House Tour-Amy

Name: Amy Burkhart
Location: San Diego, CA
Square Footage: 820 sq ft.
Years Lived in: 1.5 Years
Rent or own: own
Describe your style: modern, retro, colorful
Blog/Website/Twitter: finderskeepers-designs.blogspot.com/

What's your favorite free/found item?
I found some old pieces of wood with interesting colors and graphics on them so I created an assemblage art piece with them. This piece hangs in our living room above the credenza and has been a big part of deciding the color choices throughout the entire house.


What's your favorite purchased item?
I would have to say either our mid-century dining room set or the wollypocket www.woollypocket.com/ I purchased and created a living wall with. I just love having an indoor vertical garden on our wall and my cats can't reach to eat the plants!

What has been your biggest obstacle in decorating/design?
Not enough time or money. Also, designing in a small space has its many challenges, particularly furniture placement and storage.


Is your design style organic or planned?
Mostly it's organic. I have so many ideas and those ideas constantly change or are built upon.

What is your favorite spot in the house?
The house is still not completed and is a work in progress, but so far I love our living room. You wouldn't think grey to be a warm color but it really is! Plus with all the natural light it's a very warm and relaxing room that I love to spend time in!


How has your style changed in the past 5 years?
These days I try to purchase a lot more used items rather than buying new. It takes a lot of time and patience but it's definetly rewarding when you find that unique item and you've saved something from going into the landfill! Plus I have saved a lot of money buying used items.

What is your favorite resource or store?
Craigslist, Ebay, swap meets and Etsy are where I have found my most prized treasures!

What is your biggest decorating/design pet peeve?
I don't like when rooms feel really disconnected from each other. This is often because room colors chosen just don't relate to each at all making each room feel like it belongs in a different house. I prefer rooms to flow nicely from one room to the next.

What has been your favorite design trend? 
Mixing old with new. Re-using/re-purposing items. I also really love this big interest in vertical gardening and getting rid of lawns in place of more water friendly plants (xeriscape) or edible gardens. I'm also pleased to see some people moving away from purchasing items from big name stores in place of buying handcrafted items from local artists or from places such as Etsy.


What is the biggest influence on your design/decorating style?
I read a lot of design blogs and I love Dwell and Modernism magazines.

What in your home dictates how you design/decorate?
Probably the size of the space, it's small, really small.

What is the simplest thing you have done that has made the biggest impact?
It would have to be paint (although I wouldn't call it easy). It's amazing how different our house looks just by giving it a new paint job!