogs would just hog it anyway.

I really love this! Warm, homey & sophisticated. There are lots of books and personal objects displayed but the overall feeling is the opposite of cluttered, serene almost. Masterfully done!

thanks voiture12 - keeping this info for future use. Good luck, I would give you a few more votes if I could.

Ariel is this the sort of skims you used
http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1v/R-202090128/h_d2/ProductDisplay?storeId=10051&keyword=opaque+sheets&jspStoreDir=hdus&Nu=P_PARENT_ID&navFlow=3&catalogId=10053&langId=-1&ddkey=Search

These from home depot are opaque
like yours. Thanks again!

Will look every day for a full tour!
Please tell me that your table is adjustable, to dining as well as "coffee" table height. AND, where did you get the table base??

This is incredible. The bookshelves are pure genius. I'm saving these images in my Inspiration Folder. :)

I bought a gauzy fabric for $1.50/yd and sewed the scrims. They were inexpensive yet time consuming :)

The paint was from Dunn Edwards, and is actually called "Chocolate Pudding".

The couch...I had a very large one in my prior apartment, which did not fit here. I need to find something just the right size, so the back doesn't block the windows (they are french windows and open inwards), and which doesn't stick out to far and block the doorway to the kitchen. My butterfly chair is the lounger these days.

The mirror is attached to a bar-stool base, so it is adjustable...but not exactly to dining room height...however that is a great idea! Thanks justjude!
Ariel

great studio, love the style. i would have to have a couch though.

Congrats Ariel, I absolutely love it!!!

This is a fantastic use of space. Wonderfully creative. Love it!!!

i love how you hve these obvious street market finds mixed in with beautiful well known designed pieces....and your use of space is remarkable....it is amazingly comfortable and still very chic....so many textures shapes and colors ....it flows it sings it charms....

fantastic. very well thought out floorplan and room flow. I love all the plant and 'ethnic' touches throughout the apartment as well.

and yea that Ikea hack is awesome!

You've made space for a piano. Wow. That gets my vote.

Good for you for waiting for just the right couch...Your home is just beautiful in the meantime.

In "W's" words, "Mission Accomplished".;-)

I really love this space and would like to request more images of areas such as the bathroom, office and kitchen.

Full house tour, please!

I love what you did to separate the play and sleep areas!! Very inviting!

A very resourceful use of space that is excellently small cool. Fun, creative, unusual,
my favorite qualities.

This is really elegant, beautiful and functional. I want to see more photos about bath and kitchen.

This one is def at the top of my list! I have to know, though, does anyone know what those wood chairs are in the living area? I found one in my neighbor's trash last month and have been refinishing it and loving it! This is the first time I've seen another one. Is there any history to it?

Congratulations Maugust! You scored an Ib Kofod Larsen chair! He was a mid-century Danish furniture designer...google him! I also found mine at a thrift shop and flea market on opposite coasts and have since refinished and re-upholstered them to match. They were also made in an all wood model.
Ariel

I love it! Looks comfortable yet very efficient (love the storage solution). I'm greatly inspired! Would love to see more :)

HUGELY fantastic in a tiny little space. This is genius - creative - fun. Love it.

Very nice! I've been thinking about using Broder for a room divider also. Nice to see it classed up & in action.

Spirited and sweet!

The yummy chocolate color is so right for a sleep area, while it does seem to make the wall recede when seen from the play area. Ditto to brilliant, best Ikea hack ever, full Tour please.

LOVE IT!! Would love to see the kitchen!

so spare so simple so ariel

Wow!! I love this!! In the first picture, are those more books inside the closet?? If so, I love it even more!

ditto to deirdre's first comment...no, really, in my own words...totally impressed, coming from someone who's been living in 380 sq. ft for 27 yrs...nyc living...

Sorry to disappoint kellykat: those are CDs in the alcove. Call me old fashioned... my LP collection is in storage.
Ariel

Beautiful. Where'd you get the cabinet in the 4th picture? It looks so useful!

