Yes, love it, especially the repurposed built-ins in the bedroom. The only thing I don't like is the large artwork over the couch. It reminds me vaguely of a visit to the gynecologist--I don't know if I could overcome that feeling every time I walked into the room. :[

It looks like a very happy place. Do you think the zebra hide is real? That is the only thing that would bother me.

~I admired her use of colour and how the accessories. types and amount, were part of the rooms without making them feel cluttered or overbearing.

I too, could live here.

I have been working on bringing some colour back into our home after having gone through the neutral phase (bring interest in through texture "they" say - nope, doesn't work for me) and we need to recover our DR chairs. I loved her blue ones. I'm going to go back and take another look.

Thanks for sharing this.

This post was edited by blfenton on Tue, Jan 27, 15 at 12:48

mama_goose, LOL!!! I missed it the first time through, but now I can't unsee it. It would have to go.

I don't care for the blue walls in the living room or the blue on the ceiling, but I'm not a fan of dark walls, esp. not blue.

I love the bathroom and the long table.

Only one thing. A bunch of the windows are frosted. My daughter lived in a ground-floor flat in SF and the bottom halves of the double-hung windows were frosted. It made me claustrophobic. Even if you have a view you don't like or need privacy, I would still have removable window coverings.

mama goose!!! If you hadn't pointed it out I probably would have scrolled right by but not now!

Lots of things I like about it and could be a very comfortable guest there. Not a blue fan so that doesn't appeal on a permanent basis. The only thing that stood out and would bug me is her use of pillows. Don't like having to move them in order to sit down and (for me) there are too, many on the beds, sofas and chairs. They look great, add color and interest but in my world, they'd be just another thing to work around, not to be used.

For the Love of a House. I'll add her blog link below. You can view rooms on the right side of the page.

Love her house - I love aqua/turquoise accents with lots of neutral just like she has. Wood floors, antiques, etc. Yep, I could live there. But I could not live year round up north. No way. The house itself, definitely, but the location would have to change. LOL

Here is a link that might be useful: Joan's house

I just saw one the other day that I nearly shared. The slide show is wonky but I'll post it anyway in case you have a few minutes to look.

{{gwi:2137552}}

Here is a link that might be useful: Casa del Mar

I find it a nice house. Neither boring, nor offensive. Clearly her personality comes through, which is the most important thing in decor, IMO.

I could live there, but it's not me. Nothing about it makes me swoon and dream about living there.

Except the location. I love me some SF. :) (so tinam61, I'll have to disagree with you there.)

Oh this happens to me constantly. I'm always reminded of then-candidate John McCain who was lambasted by the press for not recalling how many homes he owned (7 IIRC). I could so do that, finances permitting. I have a wandering eye when it comes to real estate.

I can see you in that house SueB. It' homey, a bit earthy, a few unexpected hip twists.

My latest fling is thanks to my AirBnB kick (more on that to come in Discussions). I now have a crush on this house below. I will start with Milady's most important room, the master bath. I now consider it mandatory for a tub to have a view (both CT and our beachhouse do, natch) and unthinkable that one's eyes should ever come to rest upon a commode whilst bubble bathing (save for the antique wooden kind, holding linens).

Here is the bath:
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here is the house:

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Here is a link that might be useful: Air BnB listing

That is a cheerful, very personal house. I really like the daughter's bedroom.

Attached is a link to a house I have looked at over and over and over. I absolutely love it and would move right in.

Strangely enough, they are also an AirBnB! https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/1318776?s=be1V

Here is a link that might be useful: house tour

This post was edited by jlc712 on Tue, Jan 27, 15 at 16:26

LOL, MamaGoose. I had a former colleague who dabbled in painting and apparently had something some people felt was similar in his dining room. In color. People dreaded being invited over.

TinaM, totally with you, one of my faves. She had a post on making a lamp from a ginger jar, and I have a screen shot of that on my laptop for over a year now. I can't find one exactly like it. It's so perfect, as is the room she has it in.

Tina, thanks for sharing that link! I agree, I love her house!

Ambern, the house I shared is in New Hampshire, not SF.

I don't see how anyone could call this space "colorful". Colorless is more like it.

Mostly she has white walls, beige carpets and furniture and brown wood. The few color walls are so close to neutral as to be only a slight shade off. The bath is all white for God's sake! Though, if you are going to go this route, the dark blue in the LR is a nice deviation, rather than sage green or yellow or taupe.

I think the style would be better called "how to do pops of color on a neutral background."

But this is a very smart style for the times and for the amateur decorator: basically a neutral pallet, with slight deviation and mild pops of color to act as a back ground to a collection of art.

1. She mixed very common mass produced furnishings with a few well chosen antique furniture pieces (accents and occasional tables)

2. She looked for the most drama she could create in each space, most often achieved thru an art installation (foyer) but also with odd or charming contrasts in scale (bed sconces) and unexpected furniture placement (bed against the built in buffet).

