No comments about the Small Cool Contest?

Wow. I'm surprised.

I spent quite some time putting together my thoughts on this year's Apartment Therapy Small Cool 2008 contest entries this year. My goal was to pick out some details from spaces that that I liked and I ended up surprised with how many I ended up listing. I originally was thinking just one post for all but the shear numbers made that impossible. There were so many cute spaces.

After my comments about AT's earlier contests, I have to admit I was pleasantly surprised with the lack of interior designer and architect showrooms this time. Last year's contest seemed more like free advertising for company design portfolios. This year, most homes seemed to be inhabited by real people, were lived in, and possessed actual points of view.

So, come on...what did you think?

Small Cool Contest 2008: Part III

More from the Midwest and finally, the East Coast where AT started it all.

Midwest #8 - Abbe's Lil' Abode Loving the kitchen cabinets and walls!

Midwest #10 - Stephanie's Simple Sanctuary People were actually giving her grief for not having more stuff (or at least having more stuff from places other than IKEA!) I would love to live in her place, just like it is now. Did you see her phone niche?! Excellent.

Midwest #14: Annie's Logan Square Home I like the red, yellow, blue, with a tiny bit of lavender color story she has here.

Midwest #21: Carla's Grand Ave. Home Way to go adding a sense of permanence to a rental!

Midwest #22: Blythe's Tiny Treehouse I was already a fan from seeing her photos on Flickr.

East #2: Chris and Elayne's Greenpoint Hideaway Loving the true Boho vibe AND the guts to enter this particular contest.

East #8: Trilby's New York Minute Retreat This one is notable because the voting was so close on all three levels: Super Cool! (142), Cool (156), and Not my bag, baby (120). Interesting.

East #11: Eddie's West Village Studio LOVE the colors; blue, white, red, and grey.

East #34: Gaastra's Mini Residence Not my style but lovely just the same.

East #16: Heather's Leafy Oasis Love this shot of the bed.

East #14: Kristin's Cozy Village Studio Incredibly feminine studio.

That is that for this year, until the Color contest that is.

Small Cool Contest 2008: Part II

Here are some choice entries from the South and the Midwest states.

Southwest:

Southwest #9: Gretchen's "The Place I Call Home" Digging this “headboard.” (Even though those curtains have shown up three times in the contest I still think I need to go and buy them again. There must be some way I can use them. With my color scheme, they are just made for my apartment. Hmmm....)

Southwest #16: Courtney & Alex's Eccentric Pad Another creative headboard idea. These electric light-up branches are still available at World Market. I hope we can get a tutorial from them on how they worked that with all the plugs involved .

Southwest #17: Matthew's Cartoonist Corner I am in love with the floor plan for his apartment! Also check out the Kermit phone, his cool 1970s phonograph, and the infamous Italian “Fragile” lamp. Southwest Finalist

Southwest #30: Jordan's Ordo Ab Chao Another great drawn floor plan! This is similar to the ones I draw but I haven't mastered the second angled 3-D-like look yet. Southwest Finalist

Midwest:

Midwest #6 - Rachel's Grad School Getaway Midwest Finalist

Midwest #2 - Lizzie's Cozy Chicago Hideaway Love the toys and the rug.

Midwest #13: Kelly's Ghost Lounge This is probably my favorite entry this year. Just plain beautiful.

Small Cool Contest 2008: Part I

I really wanted to do a timely piece on Apartment Therapy’s Small Cool Contest, but they already have their finalists listed and I just finished looking at all the contestants. So, in the order of how I viewed them, here are my thoughts.

International:

International #12: Ise's London Pad

International #13: DHJ's Honey House This apartment really wasn't ready for this contest but they did have an incredible backsplash worth noting.

Northwest:

Northwest #3: Lana's Coffee Capital Digs Attractive, yes, warm, no.

Northwest #13: David's Designer Digs Nice, but sterile.

Northwest #12: Xing's Apartment for a Wanna Be Artist This guy used four of his five photos to show off: one room with two mid-century furniture pieces and his photography equipment. Besides the acquisition of the furniture, it doesn’t seem as if any design was imposed on this space. It looks more like a separate work studio than his home. According to the comments, I’m not the only one who thought that either.

Northwest #7: Shannon's Sumptuous Studio She has an adorable bed alcove.

Northwest #24: Emmy's Apartment S Nice use of color.


Northwest #1: Ana and Bob's Bay Area Nest I could totally see myself living here, love the very simple divider between the living room and the bedroom.

Northwest #10: Lydia's Leisure Suite Points for the DIY cork divider that I can SO see in a Wary Meyer-designed room, can’t you?

Northwest #14: Allison and Bo's Bantam Roost Cute, and she has a blog about living in a small house!

Northwest #25: Ginger's Spicy Downtown Loft This one is a bit too dark for me but I love how in a one-room space she used her color plan cohesively throughout the whole space.

Northwest #21: Courtney's "The Story of Me" (See top photo) Great objects in cute vignettes. This could have been my favorite; however, she only shows the living room!

I hope that next year they can feature a small photo with each entry on the submission page, making it easier to go back and view a particular favorite, instead of having to remember, first, which region, and then the name of the entry.