Vintage IKEA, lef2009.

Beautiful place, Ariel. I would also like to confirm your color on the wall. It looks like Raccoon Fur from BM which I am trying in several places now, but it would be great to know for sure as it looks great.

Thanks foleando! The paint color is Dunn Edwards "Chocolate Pudding"

Just Great!

Great use of space - well done

Stunning! The bookcase-surround bedroom is ingenious and always nice to see a piano in a tiny space. (former studio dweller with large upright piano)

You Rule. Beyond well done.

Great shelving! sculptural and practical. Also, so happy to see a piano in there!!

awesome Ariel, I could use something like that!!! - I think I voted correctly - good luck!!!

foleando - i painted the exterior of my mid-century modern home "raccoon fur" by bm and people stop and ask what color it is all the time. it is lovely - shimmery and sometimes dull, silvery but sometimes black, grey. it has lots of personality.

Me favourite part be scrim bed lighted.

Kudos on the infrastructure that makes this small space so liveable but most of all for not compromising an ounce of SOUL. I dig this place.

I had to marry an apartment, this would probably come in first!

I do have a bit of compartmentalizing syndrome, but I honestly think that being able to divide a small space like this makes it feel much bigger on the whole. These individual spaces now have purpose, rather than just being an extra half a m2 of empty space.

A question on small apartments in general in the US, though: is it common for them to be divided into smaller rooms like this? Here in Sweden most flats in this size are usually one room only (not including bath), which I find unfortunate (although I realize that some might want the freedom of one larger room for several reasons).

What I'm getting at is that an extra wall/room would sometimes mean more than extra space if living with someone in a tiny box.

Oh, about those Broder racks: is the spring loaded mechanism enough to sustain the weight of a shelf or two or do you have drill?

I'm looking into slightly mimicking your idea and also use it as a bike rack for my foldable bike next to the entrance.

(Sorry for the wall of text)

Thanks blip-
I'm guessing most newer smaller apartments tend to have open kitchens, or smaller kitchens...mine is from the 1930's, and is a pretty standard floorplan in Los Angeles. Otherwise some small apartments are designed as studios and some as 1-bedrooms.
The spring in the Broder racks pushes the top element upwards towards the ceiling, and has holes to attach to the ceiling. All the shelf brackets are attached to the bottom element (about 6' tall), so the weight of the books is not loaded on the spring.
Ariel

Ah, I see. Many of the "tiny-division" entries have been divided into rooms and I realized I kind of liked it - more than I thought I would, so I got curious.

Though a friend of mine lives in what was originally late 19th/early 20th century factory workers' living quarters (i.e tiny but nicely renovated) not far from me, which is divided into rooms as well so it might boil down to finding a building from the right era.
(If I currently had the freedom of choice, that is...)

Thanks for the heads up on the Broder shelving! I'm off to IKEA tomorrow to plan a bit.

excellent use of BRODER!!!

I love it! is the perfect cube - we do need more than hurray for uniqueness...

Brilliant use of space! More and more people are needing solutions like this. Thank you!

You have done a terrific design job and it is wonderful what you have done with the bookcases.

Betsy

your media center is magic!

What a great collection of things. Just the right mix of new and old, minimal and eclectic. Love the little pops of color!

Very inventive style for such a small space! Love the wraparound bookshelves / entertainment center, the piano, the wood cabinet with sculpture, the plants and lamps.

I will feel very cozy and happy in an apartment like that. Very Well Done ariel!

Makes me want to get rid of 600 square feet of my apartment and hire you to make it look this good.

I woke up this morning and happened to do a search for 'Chartreuse Bookshelves' and boom, found this little gem. I love it. I had to vote for it!

Now come help me with my place. Please!

An absolute jewel of an idea. It's quite remarkable how you have made a 420 sq ft place look double the size.

And the chocolate pudding wall colour is so elegant.

