Name: Lindsay Nakashima and son Hugo
Location: Hyde Park — Austin, Texas
Size: 1400 square feet
Years lived in: Owned, 10 years
Beauty permeates every inch of the Austin home of Lindsay Nakashima, the grandniece of famed Mid-Century Modern furniture maker George Nakashima. His modern and warm wood furniture designs mix with Lindsay's refreshingly simple and honest approach to design, to create a home that's entirely welcoming. And though the house has recently been sold to a new (obviously style-loving) family, we got to speak with Lindsay about her home, her great-uncle's furniture and her calming, understated style.
Lindsay tells a story of one of her son's friends taking to carving his initials in a Nakashima chair when they were younger. You recoil a little in horror when you hear, but she doesn't recount it to warn you to not touch anything. Spending her youth playing in and around George's furniture on the family compound and workshop in New Hope, Pennsylvania taught her that his furniture should be respected, but also enjoyed. Lindsay invites guests to sit, lean and eat on these pieces of immeasurable beauty, which are a mix of George Nakashima vintage originals or commissioned pieces by Mira Nakashima-Yarnall, George's daughter and head of the family business.
Japanese-inspired, modernly executed
The whole home is a perfect study of the essence and simplicity of Japanese-inspired design, but squeezed delicately through a sensible, modern filter. Subtle and elegant features to this home — implemented by Lindsay who is a design consultant, book binder and Pilates instructor — create an uncluttered, balanced mix of architecture and furniture, with a soft color palette inspired by nature. She folded in art (much of it by her father, artist Tom Nakashima, nephew of George Nakashima) and other accessories expertly. Lindsay is a master of the detail, of filling a space with a few good-quality elements. But she's also one to be frugal — she's just as likely to incorporate a clever idea like a plumbing pipe for a curtain rod as she is to splurge on high-end wallpaper, saving money by installing it carefully herself.
Located in the Hyde Park neighborhood, the Craftsman Style bungalow has good bones, and the renovations from Lindsay over the years have been necessary, smart and affordable. She highly recommends saving for built-ins so that you can tuck away your possessions neatly and easily. She used California Closets in her and her son's rooms and storage closets, and she designed and had built the huge media wall in the back office.
The kitchen received a facelift to bring it into character with the rest of the home. Previously Spanish-inspired, she took all the terra cotta tiles out, exposing the original shiplap on a few walls and painting them a deep gray, then added long-leaf pine in a gorgeous honey tone with gray veins to the sink wall back splash. Working with local woodworker Michael Yates, they studied the wood to find a pattern of the grain that would be most dynamic. She also replaced the countertops with economical gray Caesarstone and painted one wall with black chalkboard paint. All of these elements, combined with the floor-to-ceiling windows that overlook the private side yard filled with bamboo, make for a peaceful, modern kitchen, which complements a wholly relaxing house.
A list of the Nakashima furniture pieces
LIVING ROOM
• Nakashima Four-foot Settee, a George original upholstered in a warm gray modern fabric.
• Greenrock Coffee Table and Ottomans, replicas made by Mira Nakashima
• Right-Armed Lounge Chair
DINING ROOM
• Frenchmen's Cove Round-cluster Base Table (resembles the one she remembers her grandparents having in their home.)
• Mira Chairs
OFFICE
• Mira Chairs
• A desk designed for Hugo by Mira, with a lower shelf that Hugo can tuck his technology into when not in use.
Partial art list
• Roger Shimomura
• Ukiyo-e
• Framed old Japanese flags that have been restored
• Dale Nichols
• Luis Jimenez
For more information about George Nakashima, his work, and the continuing legacy of his designs and his daughter Mira's work, visit the Nakashima website. For more history about George and his life, read the great interview Maxwell had with Mira last year: Apartment Therapy Design Evenings: Mira Nakashima-Yarnall.
Thanks, Lindsay!!
(Images: Adrienne Breaux)
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The home itself is very nice as well as the furnishings. Not sure I'd do the same but being that it was sold maybe they pared down. (?).
If someone, anyone came into my home and craved their initials anywhere, there would be hell to pay. What a huge sign of disrepect for anothers property/home.
Looking at the photos, I feel my asthma disappearing. Gorgeous fresh spaces for body and soul to breath!
Love the wood back splash
May from Maywyn, I know what you mean about the asthma! What a clean, airy, and beautiful space this is!
Rural and rueful, I think the distance of the relation depends on how close the family actually was, and from the article they do make it sound like it there was a relationship there. I couldn't even tell you the names of most of my great aunts and uncles offhand--definitely "distant relations", but my dad had one uncle that he was very close with, and who lived a long time such that he was a part of my childhood as well, so that great uncle consequently feels like a "close relation" for me.
And, I almost feel bad asking such a mundane question about such an amazing place, but could you please tell us the paint colors used in the living room, dining room, and halls?
Beautiful home. As far as the 'grand niece' comment...you don't know her situation or how close she was with the man. Why does it even matter? Still a beautiful home regardless!
