Name: Sasha Darling
Location: Excelsior Neighborhood San Francisco, CA
Size: 1200 sq. ft.
Years lived in: 5
Anyone who has visited BellJar, an amazing boutique in the Mission that is chock full of "gorgeous little things," has entered a world of wonderful treasures, amazing vintage finds and all manner of ephemerata that longs to be in your home. It is no wonder, then, that Sasha Darling, owner of BellJar, has a home that embodies the same treasured feel. Everywhere you turn in her 1200 square foot home there is another beautiful piece, but she has curated her home so that it doesn't feel cluttered or busy. It is an ever-evolving relaxing city home.
Enter House Tour
BellJar is a beautiful outlet for Sasha's two biggest obsession, home decor and clothing. The store is a conglomeration of many gorgeous vignettes of all manner of beautiful things, and allows her to display all of the beautiful treasures she finds. In her own home, however, Sasha tries to show a bit more restraint. Rather than filling it to the brim, she tries to bring in her favorite and most meaningful pieces. Realizing that her home is an evolving "incarnation of me," Sasha pays careful detail to the things she decides to bring in to her house. Every interesting bit has a great provenance and a deliberate and meaningful place in her home.
Enter House Tour
Apartment Therapy Survey:
My Style: It’s a natural mix of girlie girl, flower child, dark sorceress and modern city girl.
Inspiration: I see inspiration ever time I leave my house. I see beauty in the disturbing and mundane equally as much as in the perfection that surrounds us. My house constantly is evolving based on this observation.
Favorite Element: Nature. I adore walking in the country or the beach and incorporating found elements into my city home. This is a passed down obsession from my mother. She has trays of shells, bird skulls, rocks, tortoise shells, etc all over her home.
Biggest Challenge: Keeping it simple. My shop (BellJar) is filled to the brim with treasures and I adore this. But I like to keep my home pared down and subtler, a place for me to unwind and relax. But when you are an avid collector such as myself, this can be challenging.
What Friends Say: They generally gush at its beauty, but they may be just being tender, as they know how important it is to me.
Biggest Embarrassment: My lack of a walk in closet!
Proudest DIY: I wish I was more of a DIY girl- I’m more of a visionary. A handyman is a beautiful thing.
Biggest Indulgence: Probably the stove in the kitchen. It’s a vintage O'Keefe & Merritt that I had fully restored, re-chromed and re-porcelained in jadeite green. I love to cook and entertain. I have always enjoyed old gas stoves. It just made sense to put my energy into something that brought my friends and me so much entertainment.
Best Advice: Remember a house with real soul is not decorated in a day. If you have a shoe string budget, be patient and collect things slowly that really move you. A real home is filled with memories collected over decades. Also don’t be afraid to have it be an ever-changing creature. If you come back 6 months from now, my house will have evolved into another incarnation of me.
Dream Source: An estate sale that included the estates of the Tsar of Russia, Jacqueline Bouvier, Marie Antoinette, P. T. Barnum, Howard Hughes and the lost wardrobe and prop archives of 20th Century Fox.
Enter House Tour
Resources:
Living Room Chairs: Mickey's Monkey
Couch: Harrington's
Artwork over couch: Alexis McKinzie and Olivia Sung Park
Fireplace: stained black brick (Sasha used furniture stain instead of paint, which she knew would scratch easily)
Pottery: Sasha has been collecting pottery since she was a child and has many Weller and McCoy pieces in her collection
Dining Room Table: Paul McCobb
Dining Chaires: Saarinen and Eames
Sideboard and Buffet: Sasha purchased from a private owner
Large lightbulb: flea market
White Balloon molds: boutique in Brooklyn
Hutch in mud room: Paul McCobb
Big mural art in hallway: Bottle Cap gallery hosted a live painting
Bedside tables in Master Bedroom: old airport carriers purchased at the Salvation Army for about $40 each
Enter House Tour
(Thanks, Sasha!)
Photos by Jessica Blake Tata
I am ADORING that black fireplace...so velvety!
What a fun place... I like it when you can tell the homeowner surrounds themselves with things they love.
view CozyLittleCave's profile
Nice, and I love your collection of ceramics!
view fabframes's profile
Love the matte black fireplace. I'm glad they dared to do that. I'm redoing a couch in matte black.
view MODERnestS's profile
Lovely home. I'm usually not a fan of painted brick, but I do like your fireplace. Thanks for including the pic of the dog and the cat peeking out from behind the pillow made me laugh.
view dmstudio's profile
Perhaps the reason I like the firplace when I don't usually like painted brick is because its not painted but stained. Great idea to change the color and keep the integrity of the brick.
view dmstudio's profile
bedroom to.die.for...the white, grays with pops of red...i heart.
view edyta szyszlo photography's profile
Love your home. Cat did it - he's guilty looking hiding in between the pillows :)
I agree love the black fireplace. And the pets are too cute!
view E.I.F.'s profile
That stove! Be still my heart!
