apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I'm having a problem accessing the slideshow. Seems the link is broken.

Beautiful! This really is an inspiration. I love the round mirror over the mantle- anyone know where I can find one that's relatively inexpensive?

Really enjoying how warm your whites look. Enjoying even more your inclusion of a white Hostess (or is it Sara Lee?) cupcake among your tchochkes. Who did the man-mushroom print in the kitchen?

I love the cool wintry feel, especially in the living room, that kind of atmosphere always made me feel good, I don't know why. The room makes me want to sit comfortably and look at the cold snow covered branches outside.

Just beautiful! Nice calming color palette.

here's the slideshow link: http://gallery.apartmenttherapy.com/photo/1-13-09-kate/

Beautiful! You have a very similar aesthetic to mine (grey walls, mix of vintage with new, warm details) but my place is unfortunately not quite ready for a big reveal. Congrats!

Nice soothing rooms - These work well because of the contrast of the warm-toned wood and leather furniture against the cooler wall colors.

Interesting note about the bedroom closet being only 16" deep - My guess is that they may not have been originally intended as closets but as a recess for a built-in Murphy Bed.

I love your home! This might quite possibly be my favorite house tour ever.

I love your home! My favorite image is the Christmas tree one. I feel like you have such a fun time entertaining.

I think this is my dream home. A library and a piano in the dining room...!

Thank you so much, everyone, for your kind words!

Rosenatti, the cupcake is from Koo de Kir in Boston, it's by Jason Miller. Hostess Cupcakes are my biggest guilty pleasure and that made me laugh. The Manshroom is by Amy Ross, it was a 20x200 print.

Bepsf- Interesting idea! I don't think so, in this case, because of the way the moldings are and how narrow the insides of the closets are, but it's a great theory.

Myshkin-Ha! Somewhere on my blog there are photos of the piano coming in through the living room windows this summer. It was terrifying! But now my husband usually plays while I cook dinner; it was worth it in the end.

Absolutely beautiful home.

perfect!

Just lovely. Where did you get the pillow (greens and red on a white background) that is resting on the blue chair? It looks familiar, and I'd like to track one down if possible.

I love the mirror...where did you get it from?

Oh, wow! This is one of my favorite house tours ever. It's so lovely and grown-up.

Your home looks like a lovely place for long dinner parties.

For your curved windows, you can contact a local curtain/shade store and they'll come to your house and measure and make curved curtain rods for you.

You could either do sheers over the windows alone, or a longer rode with curtains that you'd pull back. I've found lots of great curtains on Anthropologie's website. And Restoration Hardware has the thickest velvet curtains that keep my Victorian nice and cozy.

Do you happen to know what the model is of the Ikea wardrobe system in your bedroom is? It's looks much higher quality then the normal Ikea lines.

This place is right up my alley, except I'd add a little more color on the walls. I love the bathroom and the kitchen also. I hope that when I do get my own home, it'll have the same "feel" as this one.

Wow. Beautiful.

can you tell me the hallway and dining room benjamin moore paint colors? thanks!

I, too, had a great experience with JD Daddario in Newton. Where did you get the "Tea Revives You" print? Love it and your place.

Snoozy- I got the pillow covers from Pottery Barn after Christmas in 2007.

Huntington Beach- Restoration Hardware; last I checked they had butler's mirrors with gold on the frames but hopefully they will bring back the plain ones.

Breesf- They're the regular Pax system, but the Hemnes door style (so it is real wood).

Hampton- Hall is Revere Pewter, Dining room is Puritan grey. (I'm actually not a huge fan of the hall color but it looks better now that I have some of the photos hung.)

Mrs. Egg- The poster is from Keep Calm Gallery:
http://www.keepcalmgallery.com
Right now they have it in white on black and red on tan.

Thanks, guys!

I'm thinking about painting the walls in our soon to be rental house with different shades of gray similar to this living room and dining room. How would grays look with medium-brown wood trim? I'm not going to be painting it, so I was wondering if anyone has ever seen something similar or has personal experience with it. The wood has a sort of reddish brown tone and is probably about 5" wide. It mostly around the floors and doorways. Any suggestions would be so appreciated. This will be the first time I will have been able to paint since my husband and I were married 5 years ago (apt renters). I just don't want to overdue it just because I'm excited. :) Thanks!

Super super lovely!

Wow, your home is absolutely beautiful. This might be one of my favorite house tours. It looks so warm and cozy. Great job y'all!

