Name: Erin from Design For Mankind
Location: Los Angeles
Size: 2200 ft2
Years lived in: 3, Owned
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Erin from Design For Mankind was nice enough to let us in to see her organized home (perfect for the close of organizing month!). She's definitely a collector, a thrifter, a girl full of projects, but there's nothing out of place or cluttered about her home. She's found a place for everything (and everything in its place). We loved peeking in to see how she organizes her collections and the things that she loves while maintaining a really inspiring and welcoming home:
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Erin certainly seeks to inspire. She might be most well known for the dailies, peeks into people's daily lives that she posts on her blog Design For Mankind. Now she's expanding her blog to include downloadable inspiration e-zines using themes like vintage photographs and nature. Her home seems to be a collection of inspiration. From the fireplace hung with thrift store paintings (sideways and upside down) to the black and white objets that sit nicely and decoratively on shelves. We're glad we got to take a peek before Erin and her husband move from this home to be closer to their families. Good luck Erin, can't wait to see the new place!
AT Survey:
How would you describe your style? Hmm, I'm a tough one, because it seems to change from day to day. Right now I'm really enjoying the natural light, so some Danish furniture and neutral color palette would probably make me swoon.
Favorite Room? My bedroom--- hands down! It's so homey, but still aesthetically adventurous.
Where do you get your inspiration? Oh gracious--- everywhere. The inspiration for our bedroom was totally centered around The Viceroy in Santa Monica--- I attended an event there and wouldn't leave until I had seen every room! It's absolutely gorgeous. My daily inspiration comes from silence; I use it to recharge and redirect my expectations and priorities.
Most talked about elements in your house? Probably the collage of paintings over our fireplace. Visitors stop and look at the paintings, cock their head and say "Ohhhhh, I see." [hint: most of the paintings are sideways or upside down, b/c I liked them better that way!]
Most embarrassing part of the house? Ha. My garage. I have been hoarding vintage furniture that I hope to upholster some day... when I learn how to sew, that is! Needless to say, it's a wreck down there.
Proudest diy? This would be my husband's area of expertise. Basically, we both hate having the TV as a focal point of a room. It just screams to be watched when it's always visible, and I find the TV absolutely draining. So my husband got to work using a projector and screen we had from our former apartment. He created a tiny little James-Bond-like switch in one of the paintings over the fireplace (it's BARELY visible) so that the projector screen could retract with the flip of a switch! Even better? There's a remote control. Guests drool, and I'm quite happy feeling a bit like the Jetsons for the day!
Dream piece of furniture/Favorite store? I would love to inherit an apothecary cabinet from a relative, or something with meaning behind. I'm a big fan of repurposed furniture and using items in creative ways. My favorite store is called Vintage Home; it's a tiny shack filled to the brim with ephemera, just down the street from my home. I visit it daily for a breathe of fresh design!
Where you actually buy things? I'm a thrifter ALL the way. My bedroom was designed with a budget of $500 (I hate spending a ton of money on ANYTHING!). So, a lot of the pieces were from Craig's List, thrift stores or handmade. When I'm in the mood for a splurge and I simply can't find anything that works, I run to Anthropologie. I've been known to blow my budget on a bedspread or two there. ;)
Best Advice? Plan the room before you start the design. Make notes, find photos of similar room layouts that you love. And don't stop until you love what you've got. For my bedroom, I had originally chosen a teal/wooden theme, but I couldn't take my eye off the black/white damask curtains that I'd found at Vintage Home. I fell in love and re-worked the design from there. It's much easier to tackle a room when you've got a specific color palette in mind, or if you have a piece that you know you'd like to include.
Any Cleaning or Organizing tips?I'm not a big cleaner, but I organize like a manic person. My favorite tip is utilize household items for new ideas and don't be afraid to mix it up. My paperclips are kept in a soap dish on my desk, my oven is a shoe rack and a plant stand holds my vintage hats. I wouldn't have it any other way!
Oldest item you own? One of the paintings over the fireplace was signed in 1882, with what appears to be quill ink. It was only $2 at the thrift shop, and I just had to take it home with me! :)
What you'll miss most! (Erin is Moving!) Our house is currently on the market and we're planning to move back midwest to be with our families. I'll miss the sunshine that pours in through the MANY windows we have. It makes working on a computer all day a LOT less depressing!
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Photos by Erin Loechner
I like your plate and mirror wall...the black and white is very chic and i would never get sick of looking at it!
view Legsly39's profile
Nice, but still no slide show.
view hrhprincessfiona's profile
Do these slideshows work for anyone?
view dmstudio's profile
do you mean 'work' design wise or function wise, because for me they're functioning, let me know if they aren't linking up for you!
view laure's profile
The black and white is very neat.
