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Northwest #21: Courtney's "The Story of Me"

Name: Courtney
Location: San Francisco
Size: 750 sq. ft.
Rent/Own: Rented apartment

What is the advantage of SMALL? i really love every single piece in my apartment...

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What is the advantage of SMALL? CONT'D

...every single thing is from a friend ... something i found at a flea market or something i carried back from a far away place. living with all these things .. really inspires my art work every day. there are so many stories in this small apartment!

What's your favorite resource for your home?

i am always falling in love with random stuff at flea markets.

What is your one favorite element in your small, cool home?

i love my boxer painting. i found it at a flea market years ago. and it has been with me for many years.

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Small Cool 2008 - Northwest

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Comments (56)

I love that everything in this place is unique but I think this was a very poor choice of photos. I know nothing about your apartment.

posted by Laura on 2008-04-23 14:52:12
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Loved the first few photos, but ended up giving it a "cool" because I had no sense of the overall space. Too bad because it looks like it could have been a contender.

posted by azure on 2008-04-23 14:53:07
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people are going to say that you didn't give a sense of the space, where are the bathroom pictures, why is there a close-up of your coffee table etc, etc. but i love your style. nothing looks too studied or art directed, it's just cool... "super cool" actually!

posted by open_skies on 2008-04-23 14:55:38
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wished i could judge it. so yes, open_skies is right. nice still lives, but only one picture showing anything at all about the space, which is a pity since this could be such a fun contender indeed.

posted by aad on 2008-04-23 14:58:05
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the style is great and i love your art collection, but as has been stated, you give the viewer no direction, for all we know the 5 pictures could be from five different homes (not that im implying, just pointing out)

posted by E.M.H on 2008-04-23 14:58:08
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I wish we had a better feel of what your apartment looks like instead of what some things in your apartment look like...

posted by bepsf on 2008-04-23 15:04:04
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Super Cool, in spite of the vignettes.

posted by Joan A. on 2008-04-23 15:06:34
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one picture that shows the space, the rest of small details. this gets you a "not my bag" because i have no idea what your space looks like. kitchen? bedroom? hell, the front door!

posted by any such name on 2008-04-23 15:08:23
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yea - sorry .. too many close up shots!

posted by cbooker on 2008-04-23 15:18:59
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I appreciate that you really dig all your 'found' things, but this looks like a 'Small Cool STUFF' entry. To me a living space must be something more than a collection of random objects, no matter how loved they are.

posted by phaedrus on 2008-04-23 15:24:57
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while it's fun to decorate around found objects, hand me downs and the like, however it can look like a hodgepodge of items to fill a room with nothing to connect them in any way, other they are interesting in and of themselves, but not in any cohesive way if not done right and with careful editing and culling of stuff that does not work.

I will agree that the photos really don't show your space terribly well for we don't get a true sense of how your space really is, all we see are pictures filled with interesting items and not much else.

One thing though, the lamp shade on that blue lamp is way too small and way too out of proportion to the lamp itself, making for an odd pairing.

I don't get the feeling the couch and coffee table really go well together, I mean, the couch is a ho, hum standard beige/white couch and paired to either a 50's era or 60's era tiled table to me seems random pieces juxtaposed together.

Now that does not say that given the whole picture, the space may what it appears in these photos.

Good luck though

posted by ciddyguy on 2008-04-23 15:29:14
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Too many close up shots. Is there an echo in here?

Could see your tile table already, did not need to see it twice.
Bench or low table with messy stack of papers piled under it.
Chair with pretty neat bird cage and scatterment of art on the wall, could be arranged better, and straighter (could be an illusion).
Blue table, cute table. Would have liked to see the other /- 675 sq. feet of your apartment to showcase your nice little collection of arts. Everyone has furniture.

posted by K T G on 2008-04-23 15:29:16
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You have a nice living room. Did you paint that blue metal table? I just found it's twin on the side of the road but it's grey, want to spray paint it a better color. Will this work?

posted by cms on 2008-04-23 15:38:23
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love the giant painting above the couch. otherwise a little disjointed. paint some of your walls!

posted by KevinB on 2008-04-23 15:40:24
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An odd selection of images when the goal is to show the apartment.

