apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I love so much about this space!

Love this. Could you please please share the purple paint color in the living room?

I love that green elephant watering can- so cute!

not really blown away by this. but i LOVE the green doorknobs.. they're amazing

This is the kind of thing people should be entering to the Small Cool contest and not "concrete cells" or picture of their newest piece from DWR

Two cupcakes because I am again unhappy with the grammar in the post. I know, grammar police, etc., but a couple of commas in there would really make your sentences easier to read. I feel like when people are trying out for a blogging position, they should be careful about their writing.

The green doorknobs are great, but I think the space is lacking in polish. Overall, it feels like both dated and unsophisticated, and the living room wall colour is horrid and flatters nothing in the room.

That last comment was unnecessarily harsh. if you've got such great style, why don't you put your place up for all to judge? I just don't think it's particularly helpful or interesting to be so rude.

Rachael, you have a great eye. I like that you chose a homeowner that has taken a creative approach to design. I am puzzled as to Jenny in DC's comment about grammar. It reads well to me. Great job!

As always, an insightful piece of work on the artful techniques of interior design. Kudos, Rachael.

Agree about the commas, but a great house tour choice. I live in DC, and so many places feel like dorm rooms with awful w2w cream carpet (especially popular in the many large apartment complexes in the nearby suburbs). This place feels fresh and creative.

I think the house is very cute, and an excellent use of small space.

On another note:
Maybe "Jenny in DC" didn't like the first part of the sentence: "Truly living the green lifestyle Helen uses energy efficient fixtures..."

I didn't notice it at first, but when I went and re-read it (for the sole purpose of finding something grammatically incorrect) I did finally notice it. Ideally it would read more like "Helen truly lives the green lifestyle by using ..." or "Truly living the green lifestyle,, Helen uses..."

Great post, great apartment! Normally I dislike purple but this just works.

I love your place and think the wall color in the living room is fantastic. What's the name of the paint color? I'd love to use it in my place. It's a nice contrast to the warmer greens and oranges and reds.

Though the apartment looks interesting, I found the tour itself disjointed. I know it is hard to get good pictures of small spaces, but I really wish there was more continuity or some wider shots that gave a better idea of the layout etc. I really like that the Small Cool entries are including a floor plan for exactly this reason.

I also agree with Jenny about the commas making it easier to read.

Technically, this sentence does not make sense:
"Over her 6 years in DC, Helen has filled her home with locally bought
furniture and accessories from her world travels."

Oh, wait, did you mean:
Over her 6 years in DC, Helen has filled her home with locally bought
furniture, and accessories from her world travels.

That's what a comma can do for you. (But it's still a badly constructed sentence)

However, one faux pas, we all make them.

Yet, what's this mean?

"Helen uses her favorite color green to creatively detail her home without overwhelming it with items like the plastic green elephant watering can..."

Green is Helen's favourite colour.
She uses green things in her home.
Things like a green elephant watering can do not overwhelm her home.

(They don't? Why not?)

The last sentence needs a comma here and there--and the strict meaning of this phrase: "and favors recycled accessories" means merely that Helen takes other people's accessories and re-uses or re-puposes them. But from the mention of the license plate toilet paper roll holder, I know that's not what you meant, not at all.

I didn't read the "Survey."

Rachel, I'm sure you are a sweet person and I'm not saying any of this to hurt your feelings. I just want you to know why your writing just isn't working.

Word of advice to anyone who wants to write: Stop trying "to write". Just speak to me. That'll do.

Now, I'll go take the tour.

The paint color in Helen's living room is elephant gray from Benjamin Moore.

Thanks to everyone for the feedback. I will keep your comments in mind for any future posts (hopefully, as an AT blogger!).

Oh, it's Babar!
Cute.

Eats shoots and leaves.
Eats, shoots, and leaves.

i don't know if the pics did this house justice. are the bloggers taking the pics or are the owners taking the pics? just wondering if the quality could be clearer.

Alana, a comma goes before a conjunction IF it precedes a complete sentence. I'd edit what Rachel wrote, but she got the punctuation right in that sentence, and in fact it is you who made the "faux pas".

Henrietta, I'm not exactly sure which sentence you're refering to and I really don't want to take the issue of proper punctuation any further. Inserting the comma in the first sentence (if that's the one you meant) was merely an effort to make sense of it. The "correction" I made would never have made the final cut had I written the piece--maybe for the reason you mentioned. It looks funny to me.

