House Tour
Location: San Francisco
Square Footage: about 800
Years Lived in: 1 year this August
Rent or own: rent
Describe your style: bohemian modern
What's your favorite free/found item?
Does a paint job count? We inherited the apartment from some friends of ours who had already done a great job painting the place, and their colors happened to work perfectly with our stuff. But my favorite free item you can actually hold in your hands is a vintage painting of a little clown girl, given to me by an old friend. Matthew's is a tapestry of the map of Sweden, which he inherited from his grandfather.
Does a paint job count? We inherited the apartment from some friends of ours who had already done a great job painting the place, and their colors happened to work perfectly with our stuff. But my favorite free item you can actually hold in your hands is a vintage painting of a little clown girl, given to me by an old friend. Matthew's is a tapestry of the map of Sweden, which he inherited from his grandfather.
What's your favorite purchased item?
Hmm, I think mine is the Eames chair in our studio, although Matthew really wishes we'd bought a rocker instead of the Eiffel model. He loves the shag rug we have in our living room/reading area (preferably with a book and a kitty, with the windows open on a breezy day).
Hmm, I think mine is the Eames chair in our studio, although Matthew really wishes we'd bought a rocker instead of the Eiffel model. He loves the shag rug we have in our living room/reading area (preferably with a book and a kitty, with the windows open on a breezy day).
What has been your biggest obstacle in decorating/design?
Definitely space. With all of our collections, plus music and art gear, it can be hard to find a home for everything--especially since there's only one closet in the entire apartment! Pretty much everything we have is out in the open. I keep saying that our next place has to have a basement or an attic, but I'd settle for more closet space.
Definitely space. With all of our collections, plus music and art gear, it can be hard to find a home for everything--especially since there's only one closet in the entire apartment! Pretty much everything we have is out in the open. I keep saying that our next place has to have a basement or an attic, but I'd settle for more closet space.
Is your design style organic or planned?
Organic. Our decorating style has grown out of the things we love (both objects and activities) combined with the space we have to work with. We make changes and fill in the gaps as we go along.
Organic. Our decorating style has grown out of the things we love (both objects and activities) combined with the space we have to work with. We make changes and fill in the gaps as we go along.
What is your favorite spot in the house?
I really love our kitchen, it gets great light and has a lovely view of our little yard and the houses behind us. It's the perfect place to relax and have a cup of coffee on weekend mornings. (As for Matthew, please see favorite purchased item.)
I really love our kitchen, it gets great light and has a lovely view of our little yard and the houses behind us. It's the perfect place to relax and have a cup of coffee on weekend mornings. (As for Matthew, please see favorite purchased item.)
How has your style changed in the past 5 years?
We moved in together just over three years ago, so the merging of our styles and possessions is probably the biggest change. Our current apartment is our second place together, and I think the style is much more unified than it was our first place.
We moved in together just over three years ago, so the merging of our styles and possessions is probably the biggest change. Our current apartment is our second place together, and I think the style is much more unified than it was our first place.
We get a lot of mileage out of the Ikea/Ebay/Etsy trilogy, plus thrift stores and flea markets. But to be honest, some of our best scores have been from friends so I'd say they are our best resource.
What is your biggest decorating/design pet peeve?
A blatant lack of intention or direction in a space--the complete absence of design.
What has been your favorite design trend?
Handmade and/or repurposed items. They're a great way to make your space unique, and also make sense environmentally and politically.
What is the biggest influence on your design/decorating style?
We've basically tried to surround ourselves with things we love, whether it's a collection of vintage elephant toys or artwork by our friends. But I definitely look to design blogs and Flickr groups for inspiration on how to pull it all together.
What in your home dictates how you design/decorate?
Our apartment was built in 1912 and has a lot of charming Arts and Crafts inspired details, like built in cabinets with stained glass doors and great wooden molding around the fireplace and doorways. So instead of working against that and trying to be ultra minimal and modern, it's inspired us to play up the bohemian side of our bohemian-modern style.
Handmade and/or repurposed items. They're a great way to make your space unique, and also make sense environmentally and politically.
What is the biggest influence on your design/decorating style?
We've basically tried to surround ourselves with things we love, whether it's a collection of vintage elephant toys or artwork by our friends. But I definitely look to design blogs and Flickr groups for inspiration on how to pull it all together.
What in your home dictates how you design/decorate?Our apartment was built in 1912 and has a lot of charming Arts and Crafts inspired details, like built in cabinets with stained glass doors and great wooden molding around the fireplace and doorways. So instead of working against that and trying to be ultra minimal and modern, it's inspired us to play up the bohemian side of our bohemian-modern style.
What is the simplest thing you have done that has made the biggest impact?
I'm stealing this from Apartment Therapy guru Maxwell Gillingham-Ryan, but just having fresh flowers in the house is a simple thing that makes a big difference. When spring came around this year I started making weekly trips to our neighborhood flower shop, but I have to admit I've let it go lately. I need to get back in the habit!
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