posted by Gustaf on 2008-04-23 15:46:36
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I really like your things and your artwork, but please clear out those papers, etc. from underneath your lovely Nelson-esque bench. Good luck in the contest!

posted by LJ on 2008-04-23 15:47:26
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Poor choice of pictures...have no sense of the overall space.

posted by suzy8track on 2008-04-23 15:47:35
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other than the chatchkes that seem to predominate, i don't have much of clue as to what this space is about.

posted by BB on 2008-04-23 15:50:36
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I want to see more! I voted super cool! Just wish I didn't have to ask to see better photo's.

posted by Jamie on 2008-04-23 16:27:59
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It's interesting how as these entries go on, the more they're turning into an open critique/judging session that gets more and more negative. Which is sad since I don't think that was the original intention.
If I were considering posting, at this point I'd be terrified that people would say I'm cheap (if I have too much IKEA), have no personality (if I don't have enough color), a hack decorator (if my space in any way resembles one of the previous 50 entries) or an awful photographer that lacks a creative eye (if my shots aren't spot-on).
That being said, I think your space is cute. It looks comfy and lived in and at the same time bright and cheery.
Good luck.

posted by rahatc498 on 2008-04-23 16:50:46
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Okay. Not my bag. I am not sure about all the "found objects d' art". Is there a reason why the objects are so prominently featured, but the bedroom or bathroom is not?

posted by katekaye on 2008-04-23 16:56:14
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Nice job but points off for posting too many close-up shots. With 735 SF, where's the space?

posted by hessilou on 2008-04-23 17:04:04
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You get huge kudos for making a sofa that under any other circumstances I would say no one could make work ever. Like a salvation army reject. I'm not saying that to be mean about your sofa -- my point is WOW! it looks unexpectedy great. I love the caramel-peach with turqoise and white. And I love the hard edges of the painting over your sofa softened by the easter pattern in the rug and the dress form. Not too femme, not too masculine.

posted by kimg924 on 2008-04-23 17:04:12
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easter = eastern

posted by kimg924 on 2008-04-23 17:07:05
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Is it just me, or does everything shown in this entry (excepting the large painting above the lounge) seem a bit sentimental and child-like, right down to the tiny dishes and mary-jane shoes? There's definitely personality, a design direction, and some pretty things, but I can't tell if the overall effect is meant to be self-consciously 'girly' in a winking hipster-ish way or not. And, as has been noted, we can't see from these photos how well the (generous) space is used.

posted by amed studio on 2008-04-23 17:11:49
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I refuse to vote on vignettes. They're all cute though...

posted by Clairepetrol on 2008-04-23 17:23:59
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I didn't get a sense of your apartment. Too bad you didn't show more of it.

posted by MCW on 2008-04-23 17:26:26
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rahatc498, you can either learn from critique or you can ignore or avoid it. That's a free choice. No need for censorship.

posted by Gustaf on 2008-04-23 17:27:11
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rahatc498 - what is the problem, exactly? everyone here agrees that we were not shown the space, just some things in it. this is a complaint across the board; it's not the smallest coolest items/vignettes in an apartment - "Send us five 540 pixel wide photos of your home."

posted by any such name on 2008-04-23 17:33:58
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very true, gustaf.

posted by rahatc498 on 2008-04-23 17:34:31
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Man, I really wanted to see more pictures, but it doesn't look like this will be a finalist. I like the personality that shows through, though!

posted by beamish on 2008-04-23 17:39:22
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i would love to know more about the artists -- esp. re: the painting over the couch and the one of the boxer. please post if you know anything!

posted by pinko on 2008-04-23 17:49:35
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That painting totally looks like Jonathan Hoenig (aka the Capitalistpig).

posted by Kathryn on 2008-04-23 17:51:22
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rahatc498: this is a competition, and for the most part people are critiquing not judging. Yes there are a few AT'ers out there who are just negative and nasty but come on this nation is already so PC you cant say hello with out offending someone, let keep the land of Blog a little more thought provoking and constructive.

posted by E.M.H on 2008-04-23 17:53:04
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hello .. i don't mind the criticism - i understand i shouldn't have shot vignettes - nothing i can do about it now.

the big painting is my painting - it's of a friend. thanks - courtney

posted by cbooker on 2008-04-23 18:03:51
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I like the big painting above the couch and I love the blue rug. I thought I was going to get a more well rounded view of your place but when I went to the floorplan I could not make out your livingroom or kitchen, nothing was labeled or had furniture placing to give some indication of what I was seeing in the previous pictures. That's where I was dissappointed.

posted by desertflower on 2008-04-23 18:05:50
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Looks kind of like an explosion hit Etsy...

