apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

feels like there is too much furniture but you do have some nice pieces

I love the yellow frame around the atlanta poster!

Also, still wondering why atlanta is considered midwest?

What section of Atlanta? I live in Midtown.

How kind of you to allocate so much of your limited square footage to animals and plants (in the winter). I don't think I would be so generous!

I would like to see the bedroom. Beautiful balcony and wood floors.

Cozy and homey and extra points for the whistle pigs, tell us their names,

I like your place on principal because it looks lived in and has some quirky touches... but I think it needs some smoothing out. Shoes, plastic bins, and cardboard boxes are all aesthetic hiccups. Still, it's cozy! :)

i find nothing, absolutely nothing attractive, inspiring, clever, artistic, cool or simply appealing in that place.

I like the place ok, but it's missing appealing lines and some simplicity.

I really like your place. It's a little cluttered though.

i find nothing, absolutely nothing attractive, inspiring, clever, artistic, cool or simply appealing in that place.

Ditto this sentiment. It looks clustered and are those beer bottles above the door?!

Just a reminder that criticism is perfectly fine. Downright nastiness is not. For those of you in the nasty category, I can only hope that people walk into your homes and say there is nothing attractive in it. Including your attitude.

As for this entry, it's a bit cluttered for me, but there are some really nice touches.

Are those beer bottles above the door?

(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 :-)

Beer bottles? No. Most are soda. One is bourbon.

The art table looks like a happy place to work.

Brian, I'm not the least bit offended by your place. It lacks the smooth, polished look of some of the entries, but I can see that this is a place that is lived in and loved. It takes a lot of diligence to make space for plants and animals, but you love them, and it shows.

I like the cushion on the stool and the furniture is nice. You did so much in a small space. Loving the deck. I have a lot to learn...I hope I can enter this contest next year

I voted supercool, because you have a small space, but you still found room for guinea pigs and an orange tree.

did you build that art table yourselves? i LOVE it.

You have some nice pieces. I would have liked to see more of the lr (the sofa looked really sweet) and the br.

oh and @astrid & floridagirl.
what you said is how i feel about your comments.

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.

I don't know, it may not be the most high-design entry in the contest the whole place radiates a good energy. And your guinea pigs are adorable!

I love your art/work space and your 'pigs, and your chair cushion and your dining set.

I do think you should invest in more enclosed storage, and personally the bottles in the transom window... are killing my soul a little bit. If you wanted some color there you could display some beautiful art. Are you a packaging designer, is there a good reason?

Maybe get the pigs a taller cabinet to sit on and use it to store bins and other items?

I'm very jealous of your orange tree, and green thumb.

Too cluttered.

I like the vintage-y vibe and furniture but lots of tchochkes on window sills make things seem on the cluttered side (like others have said). Gorgeous balcony. I love that pink curtain thing in the kitchen and box for fruit. I voted "Cool" overall.

I absolutely loved your place despite what others said about it being cluttered. I didn't see that at all. It felt like a home not a showroom. You chose to show the place as it is with real people who have lived in it. I've looked through a lot of the entries and this one really struck a chord with me because it was so honest and cozy. I could imagine myself living there. There's so much charm to it. Anybody can spend a lot of money to make a place look nice, but this place is homey without all that stuff. I'm sure you love coming home to this and are pround of it as you should be.

This is a house I would like to be invited to a party in!
Looks like lots of fun...

Guinea pigs! I love a place with pets. I get a good vibe from this space but it does seem a bit cluttered.

Awesome use of such a small space! Loved the plants and the guinea pigs!

this one makes me laugh. especially the picture of the hamster's smallest coolest pad.

I love the desk next to the guinea pigs. So cute and friendly!

This is the Christina half of this entry...

Thank you for all the constructive criticism. I can see why people would think our place is cluttered, especially by comparison to the other entries so far.

DahliaCactus, I think you made good points, but the guinea pig cage has storage--we keep our vacuum cleaner, extra wood shavings, and the "hideous" plastic bin (which contains their other supplies). It's convenient to have it close to hand and easy to clean. We have to be able to access their food, hay, and cleaning supplies on a daily basis. The cage cannot be too high because we would have difficulty cleaning it, not to mention it'd be difficult to catch those scurrying piggers if they were higher.

We do love the guineas and plants, and I am happy that people have noticed that.

This is one of the few entries that made me really happy (and not just because I'm a fellow guinea pig owner). So many of these entries are way too trendy and seem to lack individuality. Sure, it isn't the most polished or minimal, but those are not the only aspects this contest is judging. This is a lovely, charming apartment and the owners made room for the things they love. Isn't that embracing the small-cool philosophy, too?

Guinea pigs! Yeah.

The guinea pigs are adorable.

Had to vote for "not my bag, babe", since it's just not as appealing as some of the other places. I do love some things in your place, like the octopus (?) -pillow! This place also looks like a Home.

The space is definitely lived in. You have some really neat pieces of furniture. I feel bad in saying this but my first thought was that your bedroom looked like a garage sale. I think with better placement of furniture in your place, it would look much more appealing and less cluttered. The space definitely has potential and the way your living room opens up onto a balcony is very cool. My 2 cents.

Karen

Love the guinea pigs!

Probably one of the most efficient uses of space per person; and no scrimping on the accessories! Nice...

Um.. am I the only one who things its wierd and wrong to have small animals caged inside a living space? Cats and dogs are one thing - but a small rodent...kinda creeps me out.

The apartment is neat in a lived-in sort of way. I really really like the sentiments about small living -ecologically and economically low-impact, but nothing seems to do anything remarkably clever or interesting with the space.

I work near this building, and I've always wondered what the apartments inside look like - cute!

It's not so much about the clutter.
But why post your place if you really have nothing interesting or innovative to show?

Seems crammed full of stuff.