What Happened Next

You may be wondering what happened to my entry in the Smallest Coolest Apartment contest.

In brief, I didn't win.

However, I did spend a full day as the "most viewed" post on the site, several days after my initial posting, a fact for which I have no explanation.

I knew I wasn't going to win by the time the announcement party rolled around a couple of weeks ago, but I went anyway. It was held at Design Within Reach in Soho -- a fancy furniture store that sells Herman Miller chairs and Philip Starck Bubble couches and the like. A few years ago, around the time the store opened a branch in Cambridge, I had brunch with my friend Sam at a restaurant next door. I mentioned that another friend of ours, Will, who is very design conscious, must love it. Sam replied that in fact Will didn't like it at all; Will would prefer design to remain a little bit out of reach. But I digress.

The winner was London Urchin's Jewelry Box, shown in the picture above. There were many details to like about this apartment -- I particularly like the blue of the kitchen, and the fact that the owner used black rubber flooring -- but come on. Since when is London part of the East Coast of the United States? This entry should have gotten an honorable mention and a promise to include a international category next year.

Or perhaps I am too rules-dependent.

Still, it was surprisingly fun to enter the contest. Though the pictures I submitted looked really simple, it took a whole morning to stage them just right. And reviewing all the other entries, which I did obsessively to size up the competition, gave me a lot of great ideas to try in my apartment. Next up, I'm thinking of entering the Fall Cool Colors Contest. I'll win something yet!