apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I love your Dining room hutch...it looks so familiar. I'm looking for something like this myself. Is this a Pottery Barn or flea market find?

Modern Gothic is my new found love!

http://www.modernests.com/2009/03/kitchen-cabinetry-trend-and-gothic.html

I want to see more examples of the style! :)

Oh!...and I have that brown rug from West Elm. I always saw it as having the obvious Middle Eastern flair, BUT seeing it in this setting, I have a new found love for it. Nicely done. :)

I love all the animals lined up on the mantel.

Where did you get the wallpaper for the nursery?

This is lovely—so original! I watched the slideshow first, and was especially impressed with the gorgeous living room. Was surprised to see that it was a challenge to decorate!

I absolutely love this! Love the use of dark colors on the walls.

-Karen
www.cheekyliving.com
http://blog.cheekyliving.com/

fave post ever on AT

love this place! very cute house!

http://www.makemineeclectic.wordpress.com

Lovely, lovely home.
So personal and creative.
And the architectural style of the house is so beautiful I would never have noticed the aluminum siding.

First time envy on AT. Very impressive.

The dining room paint color is very nice and the older china cabinet is a nice touch.

Really beautiful. What's the paint color for the wall where the fireplace mantel is? It's perfect!

it's so gorgeous! I finally found a house tour i'm bookmarking I love it so much. great job.

I miss RISD & providence (my alma mater)! what a wonderful area!

Sublime and inspiring...just the way a good AT house tour should be. I adore this home - soooo well done.

Wow. What a wonderful, interesting, and creative home! Bravo!

Loving the greys and the yellows and the hutch and the art.
And now I want a hide-out.
Also very nice to see the exterior. Great place!

The nursery mural is just wonderful--like one of those mexican embroidered coverlets exploded on the walls. I love the unique gothic twist--and twins are a bit gothic, anyway. Great tour!!!

When I read 'gothic' in the title, I initially wasn't interested in looking any further....but what a very pleasant surprise! The creativity is way at the top of the charts, and you can tell artists live there. Very interesting color choices but not in a too dark or dreary way. The punches of color and creative touches make this place lively and fun! The artwork is great, btw.

OMG!!!! I love it! This is the most refreshing and inventive home I have ever seen on AT. Love the mantel, the blue plates, the babies' room, and the fact that you balanced all that could-be doom and gloom theme with enough light, color, sophistication, and playfulness to make it so cozy and kid friendly. Ugh. I love it so much.

P.S. I would have loved the doom and gloom on it's own, it's just put together so impeccably. Thanks for sharing!

I love so much about this house.

For one, it's one of the most personal spaces I've ever seen! I feel like after awhile, most of the house tours start to look the same.

I also love the fact that the stenciled areas aren't perfect- a little paint went off the edges and they carried onto the next. Which is really cool. I struggle with things looking perfect in my home and I wish I could be a bit more laid back.

The natural light in the house is great! I wish our ranch had that much light. We just bought it and the lack of light was the only thing that bothered me. So I'm a bit envious of all your windows!

I love love the color on the walll in the dining room. Can you please let me know what color that is?

Thanks!

Stephen:)

I love it! It's like Tim Burton's house if he had more taste and restraint!

I adore the kitchen backsplash. I saw those tiles at Home Depot and thought of doing the very same thing, but worried they would look like they belonged on a bathroom floor. Now you have me rethinking....

Any yeah, the twins are a nice touch. Very The Shining. :)

The living room stencils are awe-inspiring, and they have a great art collection beautifully displayed.

Also there's nothing more gothic than having a room under the stairs to lock the children in - very Addams Family ;)

A lot of work obviously went into this place and there are plenty of striking details (the skulls in the dining room, the nursery wall, the art, the music corner...) but as a whole, it didn't go far enough for me. I would've liked to have seen the goth-Alice-in-Wonderland-on-vacation sort of theme pushed even harder. Spindly furniture, more dramatic window treatments, more patterns, more ornamentation, etc. It's a little too...normal. (Though probably much more family-friendly than what I have in mind.)

