House Tour

Name: Kris/Rakka Deer
Location: Bremerton, WA
Square Footage: 1,200
Years Lived in: 2.5 months
Rent or own: Own! It's my and my BF's first house!
Describe your style: Po'Mo. As in "Poor Modern". We only buy new pieces when we can afford them.
Blog/Website: Personal: suspectandfugitive.com Home: casarakkaleff.blogspot.com

What's your favorite free/found item?
I have a reel-to-reel that I found on the side of the street about seven years ago that I LOVE. I can't wait until I can find a place to display it.

What's your favorite purchased item?
If I've got my serious face on, I'd say our green couch. If I'm being honest, I'd say our Xbox 360. I'm addicted to streaming Netflix...

What has been your biggest obstacle in decorating/design?
Lack of time. Leff, my BF, and I have big ideas but we sometimes have to curtail them for that very reason.

Is your design style organic or planned?
Planned organic? (What a cop out answer!) We do have a general idea of how we want things to go but occasionally, one of us will find something on Etsy and then we have to reorganize things.

What is your favorite spot in the house?
On my green couch in front of my Xbox. (Seriously, I'm addicted to the streaming movie thing.)

How has your style changed in the past 5 years?
Not so much style as color. Leff and I have both been into straight lines and minimal clutter forever but I've found in the new house that we're tending more towards brighter colors and greys, of all things. (It's weird because we live in the Pacific Northwest. There's enough grey outside most of the year that it's kinda' strange to want it indoors as well.)

What is your favorite resource or store?
Either Re-store or Etsy.

What is your biggest decorating/design pet peeve?
Colonial Williamsburg Blue and Dusty Rose combos. No offense to anyone who likes these colors, it's just what was in all of the parsonages that I lived in growing up.

What has been your favorite design trend?
I won't lie, I'm loving how "Mad Men" has made Modernism more accessible!

What is the biggest influence on your design/decorating style?
"Speed Racer" and "Valley of the Dolls".

What in your home dictates how you design/decorate?
Space. We've lived in places that have been under 900 sq feet until this year. In our apartments, Leff and I tended to go vertical. We're still into utilizing space that way (our stairwell is a fairly good example of that) but we're having to adapt to make our place feel less like a empty cavern.


What is the simplest thing you have done that has made the biggest impact?
Painting. It's taken a long time (I've painted almost every surface of this place since we moved in, including ceilings (!) in some rooms.) but well worth the effort. It now feels like home!

photos courtesy of Kris/Rakka Deer