Inside Out: A showcase for those who transform their residences into homes
via innovative intervention
Name: Jennifer and David
Location: Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts
Size: 1500 sqft.
Don't be alarmed at the size of Jennifer and David's apartment. Keep in mind that they rent outside of Boston.
They have spent the past five years transitioning from just-out-of-college-we-need-something-to-sit-on, to discerning adults who make active choices about their surroundings.
Do you have an idea for a house tour? Let me know! jill@apartmenttherapy.com
For all Inside Out tours, click here!
While David, a video-game artist, prefers an utterly clutter free home and feels calmer in the presence of clean lines, Jennifer, a designer, likes to surround herself with her favorite drawings, mementos, etc. In fact, according to Jennifer, "if it weren't for David, the walls would be plastered with stuff!" To compromise, David has helped Jennifer edit, while Jennifer has shown David that sometimes a little visual nostalgia can be inspiring as well as restorative.
The open bookcases from Ikea that they use in the office and the dressing room are great examples of their compromise. The fact that the shelves are exposed has forced Jennifer to be very selective about what she displays and David appreciates how the bookshelves create uniformity. The ease of putting things away balances out the need to fold clothes neatly. In the end, David and Jennifer are happy.
AT Survey:
Style: Tough question. We like modern furnishings, anything with clean, simple lines. But we like to have a lot of color too.
Inspiration: There are a few things. The beautiful wood work of the apartment. Travel (imaginary and real): The color of our bedroom reminded me of the water in Costa Rica and the kitchen color reminded me of Mexico. Graphic Art/Video Games: A lot of our art is bold and colorful and there are a lot of video game things around the house.
Favorite Element: I love the tall folding and pocket doors and the big doors and arches. The apartment has very high ceilings, and david is 6’7” so when we first walked in, we were like… this is perfect. Also, the house is on a dead-end off of a dead-end and faces franklin park, so it is really quite here and there are tons of trees, which is great for the city.
Biggest Challenge: Our biggest challenge is buying furniture. We are very particular and many times our desires are out of our price range so buying furniture seems to take a very long time.
What Friends Say: “Whoah… this is cool!” Generally because the apartment isn’t your typical Boston triple-decker layout, which is why we resign our lease each year.
Biggest Embarrassment: hmm… well right now it is our lack of a chair in the living room. I hated the old one and when we got our xmas tree in dec I decided to get rid of the old chair permanently thinking we’d replace it by the time the tree hit the sidewalk. But three months later we are still looking…
The other one is that there is a large “indoor porch” on the front of the house. It is unfinished and uninsulated so in the summer it acts as my silkscreen area but in the winter it is storage (summer tires, xmas stuff etc..) and I hate it because it is the first room that you walk into. Didn’t take any pics of it.
Proudest DIY: David revamped an old video game machine and it now functions as the tv stand in our bedroom. There is another stand up video game machine waiting for a revamp out on our indoor porch…
Biggest Indulgence: I think our biggest indulgence is the space allowed for my office. It is the biggest room in the house. Sometimes I wish for a dining room, but then I would have to move the office off-site, and right now I like working in my pajamas too much to do that.
Best Advice: For painting I would say buy the smallest amount you can and test it first. A few years ago we painted the dressing room the ugliest yellow you have ever seen. We painted the whole room thinking “it will look better when it dries. Or when the light is different”. Well it never did and we just lived with it for a few years, despising it, until recently. Could have been easily avoided if we had gotten a quart instead of a gallon.
Dream Source: I go through elle decoration and living etc magazine and tear out my “dream things” all the time.