Favorite House Tour ever ever EVER! I would be interested in anything from these people in the future! I have bookmarked the house tour, bookmarked the Etsy site, and I wish there was more. I just love it! Personal and stylish and tastefully edited. I also appreciate seeing where Jennifer creates her artwork. It's like a behind-the-scenes tour too! Ok, rave over.

I toally love this house. The home owner Jen is very talented. The painting of the nursery wall is fantastic. The best house tour. Gorgeous looking inside and the style of the house outside is fantastic. Very jealous ! :)

There were 28 comments on this post. When I clicked onto the comments, it was zeroed out. This has happened at other times....why is that?

Love the mural in the boys' bedroom! I also really love the the way you've arranged the animals on the living room fireplace mantel.

Oh yes, and I agree with HereOrOverThere: the exterior of the house is fantastic!

lol @ "greetings from pawtucket"
nice place, i can dig it.

I like it! Its different in a wonderful way.

WOW! This is really different from the norm, and I absolutely love it.

This is Jen, the homeowner. Thank you everyone for your wonderful comments and feedback!

edava72: We bought the hutch from a friend, but I believe it's from Crate & Barrel

deckbd:The walls in the nursersy were painted by me

thistlefinch: The mantle color is Olympic (from Lowes) it is called 'Widow's Walk'.

stephen43215: The dining rm./ kitchen/ bedroom color is also Olympic- 'Oswego Tea'

kellylc: I was somewhat worried that the backsplash tiles were too bathroom floorish, but I love the result. Also, my dad & I did all the work, so the whole project was really inexpensive.

Thanks again!

Great Home! Love it!
edava72, the hutch is from Crate and Barrel, its the "Faulkner"
I am heading to etsy right now! Ciao

Jen French artwork: the two little bear children with something (barn? house? schoolhouse maybe?) in background. Wonderful! They look very ... unperturbed.
But I love the elegant Tiger Queen painting too.

You've got a beautiful and welcoming front entranceway there. Really like the look: beadboard arch. Nice detailing. Who'd ever think of the siding with such nice proportions to satisfy the eye?

I LOVE IT!!!!!! this is probably my favorite house tour ever. really beautiful.

Congrats on a lovely home! You're really respected the original space and added to it to make it your own and fit your family. I can't wait to see what you eventually do to bring the exterior back to its former glory!

i love this so much! definitely my style :)

Fantastic -- I love the wall with the guitars...

I can't think of something to type that matches the expression on my face- this is gorgeous. Unbelievable. Heart-stopping.

Truly an inspiration for all of us who love the darker side of things:

http://shockthebourgeois.blogspot.com/2009/04/dare-to-dream-embracing-my-inner-goth.html

I really love your house.Your style and palette are similar to mine,although I prefer 1800's furniture and cemetary art(grave rubbings and photos of NOLA cemetaries).
I have never seen 70's mediterranean furniture look so good!Thanks for the tour,Lisa

This house has soul. It shows the creative spirit of the family that lives there. Love it!

so wonderful...something to aspire to!

Jen! What a gorgeous & unexpected surprise to see your eternally lovely style and talent pop up! :-)

There is so much style a character in this home! Very lovely!

I love this house so much! It's warm and creative--what a wonderful place to live. My favorite house tour, by far. Thanks to Jen and Rob for sharing.

Thank you Maxwell for sharing this fabulous home with us. It feels so comfortable and as though the homeowners really enjoy being in the house. Love the gray walls and the sophisticated style of the nursery.

I love it so much I am weeping inside! I would love to spend one afternoon sitting in these rooms.

So. Utterly. Fabulous.

stunning. the concept is very well done on the lower level. i felt it got a little lost in the upper level BUT it's probably a much needed foil to the dark on a daily basis. i'd live there.

