Name: Sarah, Craig, and son, Maceo
Location: Jamaica Plain — Boston, MA
Size: 1099 square feet
Years lived in: 8 — own
It's fun enough to be around one homeowner who beams with delight and pride for her home. But when it's a couple and it's apparent that they equally love their home and they genuinely share an aesthetic without much need for compromise, it's even sweeter. Such is the case at Sarah and Craig's delightful treetop home.
Their creative, colorful home with so many personal touches is an easy place to love. Start with that uncovered, gleaming, honey-toned hardwood floor. It's given a well-deserved chance to shine since Sarah and Craig prioritize lots of open kid-frlendly play and run space. Which brings me to another favorite feature: this is such a playful, vibrant and memorable environment for their young son, yet it still feels like adults live here too. Not an easy design task. I've also got a thing for things that hang so I love how much dangling stuff there is here: from the vintage stained-glass pieces in the windows, to the dining room mobile, to the long kitchen pot rack, to the adorable sea creature mobile in Maceo's room, made by Sarah.
Some of my other favorite elements: Craig's impressive music office, (you can check out his online mixes here) cleverly arranged to maximize storage space and afford a great window view; that delicious orange / yellow / black / white bathroom with the painted medicine cabinet; the novel use of window shades on their bedroom closet; and I could go on but I'll stop myself at Sarah's visually splendid jewelry collection sprouting from her mahogany flea market dresser.
Thanks for sharing your wonderful home, Sarah and Craig!
Apartment Therapy Survey:
Our Style: Vibrant, eclectic, blend of modern and vintage.
Inspiration: We were lucky to discover early on in our relationship that we have a very similar aesthetic and that we both enjoy scouring for unique pieces for our home. Beyond flea markets, the Brimfield Antique Show has always provided inspiration and cool objects to decorate our condo. Being up in the trees of Jamaica Plain has inspired many of the wood pieces and the general warmth of our place.
Favorite Element: We relish living up on a hill, surrounded by trees, out of most peoples' view. We often refer to our condo as a "tree house." This luxury has enabled us to live curtain-free in roughly 75% of our home.
Biggest Challenge: Getting big and heavy things up three flights of stairs has certainly been challenging. Keeping our home uncluttered has been tough too, especially because we love to acquire interesting objects. Now with our son in our lives, that challenge is crucial and never-ending.
What Friends Say: People always compliment us on our bold use of colors. Sometimes they're even willing to listen to our stories of where we've found quirky conversation pieces.
Biggest Embarrassment: We bought a navy couch when we moved in almost eight years ago and it has since faded to look like a pair of 80's jeans. It's still comfy and is ideal for easy living with a toddler, but really, it is heinous.
Proudest DIY: Craig crafted a birch wine tree from a tree that fell on his parents' property in New Hampshire. We also converted a discarded cast-iron stove (salvaged from a dump in New Hampshire) into a sleek liquor cabinet. Sarah reupholstered a beat up rocking chair from the late 1800's (her first project) at a workshop at the Eliot School here in JP that she is super proud of.
Biggest Indulgence: We purchased an incredible Giclee print of an original painting (titled Subway) from our dear friend Chandra Dieppa Ortiz. We are also proud that we were able to custom design and professionally install shelving in our living room.
Best Advice: Given: Don't be afraid to mix genres/styles/patterns - if your decor is too coordinated, things look forced. Take risks. Taken: Try to live in your space before decorating it immediately. And pay to get art framed professionally.
Dream Sources: Brimfield Fair; Design within Reach; Abodeon in Cambridge.