Still, I like it better than severe modern chic.

posted by Juliet on 2008-04-23 18:11:45
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i like it. especially love the family room and the combo of colors and patterns and fabrics you have done there. it really really works to my eye. wow i can't believe that is your painting. i absolutely love it and was wanting it for my pad. it looks completely amazing in your place. i'm jealous.

posted by bmorebent on 2008-04-23 18:08:04
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I voted Super Cool because the entire apartment is decorated with junk and found objects, and it all seems to be in the service of a wildly interesting art collection. That makes it far cooler than any standard Jonathan Adler/Design Within Reach/IKEA box.

posted by Blandwagon on 2008-04-23 22:18:23
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I love your title because all of our homes really are the story of me! Very Jungian! It's very comforting. Like your favorite comfort food.

posted by denverdigs on 2008-04-23 22:43:19
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with a color scheme this rich (i think it gets a high vote).

posted by orangered on 2008-04-23 23:06:02
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I'm torn.

The vignettes show someone who is playing with scale, someone who likes to pay attention to details and mimics the lines she sees (look at the tiled medalion in the coffee table and the way the border of the rug goes "around" it--does the stack of messy papers under the slatted Nelson bench make sense, now?), someone who has an awesome sense of colour and how it works, someone with a sense of humour (bird pictures by a birdcage?), and someone who obviously cares deeply about her place.

But I don't know if her vision, her attention to the small details translates to the whole, nor do I know whether she can pull it off on the larger scale of the room (or rooms) itself.

I'm voting super-cool, just 'cause I want to know.

posted by Alana in Canada on 2008-04-24 00:53:23
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rubbish choice of photos. interest stuff tho.

posted by Trixie Jones on 2008-04-24 02:27:06
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I really would have loved to see more of the flat. Love the painting above the sofa.

posted by black_sheep on 2008-04-24 02:45:39
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pretty cool, nicely done. Good luck

posted by abydos6 on 2008-04-24 06:43:13
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i wish the photos would have been more like the first living room shot.

posted by Erin Lang Norris/Yellow Canoe on 2008-04-24 08:12:04
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i agree, i don't like the choice of photo's but from what i see i like. I voted cool.

posted by writous on 2008-04-24 09:51:38
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No more vignettes. After years of people asking for 5 instead of 3 pictures why are people submitting vignettes? Why, oh why? I want to like this but I can't see enough to like it. Next year, if this contest happens again, AT may have to spell out the consequences of the vignette.

posted by ursa on 2008-04-24 10:11:29
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I love the painting in the first photo and how it looks in the room. Yes, I'd like to be able to see more long shots of the room, but I still consider this one to be cool.

posted by Curtis on 2008-04-24 10:46:24
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i was a bit frustrated by the pictures too, but I like where Courtney is going... so I want to see more. "cool" beans.

posted by saya* on 2008-04-24 12:57:25
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yea...this is a mess...looks like a yard sale threw up in here...bad bad bad

posted by 519Wilson on 2008-04-24 18:51:41
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i disagree with 519wilson; i think a lot of it is very charming. but i unfortunately can't vote; you have six pix of your very charming living room but didn't show anything else.

posted by aptsr4kidz on 2008-04-24 19:20:51
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new rule: no more vignettes. I can't tell anything about this apartment

posted by thepeoplescortney on 2008-04-24 23:43:30
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I think there needs to be an option "Not Enough Information" This could be Super Cool, Cool or not my bag, but I don't know. It could be part of the contest that I don't know about, but the pics were poorly chosen and probably the AT should have asked for different photos showing other areas or not allowed the entry.

posted by Carol K on 2008-04-25 10:01:48
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I love the rug in your living room.
I love the colors in this apartment.
All the artwork is great!!!

posted by rhianna on 2008-04-25 13:38:15
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I really like the painting & dress form in the first photo in terms of color and scale.

posted by ursa on 2008-04-25 13:43:13
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