House Tour

Name: Juju
Location: Sacramento, CA
Square Footage: only 924 sq. ft.
Years Lived in: 5 years
Rent or own: own, or will eventually...
Describe your style: cute modern

What's your favorite free/found item?
other than my cat? probably my grandma's pink depression glass cookie jar. she always kept her cheetos or oatmeal cookies in it. i keep candy bars and gum in it now.

What's your favorite purchased item?
oh, i have so many favorite things! i guess at the moment i'm still newly enamored of our craigslist find - a vintage fiberglass herman miller shell chair. we live in sacramento in a neighborhood close to where ray eames lived, and we're proud to own anything from the eames family.

What has been your biggest obstacle in decorating/design?
money money money... and space! but then if we had the money, we'd have more space... so it always comes back to that, doesn't it?

Is your design style organic or planned?
I have to say organic. we always have items on a list we'd like to have, but there's never a design goal other than to achieve comfort, style, and some place we're proud to call home (especially since we spend most of our time here - we domesticated don't get out much).

What is your favorite spot in the house?
for now it's the sofa in the livingroom. we have a 3-paned glass door which allows a great view of the patio and garden so i can sit and watch hummingbirds and finches or curl up with the laptop as i am now.

How has your style changed in the past 5 years?
personally, not much. visually, we have acquired certain pieces that make me giddy, and i'm pretty sure it's obvious to see when one walks in the door what we're about.

What is your favorite resource or store?
well, DWR sales are nice! i frequent thrift shops and estate sales for smalls, but the large pieces come from various shops on the internet usually...

What is your biggest decorating/design pet peeve?
faux finishes! bleh.

What has been your favorite design trend?
certainly the resurgence of mid-century modern design. it's made so much more accessible, even though it's also made collecting the vintage pieces more difficult, competitive, and expensive. also there are a lot of knock-offs, which can be a good or bad thing depending on the items and materials and where they're made. green design is the most exciting up and coming trend that i'm hoping the big companies will get more involved in just to make it more affordable for those of us who aren't architects! there's not a lot of inspiration when every example in dwell is done by someone with resources laymen just don't have.

What is the biggest influence on your design/decorating style?
nature.

What in your home dictates how you design/decorate?
we have a cinder block home which means no hanging large, heavy objects on outside walls... so forget modular shelving, flat screen mounting, mirrors, etc. but we really like the look of the cement bricks, so it hasn't set us back too much. the piano only fitting on one wall in the house might actually have more of an influence on the arranging...

What is the simplest thing you have done that has made the biggest impact?
no more carpet!!! we ripped out the oatmeal shag wall to wall carpet and replaced it with maple planks which has unified the space, opened and lightened it up, and made it much more "us". unfortunately the cat would have to say it's the worst idea we ever had. he sticks to the rugs like a kid playing "sharks".

Be sure to check out Juju's sites: hearts + horses and park avenue music