Resources of Note:
PAINT & COLORS
- • Living room - Behr: Corn Husk Green
• Dining room wall - Behr: Grass Cloth; Dining room below chair rail - Behr Corn Husk Green and Grape Leaves
• Office - Benjamin Moore: Sweet Orange
• Bathroom - Benjamin Moore: Melon Popsicle
ENTRY
- • church pew bench: given as a gift, cut in half and re-joined to make a smaller bench
• light fixture: Ikea
LIVING ROOM
- • couch (to quote Sarah: "yuck!"): Boston Interiors
• chairs: reupholstered hand-me-down office chairs from Craig's father
• coffee table / bench: Brimfield Fair
• bookshelf: custom made by Jason Carr
• silver lamp: hand-me-down from Craig's father
• letterset box art: my cousin Mira Elwell
• various stained glass: local antique stores
DINING ROOM
- • table: refinished core of a large door, passed down through the family
• dining room chairs: unfinished furniture store
• rocking chair: junk shop in New Bedford, reupholstered at JP's Eliot School with fabric from Zimman's
• dropleaf table: Craig's grandmother
• green wall installation: MOMA store + found objects
• mobiles: Ikea outdoor
• mirrors: antique shops on the Cape
• iron-stove bar: garbage dump in Jaffrey, NH, cleaned / sprayed and mounted on wheels
KITCHEN
- • wine tree: made by Craig with fallen birch tree from New Hampshire
• stained glass: ebay
• bartsools: unfinished furniture store
BEDROOM
- • light wood dressers: Ikea
• large mahogany dresser: Brimfield
• typeset boxes: various Antique stores
• palm-tree lamp: Overstock
• circus art: made by Wheelock Children's Theater set designer for our wedding
• jewelry tree: made by Craig with branches from backyard
• curtains; Ikea
BATHROOM
- • shower curtain: CB2
• medicine cabinet: Brimfield, then painted
NURSERY
- • rug: Ikea
• sea creature mobile over crib: made by Sarah
• futon: Innovations Futons with homemade cover
• rocking chair: family heirloom
• stained glass: Brimfield
• curtains: homemade from Marimekko fabric bought in Space
Thanks, Sarah and Craig!
Images: Kyle Freeman
• HOUSE TOUR ARCHIVE Check out past house tours here
• Interested in sharing your home with Apartment Therapy? Contact the editors through our House Tour Submission Form.
• Are you a designer/architect/decorator interested in sharing a residential project with Apartment Therapy readers? Contact the editors through our Professional Submission Form.
Before & After: Emily Henderson Transforms a Senior's Studio Space
Danielle's Charming, Classic Walk-Up
Good Food to Share 
The Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces 
Apartment Therapy Presents 
The Eight-Step Home Cure 
White Enamel Four-P...
On Saying No to Paleo: Why Eating Isn't One Size Fits All
Perfect Summer Cocktail Recipe: Honey Bourbon Lemonade
Awww... miss Jamaica Plain--lived there for 15 years! It's such a great neighborhood to raise a family in. Your apartment is so warm and fun. It's a great balance of stylish and comfortable.
Yay for JP!
Craig, I LOVE that birch wine holder - so creative. And your porch chairs are very cool as well.
These might just be the coolest people on the planet! AMAZing wine tree!
Wow... so much color! So much stuff! I'm slightly dizzy. But I love it anyway.
I also want a wine tree!
I love your shower curtain. Where did you get it? I want one with grommets like that, and I've looked everywhere for one with a print to no avail.
Not sure how old little Maceo is but by the looks of his crib I'm guessing he's not walking yet...curious to see what he'll do when he gets his hands on those bottles of booze stored in the old stove on the floor!
Love your artwork and deck chairs...
I could move right into this house and never leave. I've never felt so at home viewing a house tour. Really nice job!
Thanks for all the compliments! I want to reassure readers that the old stove liquor cabinet is protected with a custom built cage that was made in the same style as a radiator cover. We just took it off for the photo shoot! So, please don't call Child Protective Services!
The shower curtain came from CB2 and I am pretty sure it still being sold.
hello neighbor!
Love love love the stained glass- really beautiful. Very creative painting in the dining room, and of course the wine rack was genius.
While the floors are beautiful, I can't help but think that a few rugs in the living room and dining room would complete the space, and possibly protect little Maceo if he takes a header.
but all in all this was one of the best JP house tours I've seen. Nice job.
We lived in JP and Roslindale for almost a decade and miss it fiercely. (Did you know that JP Licks makes better ice cream than the dairy state?) In fact, our apartments, though not anywhere near as nice, look to have had a similar layout and that awesome old woodwork and built-ins.
I love your use of color and the big open spaces!
These two have a really strong grasp on color. There are a lot of bold statement colors but the way they've worked in light neutrals and complimentary contrasting colors totally works for me. Normally this much color would seem overwhelming but they've executed it wonderfully.
Love the paints used throughout the whole house! The orange in the bathroom is especially lovely.
I too love that you're not afraid of color--and you've used it in such a tasteful way throughout.