The slideshow is not working for me either - function wise. I'm using the latest version of Firefox.
view coconuts's profile
Hmmm, I've added a link uptop to see all the thumbnails at once. If the slideshow won't work, you might have to do it the old fashioned way ; ) until we can figure out what's going on!
view laure's profile
Nope...no slideshow. You have to click click click....
view danze's profile
They don't function at all. They stay on just the first picture.
None of the house tour slide shows have worked since converting to the "new" format with the white background. I'm using explorer on my windows PC, but they also don't work using firefox or safari on my Mac at home. Using the arrow keys won't advance the photos, you have to go to all of the thumbnails and click on each one.
view dmstudio's profile
I just found another problem with the slideshows. If you resize the browser window to try and eliminate the need to scroll up on every photo the current photo will dissappear and you have to hit the back button on your browser and start over. I couldn't get the screen to refresh and show the current photo after resizing the window.
view dmstudio's profile
Same, same, same problem with slideshows as everyone else. I thought it was only me who was losing patience....
view JoJenks's profile
No -- they really need to go back to the old way of doing slideshows -- I refuse to even look at them now.
view dblitz1's profile
Hey everyone, in case you missed it, Maxwell wrote about the slideshows/gallery yesterday:
http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/ny/surveys/survey-how-bad-does-our-gallery-suck-051867
view leslie's profile
I love that space and all of your furnishings. The combination of every color and every piece is quite interesting. Also, It's got a romantic feel to it.
view bloobrey's profile
I love Erin home!
The black white yellow is a great idea.
The room in natural wood shades is graet and with a beautiful light!
Erin is a great sweet blogger, I read her daily!!!
view karina-elbeso's profile
I love love love the look of this place. The pieces all work really well together. I wonder why all of the furniture is up against the walls? I think it would bring everything even more together, if it was placed away from the walls.
But, really... I love it.
-Eleazar
http://www.blogazar.com
view blogazar's profile
Great interview Laure!!
Erin is the sweetest and her home is lovely - love all the black and white!
All the best,
Marichelle
hearthandmadeblog.com
view marichelle's profile
erin is fantastic and love her home. the way she dealt with the tv is great!
view cindy k's profile
Erin, Beautiful home!!! Do you mind sharing where you got the sofa and chair/ottoman in your living room (flanking the fireplace)? I'm looking for something similar. Thanks! -- Jill
view clancy's profile
for those who can't see the slide show.......when you are on the first picture after you have entered the slide show page click the button to see them all as thumbnails. From there click on the second picture. The buttons to go to the next and previous pictures should then be available and you can go through them all then.
view christinesass's profile
You have a beautiful place! Excellent job!
view suzy8track's profile
I agree with Eleazar - why is all the furniture against the walls? I feel like so much here is really good - color scheme, plate display and other choices - but the furniture arrangement could be tweaked to make it so much better.
Also - I'm not a big fan of the window treatments extending down behind the furniture. I like the window treatments themselves - I have those blinds too - but I don't know why you'd extend them that far.
With furniture grouped into conversation areas and some drapery panels to soften up the walls it could be really exceptionally cool.
view Elizcrtv's profile
Additional question. Where do you sit to watch that super cool retractable tv screen? That's a really innovative cool thing.
view Elizcrtv's profile
Yawn....
view quiltmaster's profile
Love the black, white, and yellow...
http://blackwhiteyellow.blogspot.com/
view Jess2nola's profile
christine -- even doing that, you still have to vertically scroll your screen to actually see the picture, and that's just unacceptable.
view dblitz1's profile
I love the hat stand!
view jooly's profile
Let us know when you fix the slide-show problem. It's a shame for those who took the time to submit pics.
view nazrd's profile
HI JILL!
The loveseat/chair/ottoman are from Target [the Milano collection]: http://www.target.com/gp/detail.html/ref=sc_pgc_r_5_0_4073171/601-3318650-1036939?ie=UTF8&frombrowse=1&asin=B0002F6JBW
We've had them for a few years and they're not the comfiest, but they fit the bill when we had just married! :)
HI ELEAZAR:
You're totally right. We had to move our furniture to open up the space so that potential buyers could 'envision their own looks'. I normally enjoy a lot of furniture, and before the house was on the market, that's what we had! So, if you can imagine, we had another couch and two additional vintage chairs in the space, which centered it quite a bit. I wish I had a photo of it for you! :)
Thanks for your comments everyone! :)
view designformankind's profile