I really like the 4th picture, and the amazing huge plant! Great job :)

I just got a place and am newly inspired by your energy, Ariel. Bravo. It's as stylish as it is comfortable. Happily, no "look at me" moments; just stimulating surrounds.
Small can be better!

You make me no longer afraid of small spaces...

This is lovely.

wonderful,....love it!

i am lucky enough to have seen this jewel box up close ..it is stylish, refined, personal,and workable...a great place...hats off!!!

This man understands how precious is a place of one's own.

You have some dynamite pieces (the blue lamp and the dresser). Less is more when one thing is amazing!

and you managed to fit a piano in there too! very innovative + likeable. would've liked to see the work + cook areas too. goodluck!

i'm moving in

Great job Ariel, you still have the New York City sensibilities and did an amazing job with such small place.

cool and creative. I LOVE IT. well done Ariel!

king of cool. love it, Ariel.

I love it! I plan to downsize this year and it's nice to know others can do it so nicely.

thanks for the props ariel. :) you too have found such creative solutions to your space! impressed. nicely done.
jordan

Nice Job Ariel.

brilliant!!!!!!!

Well, isn't that 'spatial'. Great job.

Incredible job. You've got my vote. The plan of this place looks exactly like an apt I once had at 113 1/2 S. La Brea Blvd. I won't ask you to divulge your address right here but I would be very curious to know if it's the same.

Great use of a tight space and filled with a wonderful aesthetic sense for design.

This is inspirational! A favourite of mine for sure. Thanks for sharing and good luck with the contest!

Love it. Tone, texture, creative use of design for the bed. I'm just scared of the masks !!! LOL

What a pleasure to have Ariel Asken in my building. I am his landlord. I love people who make the world more beautiful.

Oh my goodness, Ariel!

Absolutely stunning - I may have to hire you when I move. :-)

Truly excellent use of space and color: brightens but does not overpower. I appreciate what you described as the sense of separation (I think we NYers are over eating in our bedrooms and sleeping in our kitchens. ;)

And you made room to let nature in = SCORE!
Just wonderful!

Renee, Justin's friend

cool~!!!!! :D

Wonderful. It's strangely captivating, because the space seems much larger than it actually is. It looks rather pleasant to live in to.

Very nice solution! I once cross-stitched a saying for a friend, who was living in her builder-husband's huge, Georgian brick Colonial home in Greenfield Hill, Fairfield, CT. It read: "A house is made of bricks and beams, but a home is made of love and dreams." It is so apparent that no matter the size, when there is love in a home, believe me, it shows! <3

I love how you combined the warm and cool colors in your apartment. Great work~!!

Fantastic, Ariel! Wish you could help me with my place!

incredibly lovely the best love it

you got my vote. good luck

this shit be fo real sahn

That's lovely...feels very livable for a studio apartment. Where is that wood lamp from in picture #2??

GoDogGo - I think your question has been answered...
francoisehardie - that is a flea market find, but I recovered the lampshade frame with textured rice paper, as it was in pretty bad shape when I got it.

Thanks for the props folks!

Inspiring! Every home should have a piano, if you ask me, and I like that you've fit one in here so naturally. You've created a lovely, warm, and comfortable place.

added this is a fave from the first pic of the shelving system alone. wow! amazingly handy and creative with impressive results.

Hi Apartment Therapy friends, I see a lot of comments and questions on these entries about rugs, which has started me on a hunt. I wanted to share this site with you (affordable, great selection and tons of chevron rugs). No, I don't work for them, just sharing a good resource.

www.burkedecor.com

I just LOVE this! Fantastic, Ariel!!!

A JEWEL!!

Just from the fantastic use of space, this is already my favorite entry. That divider system, the furniture selection, the reclaimed signs — all really nice. Add to that, fitting a piano in there? You've got my vote.

love it!

Very nice and I love books, too...but this seems a bit cluttered with this many.

The book shelves around your bed nook are very creative. Look like a lot of work went into this.

