apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Seriously: FIX THE SLIDE SHOWS

I can't watch anything on my laptop, the box on top and the ads take half the screen space! Will this go on forever? I'm so dissapointed, I'm missing all the good stuff!

Sorry about "yelling", but this situation is majorly bumming me out.

Slide show worked for me, but I wish the photos had some info on them so I could tell what I was looking at.

That's a great house! Just thinking about hanging that wallpaper makes me feel faint. Looks to me like there were some walls knocked down... I've never seen a "suburban home" look so much like a loft.

Oh, and the photo of the dog is awesome.

I agree that the photos are too low in the overall frame.
The photos are somewhat oversaturated for my taste. Some shots in works but indoors everything seems dark.

The dining table is fantastic!

Independence! :) I lived in Warrensburg for 8 years so I'm very familiar with the area. There you go representing again!!

This does NOT look like a MW home, very interesting and the dark floors are beautiful. Keep it up Sarah, I'm still pullin' for you!!

Oh, yeah, the pic of the dog=SWEET!! You should take it somewhere and have them put it on canvas for your friends..

Hey, nice find. Good job, Sarah. I really like the wallpaper.

t8
www.strangeclosets.com

When design takes priority, the result is often strange closets.

I agree about the slideshows... It's very annoying to have to scroll down everytime the page reloads.

rhiana- The dining table was done custom by Matt himself. It was a piece of his from a gallery show that he loved... and so it became their kitchen table. It really shows off the space... and his talent well!

animalhouze- You're right it doesn't look like the typical suburbs! They spent many long nights working on their renovation. They are working on the nursery now (which is picture # 24). They took down walls, scraped ceilings, refinished floors and did everything themselves... like most mid-westerners!

juliaonhamilton- My apologies for the low lighting. The Mills home has an amazing ambient light quality to it... however, on a stormy overcast day things tend to be a bit darker. Which was the reason for the adjustments of the photos.

r.b.z.- The Mills have worked very hard to achieve a lofty-contemporary feel to a home that on any other street would have been filled with oversized furniture.
They are a great example of making your space a place that truly represents you... no matter where you live.
Here are some clarifications to some photos you might not have had a handle on:

The nursery: Is currently a work in progress (They are expecting this fall!)
Hallway Photos: Looking down the hallway if you were to turn to your right, you would be in the entryway and the front room. There is a projector over the stairs for the pull down screen above the bay window.
DVD Storage- This area was closed walls when their first purchased the house. The walls came down, and it is now a walkway to their kitchen allowing traffic to flow around all sides of the staircase!

Wow, what an awesome living space! I would love to know more about the custom table, and how those wall panels were done. Seems like a great example of some ikea hacks too.

Great post Sarah. I have really enjoyed what you have been sharing on apartment therapy!

rosetravale: The artwork that was custom screen printed onto their kitchen table may be found here: http://www.thumbtackpress.com/browse/index.php?cPath=105&osCsid=689ec1d1a379599c187d3debe051c6a6
With a close up here: http://www.thumbtackpress.com/browse/images/mmills0011.jpg?osCsid=689ec1d1a379599c187d3debe051c6a6
It was a piece Matt did for a gallery show and loved it so much, they now dine on it every night.

Thanks so much for your comments. I'm glad you've been enjoying the posts!

Somebody wake me when the photo gallerys/slideshows work properly...

So ... they picked the suburbs? I think?

A nit from another writer - it's a great lead-in but I was really missing the payoff. You set up a dilemma (suburbs vs urban living) but then never explained the resolution. The photos are great though, and that dog is the cutest thing going.

Good luck w/the gig!

Thanks, Sarah, for finding great homes around the metro! I live in Independence too, and to know that there are cool homes outside the metro is so... heartwarming. Thanks! You're doing a great job and I will keep watch of your post!

wow, they have a great style. And a Mies chair! I always wanted one of those.. (however theirs looks smaller than the original or actual replicas - just my eyes?) I was in Architecture in one of my previous professional lives.. and really dig the clean lines and the open spaces. I do wish the windows weren't so heavily treated.. the windows can make a room.

It's clear that they're still working on parts of the house, but they have a solid personality in their style.

so tell me, what's your honest take on that dining room wallpaper? First, I'm not big on wallpaper in general. And that stuff hit me like a truck in the first photo I saw, but as I looked at their decor, and looked at the photos more, the more it grew on me and it really fits. It's really complex, but subtle at the same time. my lappy isn't color friendly, so is that chocolate brown and white? or...?

Anyway, great photos Sarah, and great details! You have a great eye for showing off the best of a home. Even the rooms under construction! (and even the dog looks cute! well.. ok, I'm sure he really is!)