At any rate, the post was not as well written as it should have been for someone applying for a writing job.

Aren't we supposed to be talking about design, here?

Cute kitchen... but the orange couch frightens me. It looks like it may be radioactive.

Good eye Rachael, I especially like the attention to small details, such as the watering can.

There are some nice things about this apartment but the use of space around pictures hanging on the wall seems very off to me. It's a pet peeve, I don't expect it to bother anyone else.

I think this place might be in my building.

Alana, this was the sentence I was referring to:

"Over her 6 years in DC, Helen has filled her home with locally bought furniture and accessories from her world travels."

In addition, I repeated AT's misspelling of Rachael's name. Sorry, Rachael!

But OK a blogger should write well. No quibble there.

This is one of my favorite entries so far. Love this house, it looks warm and inviting. Great job!

SD913: I took all the photos for this post. I took them at different times of days (early morning and late afternoon), thanks to Helen's graciousness.

Also, I'm quite familiar with "Eats, Shoots & Leaves." Note that there is no comma after Shoots. :)
The Elements of Style is another great grammar book. Thanks for all the interest!

Thanks Rachael - a comma in that place is discretionary. I always use one. ;D

Nice job Rachael. I like what Helen's attempted in a small space—a good dose of creativity and personal taste, without having one's home look like a DWR showroom. As for those concerned about grammar mistakes, you may be technically correct, but none of the very minor mistakes prevented me from understanding what Rachael was trying to "communicate" and she got her point across. (How on earth do you sticklers for grammar negotiate the web with all the bad writing out there?) I say take a deep breath and meditate on the green elephant.

My apologies to Rachael.

Some sort of nasty bee landed in my bonnet yesterday. My comments were over the top.

I'll go meditate on the elephant now.

No worries, Alana. I appreciate the apology and all comments. All publicity is good publicity!

I'm also a fan of Canada and hope AT eventually expands to Toronto.

Beautiful photos, very cool apartment. I like the way Helen just fills up the space without cluttering it.

Not sure whether the hostess or the blogstress took the photos, but I like the angles that many of them have, because there are a few that I think really DO explain what's going on.

I have to say that I'm truly really loving the photo of the geisha-esque figure with the octagonal red chair-and-ottoman. The low pixillation is kind of painterly in its way, but I think that a higher resolution would probably look even better.

So, I really hope that if it's Rachael that took the photos, and if she gets to be the DC blogger, that AT manages to cough up a top-notch camera for you, like they use on so many of the other House Tours.

I also have to say that Rachael's ability to gracefully and gratefully field the grammar comment shows another kind of skill that we've come to expect of a blog that I think is such a classy outfit that it's practically my home page.

Oh... and congratulations, Helen, on nicely done space!

All this talk about commas is taking away from the fact that this is a great view into a cool apartment. Awesome job blogger!

I love the colour scheme!!!

Cute. Where did the picture of the red haired geisha with the Mickey Mouse decal (?) come from?
Also, Curtis is spot on in commending Rachael's ability to deal with the rude people who invariably turn up on the internet. I'm impressed; I probably would've been rude right back!

Caitlin in Seattle: the painting is from the Flomenhaft Gallery in NYC. The artist is Roger Shimomura. This page from that gallery shows to his artist statement and shows more of his artwork: http://www.flomenhaftgallery.com/exhibitions/roger_shimomura_intro.htm

Thanks for your positive feedback!

Wow, great photography. Also great research done to show where each item was purchased.

I'd have liked an idea of cost of some of the items - but that's probably a bit much.

Overall this is probably one of the most informative posts I've ever read, and I really like the photography. Also it's really cool how you walked me through only 800 ft and made it seem huge. Keep up the good work, Rachael!

Great photos of a fun, creative space! Good job!

I love this site as I can easily comment and share on my site some of the great things you've found.
I would have to say to Helen that it might be time to start working as a designer! She's created a wonderful environment - only few are so talented!
Thanks so much!

Awesome apartment! I love your coffee and end tables. Where did you get them?

Hearting the emerald knobs. Oh look! I can afford to copy: http://houseofantiquehardware.com/s.nl/it.A/id.2344/.f?sc=11&category=100