Art as Rorschach Test -it's very telling. I saw a horizon line on it's end, like the painting was hanging the wrong way. But there is a long, long history of art and architecture being dismissed by critics simply for being vaginal or phallic (Washington Monument). It is the kind of thing said often in Modern Art Criticism 101. But if we listened to those criticisms, Georgia O'Keeffe would have remained an unknown.

Anyway, the painting in question is a black & white figure after Giacometti. It is poorly lit by those ubiquitous and horrid canister lights. It is unfortunate that someone who loves art, and displays it well, is so bad at lighting it.

This post was edited by Lilylore on Tue, Jan 27, 15 at 16:48

I could also live in Joan's home ( for the Love of A House)!
I've always loved it.... So beautiful and inviting.
I could also do the home from 'Something's Gotta Give' ...another that I've loved and would move into tomorrow and never tire of.

There's no way I could live in that apartment therapy-linked house. Most of the rooms are interesting---in a detached sort of way---except the blue living room, which is boring despite the strong color. As a short term rental it might be tolerable, but it looks neither elegant nor comfortable.

Someone posted a realtor's video tour of a house in Lake Forest IL (I think that's where it was) a few months ago of a gorgeous home that had been completely restored over the past 30 years by its owners. It is large but not obnoxiously so.... beautiful setting, tasteful furnishings in keeping with the period but not slavishly so.... I could def live there.

The SF home in the original post is a very similar style to my own (across the bay), but more than twice the size (1/3 bigger than the two units in my building put together). The cove ceilings, the picture rail, the board-and-batten paneling, the window trim, the built-ins--I've got 'em too. And on the exterior, the porch columns and dentil moldings. So I may have a wee bit of a head start feeling at home there.

I don't love everything about it (the bathroom update stylistically and not loving the floor tile with the wall color). And the kitchen also didn't seem to suit the style of the home. But in general, I like it.

I disagree that it's not colorful--while there's a lot of white/pastel paint, the ceiling in the kids room, the blue living room and purple dining room are undeniably bold. The foyer is equally clearly not bold.

I loved how they repurposed the built-ins in the kids room--I assume there's a fireplace behind the bed (the set-up parallels the fireplace built-ins downstairs). Makes a great headboard.

I spotted the zebra rug immediately. I think it's stenciled cowhide.

I also was surprised the kitchen wasn't more colorful. It seems drab in comparison with some of the other spaces. I am not a "blue person" but for whatever reason, I love the blue in the living room. And I totally love the purple in the dining room.

I would have used more color in the foyer/hallway...I will have it painted (and will replace the zebra rug) when I move in. ;)

While I like the SF apt, it is not colorful enough for me! I love color. Deep, rich, vibrant color. My current design crush is Bailey McCarthy - she has redone houses for herself and her family in Chicago, Austin and now Houston and I could live in any one of them. She also owns a home design firm/home goods store in Houston called Biscuit. Love all the items!! Here is a link to her blog - in the archives are all her before and afters of her homes, as well as some client projects (which I also follow on instagram): http://www.peppermintbliss.com/

She and her husband also just bought a "country home", about an hour outside of Houston. The fabrics and trim and all the paint - to die for!!

Here is an easier direct link to her former home in Austin:
http://www.designsponge.com/2012/06/sneak-peek-pete-bailey-mccarthy.html

The rug is zebra stenciled on cowhide........

I liked it, but did not love it. Agree with the boring kitchen. The bubbly things in the entry grossed me out.

i am sorry... i lost all respect for all of it.. after i spotted her shoes....

whats that all about????

my favorite martian meets the dog whisperer?????

lol

ken

OMG, JLC! I think that is one I have had bookmarked too. I love the nook and cranny feel of it, and all the bookcases. I tried to capture that feel in my CT house.

Jlc and Mtn, I have that house bookmarked too! How funny. I am in love with the living room especially.

the apt therapy home is nice, though the inner richmond tends to be too foggy for me. I appreciated the tip on saatchi online --- I had no idea they had such an online art store a la etsy but with perhaps some higher, uhm, standards.

oh, and yes, you can't unsee that after the suggestions been made.

@mtnredux -- what's this about an airbnb kick? are you visiting or hosting....

There are some really neat homes on airbnb -- you can go to Browse, Most Popular and they've got them curated into featured categories

JLC...I too have that house saved in my favorites. I've looked at that kitchen a million times. One of the articles on the house told the story of the homeowner and the GC falling in love while he was working on it. :)

Ann, Sue, Mtn-- that is just almost too coincidental! How funny! I have stared at it over and over. I would feel almost stalkerish to stay in the Airbnb part of it, because I love it sooo much.

I love how it's historical but updated, and uses so much antique furniture, but not fussy antique. The sink in the kitchen. The bookcases. The cozy living room. And yes, the nooks and crannies! I would move to Vermont in a heartbeat for that house, even if it's 2500 miles away.

All right Mtn, I will now require a tour of your CT house.

Really, Ann, that is juicy. Similar thing happened me, except it was that while I was working on my house with my GC, i grew to passionately despise him.

Lol, Gooster, visiting. Will post more about my foray in discussions. Host, nah? I hyperventilate when a dear relative sits on my Quadrille as it is.

I also really love this house (linked), and could move right in.