I live in Kansas CIty (S. of Independence a bit).
Congrats on a great reno.
We're doing the same...
Wondering where the owners got the wallpaper?
I love wallpaper.

Terrific space. Congrats!

Wow! Thanks to all for your comments on our home. Thanks to Sarah for doing such a great job making our house look it's best.

Amber and I have put a lot of hard work into this place and there is still a ton to do. We've tackled the big stuff, now we will go through and fix and tweak. They say it never stops.

Buddha (our bulldog) thanks you all for the kind words. He LOVES the attention...

WALLPAPER - Amber and I made an agreement regarding the wallpaper hanging process... What happens in the process stays in the process. We got very frustrated with each other several times as a result of the difficulties in hanging somewhat expensive wallpaper in a limited amount of time. We used the "Paste the wall method offered by GrahamandBrown.com - also where we purchased the wallpaper. It is a matte charcoal background with silver metallic ink pattern. It catches the light and creates a nice subtle transition across the approx. 25' long accent wall.

DINING TABLE - This is an illustration that I created for an art show in KC. I had it printed directly onto 3/4" finish grade birch plywood (Home Depot - $40). The printing was done by Focus Printing Group in KC, KS. It was printed on a 6 color vacuum table ink jet-type printer. Amazing possibilities, as it can print on substrates up to 2" thick.

The piece hung on a wall for a month in a gallery and was far too large for our walls (darn 8' ceiling height!), so I decided to make a base for it out of some 2x4's and put locking casters on it for ease of use. It is perfect for dinner parties and game nights. Because it is 4'x8', the casters make it easy to roll out of the way to clean or make better space of the room per occasion.

Thanks again all. Questions always welcome. Best of luck with your own renovations and on-going home-making. Here's to the burbs!

Cheers!
Matt and Amber

That wallpaper is absolutely awesome. It reminds me of lace, and I love lace.

What a wonderful space! I really like how the area around the staircase is open - and I enjoyed the window treatments too, they really helped pull together the different elements in the rooms. It's well planned and has a great flow! Oh, and yet another compliment on the floors, I love the subtle drama that they bring. Keep up the great posts, Sarah - and congratulations to Matt & Amber plus baby!

Cannot watch slideshows anymore!!! So disappointing!

I have no idea where Independence is, so the intro let me down. Did they move to the suburbs or pick the city? And why? What are the benefits of where they live now?

Also-- and this is an issue across AT that I've noticed of late-- what's with the glaring typos? Who is proofreading these articles?

the table is fabulous!

Nice home, but some of the photos are awful. I'm sure you turned on all the lights, but then all the glowing light orbs are so distracting, and I think they're changing the colors in the photos as well. Also, some of the photos seem like they're not level, which could easily be fixed in Photoshop.

kschaff,

Unfortunately, most of Sarah's story was left out. Not sure if this was a formatting issue or what... Anyway, I'll try to fill in some blanks.

Independence is a suburb of Kansas City, Missouri. We chose to live in the burbs over the city, but it was a very close call. The benefits to both were so close to evenly matched in terms of our lifestyle and desires in a community.

Kansas City is making huge strides in it's art scene and urban appeal in general. There are a lot of nice things going on that attract a couple of 20 somethings. This also makes it a little harder to find a good place in the right neighborhood with a limited budget. The other downfall to living in KC is the school district. After so many years of battling too many issues to list here, the KC School District leaves a lot to be desired.

Amber and I were looking for a place to start a family. So, that is one point for the burbs. Most of our family lives within a 10 minute drive of us now... point 2.

In the end, we were able to find a house with more amenities for a better price in the suburbs. Being a 1965 ranch home (cookie cutter = lack of personality) it made it a lot easier to go in and create a space that was our own.

Sometimes homes with a ton of personality give you a great place to start aesthetically, but when it comes to changes I might start to second guess some of my decisions. I might be afraid I was stripping the character out of a place if it had so much charm to begin with.

There was no guilt in removing the wooden spindles that graced the half walls framing the entry, or scraping the popcorn texture off the ceilings. Our home was a blank canvas when we purchased it.

In the end, I feel it was the right decision - move to the burbs to break through the stereotypes of all the hipsters out there paying way too much for a "loft" in the heart of the city. We both work in the city. We get to go out to the restaurants and the shows. But at the end of the day, we get to drive East a bit, turn into our quaint neighborhood of mostly older people and enjoy some peace and quiet.

Old people keep their lawns looking good... did I mention that benefit?

great house.

terrible article.

Awsome awsome awsome! Great job! One word of advice though, when the budget allows (cause it ain't cheep) invest in custom window treatments or find a friend who can sew. It will really finish the complete look! Great job guys, I love it!