This house is perfection. Such a beautiful essence to it. Magnificent! I absolutely love the Music Room.

Inspiring and funny and so so so creative, thank you!

This whole home is absolutely beautiful - what a lovely place for two little boys to grow up in and what a talented mom they have, your paintings Jen - are marvellous. Can you come and visit me for a while with paint and brushes in hand? Thank you for sharing.

The owner is very talented and artistic. I do like it, but I do have 2 criticisms. Everyone has different tastes and these are only my personal opinions.

(1) Similar art for nearly the entire house is overwhelmingly too much.

(2) The house is so carefully decorated, painted, furniture pieces painstakingly chosen, etc to fit in with the decor, that my eyes literally got a huge shock when the closet hide out image showed a loud blaring plasticky push toy / walker thing. YIKES. What happened to classic wooden toys - which would go so well with the rest of the house??? Not to mention, much better for the toddlers imaginations?

Very, very imaginative. Everyone who is a regular reader knows my negative reaction to deer antlers, and in fact, antlers of any kind. An overused and depressing decorative cliche. Beyond that, I liked that the dark colors, the stenciling, and the unpretentious yet imaginative bathroom and kitchen.

Please don't criticize the occasional plastic toy if you have had children. The children have tastes of their own, and the occasional plastic toy will creep in. In fact, some plastic toys have a spirit and life of their own. Legos and playmobile were irreplaceable parts of my child's life. I emphasized tasteful wooden toys, my daughter could have cared less.

The wall treatment in the twins' room was just fantastic.

Do me a favor, and take the deer antlers down. Then you will get my vote as one of the most fantastic house efforts ever.

Where is the bedspread in the guest room from?

Just excellent! Clearly the home of inspired artists, I truly admire what you have done with the dark brown paint - something I've wanted to do for years but have always been too scared to. This is the most best 'fun adult' house I've seen in some time. Love the art deco bath.

I'd like to know about the guest room bedspread as well.

So much to love about this place! The octopus in the bathroom is a masterstroke.

The twin's room mural is sure to be etched into their minds forever. What a wonderfully artful beginning for their lives!

This New Gothic aesthetic is something I'd like to see more of. Thank you to those of you who posted some links to see more. I discovered some valuable resources on the comments above. For an evocative experience of a slightly gothic kind when in my hometown of New York City on a budget be sure to stay here

http://www.thejanenyc.com/

The bar is amazing. (If you can get in!)

Thank you, everyone, for the overwhelmingly positive responses to our house tour! It's very satisfying to get such great feedback. We have worked hard on this house and really love it.

To mmpartofD2 & easnyc: The bedspread in the guest room is from Rob's parents' house in Virginia. It was bought sometime in the late 60's early 70's, and used as a picnic blanket for many years because Rob's mom thinks it is hideous. In fact, I promised to take it off the bed when she stays in the guest room. To each his own!

To AustinSarah-I completely understand your reaction to antlers- they are everywhere at the moment. All I can say is, they came from my family's ranch in Montana, I think they look beautiful juxtuposed with the white china in the hutch, and they will probably be there long after the 'woodland chic' thing has run it's course.

You have a lovely home. In a home w/children, I especially like that there are lots of fun things ~ the secret cubby and the fort. Guest room amazing ~ would not want to leave. The menagerie on the mantle is perfect...I'm inspired.

Oh! and your artwork...how funky is that?!

gorgeous and different. i love the dark paint and the baby room wall treatment is stunning.

I don't think I would have chosen a gothic style myself, but I must say I love your house. I think everything has done in such a creative way...; the distribution, the details, the colours... amazing

I love the dressers, placement of the furnishings, and love the rich browns, nicely done in the style you love. I was thinking though that the stencil design in the child's room might have been better in your room?? Just though it was kind of creepy for a child's room, no real happy colours going on there, yet the kitchen, bathroom and your bedroom are bright..