I may steal your shades idea for my closet--it has some old slider doors that drive me NUTS because I can never see everything all at once!
I love that Ikea light fixture in your entryway, I have one that I've yet to take out of the box, waiting for the perfect place to use it.
Also, that mirror frame over the liquor cabinet in your dining room is fantastic! I would imagine that is not an easy find (all the more special!)
Great use of color everywhere, and everything is still open and bright. Just lovely. 8^)
I like the booze in the fireplace.
Sheer love. Love the curtains and windows in Maceo's room.
Love it! I also have a similar shade of green in my living room, red kitchen and orange in my bedroom!
Lovely place, but liquor bottles on the floor with a toddler? How do you manage that?
My mouth started watering, I like this so much! Absolutely love the living/dining, kitchen and office areas. Beautifully done!
Fantastic use of color. Jealous.
If you had shown me the living room color on a swatch I wouldn't have liked it but it works so well in your place. Wine tree is a brilliant idea. Baby room is so cute.
Love the gold swirly mirror! And what better place to keep the 'firewater' than the fireplace?!
Those circus posters are outstanding.
So funny that your stove came from Jaffrey -- I grew up there!
Love the light coming through the stained glass.
Great home, thanks for sharing. Do you remember where you purchased the polka-dot duvet cover? thanks. i also love sweet orange (benjamin moore).
Ah! those JP triple deckers! Yours is particularly gorgeous. Nice job. :)
What a charming apartment! I love it!
Also, this makes me feel prematurely nostalgic...I'm leaving the Boston area soon, and I think that the humble three decker is one of the things I will miss most.
love the bar fireplace. and maceos room. thanks for sharing!
This is a great home!
I definitely agree with BetterOffNow that a few rugs would warm up the space. The living room and dining area look a little bit naked.
That is the first hanging-pots-from-the-ceiling solution that has ever made me go, "Oh, that's awesome and I want it!"
The bright colors are anchored by all that warm wood - it looks so welcoming! I'd love to be a kid here. Especially if I got to sleep in that freakin' sweet under-the-sea-themed nursery!
Also, please tell me those are portions of a pool noodle that have been used to pad the deck chairs...
Thanks for all the feedback.
@ ericasullivan and BetterOffNow, we actually had a large rug in the living room and Maceo was tripping on the edges causing lots of falls/bumps. So, we ended up removing them. I agree that things are a bit bare feeling.
And yes, those are portions of pool noodles to pad the nexk section of the deck chair. Good eye!
@ Zoo - I actually made the orange and white futon cover with materials from IKEA. SUPER old - like probably 10 years old.
Love all elements of your place, especially the color, except liquor stove. To me, it takes too much floor space for the amount of storage. Plus, likkered up toddler potential.
Beautiful home with clever and aesthetic inventions. We will be moving to a small flat in a few days, so I loved to see how beautiful it can be to live in such lesser space. We have many dead spaces with our current furniture. I got many ideas from your photos. Thanks for sharing.
LOVE the colors! So glad I'm not the only one with a different color in every room, and now I have proof it works. And I love that wine rack! We don't need one in our home, but might just put up a birch anyway.
I have a serious case of rocking chair envy.
such a cute and colorful home!
where did you find the radiator covers? did you make them yourself? if so, any tips for re-creating the look? thanks!
@ susanxgallo: We had the radiator covers made by a local woodworker in Boston. Unfortunately, she just moved her shop and is taking a break from working.
The ideas you have for storage are great because they fit seamlessly in the rooms. I love how you continued one type of flooring throughout your home. Love your jewelry storage solutions and it looks very artistic.
Wow, what a great space..so happy and colorful. I especially love all the stained glass and color choices. I LOVE LOVE LOVE the blue pillow cover with the sewn in strings, did you make this?? It's very clever, I may try to duplicate it. Thanks for sharing your home with us!
..it's like, i can come to your place and Calm Down IMMEdiately -
youre better than expensive Therapy, or a church on a Sunday (nice people, that is, non-nosy, manipulative ones)!! !! What a winner. wish i have bones like yours too. but we dont have all our wishes granted, so content to just be starring by the sidelines while we cheer for others with good fortune. - enjoy! Surely peace for the mind is a great thing. Think would be great bringing up a tike in such a place - enjoy Family!!
Very well put together home!