Name: Vee
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
My husband and I have been living in our dream condo for almost two years now. It is relatively small, compared to our previous free-standing home, but has two comfortable bedrooms and full bathrooms (and a balcony!). We usually spend all of our time in the open living space that includes the kitchen, living and dining areas.
This same space also serves as our fulltime office (we work from home), our "arts room" where we play musical instruments (piano, guitar, etc.) and make our artwork (painting, sculpting, jewelry making, etc). Being such a multi-use space, this room had to be setup so that it could meet all of our needs at once, while remaining beautiful, relaxing, uncluttered, well-organized and a true reflection of "us".
I’d describe our style as "modern, comfy, natural and meaningful". Pretty much every decorative item in the living space was acquired because it has special meaning, or it is something we created it ourselves. My husband's conviction is to only acquire things that mean something special or significant and we try to steer clear of too many items that are mass-produced, no matter how good they may look or how popular they may be. To pick a few, you’ll notice that we have a large 2-piece canvas in our living room — this is a custom collage of pictures we took during our travels around Europe and Latin America. You'll notice a mosaic of two large geckos on a sidewall that we made — this was inspired by Philadelphia's famous "South Street Mosaic House" (the geckos are inspired by the little lizards that inhabit St. Pete Beach, Florida where we love to go for short trips).
Thanks, Vee!
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The windows are to die for. So much natural light is my dream!
Beautiful condo BUT ...... horrible place to place a piano, or any other valuable musical instrument . That location is likely to make tuning of the instrument very unstable and has potential to do irrepairable damage to the instrument (i.e. cracked, split, warped soundboards.) And depending on the finish of the piano, it is likely to crackle the finish over time also. Keyboard instruments (of the non-plastic non-electronic sort) need to be placed out of direct sunlight, ideally on an interior wall, and away from heating and a/c vents or radiators. Not easy to accomplish in this kind of space it know, but important if you value the instrument.
You might try a folding screen, perhaps a custom made one that is only the height of the piano, to protect the instrument from sun rays. I have used that kind of solution to protect one of my instruments ( a clavichord made of red fir) that lives near an east facing window. My grand piano lives by heavy closed drapes, not an ideal solution. An my two harpsichords both stay as far away from windows as possible.
Gorgeous gorgeous light and airy! And beautiful art!
too bad its in philly.
For folks who claim that source and meaningfulness of their furnishings are important to them...
...they sure chose alot of generic-modern & WestElm furniture for their place.
@joeshack - Philly Rocks!!!!!!!!!
I am trying to figure out what building this might be located in by looking out the window. Can you give us the name of the condo building?
Beautiful. This is my downtown dream home.
bepsf - I think she wrote that all their "decorative" items were those that they tried to keep meaningful, paintings, sculptures, etc, etc. Furniture is something else :-)
Love the place!
I love the pops of orange and turquoise.
I'm pretty sure this is the Murano at 21st and Market.
Philly is a nice place for sure.
@kahlil - it is definitely the Murano, with some unfortunate views right into the office building across the street, but also with great southern exposure views.
Hey guys! Thanks so much for all your comments. We JUST found out that our place was featured today!
@NickGood - You're 100% right about piano location. After speaking with a piano tuner we built a sun-protective screen on the back of it that we hope will continue to work:)
@bepsf - You're totally right too about furniture (couches, white chair and side table are from westelm), and I should've clarified what @Paula1999 did catch: Our decorative items (paintings, sculptures, artwork, etc) -which (we hope) create the personality of our place- are the things that truly meet the "meaningful" criteria :-)
@kahlil - Yup! it's the Murano, and you are right, the southern exposure views are AWESOME :-)
Thanks to ALL of you again!
Philly DOES rock! ;-)
Yay Philly! So jealous of your fabulous windows! Such a bright and airy home.
Vee-- Thanks for a peek inside the Murano. I've been wondering what the units look like when I pass by on my way to Trader Joe's! And your tribute to the South Street mosaic house is awesome!
philly is a great city & you've got a sweet space!
Love this place! The luminosity, the colours, vibrant and relaxing, hard to pull off at the same time. Well done.
LOVE me some Philly, When I move back I am looking for a place just like yours and so what if your furniture is from West Elm LOL. I would move in there in a second.
your place is so vibrant and happy! and I love the pendant over the cafe dining table - nice warming touch.
Philadelphia happens to be one of the most versatile cities in the northeast. Great food; good shopping, the Philadelphia Orchestra(!!!), the Pennsylvania Ballet, museums galore, and a very civilized lifestyle. Don't knock it until you try it!
veephilly - Is the custom collage piece the two piece you can see best in the last photo? Can you tell me a bit more about how you did that/had that done?
I love seeing other Philly homes! Makes it all seem a bit more doable :) And yes, been wondering about the inside of the Murano - thanks for sharing!
Wow! Thanks for all the positive feedback. I'm so glad you enjoyed the pictures as it is my pleasure to share some inside pics of this wonderful building that we are so lucky to live in.
@tinos - I could not agree MORE with you. To be honest the city is as much of a reason we're so happy here, as it is our place! (and I'm not originally from Philly!)
@MarjorieAnn - Thanks so much for noticing one of my favorite pieces! We bought the pendant in Bolivia, South America, which is a country very dear to my heart for many reasons.
@PhillyLass - Thanks so much! The mosaic was a super fun and quite inexpensive project. So happy you liked it!
@smackdown - Yes, that is the custom collage! I designed the idea on paper and then worked with a friend (who is a photoship wizard) to create the digital picture. Finally we worked with md-canvas.com to get it printed. I know there are many similar companies, but I HIGHLY recommend them. Their quality is amazing.
To all - Thanks again!!
GREAT COLOR !
Hi Vee, thank you for addressing some of our questions. I love your place, especially how you made the colors work. So happy, consistent and alive. I work close by the Murano and was wondering if you know that they are filming scenes for a movie as I write this comment, with Robert de Niro, literally right across your condo building.
How is that the people so disdainful of the mass offerings of Ikea, West Elm and the like are so familiar with the inventory of those shops that they can spot any piece of their furniture immediately?
Oh, love the colours by the way, and that view!
Dang, this makes me totally miss Philly and that gorgeous white building and that Trader Joe's (except at about 4:30 when EVERYONE is in line!), and ... you have a lovely place!
I love your concept of only acquiring only things that mean something to you. I live downtown Philly in The Ellington, in a duplex. Storage is always the issue. I wish I could get my partner to adopt the same philosophy. You guys have done a beautiful job. Congratulations!
The lightening of your home is really good!
idontdobeige, kattykat, PhillyBob and emal - thanks for your warm comments and sorry for such a late reply! Best wishes and hope you had a wonderful Memorial day wend :-)