Every aspect has a creative touch. We need
Ariel in New York City

Good job Ariel! Hello to doc. Asken))

even with all the new entries, i keep coming back to this one. i can totally see friends spending their days staring at your bookshelves and listening to good music or playing your piano. hope you come out on top!

To me, this really embodies the spirit of this competition. Good work!

Thanks solarsister...I do love my books and having them around me!

I have the same Ikea Broder system as a bedroom divider as well, but your is truly brilliant! Honestly, I don't know what I would do without these Ikea shelves...they really have resolved a lot of my storage problems! I wish I can see more apartment like yours! I think you win best creativity here!

Love this... and the fact that you didn't cram a couch into the play area.

It's like a book caravan. All the plants, the rug, the rich colors make it feel very tropical.

I'm a friend of Justins... he was right your work is great! I hope you reach your goal!!!!
Shanie Evans

absolutely fabulous!

Wonderful jewel of a studio. Very, very impressed with the Ikea shelves, they are a perfect tool for renters and kudos for choosing a piano over a sofa. This is a favorite stunning colors and a new storage solutions. Well done!

How about Apartment Therapy putting all these entries in a book when the contest is done. These are real life solutions to real space problems.

Ariel I'm so impressed, you are such a talent.

I have major trouble keeping organized. My place is usually a mess and your place provides a great solution with that shelving unit. Really cool!

I love that dresser
and the lamp
and all of it.

What a fun space! Love the colors!

hey ariel. this might seem odd to say, but nonetheless, wanted you to know that i appreciate the encouraging comment you left last week on my post, even though we are competing. i realize these things can easily go toward the negative + i'm glad that our interactions are just the opposite.

i don't think any category has been as neck and neck as ours. i think they should just take us both. :)

not sure if i want to say "best of luck" as i do want to win BUT....good job. :)
j.

Your apartment is definitely the best in category, you should win ;)

It is great!!

Really super stylish and grown up looking... so much more than the others

Great style. Agree with other commenters: amazing use of Broder shelves...nothing in here feels IKEA at all!

i don't even know if you're up yet ariel since you're on the west coast but i SWEAR the same people are voting for both of us!!! it's unbelievable and honestly, makes me laugh.

my pal wrote the following to me yesterday (one of my friends affectionately dubbed you 'bookcase,' hence the reference):

"This is crazy. No other category has a neck and neck high volume race like this. I have to believe you will prevail by virtue of karma. If not, bookcase is one helluva human being. Simple as that."

:) so...even those that are cheering for me recognize quality in the competition when they see it.

1 hour 45 minutes to go.
best,
j.

To me, this is the best one in this category. Tiny space with real design elegance.

congrats ariel. it was fun.
j.

Hey Ariel! LOVE your place - you should have won this category as far as I'm concerned :)

You mentioned that you had your IKEA shelves powdercoated and I'm wondering if you would be willing to share where you had it done? I'm in LA also and I'm looking to have something powdercoated and don't know where to go! Thanks so much!!!

Ariel, I need your help! I hope you still see these comments. I'm moving into a studio of VERY similar layout (alas, no room for my desk like you have yours or we'd have... the same place) and was wondering what size is your bed? I have a queen and am REALLY worried it's too big. Help me out? I can't see the apartment in person for a while but your is so similar and i'd like to partition in a similar way that it gives me a great idea if Queen is really pushing it. I also have a piano!! :)

BessCake: Thanks and good luck! My bed is queen sized as well. In order to make it fit, I changed the door to my closet to bi-fold doors (swings out 18" instead of 36") Also, I had them hinged in the middle in order to fit a night table...otherwise each door would have swung out.

BeachLiving: I found a great place in Burbank called Steve's Powder Coating...or Steve's Plating. Pretty reasonable.

Hi Ariel, I would love to get some more details on your room divider. How far apart did you space the broder posts? Any chance you could post/send close-up photos of the scrims as they attach to the posts? Thank you~Suzanna.

You have an amazing amount of room considering that actual square footage. Great job.