apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Awww. Fun people live here.

I absolutely love the reading area in the kitchen. More kitchens should have a couple of comfy chairs where you can peruse cookbooks and drink tea and talk with the cook. This home feels like a celebration of domestic joy, and even if the colours aren't necessarily mine, I still totally appreciate the spirit and life that just shines out of these pictures.

I agree with Juliet - the chairs in the kitchen are amazing! Everything about this place just screams 'home' to be. What a brilliant house tour.

I like this. They've managed to meld a lot of different things together and keep it all very fresh and energetic through their artistic eyes - color, art and other visuals, object placement. For instance, that wonderful art in the first photo--a bird of some sort (I'd love to hang that on my wall)--along with the colorful and interesting rug and the white window covering keeps the room, which could have been dark, heavy, and dowdy, very light and upbeat. The photo quality of the space seems to be really good too, which makes a huge difference.

do they need a roommate?

I swear those photos emit a homey smell!

even though this is just a leeetle bit too much stuff for me, i just adore their space. i want to come over and hang out there for a while! :)

The kitchen looks like a fun place to hang out and cook, chat, read, listen to music.

What a lovely apartment! Can I come over sometime? I will bring cookies and treats! :)

Oh, your house looks so cozy and inviting. I want to come over and visit. Seeing this house makes me rethink my desire to steer away from bright colors in my new apartment. Which brings me to a question... How do you marry a neutral, cool color environment with minimal accents of warm, bright colors?

Get rid of at least half of the junk, especially the 60s, hide the tchotchkes, coordinate the rest, and it will be quite a nice place.

I like it for what it is - except for the crepe paper streamers and tissue paper dots on the walls....

I love the large space. I really like the living room... the kitchen is different but not my style. I can tell these ladies have fun entertaining. Cool

Every once in a while there's an AP Boston post that totally incites my Boston-homesickness (I was only there for a couple of years of grad school, but still...it WOULD be my home, if it were feasible).

This is one of them. How I miss my old JP triple decker, which wasn't nearly as adorable as Sarah and Megan's, though almost as bright.

Also, Kyle, I really appreciate that you've featured a roommate situation. It's so inspiring to see people who live together who've managed to make their shared surroundings mutually appealing. Often it's so easy just to give up, aesthetically speaking, on shared space.

I'm sure the kitchen is a nightmare to cook in, but it sure would be nice for the guests who get to hang out in those chairs.

This apartment represents a perfect example of how modest furnishings can be arranged in a way that makes them far more than the sum of their parts.

Oh, how I miss those beautiful Boston apartments! And my wonderful roommates. Sniff! Boston is full of just these types of cool people with lovely homes. You can just tell these ladies lead a fun life. I may have to look into chairs in the kitchen. Right now I have some lurking there because we are doing a little renovating, but I might rethink arranging and keeping them. Brilliant. Can you share the yellow-y paint in one of the bedrooms? It's very fresh and soothing despite it not being the expected pale neutral or spa blue. Love!

Wow, that's a ton of stuff! I would hate to dust all that, but it looks fantastic!! Super homey, love it.

All it's lacking is adequate seating.

I really liked the vibe of this place. That bright red wall we saw in yesterday's tissue-dot preview didn't look hideous as I imagined it would. When I read their descriptions of their style, it sounded like me, especially the way Megan worded it. I was glad to learn about their resources and the Greater Boston Bigfoot Research Institute, I will definitely be checking that out as well as the Children's Museum Recycle Shop.

It's a little on the weird side for my taste - I like a lot less in that department but still some. I liked how they fitted the refrigerator into what must have been a closet and made or found a perfect sized bin for things above. The seating in the kitchen is a pretty stylish concept, but that looks like a pretty big kitchen, I'm not going to be able to copy that here. The dining room could lose the streamers, it seems a lot cheaper and more juvenile than the rest of the space, which is lighthearted, grown up, but not tooooo grown up. I'm intrigued by the grapefruits on the table without a bowl. I like how it looks like it doesn't care. There are plenty of bowls on the shelf, but we are grapefruits and refuse to follow convention. I've also never seen so many pairs of scissors in one space, but you do what you gotta do.

I'm going to have to check out the trash in the North End next time I think of it. Thanks for the tour!

I like the combination of soft grey and deep black in the kitchen tiles - there should be a revivial! It's more sophisticated than a stark black and white combination, and lends itself to all manner of further colours, be it teal, lime green, bright yellow, pale blue or the electric red/orange that these girls have used.

Although I'd likely feel overwhelmed living with this much stuff (including vintage foundation garments) out in the open, I really do feel the warmth and creativity and welcoming homey spirit of this place. There's something exuberant, sweet and playful about it and it feels very authentic. Ideally, if home is the place where you can be your true self, then this home succeeds, even if it's not to everyone's taste. Plus, love the idea of Elijah's chair. And KTG: your "unconventional grapefruit" commentary = priceless.

I'm a little overstimulated by parts of the house, but I love the fact that I can tell that fun people live here! I'd like to be a guest in their home. :)

This place makes me feel better about my stuff which some feel is too cluttered. I love this place, totally cosy.