Kate, you have done such an amazing job with your home. The aesthetic so embraces the part of the world where we live and yet the style transcends it all. I feel so at ease looking at those pictures, it feels like I've lived there! Best of luck with continuing beauty in your home.

Emily

Beautiful home. I love your Christmas pics.

Thanks for sharing.

Lovely stuff well curated. The mantle arrangement is a work of art. I go for warmer colors myself (which is probably why I love the Christmas pictures best) but this is a fabulous house.

Elegant!

The intent is solid but there's too much clutter and too much ikea. Thin it out and splurge on handmade (or hand made looking) built ins in your next installations and you'll be golden!

Here is a better keep calm art gallery that is only $12 a print, I have several and they are beautiful she also sends freebies.

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5205908&section_id=5300597

I was wondering where she got the full wall closet system in the bedroom- looks like something ikea has but I like the darkness of the doors.

anyone know?

ok nevermind- read the above post

Beautiful home.
What is the yellow color in your kitchen?

i LOVE the color palette in the bedroom, and no its not too much Ikea.

Kate: can you tell me what kind of hardware you used on the Ikea Pax wardrobe doors? I don't see any handles on the doors at all! I think that's what makes it look so striking. (btw, I have the same thing in white but without any door handles because I can't find any I like!)

I love your place. It looks like a very live-able space. I really like the soothing colors of your walls and your furniture plus the porch area. For the windows, I would go with curtains of a bolder color actually, like a warm brown or deep orange. The great thing about curtains is that you can change them later, if you want something more subdued go with a complementary gray or blue instead. Also, I agree with your advice: "Take your time; don’t try to do everything overnight." I think that is really the key to growing into your space and living in it.

Beautiful home--the calm colors feel serene-I love your choices so much.

Medusa- I can't wait for the day I can swing built-ins! We seriously considered it for the dining room but just couldn't justify it, especially since we'd just bought our first home and will probably only live here about 4-5 years total.

Nazrd- It's "Beacon Hill Damask," Benjamin Moore. (I used all BM Historic Colors to make my life easier while choosing!)

AbsolutMarie- Nope, no handles at all. I hadn't found any and then found that the inset panels made it fairly easy to just open w/out them. We have a wide wardrobe, then a narrow, then a wide, so the handles would have be asymmetrical.

This is a beautiful home. The grey walls would take some getting used to, but I love it.

What a beautiful home, such lovely bones. Agree with the comments of a soothing palette, but all your things make it feel very lived in and comfortable.

This is so elegant, yet casual. It's exactly the kind of balance I strive to obtain in my own apartment: something beautiful that my boyfriend isn't afraid to live in. Excellent job, and so inspiring to see such a beautiful apartment in Cambridge! Makes me less weary about my coming apartment search.

I have those exact same living room chairs! I love them.

Some things could be better (better to leave the wall bare than frame a poster) but this is the most tasteful budget home decorating I have seen in a while. Great use of gray and white. B-plus.

WOW! This is one of the best homes that I have seen. I just love it. Thanks for sharing

Can you please tell me the paint color that you used in the dining room? Thanks

Holy Moly! I've been searching for the picture hanging system you have in your hallway! I saw it at a in-home art show two years ago and haven't been able to find it anywhere. Who makes it? Where'd you get it? Thanks!

Sunrise: "Puritan Gray" from Benjamin Moore

Grizzarkhov: It's built-in picture rail molding, which runs through most of the main rooms of the house. We use either plain (in the hall) or decorative (living and dining rooms) picture hooks and 20 lb. fishing line or sturdier picture wire, depending on what we're hanging.

Kate, where did you find your coffee table?

Wow. This is SO lovely. I lived in Cambridge for years in a similar--but unrenovated/painted--apartment. This is how I would have loved to decorate it! I am especially amazed at your use of gray. I painted my living room gray and felt like I was living in a gym locker room, but I don't have the light and high ceilings you have. But I do have the same IKEA kitchen cabs! Love them after 2 years and they have held up to the rigors of an active toddler without so much as a scratch or ding. You have done a beautiful job!

I love your home. I have two technical questions. What is the pipe coming out of the top of your radiator(steam or water)? How did you build the shelves around the Steam(I think) pipe? Those pipes are always in my way!

The wardrobe looks like it is an IKEA PAX Wardrobe, see:
http://www.ikea.com/PIAimages/78923_PE202214_S4.jpg
The handles arenot there, or it has a free handle opening system.

The Kitchen is probably an IKEA Akurum like this:
http://www.ikea.com/PIAimages/49371_PE145308_S4.jpg

It all looks very nice, BTW.

