House Tour August Recap

Audrey Romano 8/3/09

 
Stephanie 8/10/09
 
 

Holly 8/17/09

 

 

Kim Gombes 8/24/09

 

Moving on up...

I live a very odd life. When I was younger all I wanted to do was travel, I just had an aching in my heart to see the world and visit strange new places.

Be careful what you wish for.

Since I was four years old I've lived in eighteen different homes, seven different states, moved cross country twice and up and down the eastern seaboard three times.

My life can be summed up in one sentence: My life is upheaval.

I am a professional mover and packer, The last time we moved we only had two weeks to get to California from New York. I didn't think we could but we did.

Why do I move so much? Love. I love my husband and he's in an industry (no not the Army) where a promotion mean a move and these days you go where the work is.

I say all of this as a way of letting you know, it's that time again for us. Another promotion, another move. We have to leave the Bay Area (and with heavy hearts because we love it so). The good news is that we have until January, which is the longest time we've ever had to move. We will be going to Seattle, a place I've already lived but now that I have nieces and nephews there it will be different and my husband's never lived there so I can show him a lot of things.

You might notice the blog pace slowing down, and that's because of all the hectic stuff going on in my life, I'll continue with House Tours and try to post a couple times a week but once things have settled down I'll return to regular posting.

I just wanted to let you know what was going on with me.


photo courtesy of katiekathryn

Learning Curve

I told you before about Hella Handmade and I finally got the site up and running with all the links working like they're supposed to.

In doing this I've learned so much about site design and have a greater respect for those who do it, it's tough!

Getting all the little kinks out and making sure this link works and that link works is hard. I'm glad I did it though I feel accomplished and have a new set of skills to sharpen.

Check out the site! I'm pretty proud of it.

Design Your Own...

How great would this be: Asking Jonathan Adler to personalize a rug for your home? Pretty cool right? What about a custom Tote bag in your favorite color designed by Jonathan...neat, no?

Well you can have those and some pillows too...

New on Jonathan Adler's site is the "Design Your Own..." feature. It allows you to pick out your favorite designs and colors and as far as I can tell it's no more expensive than buying the stock items.

(My custom Jonathan Adler Rug)

I love technology!