Very cosy home! I want to live here or at least take away half of the stuff to my home! ;)

I love that they used different seat cushions for their dining room chairs...good idea! :))))))))))))

Jen Ramos
'Cards & Prints You'll Love...'
www.madebygirl.com
madebygirl.blogspot.com

Please. Please. Please...source for that awesome red & pink rug. I am in lust.

This is so cute, and such a 'home' too. Love it!

It's cute and nice, it looks homey and I really like the colour choice but there is just a bit too much ''things'' for me.

...The bathroom soap hands creep me out a bit... :-/

What a fun, quirky home! I think this home is proof positive that you can take a large assortment of disparate items and get them work well together in the creation of a beautiful and functional space.

Lovely place. Seems a little cluttered and overfurnished - but I bet it's a nice place to hang out.

Okay this is going to sound really creepy (I promise I'm not!), but I am pretty sure I have seen your apartment on my walk home from the T !(I live on Robinwood Ave). I recognize the orange paper hanging from the light in the dining room! And I always wondered to myself what that was. Your place always seemed so cute and inviting to me, especially the wall color in the kitchen. So I promise that I'm not spying on you, and I really love your place. Go JP!

I love this house-it's cozy, quirky and bright. I'm also interested in the red and pink rug. Where's it from?

This is great. Though I don't like every piece and item here (but most), that's not really the point, is it? Great creativity and sense of humor; very cozy and welcoming. Looks like the sort of place you can relax and enjoy your life at home, enjoy the company of friends. Something that is missing from a lot of top-ranked designs. Often we're guilty of trying to make our homes look too serious and formal, like *serious voice* real grown ups.

I'm sure the person ^ who called your stuff "junk" meant it in the nicest way possible. They meant to say "stuff."

Oh, and... 12 pairs of scissors? Maybe that's a solution I should try to never being able to find my 1 pair. =D

Nice! This reminds me of when I had a roommate in a little house in the Houston Heights - somehow our stuff meshed really well, as did our personalities. I can tell the people who live here are fun and creative.

This tour has left me more inspired than any other tour on this site! Please don't take these comments as backhanded compliments, but I would love to create my home in a similar style EXCEPT that I feel like it would be a nightmare to clean. I have a tendency to get rid of anything that might be considered clutter. This space, though, is exactly what it is about a place that makes me happy. Thank you!

This place is so unique and interesting. A lot of stuff, and I would hate to dust, but it looks so lived in and welcoming. I have a tendency to have to much stuff too, but you seem to make it work. Nice!

http://www.makemineeclectic.wordpress.com

Love the pink and red propeller rug in the LR. Where did you get it?

Beautiful space overall. Thanks.

Go JP! I live in jp, and I love seeing Boston AT post about my neighborhood. Excellent space, ladies.

For those who asked, I knew I recognized the rug in the living room, it's a floor mat made by Koko Company: http://www.kokocompany.com/

Whoa, only meant to bold a few words, sorry.

The Koko Company floormat is great becasue it is reversible, can be used indoors or outdoors and cleans up super easy if there is a spill: http://pillowsandthrows.com/kc01422.html

I have the privilege of knowing and loving these ladies. They throw the best dinner parties ever, as you can imagine. I'm glad to see their creativity reaching more appreciators via the world wide web. My only complaint is that the writer did us all a disservice by not taking pictures of their back porch, which I guess is probably not in top form in February, but in the spring, it's very sweet and a great place for a casual candle-lit dinner.

Also, I'm glad to see the staghorn fern is still alive!
Kisses from Oakland, ladies! I miss you mightily!

Definitely interesting with the use of so many different materials, objects, and styles. Neat kitchen for sure.

But, the cluttttter.

Your home makes me happy. Happy is good.

I wish I'd had Sara and Megan's style back when I lived in J.P. This is definitely the kind of place that makes you want to promise anything to get an invite. . . and I do mean anything. :-)

thanks for info on 2nd rug, but where is the first carpet pictured from? thanks for sharing your home.

Good for you....for collecting used furniture and other necessities. The clutter of the little stuff is the part that bothers me personally, but that's o.k. The BEST part about the house?....your seating area in the KITCHEN...SO COOL!

Awesome place -- you guys have personality, creativity, and real style! In particular, kudos on all the color you use.
I love seeing a place that doesn't adhere to cookie-cutter modern style but instead takes chances and makes them work. Thanks so much for sharing.

Do you know anything about the origin of your dining room chairs (and table if it matches)...they look almost identical to my great grandparent's set that my mother now has.... They still have the original chair coverings, pea green velour floral pattern...ick.

Lovely and brilliantly put together considering the sources for materials. Looks like two girls I'd love to hang out with!

Isn't this how everyone lives in their early 20's?

Except for the creepy hand soaps that look like they amputated baby arms. My friends had mannequin heads or arms or bottom halves, or dress forms. One had doll heads. for some reason, mixing adult and baby appendages is creapy.

I called the rug manufacturer...you can order from them directly on theirother site at kokotrends.com

Yay!

an evocative space with EXCELLENT hand soaps! love em.