Here is a link that might be useful: [CA house[(https://www.houzz.com/magazine/my-houzz-a-hilltop-family-home-in-santa-cruz-stsetivw-vs~3650246)

JLC....OMG, I can't believe it!!! That is another of my favorites. There is only one more that I frequent. The GC is in Louisville Ky and I even called him last summer before I started my kitchen update. Sooo,,,the CA home--I bought a copy of the out of print book Pattern Language for myself and another for my DIL who also has a housing addiction.
Mtnredux--"sort of" similar :)

Jlc...ooh, love the room with the window seat and the bookshelves. I see a theme here that we both like! This is weird maybe, but I also love the chicken (rooster?) quilt in the bedroom. Now I want that quilt.

About the OP house, there are several individual components that appeal to me, but, overall, I'm not fond of it and would not want to live there. To me, it reads cold. I dislike the blue on the walls, and much of the art, which looks to me like it was chosen so-that-visitors-would-know-that-I-appreciate-art. There are interiors that come together as greater than the sum of their parts, which are difficult to achieve and successful because of that result, but this one strikes me as the opposite. And because I like so many of the components (the shell, the purple chair, purple, the moldings, the exterior, etc.) it is really disappointing to me. There is something raw about it.

Mtn, lol, I too grew to loathe my GC.

Ann, that is so funny! Great minds, I guess. Please share your other favorite, I'd love to see it. I've been meaning to read that book since I first saw that house. Did you like it?

Sue, oh yes, window seats and bookshelves are my thing. I think we do like similar stuff- I always love pics of your house!

Ambern, the house I shared is in New Hampshire, not SF.

My bad, I thought you were saying the original house in San Francisco was too far north for you. :P

I liked it but I didn't love it. It was neat and orderly, almost to a fault. And I didn't see a lot of storage, which was a deal-breaker for me. Maybe that's her plan, is to keep her life simple. Probably a bit over-staged, but there were definitely some things I did like about it in the way she added pillows (esp the bird and branch pillows) and colorful touches, some of the art/prints, the quilts, and the antiques incorporated. Didn't care for the blue room or the blue print chair covers. Or the location.

JLC--- I liked the reclaimed beech countertops and copper pipe pot rack. I was able to get a reclaimed counter for my kitchen update but only Locust was available locally.

Here is a link that might be useful: farmhouse kitchen

> The only thing I don't like is the large artwork over the couch. It reminds me vaguely of a visit to the gynecologist--I don't know if I could overcome that feeling every time I walked into the room. :[

> mama_goose, LOL!!! I missed it the first time through, but now I can't unsee it. It would have to go.

> If you hadn't pointed it out I probably would have scrolled right by but not now!

> oh, and yes, you can't unsee that after the suggestion's been made.
.

What we have here is the WORST LIGHTING FAIL EVER.

Just a week ago I responded to a post here about how to light artwork on walls. I recommended these light bulbs, which carefully aim and shape the light output to illuminate the artwork evenly whilst avoiding much overspray on the walls surrounding it. The particular bulbs I recommended would even fit right into the existing ceiling fixtures in the Apartment Therapy home. No such thought was put into this however in any of the rooms shown. Most of the time the results of indifferently applied lighting are unexceptional if not very attractive, as on this wall:

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Here the two small angled cans in the ceiling create light scallops on the wall that partially miss the artwork altogether while leaving darks spots near the bottom. And why is that third can light at the left even there?

Had the artwork over the couch been evenly lit, it would have looked like the spare landscape with a wintertime leafless tree the artist meant it to be. But instead, the scallops from the recessed lighting create unintended legs/knees/buttocks and turn it into something else entirely....

{{gwi:2137557}}

This reminded me of a single-panel comic I once saw entitled "Freud's Living Room". It's a line drawing of what seemed like an unexceptional, Victorian-style living room. Only after looking closely for ten seconds did I notice that every one of the ornate filigrees on the picture frames, furniture legs, fireplace surround, carpet pattern, and everywhere else was shaped like a gender-specific part of the human anatomy....

That bathroom in mtnrdredux's AirBnB house is awesome BTW. I do fear however that everytime I leaned back in the tub I'd send a wave of water crashing over the ledge onto the guest's tile floor....

lee676 -- wow, that is interesting. Thanks for the insight.

Sueb, I would love to have that much space in that location! Love the exterior, and I do like the color in the rooms. Wish my desk as a kid had that kind of view. I don't like the lighting at all.

Here's a house in WNY that I've fallen in love with. Gosh, I'd move back home for this one. I saw it on Old House Dreams.

Here is a link that might be useful: beautiful woodwork and built-ins

lee676, another thanks for pointing out the lighting problems, and how they affect the artwork. I can totally see it now.

Ken, you made me go back to look at her shoes.

I'm really not trying to be silly, but in the blue walled living room, I'm also very distracted by the fluffy ottoman (?) under the glass table. Maybe it's just me, but it looks like some furry beast waiting to grab anyone who sits on the sofa.

I could live here but I don't love it (seems a little cold to me too.) But the furry thing would have to go.