House Tour

Name: Kim Gombes Location: San Diego, CA Square Footage: 1900SF Years Lived in: 5 years Rent or own: Own Describe your style: A mix of Contemporary and Mid-Century Modern Blog/Website: Kim's flickr What is your favorite free/found item? N/A What's your favorite purchased item?  The Eames Molded Plastic Armchair. I love the lines of the base and the smooth sculpted curves of the seat. It's more a piece of Art for us. I often find myself photographing it whenever I see some beautiful form shadows on the armchair or shadows cast by it. What has been your biggest obstacle in decorating/design? The downstairs layout of the combined living and dining rooms. I wanted to connect the two but also give a sense that the one large area is actually two different rooms. For me, the best way to do this was to use the same area rug in two different sizes. I feel this united and defined the spaces separately. We also use two red painted canvases to unite the spaces as well. Is your design style organic or planned?  Definitely organic. We bought one or two pieces at a time, saw how they fit into our daily living, and then decided what was lacking either in scale, color, texture, or function before purchasing anything more. This process took about four years. What is your favorite spot in the house?  Our bedroom. We’re fortunate to have a beautiful and expansive view from our bedroom so I chose a paint color which would give one the impression of floating in the clouds. The paint color combined with a fluffy down comforter and lots of white bedding really achieves that feel. How has your style changed in the past 5 years? After my husband & I moved from Maine to Southern California my style evolved from a Swedish cottage look to a mix of mid-century modern and contemporary. Our house in Maine was a sweet little Cape where my cottage furniture mixed well with my husband's modern style. Our house here in SoCal has lots of clean lines and a more modern feel to it, so we sold most of our old furniture after moving in. I then started scouring design mags and web sites to find the right look for our new house and discovered the wonderful world of mid-century and modern decor. What is your favorite resource or store?  With a little one always in tow it wasn’t easy scouting for furnishings so I went online and ordered as many catalogs from design stores and warehouses as I could. I even dubbed myself a “catalogaholic”. What is your biggest decorating/design pet peeve?  The generally accepted idea of buying “family-friendly” furniture. I’m a firm believer in teaching children to have fun and enjoy the moment but also to respect your surroundings. What has been your favorite design trend?  The latest resurgence of vintage radios. I remember growing up in a close-knit neighborhood where, in the heat of summer, everyone’s doors and windows were always open to let in the cool evening air; and many of the older neighbors would listen to static-filled radio stations playing the classics from the ‘40’s and ‘50’s. I’ve been seeing so many reproductions of these old radios featured in current magazines and trend sites and they bring back fond memories of my childhood. I haven’t purchased one yet but I’m sure I will soon. What is the biggest influence on your design/decorating style? When my husband Chad and I moved to California from Maine five years ago, we sold most of our furniture, which was a hodge-podge of Chad's Industrial style and my Cottage taste. We knew we wanted rooms with the look of simple, clean lines but I had no idea how to create a stylish space in which we could also live and play comfortably with our growing baby boy. I began studying design magazines such as “Dwell”, “Metropolitan Home” and “Vogue Living Australia” as well as researching design web sites and blogs and discovered the wonderful world of Mid-Century Modern. This style soon became a passion of mine. What in your home dictates how you design/decorate? The exterior of our home is Spanish-looking and I didn't want that to be out of sync with a totally mid-century modern look so I incorporated some Napa-style and Contemporary pieces to balance the look. What is the simplest thing you have done that has made the biggest impact?  Change our paint color. When we moved here we tried for a Metropolitan feel in the living/dining room with a bold dark brown wall color and bright white trim, but the color was way too dominating on the space and detracted from everything else in the room(s). The bold color was all one saw and felt when in the room. We lightened up the walls to a soft neutral shade of beige, which not only added so much light to the downstairs it also made the furnishings more noticeable. all photos courtesy of Kim

Weekend Post!

I got this great set of vintage lunch trays on ebay last month and wanted to share the extra ones I had no room for. If you're in the market for a cute little desk organizer, check these out!

Lolabags.etsy.com

Handmade Friday

I have a few pieces of broken plate jewelry and I always get compliments on it when I wear  it. I am sure  the pieces from The Broken Plate are just as praise worthy!

I'm loving this green necklace!

Have a great weekend!

Putting it to use.

I got to put one of my new stamps to use! My best friend just had a baby and I wrapped the gift up in teal tissue paper and used my new stamp with a great peacock blue ink pad to create a sticker/seal for the gift.

I love it, wouldn't you love to get a present wrapped like this? I know I would!

Thumbtack Press

It's been awhile since I looked in on Thumbtack Press to check out what new art they had. As usual there was plenty of great art to be found.

If you're not familar with Thumback Press, here's how it works; Artist submit their art and if it's accepted the art is printed on heavy archival stock using a giclee process.

It's a fantastic way for Indie artists to get their work out and for people to get unique art into their homes.

Duck by Alexandru Sacui – $29.99

Fence by Paul Ryding – $24.99

Volkswagen by Kareem Rizk – $29.99

Fly By Night by Ken Wong – $34.99

New Color

Did you notice I changed the background color? What do you think? I know some didn't like the green (not me I loved it!). It did read very vibrant though and maybe a tad distracting.

What do you think of this tealy-blue-peacock color? Yes/No?

I don't want to go all white, a lot of blogs do that and not that there's anything wrong with it, I just don't want this place to look like every other blog.

Opinions wanted!

Hella Handmade

So I've been brewing up something behind the scenes and I'm finally ready to talk about it!

I'm putting together a craft fair here in the bay area! I'm very excited about it! I'm not sure yet how big/small it will be but if you or anyone you know would be interested, send the here.

House Tour

Name: Holly

Location: New York City

Square Footage: 800 sq ft

Years Lived in: 17

Rent or own: Rent

Describe your style: Mid-century modern-ish?


What's your favorite free/found item?


Definitely the Ligne Roset Nomad Express sleeper sofa - a gift from my friend/former boss. 



