Name: Jane Catherine
Location: San Francisco
Type: 750 sq. ft. studio + alcove (Tenancy in Common (TIC))
Why I use color:
Once upon a time I had the luxury of having a garden, and lived surrounded by natural beauty. Since moving back into the city, I need a certain color quotient filled each day to keep some kind of mental health (kind of like needing to eat colorful food to keep physical health). My place is what it is: studio basement apartment with low ceilings – and I believe in "less is more" only when it comes to things, but not colors or textures.
My choice of colors is simple: what colors make me feel the best – of course getting there is an adventure AND is never finished – started experimenting with a blue gouache of the bathroom ceiling .
2 Good color tips:
1. Get outside: walk in a garden, go to a nursery, shop at your local farmer's market – let the colors sink into you. Inside – go to library, go to museums & galleries, go to bookstores & look at art books.
2. Go to paint store & get colors & keep close by – put by your bed, desk, put in your pocket & look at them while you are waiting for the bus – and then experiment on the walls.
Favorite type and brand of paint:
As I go for texture in my small place: Ralph Lauren's River Rock collection; Tobias Stucco with a gouache of Benjamin Moore's Latex Paint.
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Comments (29)
What a great find: a basement apartment with floors like that, exposed brick and wood beams, those kitchen appliances and that bathtub! Unfortunately, the styling doesn't work for me.
Sweet. Is it really only 50 square feet plus alcove?
i love it!!!!
I think that may be a typo...looks more like 500 feet. Either way, what an amazing find that space is!
Looks bigger than 50 sq feet...
Anyways, it's really brilliant, love it, especially the rugs and the stable-like wooden door!
Sorry, lost the 7 while cutting & pasting. Corrected!
A basement studio? Props to you sister, the place looks great!
I love your purple kitchen, red floors and orange door....considering this is a basement apartment, you have really captured the light.
Lovely. What are the floors? Is that the tile color, or did you paint the tile?
I love every bit of this place.
Thanks for the comments. This is not the contest for before & after, but believe me it was dismal. I have never regretted putting in the orange/red ceramic tile from Galleria Tile in SF. I designed the space - it's my "hobby." Jane
I could definately live here. I like to think of myself being a guest in my house and I could be a guest here for sure!! Enjoy!!
Wow...love it.
Love the wooden door. Homey and interesting.
I love the barn door! Does that move so that it can cover the kitchen or the bedroom at separate times?
the barn door and the purple paint color are awesome :)
love it! i love how complimentary the colors are on the walls next to each other.
This is wonderful.
OOH look at the lil stove. CUUUTE!
ok ok - i like the purple, i love the kitchen, love the barndoor and the exposed bricks... but the orange does a weird thing with the bricks, and the reddish orange floor looks bad with the purple (i know you installed it yourself so i'm sorry).
i could not live here, but you've done a great job especially with a basement apartment.
my suggestion would be to replace the orange with a cool color from your asian rugs & accessories.
Really love this -- especially the dining room. The mix of colors on adjacent walls is really striking and very well done.
hippie is the new modern.
I'm not totally won over by the purple - I think maybe another hue of purple could work perhaps (or blue?) with the color of the floor tile, or with all the other warm colors used in the space. But I would have never guessed this was a basement apartment - there are many great features here.
The orange in the living room seems to clash with the brick.
Great home though! Love your boldness.
I love all the textures here... that barn door, especially! Also, the brick/stainless/lilac, and the orange door/taupe/brick... nice use of color and texture.
I want that claw foot tub!
I appreciate the "hippie is the new modern" - one of my nicknames for the place is hippie crash pad cave. My first decision on the place was the floor - I had to try the red/orange tiles. The walls were all the Tobias Stucco yellow, a green/grey & sandstone. And then time for a change (I imagine no further explanation needed regarding that urge). I wanted to live with the orange for awhile. I agree with Ange - not the best match with the floor - but, hey - I can always repaint - wanted to go all the way with the color. And the purple - who could resist a color with the name "bark plum" - and with the Ralph Lauren River Rock Collection, a lot of it is the texture (velvety & pepply) , which does not translate in a photo. Everybody: thanks for all the comments - more than likely a year from now all the colors will be different! Best, Jane
It looks very warm and inviting, and I am so jealous of the stainless steel in the kitchen!
Wow.. that purple really works with the brick and the wood. How unusual it was to see so much wood in the first image. It's not something I've seen much outside of furniture in these entries. Glad to see it incorporated so well into your space!