Name: Maya and Michael
Location: Cincinnati, OHSquare Footage: 2000-ish square feet
Years Lived in: 1.5 years
Rent or own: rent
Describe your style: Eclectic Modern
What has been your biggest obstacle in decorating/design?
It's difficult for two people to create a space together. We both have things we love, so combining our furniture and art has been a healthy challenge. We've learned to trust each other and to develop ideas together, which always results in something better and more interesting than our individual choices would have been.
What is your favorite spot in the house?
We enjoy sitting on the couch in the living room and watching the construction crane down the street, or seeing the tops of the fireworks displays downtown.
How has your style changed in the past 5 years?
Our various things have become more integrated, or maybe it just feels that way because we're more used to each other's stuff. We've procured our furniture and art slowly, and things seem to have finally come together.
What is the biggest influence on your design/decorating style?
Our influences are very oblique. After all, inspiration is serendipitous. We're both designers, so we expose ourselves to lots of interesting things outside our expertise [and outside whatever we're supposed to be focusing on] -- film, art, architecture, music. When it comes to our home, we don't really look at "shelter" magazines for ideas. Lately, we've been looking at a lot of historic maps of Cincinnati, Inuit art, commercial "ghost signs," and traditional crafts such as schereschnitte.
What in your home dictates how you design/decorate?
Money! We don't have or spend a lot of it, so we have to really hunt down whatever we're looking for. We don't pay retail prices for anything.
What is the simplest thing you have done that has made the biggest impact?
We made our dining room table to fit a really narrow space in a previous apartment. It's longer and narrower than the norm and really comfortable for a dinner party. We primed and painted a piece of MDF [cheap!], bought some legs, and voila! It's a great piece that functions well for us and looks striking. If we ever tire of it, we could repaint or replace the top, which would be incredibly simple and have a dramatic impact.
Rent or own: rent
Describe your style: Eclectic Modern
What's your favorite free/found item?
The taxidermy fish above the fireplace that Michael inherited from his grandfather, along with a photo of his grandfather having just caught the fish, and the award certificate he got for it. It always strikes guests as odd, but it's a wonderful piece of family history.
The taxidermy fish above the fireplace that Michael inherited from his grandfather, along with a photo of his grandfather having just caught the fish, and the award certificate he got for it. It always strikes guests as odd, but it's a wonderful piece of family history.
What's your favorite purchased item?
The Noguchi lamp! It was one of my first "grown-up" purchases after graduate school. I was still sleeping on a futon on the floor, but I had this amazingly audacious lamp! It's a pain to move it, but we've managed not to break it thus far [knock on wood].
What has been your biggest obstacle in decorating/design?
It's difficult for two people to create a space together. We both have things we love, so combining our furniture and art has been a healthy challenge. We've learned to trust each other and to develop ideas together, which always results in something better and more interesting than our individual choices would have been.
Is your design style organic or planned?
It's definitely organic, and it's evolved through slow acquisition and constant editing, since we've moved around quite a bit over the years. We tend to move things around instead of buying more things.
What is your favorite spot in the house?
We enjoy sitting on the couch in the living room and watching the construction crane down the street, or seeing the tops of the fireworks displays downtown.
How has your style changed in the past 5 years?
Our various things have become more integrated, or maybe it just feels that way because we're more used to each other's stuff. We've procured our furniture and art slowly, and things seem to have finally come together.
What is your favorite resource or store?
Craigslist and eBay. We always seem to stumble on the "perfect thing;" we don't just go to a store and find it. Locally, we like the Vintage Poster Bank [which sells a lot more than just posters] and Mainly Art [which is mostly furniture].
Craigslist and eBay. We always seem to stumble on the "perfect thing;" we don't just go to a store and find it. Locally, we like the Vintage Poster Bank [which sells a lot more than just posters] and Mainly Art [which is mostly furniture].
www.vintageposterbank.com
www.mainlyart.com
www.mainlyart.com
What is your biggest decorating/design pet peeve?
Unnecessarily large furniture. Everything we own is compactly scaled, and a lot of it breaks down. When we help friends move, we always notice how bulky and over-stuffed their furniture is!
What has been your favorite design trend?
Eclecticism. We're not really fans of true period style but appreciate when people mix and match what they like and what works for them. If you surround yourself with what you love, things tend to turn out well.
Unnecessarily large furniture. Everything we own is compactly scaled, and a lot of it breaks down. When we help friends move, we always notice how bulky and over-stuffed their furniture is!
What has been your favorite design trend?Eclecticism. We're not really fans of true period style but appreciate when people mix and match what they like and what works for them. If you surround yourself with what you love, things tend to turn out well.
What is the biggest influence on your design/decorating style?
Our influences are very oblique. After all, inspiration is serendipitous. We're both designers, so we expose ourselves to lots of interesting things outside our expertise [and outside whatever we're supposed to be focusing on] -- film, art, architecture, music. When it comes to our home, we don't really look at "shelter" magazines for ideas. Lately, we've been looking at a lot of historic maps of Cincinnati, Inuit art, commercial "ghost signs," and traditional crafts such as schereschnitte.
What in your home dictates how you design/decorate?
Money! We don't have or spend a lot of it, so we have to really hunt down whatever we're looking for. We don't pay retail prices for anything.
What is the simplest thing you have done that has made the biggest impact?
We made our dining room table to fit a really narrow space in a previous apartment. It's longer and narrower than the norm and really comfortable for a dinner party. We primed and painted a piece of MDF [cheap!], bought some legs, and voila! It's a great piece that functions well for us and looks striking. If we ever tire of it, we could repaint or replace the top, which would be incredibly simple and have a dramatic impact.
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