What's your favorite purchased item?

I've made a point to only buy things I'll use and absolutely love. I feel like every new purchase I make is my favorite, but the Chilewich rugs have been a godsend in terms of standing up to wayward art projects and a Shih Tzu pup.



What has been your biggest obstacle in decorating/design?

Making the space comfortable and serve my needs without looking like a showroom for Eames furniture. Also combining a living room, office and mini art studio into one room.


Is your design style organic or planned?

It's been evolving for the past few years. When I started redecorating the apartment a couple of years ago, I only focused on furniture of a certain style. Now, I'm starting to become more comfortable mixing and layering different styles, eras and textures.



What is your favorite spot in the house?


The living room - it's got the most space to run around with my puppy. 


How has your style changed in the past 5 years?


Before I redecorated, my apartment was filled with clutter, wall-to-wall carpet and dust. After taking a few design courses in college and discovering all these great design blogs online, I suddenly looked at my surroundings with fresh eyes. Interior decorating or having a "style" never entered my head before, now it's something I can't get enough of!



What is your favorite resource or store?


I've bought almost everything I own online. My favorites are unicahome.com because of their endless selection, free shipping (on orders over $100) and 0 tax, and apartmenttherapy.com for their house tours and shopping guide. Unclutterer.com has also been a great motivator for clearing out my closets and file drawers.



What is your biggest decorating/design pet peeve?


I have many! My top three are branches used as accents, artwork hung too high and deer-themed decor.

What has been your favorite design trend?

I'm most drawn to the mid-century modern aesthetic because of the clean lines and proportions. 



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


Design blogs and Flickr are great sources of inspiration. I also love browsing the Destination: Design Series at the MoMA store.



What in your home dictates how you design/decorate?


It depends on the type of mood I'm after. Since I have my mini art studio in the living room, I like it to be filled with art, music and pops of color for inspiration. On the other hand, I want my bedroom to be a calm retreat, so I use mainly neutrals and sparse decoration.



What is the simplest thing you have done that has made the biggest impact?

Clearing out clutter. It makes life so much easier.

photos courtesy of Holly

Handmade Fridays

Every morning for breakfast I have a fruit smoothie. I used to use plastic straws but stopped because they are so wasteful. I've been waiting for an alternative like stainless steel or glass, my wait is over!

Check out these great glass straws from Straws by Carli. She guarantees them for life and they are so much better for the environment than plastic and won't have the metallic taste that some stainless steel might.

Have a great weekend!

So pretty you'd hate to eat off it.

Check this out. A piece of tupperware that has a twist on lid to prevent spills, dishwasher/microwave safe, BPA free, totally affordable AND pretty?

You think I'm joking? You've looked at the calendar to see if it's April 1st haven't you?

I'm for real, I'm talking about the Artist Series Twist and Shut Bowls designed by Matte Stephens and Amy Ruppel...yeah, them!

Maybe I'm total dork to be excited about pretty food storage, but stuff like this isn't usually microwave safe! Or designed by two amazing artists!

You can order them now at Delight.

Rugs from Amy Butler

By now you've seen Amy Butler's bedding line. Seems she's moving to rugs.

Apartment Therapy has the info. They are so gorgeous! Probably too fancy for me. I prefer rugs that hide stains (because I'm a klutz) but I do love Amy's Fabrics.

Coming soon check Amy's site for details or Apartment Therapy .

Stamp Mania

I stopped into a local store over the weekend and picked up this small stamp kit. I haven't carved a stamp since art class in high school so I thought it'd be fun to give it a go.

It came with a stamp pad to carve and two carving tools (wide and narrow). The instructions were super easy and you can print your design out or draw it with pencil then iron the design straight on the stamp pad.

I managed to eek four designs onto the pad. I drew one (the peacock feather) and printed out the rest from the computer; a peace sign, an image from a piece of ikea fabric and some art from one of my favorite albums.

Then I got to carving, even if you've never done this before it's easy.

Here's what I ended up with:

Pretty cool huh? I just need to mount them to some wood blocks so they're easier to stamp. If you get a package from me anytime soon expect to see one of these on the envelope!