Resources:
Bedroom: Lagoon from Behr, Bed/Duvet is from West Elm, Nightstand is from Pier One, antique chair is my grandmother’s piano stool, tv stand is a refurbed video game machine
Dressing Room: Clothing shelf from Ikea, Bookshelf by Peter Bogart, same color as bedroom, mirror – unsure, vintage silver plates for holding perfume, paper lanterns from ikea. Artwork: Jessica Burko
Living Room: color is Brazillian Ruby from Ralph Lauren, bookshelves from Crate + Barrell, couch boston interiors, coffee table by Peter Bogart, tv stand west elm, not sure where the square lamp is from. Artwork: Monster Truck Print by Kevin Cyr, Small Paintings by Kevin Morosini, Large Prints by unknown artist, Sculpture by Andrew Backus, Mask by David Battilana
Kitchen: color is from Behr, table from ikea, video game machine on wall is a pachinko machine that dave bought at brimfield, Artwork by Kevin Morosini
Office: one wall is Chalkboard paint and the others are dolphin fin behr. Desks are of our own making, Home depot, shelves are from ikea. Artwork Cartoon Prints by Steve Murakishi, Travel Prints by Jennifer Hill, Drawings by David Battilana
Hallway: the walls are white (haven’t painted them… yet), Artwork by David Battilana and Jennifer Hill, rug by artist Claudia mills
Originally Posted on February 28th, 2007
Yeay! Boston representing here. Amazing place....love your colour choices.
LOVE THAT BLUE WALL!!!!!!
The walls in the office are a wonderful color. VERY nice job on everything including selection of the apartment, itself.
I too love the color of the bedroom wall. Such a restful yet sophisticated color. Like the contrast with the brown in the bedspread.
That deep plum color against the white woodwork surrounding the fireplace is absolutely stunning. Have you embraced the green tiles or just decided to ignore them?
Also love the chalkboard paint - it's surprisingly attractive. I feel inspired (almost enough to move to JP).
Love the colors. The office wall color is just what I've been looking for, and even if it varies slightly in real life, it would be just too much fun to tell friends the color is "Dolphin Fin."
Love the colors! Great to see another JPer on here, as well. I'm totally jealous of your non-typical triple decker layout, because that's what I'm stuck with!
can't believe i'm the first to ask, but please do share with us the wall color paint; i want to dive right in. thanks!
Thanks Persephone! It took 5 years but I embraced the green tiles, the plum actually works well with them. The chalkboard paint was so great blank we didn't want to write on it at first! We love JP...
lots to love here. beautiful apartment in wonderful JP! well done.
Does anyone know the name of the IKEA table in the kitchen?
I really like it. Your bedroom is fantastic - love the color, the headboard and the video game as a TV stand. You're very creative! The only thing I would change would be to really fill the shelves with books in the living room so that they don't slide, the droopiness is distracting. Much kudos, you have a great place!
I love your home office set up. Working next to those big windows must be fabulous.
Hi ValerieNYC: Bedroom is Lagoon from Behr, Living Room is Brazilian Ruby from Ralph Lauren (our neighbors painted their bedroom that color and we loved it, so I credit them for that), Office is Chalkboard paint and Dolphin Fin from Behr and the kitchen is Mexician Chile from Behr.
I also love the color of the bedroom, also, the bookcases, both in the living room and the other two. And my husband and I also have the same problem with buying furniture, because our tastes are apparently too expensive.
WOW- I love all of the color choices.
The dolphin fin is unbelievable... really the whole apartment is great
But to be picky, Jamaica Plain is a neighborhood of Boston, not outside of Boston at all.
where did you get the butcher block/kitchen cart? Been looking for something similar.
The kitchen cart is actually half a set of industrial metal shelves from costco with some great chopping blocks from ikea (9.99 each and we used 3) cut to size to fit on top. We couldn't find anything to fit the space so we made it ourselves!
Fabulous! I love the wall colors, especially, and the spaciousness. Beautifully done.
Gooo Boston! Great space. Have you considered doing something with your fireplace - maybe add some great geometric print in there - wallpaper maybe?
So happy to see JP here on AT.
Holly
stunning. there wasn't a thing in this place i didn't love.
Not picky at all Ben. I'm a former Bostonian. Lived in JP briefly. JP is most definitely NOT outside Boston. Calling JP outside of Boston is like calling Brooklyn outside of New York.
Yes, there are bigger apts in JP than Back Bay or Beacon Hill, but its still Boston and, much like parts of Brooklyn, fairly gentrified at this point. 1500 sq. ft. in JP will still cost you a pretty penny.
Oh what I wouldn't give to have a dressing room! Looks amazing.
ps. I love the green tiles!
That fireplace is DA BOMB!!! - LOVE it!!!
