happypanda2's Profile

Any apartment with plants gets my "super cool" vote. Anyone can look in a West Elm catalog and imitate the MCM look. You went in a different direction and stood by your design choices. From what I could see, your sunlight is pretty indirect, so good work keeping the plants alive. Can you get plants to flower inside your place?

LuluLiz, the art table is a DIY piece. Thank you for noticing. The frame and legs are poplar (which is a very hard-grained, hard-to-abuse wood) and the top is MDF. The top can be repainted whenever it gets covered in ink/scratched up too badly, to keep the work surface smooth. The legs are detachable and store up inside the frame--a consideration I included because we rent, so we'll eventually have to move the thing.

(In my new Midwestern accent):
This is the Brian half of the entrants.

We are also in Midtown, Sara--the little brick building next to the Atlanta Ballet School.

And to Kate, thank you. Guinea pigs are difficult to fit into a small place--you can't hide them in a closet or stack anything on top of them, and they need a lot of horizontal room. The ginger colored one is Hamilton; the black one is Genghis.

We decided to present the apartment in its utilitarian aspect; that is, I grow trees and Christina makes prints in there on a daily basis. We apologize if the clutter offends :-)

Nice. Is that some kind of flat-screen monitor in the kitchen, just through the doorway and to the right?

You have an interesting floorplan layout--you have to go through the kitchen to get to the bathroom or bedroom. The white is very peaceful, but there's very little variation that I can see. It looks like every room and furnishing is based around the "white" philosophy, which is definitely cohesive, but it started to bore me. As others have noted, some accents of color are needed to keep it lively and interesting.

Bravo for your craftiness/handiness; the best solution in a small space often requires the ability to customize or build from scratch. I also think your kitchen is beautiful--but are those mugs hung from the edge of the shelf? I would be constantly worried about inadvertently bumping them loose. I'm not exactly sold on the floating TV aesthetically, but functionally it's a good idea. Looks like your place is great for entertaining.

I'm assuming that's a futon for M. Cole to sleep on? I like the interplay of red and yellow, but there's a bit too much red in that main room for me. I really like the effect of the red wall behind the stereo and records, but behind the futon it's too much for me in that small room--did you consider just painting one wall of the main room as an accent? All the patterns and colors are visually complex, and while I don't necessarily like all of the combinations personally, I think this entry is notable and commendable for providing counterpoint to the minimalist design philosophy that pervades the competition.

I love the way your apartment is laid out. The rooms have a nice flow to them. How do you use that first room, the little junction space right after the entry way? We get a little glimpse of a chair in that space in one photo, but I want to see more. Bold move in painting a small kitchen black--it's impressive that you pulled it off. I also think the conversion of that powder room/closet/antechamber to the bathroom into an office was a smart decision. The only thing missing are some houseplants, since you have all that light in the main room.

That's funny about the "walk-in closet." I wonder if originally that little space was supposed to be a bedroom (because how many closets are designed with windows?), then in more modern times it was reclassified as a walk-in closet and the apartment considered a studio instead of a one-bedroom. And now you've basically turned the studio back into a one-bedroom... interesting how society's perception of space changes over time.

I like what you've done with the space. I do wish we could see the kitchen, and I'm not sold on the desk setup (that mirror on the wall bothers me--how can you work sitting in front of a mirror?). The colors are dark, but I think you get enough natural light to help offset it.

Yolanda, your design sensibility is superb, and I love the white rooms filled with light (what I would give for your alcove!). I'm assuming you don't have puppy paws clambering over all that white furniture, and I have visions of nightmarish red wine incidents, but it still looks great.

But what's with only showing us the living room?