I really like this place! Love the color, the stuff, everything -- very homey. Ok, I don't like the hand soaps though. Thanks for sharing!

hi, i love you can i please move in! your place is so homey...sigh.

I love it!
Cozy , warm eclectic and unpretentious.

Clutter? Am I missing something? This appealing, artistic apartment doesn't seem that cluttered to me! I love modern minimalism but it can be taken way too far - in the direction of sterility and utter lack of imagination. The chair and ottoman in the kitchen are brilliant.

Wow, this place is awesome and I'll second that it's the most inspiring AT post I've seen. Not only have Megan and Sarah been able to combine their things and make it look fun, cool, hip and creative. I love that they don't have "generic" furniture that you can find at a chain store and their ideas and colors make this a home. Unlike everyone else, I don't think the place is cluttered, I think it highlights their finds and personalities. I'm sick of seeing modern furniture is giant, sterile rooms, yawn! Love, Love, Love, fabulous jobs Ladies!

It's fun, it's quirky, it's incredibly interesting, it's cluttered, it's PERFECT. Thanks for sharing! :)

This place reminds me of my old roommates and my old apartment. It was much smaller, so it looked way more cluttered, but we had the same sort of style and friends always said the same thing when they came over: that they could look around our place for hours and still find something new and interesting to look at. We are both huge thrift/rummage sale shoppers so we'd always be bringing home weird old things that ended up somewhere in the house.

The big city plan map in the kitchen really caught my eye as we had taken a book of city planning maps we'd found at a garage sale and framed them all and put them in the bathroom!

It was such a great home and this one looks like just that.

What is sacrificed for cozy, homeyness is best use of space, editing for clutter and random compulsive collecting. You just can't have both. It's hard for me to appreciate, simply because just having something because I like it with little regard for its neighbors (what it will be cramped against or forced to visually copulate with) is to jarring to live with.

However, I do respect those who can live and share that kind of fecklessness. Kudos. I am also amazed at the many posts that find an affinity with this school of decorating and living.

The floors are gorgeous!!!!

I appreciate this space a lot. You can tell a lot about the women who live here and I imagine they would be a riot to hang out with. The rug in the living room makes it for me and I agree with sitting down reading cookbooks in the kitchen. Great stuff, ladies!

Love, love, love! Reminds me of my friends' places in Nashville -- artists all.

Please share -- what is the red paint? Perfect.

Alittle to much "stuff" for me but very homey and def has style and creativity. I dont like the streamers in D/R area, JMO. I love the splashes of pink through out. Looks like a cool fun place. I dont really dig the chairs in the kitchen.

Of all the abodes I have seen over the course of the one year I have been subscribing, I have to say that this is the one place that I have most appreciated being shown. This home has so much style. It is said to be a bit on the cluttered side but this is realistic. Seeing all those stylized homes, while pretty, they just do not resonate. This home belongs to two individuals with their own possessions and sense of style and to see these two personalities merge into one household is what so many of us are trying to accomplish. It is easy to have a streamlined place when living alone, when able to afford a series of matching shelves or Danish furniture(retro or new) or lucky enough to live among built-ins. When trying to combine households, there is a huge challenge and Sarah and Megan took it on and conquered it. These are two women with interesting possessions. There are stories to be told of their acquisitions. So many homes I have seen look like they were staged and everything purchased in one shipment from one store at one time. Though that may not be the case, they are vapid though remaining very pretty and airy. This place is comfy, beautiful, colorful, alive, has stories to tell, inviting, creative, cohesive and it is everything I want my home to be. Frankly, in my experince, those with a little more stuff are a little more interesting and have a little more personality and interests than those with only the necessary decor. These are not hoarders but geez, there sure are alot of stuffaphobes. I see them having as much stuff as most people I visit but more than a staged home for sale.

I love the rug. But has anyone has any experience with this type of rug? Does it feel like a plastic yoga mat or does it feel at all rug-like. There's a lot of cool mats out there but I'm hesitant to use them for any real living space.

Too much going on - doesn't feel "clean" to me (soiled chairs).
There is some nice stuff - I'm just overwhelmed looking for it.

What a great place to hang out. It almost seems like a very cool coffee shop. I couldn't live there, though, but you can't deny it's a loved space. Plus, I love the duvet cover in Megan's bedroom.

This is awesome. I love homes that have a nice flow but look like people live there.

Sort-of-related JP question: is it possible to find a home to purchase in JP or Fort Hill that hasn't been renovated up the ass?

I'm frequently going into people's (rented) apartments around here and seeing great period detail like built-ins and oldschool kitchens, but then when I look for something to buy, they've either renovated it extensively so that it's super-modern (and totally out of my price range), or they've ripped out the kitchen and closets and so forth and replaced it with cheap crappy Home Depot stuff like white laminate cabinets and those awful front doors with the oval fake stained glass panel. I can't remember the last time I saw anything for sale around here that even had the radiators still there and not replaced with baseboard convectors. Is there some special place I should be looking other than the MLS?

I'm not surprised to hear the roommates mention dumpster diving. Their apartment just looks like a random collection of mismatched "stuff" to me. But to each his own. As long as they enjoy their space, that's all that matters.