Name: Nana Kim, her husband, their 2-year-old daughter and 2 cats
Location: Bouldin Neighborhood — Austin, Texas
Size: 2,300 square feet
Years lived in: 4

The home designed by Nana Kim, of 9 square studio, is a dream for anyone who loves modern design and nature. Sharing her home with her husband, their adorable daughter Maggie and two friendly kitties, our favorite part of the house isn't just the aesthetics; it's how they've made a home that celebrates the personalities and styles of each individual living inside.

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Nana is the owner of 9 square studio, a firm specializing in modern residential design. As you can imagine, the home she designed for herself and her family is architecturally beautiful — situated on the site brilliantly and maximizing stunning backyard views filled with gorgeous trees. But while we love the architecture for sure, it's the interior style they've infused in every corner of the home that made us fall in love. It's designed modernly, but it's not cold; you can definitely tell a young family lives here and we thoroughly enjoyed seeing all of Maggie's coloful toys seamlessly integrate with the interior's casual feel (we even intentionally left a lot of toys in many of the shots). Nana and her husband mixed modern finds with vintage favorites to blend together a comfortable feel. We especially loved seeing all the art throughout the home, most of which is from local artists.

Apartment Therapy Survey:

My Style: Eclectic modern, with a special love for anything vintage.

Inspiration: Mid-Century Modern.

Favorite Element: The way trees fill the view of almost every window in the house.

Biggest Challenge: Designing the house around the 2 enormous live oak trees on the property. We had to tuck the house underneath the low hanging horizontal branches, setting the plate height as high as it could go as we framed.

What Friends Say: It's homey and cozy without feeling constrained.

Biggest Embarrassment: Our paint job. We went with the lowest paint bid (against our contractor's advice!) and now it needs constant touchup.

Proudest DIY: The concrete water feature has been a labor of love and an albatross around my husband's neck for the entire time we've lived here. We designed it ourselves, buying the parts from a local water garden store, and he is forever repairing, cleaning or cursing it. It's lovely and adds so much to the outdoor experience and I thank him for all his hard work!

Biggest Indulgence: Lutron Diva series outlet/switch cover plates! I'm sure nobody cares but I had to have the outlet covers with invisible mounting hardware.

Best Advice: Mix new and old/found/vintage objects so your space reflects more of your personality.

Dream Source: 1st Dibs for everything! But even if you can't afford anything it's a great resource to find out what the best versions of a style or era look like.

Resources of Note:

APPLIANCES

    • GE Monogram
    • Fisher Paykel

HARDWARE


FURNITURE

    • Entry cabinet: West Elm
    • entry mirror: Handed down from Grandparents
    • living room sofa: Montauk
    • living room chairs: Vintage & CB2
    • living room ottoman: West Elm
    • dining Table: custom made steel
    • playroom couch and table: IKEA
    • master bedroom bed: West Elm

LIGHTING

    • Living room floor lamp: Room & Board
    • vintage dining room pendant: vintage
    • playroom lamps: vintage

RUGS & CARPETS

    • Living room rug: from grandparents

FLOORING

    • Living room, dining and kitchen flooring: stained concrete
    • bedrooms: white oak

TILES & STONE

    • Porcelain and ceramic subway tile

ARTWORK

    • Living room painting: Andrew Long
    • playroom prints: Etsy (frames from Target)
    • master bedroom art: great grandmother & Shannon Lowry

Thanks, Nana!

Images: Adrienne Breaux

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