House Tour

Name: Stephanie
Location: Tampa Bay Area, Florida
Square Footage: 1,100 sq. ft.
Years Lived in: 1
Rent or own: own
Describe your style: minimalist and cozy
Blog/Website: Flickr photostream, username "peachheights"

What's your favorite free/found item?
at present, my danish modern computer desk chair. my neighbor put it out for the trash. we brought it home and my husband fixed it. the vinyl seat cushion inspired us to cover our dining chairs in a more supple, faux-leather version. We also found our patio lounge chairs on the curb on "trash night." They were probably pretty expensive new. my husband re-polyurethaned them, and we bought cushions & pillows on sale at Target. I am proud of how they turned out.

What's your favorite purchased item?
my blowfish lamp. i purchased it from a weird shop. when i was buying it, a journalist who was doing a newspaper story about the shop quoted me as saying that the lamp was "essential." the strange part is... i get a lots of views on Flickr due to searches for "blowfish lamp."

What has been your biggest obstacle in decorating/design?
knowing what i want and not being able to find it online or in a store.

Is your design style organic or planned?
definitely planned. about a year before we bought the house, i started reading about how to design for small spaces. most of the examples featured modern design because of the low profile and smaller scale of modern furniture. because of that research, i knew how i wanted to decorate all the rooms of the house before we bought it. i purchased all of the wallpaper before we moved in. this house is the fulfillment of the design ideas in my head.

What is your favorite spot in the house?
right now, it's the sofa in the living room, found on Craigslist. we are excited about it because it fits the room perfectly and has a left-hand chaise, which wasn't easy to find. the leather is soft, cool to the touch, and luxurious. the sofa and chaise are long enough for my husband and i to stretch out on. the chaise is also a good spot to read because it is next to the window.

How has your style changed in the past 5 years?
our last house, which we lived in for five years, was in located in a historic neighborhood of Victorian-style homes. i designed our house to fit the neighborhood. i used richly-colored paint on the walls, like mustard, salmon, green apple, & egg-yoke. The floors in our house were beautiful red oak, and our furniture consisted of mostly antiques. i was ready for a change with this house and to go mod with the interior.

What is your favorite resource or store?
my husband. he can make/install anything for me. try finding a "cantilevered" computer desk without legs. i also love Flickr for voyeuristic-ly going into people's homes. i subscribe to Met Home and Elle Decor. i like the book, "Apartment Therapy: The 8-step Home Cure" because of the idea that the atmosphere of your home is analogous to your inner life. if your home is calm, peaceful, smells good, & is fun, then so is your life. Also, i have a special place in my heart for design bloggers for spotting good design and making it fun and accessible to the rest of us.

What is your biggest decorating/design pet peeve?
unattractive, overhead lighting that unmercifully lights up every corner of a room. i am a big fan of natural light in a home and setting moods with paper shades and dimmers. i have icicle lights on a dimmer in the guest room.

What has been your favorite design trend?
modern wallpaper. there are so many fun designs available now. you can have ferns, dinosaurs, geometrics, koi, & birds in trees on your wall. it's not our mom's wallpaper of bold, repeating florals.

What is the biggest influence on your design/decorating style?
my innate need for order in a room, and to have everything in its place. i need that to relax. another thing - i read an article in which a woman said that she measured the comfort of her home by the number of spots to curl up and read a book; she had to have at least three. that idea has stuck with me; i have four.

What in your home dictates how you design/decorate?
the size of the rooms. because our home is small, it was a feat to make the rooms appear "spacious." it required major paring down of our belongings. the items in the rooms were chosen because they save space, such as the trundle bed in the guest room, and make the room appear larger, like the platform bed in our bedroom.

What is the simplest thing you have done that has made the biggest impact?
to create the illusion of more space, we raised furniture up off of the floor, and use reflective surfaces, like glossy white paint on the walls. also, the terrazzo floor is original to the house and is in excellent condition. it wasn't covered up by carpet and damaged by carpet tacks as some terrazzo floors were. we just restored its original beauty by cleaning it and polishing it. We get a lot of compliments on it.