Lise- It's Boston Interiors, off Craig's List!

Mlinico- They are water radiators. It took me a while to figure out which pipe/shelves you were talking about, but I guess the butler's pantry? Those shelves were built in and I think they're original. I went and looked at the construction; a semi-circle was cut out of the corners of the shelves to fit around the pipes, and there are cleats of wood on the wall under the side and back of each shelf!

Oh, and Adanielo- The gray was really hard to find. I had to search to find one that wasn't too cool (locker room time!) or too taupe. Silver Fox is perfect.

Reminds me very much of my own apartment, so of course, I think it looks really great! Joking aside, it is very lovely and you clearly entertain very elegantly.
I lived once with a butler's pantry and I have reminisced often with a sigh since then.

Love your home - so warm and inviting. Do you have a source for the lovely tree themed poster over your bed?

Your house is gorgeous. I've been wanting to do my home in grays and blues, but haven't been able to find a good example to convince my boyfriend. Our home is new construction but with a lot of great molding. I think these colors will be the perfect palette to add to the character. Thank you for listing all the paint colors!

Penny4vt- It's a letterpress print on homemade paper, which I bought at Papelera Palermo in Buenos Aires: http://www.papelerapalermo.com.ar/

This is a lovely, livable home - congratulations on creating such a beautiful space! Your crafts closet is a dream!

BTW, could you please remind me who makes the row house print you have hanging by your mantle? I've seen his/her work on Etsy, but I can't remember the name. TIA!

I'm so glad you didn't do that thing where people arrange their books by color. You just let them be books on shelves and it is lovely.

Emily- Thanks! The print if Julia Rothman's "Luxury Apartments," which she sells on her website, http://www.juliarothman.com

Tril- Ha! The arrange-by-colors idea tempted me briefly when I first saw it a couple years ago, but I am too attached to looking at the shelves according to genre, since I'm generally picking books based on mood.

KATE! This is too eerie. I also own a bowfront Cambridge condo, similar size and vintage, and I have never seen someone decorate a space with such similar (some identical) elements, colors, ideas, and sources. Presumable similar budget even. I've only been in my place for a few months, so it still has some obsessional finessing before I submit it to apttherapy, but now I'm wondering if they'd even feature it because it's so similar to yours. Same pix system in my long narrow hallway, black upright Steinway in the dining room, and is that a Roost ceramic log vase from Koo de Kir on the mantle? Creepy in a delightful way.

My curved living room windows came with interior shutters on the bottom half, which is ideal for privacy, flexibility, simplicity. They were custom-made somewhere local--I have the info somewhere if you're interested. Of course you're welcome to stop by and see them in person!

Kate, I love your home - exactly what I would do with that space... we've left boston for the midwest, and have a completely different style architecure now ( lots of dark wood trim, etc), but a girl can dream!!! Goofy question - is that "boulud is watching you" a postcard? Or just cut out from a magazine. My husband is a huge fan, and I'd love to do something similar with our board in the kitchen... Congrats again on creating such a beautiful, warm,and obviously full of love home

absolutely gorgeous, and warm.

HTTP://WWW.DUSKIN-NY.BLOGSPOT.COM

Schlex- Isn't it amazing, how many more kindred spirits you run across now that there's the internet! The vase isn't Roost (though the mushrooms next to it are); I found it for $4 at a HomeGoods in my home town, and it's unmarked.

Ohiomom- I'm going to try to e-mail you re. the card; if you don't hear from me I have an e-mail address linked from my blog.

Absolutely beautiful! Congratulations.

Elegant!

I think you have an easier solution for curtaining those windows that you realize. I live in a post world war II house that also has picture molding and I have been thinking about making curtains that have pockets at the top to hook onto picture hangers. If you buy an inexpensive fabric and then several picture holders you can either use tab top curtains with a decorative trim or rope running through them or make pockets at the top and do the same. If you can't sew, you just need a fabric that is sheer but not so sheer you can't use iron tape with it. Cottons are great for this.

PS love the house

SHAVAVAL. You are a genius. I hadn't checked back here in ages but I needed to grab the link today so I did, and wow, that is an awesome, awesome idea. I'm so excited!!! Thank you!

i love your style. i have a place in Boston and have done similar things with it. What color is your trim in the house?

SML- It's all Benjamin Moore White Dove.

very beautiful!

kindly,
vintagedress
http://www.vintagedress.etsy.com

Nice feeling