I'm in awe at her ability to resist the urge to accesorize. It's refreshing to see plain simple spaces, without layers of throw pillows or walls filled with frames. This home is the definition of tranquil. It gives me encouragement to do the same in my home.
In Asian culture, a grand niece can be as close as a grand daughter. It all depends on your relationship. My grand aunt (grandmothers sister) is as loving and as devoted to us as her sister is. My grand aunt is not a distant relation. In fact culturally we refer to her as grandmother too. A family link is just that. No need to read too much into it.
Such a peaceful, tranquil, Zen-like home. Love it!
Love the house.... though i felt that the kitchen didnt really match with the rest of the house. i was expecting something else.
I don't think I've ever seen a wood backsplash before, and I love it! What a beautiful home. I also like the ethic of not having anything that people are afraid to touch. That is very important to me. (Albeit I'm at the newly-married grad school phase of life, so it's not like I have to worry about buying things that people will be scared to touch. :))
Oooh, love all the air around this house. Feng shui goodness! (And makes me want to minimalize our house even more!) Please someone tell me where those two bed frames are from??
Umami for the eyes. Mmmm...
Simply lovely.
So gorgeous. I love this house.
so so lovely. thanks!
@rueral & rueful: I just visited my great aunt about two weeks ago. She spends every Christmas with us as well as many birthdays and occasional other visits. My father phones her almost every week, I maybe once a month. But according to you, I probably shouldn't tell anybody about her since she's such a distant relation?
Her whole house is full of his funiture, even if they didn't know she were related, they probably would have asked why she has so much funiture of one designer.
@Rural & Rueful,
My great uncle is actually more of a grandfather to me. I happily claim affiliation with him, even though he's not famous, just interesting and loving.
Beautiful but too stark/empty for my taste. Love the wood backsplash.
first thought that ran through my head after seeing the first/last name and the picture of the table was, 'i wonder if she's related to george nakashima'. so yes, it's an appropriate reference.
genevieve78 - i believe one of the beds is the dodu bed from blu dot
@rural and rueful, my boyfriend has benefited immeasurably from his relationship to his great-uncle, who was able to fill a roll which my boyfriend's biological grandfather was unwilling and unable to do. They have an extremely sweet relationship that I am very thankful for.
Glad to so many comments calling Rural and Rueful out on her tactless comment. My grand nieces and grand nephews are the grandchildren of my sisters. I don't think that is such a distant releationship even biologically. I don't have any idea why this is so bothersome to you or even matters as an earlier commenter pointed out.
And by the way I like this house and furniture, admire and appreciate the Japanese esthetic and the amount of discipline and restraint that required to achieve and maintain it.
To continue on the whole "how can you claim grandniece status!" thing, it's relevant that the Nakashima firm is now run by George's daughter Mira, who is Lindsay's (the homeowner's) aunt, and a close one, judging by the fact that Mira custom designed a desk for Lindsay's son Hugo. And Mira's son is also part of the firm - he would be Lindsay's (homeowner's) first cousin, as are Lindsay's uncle, great-aunt, get the idea? This is clearly a multi-generational family that has remained connected and for the purposes of the AT audience, one thing that unites them is the umbrella of the Nakashima design name. So yeah, I'd say that was a pretty relevant and pertinent detail to add to the biography above. And for the record, my mother's two sisters have been so present in my sons's lives that, instead of ever using the term "great aunt", they just think they have 4 grandmothers!
Without any doubt this is AT best home tour to date. Your home is simply elegant in the minimal approach to design you've followed! There's not one thing that looks out of place or contrived. I love the way you've mixed mid-century collectibles with new contemporary designs and the artwork is stunning. Saying it is beautiful is an understatement.
And for once I didn't mind the abundance of close-up photo's that I'm normally annoyed by....
Beautiful home and space.
The colour and furnishings the restraint
my type of home.
Well done.
Really makes you appreciate wood. I think this is one tour where I really appreciate the close-ups.
Beautiful home showcasing the warmth of wood. I adore that kitchen including the stunning backsplash & indigo dishes make me want a better glimpse of the inside of the cabinets. The bathroom photo was genius ... the lamp was clearly the star of that photo!
Please share the source for that beautiful lamp in the bathroom.
Very inspiring to get rid of all my junk! I love the simplicity and good bones of everything. Can you please share the paint colors used on walls and trim? Thank you!
The simplicity is wonderful, sculptural, and the built-ins help keep it uncluttered. But it feels more like a showcase for important furniture than a home. It's simply too restrained--not enough funk, not enough softness. I'd be drawn to more balance between austerity and comfort, perfection and imperfection, the collectible and the mundane.
Tranquility abounds in this home! Love it! A sense of space, peace and nature in home aesthetics clearly run in the Nakashima family!
Simply gorgeous. This is quite a distance from Capitol Hill apartments, Lindsay!
Darlene M. Siska