Yay for Boston!! We need a Boston site at AT!
a dressing room? a freaking DRESSING ROOM?!
i have to get out of brooklyn.
wow - I love the fireplace!!!
http://www.clienty.com
Great space. I love the choice of colors. You have pretty modest furniture but with the arrchitectural details of the apartment and the great use of color you make your space quite elegant. My question for Jennifer and David-- are those Ikea Expedit bookshelves everywhere in the office, dressing room etc?
Also thanks to JP for representing. It seems that there alot of Boston transplants on ATNY!
view Trumystique's profile
WHOO HOO! this is my favorite apt!
view elizabeth in AL's profile
I LOVE your color choices! So bold and unique but all coming together to be unified.
I also love to see what other Boston folks who rent do to make our turn of the century homes more modern!
view melissa4981's profile
I'm with Dave-- JP is not so much "out of Boston" as "part of Boston" and I must have missed the boat, because, man, I don't have a 1500 sq/ft apartment. In fact, I don't know anyone who rents in Boston who does...
That said, it's great to see boston represented!
view vera in dc's profile
I think the place looks great, and I love how those Crate and Barrel bookshelves look there, flanking the sofa and the window. This is an apartment that took me a few photos worth of the slideshow rolling to really appreciate. I wasn't immediately blown away, but I eventually was; kind of like a person who's really smart with a quiet wit.
view Curtis's profile
Love your style! Choice of color is fantastic.
(btw, JP is NOT Boston - no one should take offense at this since JP has its own unique charm)
view s_boston's profile
JP's mayor is Menino, just like Back Bay, South End, South Boston, Dorchester, etc. Brookline is not Boston. Without it's neighborhoods, Boston would just be a blip on the map!
view melissa4981's profile
Actually s_boston, Jamaica Plain is a part of Boston. If you can't take it from me who lived in Boston for more than 20 years check out http://www.cityofboston.gov/neighborhoods/ and look at the drop down menu for Jamaica Plain.
view Trumystique's profile
I stand corrected. Trumystique, thanks for posting that link.
view s_boston's profile
Great colors!
Not mini-pinball, but a pachinko machine on the wall in the kitchen...?
view splatgirl's profile
love your your bedspread. may I ask where you got it? and the wall color in the BR is fantastic! yey for color bravery!
view Harley's profile
Love the colors and the pachinko machine (not to mention the hallways, pocket doors and beautiful light that you get). The only things I'm not crazy about are the shelves instead of dressers (it looks a bit messy, but you have an ENTIRE DRESSING ROOM, so who'll see it) and the shower curtain. The shower curtain is a little jarring to me anyway.
view judes's profile
Lovely apartment, like you bedding and your cat but the colors --- reminded me of government offices, so depressing.
view hrhprincessfiona's profile
Is anyone else having trouble with the AT slideshow? I get impatient with waiting for the full three iterations of the wait bar for every photo, but no matter how many times I hit "next", it makes me waiting the full time.
view JG's profile
I love the blue, but I can't find "Lagoon" on Behr's website. Was it an old color? Or maybe a different brand?
view ebat's profile
Boston is its neighborhoods, as someone else here said. And JP does have its unique charm!
Jennifer & David did remark that they keep renewing their lease. Depending on the landlord, they may pay a reasonably low rent--in Boston where there is no rent control there is no guarantee staying put will keep your rent down, but it usually helps, if you are a good tenant, I found (I live outside Boston now and don't rent anymore).
On a rental site I see curently 400sf in JP for $1100 to $2350 for 900sf. There are cheaper, bigger apts also. Within JP I'm sure location and condition matter a lot--esp. parking or being on the T. Wonder how these rents compare to NYC/Brooklyn?
view Charlotte's profile
Yummy blue bedroom and duvet, nice floors and kitchen...would definately ditch the tv and tv stand in the blue bedroom....not good
view dmoniq5's profile
oh forgot to mention the shower curtain has got to go as do the horrid clothing shelves...too, too messy for my taste.
view dmoniq5's profile
The clothing shelves would never work for me, either, because I can be messy. I like to close a door on piles of stuff! I do love the color of the bedroom walls, though, and they look expertly painted, too.
view PaulaM's profile