Your pets are adorable. Especially the kitty, thinking he can't be seen.
view Cassis's profile
I love the coffee table -- where can I find one like it?
view olysilver's profile
love the place
and "Sasha Darling" is a really dope name :)
view abc123's profile
That place is off the hook! And I don't even use that expression! Oh man. At first I wasn't so sure because I'm not a huge fan of yellow, but by the end I was as jealous as ever.
Also: If your dog disappears, I had nothing to do with it, I swear :)
view Shannon Ashley's profile
Love, love, love!!!
Love the molding and the cove ceiling and how the paint makes them pop. Love the built-ins and all the natural sunlight. The kitchen is wonderful. Can you provide info on the cabinets?
I am currently trying to escape the city and will be looking for a home in the country in New England of this same size and vintage. This is truly my dream home.
Oh, and by the way, I also love the animals. The cat looks like he's doing surveillance, just keeping an eye on things in case one of the dogs gets out of hand.
view rhodajr's profile
Love your house as much as your shop! It's interesting how different they are... and yes, that black fireplace is awesome! No soot stains there. :)
view Jesse Lu's profile
@ olysilver:
I just saw one like it today on designspotter.
Also, thank you so much for sharing, Sasha! I love your home as much as your shop and am tickled by how different they are from each other... and that fireplace is awesome especially because it's soot proof! :)
view Jesse Lu's profile
What a delicious apartment!
view Eve in Hochelaga's profile
I thought the cat was a cushion with a photo! Girlie in a good way.
view hrhprincessfiona's profile
So, so, so beautiful. Can you please share the colors of yellow that you used?
view spaceystacey's profile
i am jealous of all the colorful dresses! the use of color is so brilliant throughout the whole space. it's vibrant without looking like a circus. well done.
view SpanishOlives's profile
That stove = totally worth it.
view rosenatti's profile
Love the quilt and the airport carriers
view westroc's profile
How do you keep your pets from attacking those stuffed birds? Seems like they'd be dragging them all over the place.
view 1stnest's profile
"Ephemerata" is not a word. "Ephemera" would be the word you're looking for.
view Henrietta the Terrible's profile
Thanks for sharing your beautiful home.
Love the live edge table. Have you seen www.liveedge.com ? similar stuff, all reclaimed.
view DonnaRox's profile
Can you share the name of the paint color you used in the dining room?
view rramona's profile
Strangely, I had a friend at university named Sasha Darling. Though we fell out of touch, I think she lives in Toronto. Lovely home...
view kristinm100's profile
Just a bit too kitschy.
view bstein's profile
Love it! Could you share the paint color that you used in the master bedroom?
view kabbie12's profile
This is by far one of my top five favorite house tours! Absolutely wonderful - all of it!
view puttinbuttin's profile
It looks like a thrift store.
In that way...very San Francisco. Like the way many Mission "hipsters" seem to dress these days....whatever mismatched random stuff they find in the thrift store thrown together in a tired "aren't I ironic" manner.
view scoobydubious's profile
I want that pheasant!
view hollandstudio's profile
lovely lovely bedroom. still don't know what attracts me in this bedroom. there is something like shabby, gipsy think that i can't resist!
view rdekko's profile
I hate you and your beautiful home. While my style is a bit more traditional, there are a lot of similar elements to my place, especially the blue bedroom, same color, similar dresser and coverlet.
While I can see where scoobydubious is coming from, I think this is a great example of someone who has a better vision and has a cohesiveness that really brings the place together and makes this a warm and inviting home, and not so much a "hipster pad."
Also, thank you for the advice. While it may seem like common sense, I think sometimes we try and get ahead of ourselves in trying to purchase everything now and ending up making some pretty bad (and costly) decisions!
view sarrazak's profile
killer zebra!
view orangered's profile
you're lucky that kitty doesn't enjoy playing with the pheasants. My cat would have chewed them to bits.
gorgeous stove!
view Sassy in SF's profile
There have been a lot of questions about my wall colors- I honestly don't remember the name of the colors but they are from home depot and the maker is Bear in eggshell- It's the easiest to clean and has a bit of satin finish. Thanks for looking! xo
view sasha_darling 's profile
What a beautiful home!
view short giraffe's profile
Great eclectic mix. you keep it fresh by mixing the modern in with the vintage. You balance it very well.
view jessroo's profile
wonderful. i love seeing a space with lots of collection that feels comfortable and beautiful and curated instead of overwhelming.
view kiddo katsu's profile
LOVE the coffee table! Where is it from/ any ideas where I can find something like that?
view teresabee's profile
I sell coffee tables like my wooden one at belljar!
view sasha_darling 's profile
very nice! i would suggest maybe moving the living room arc lamp somewhere else, as it might make your space seem a bit more open. the turkey on the dining table is outstanding!
michelle
http://cheeseloversinternational.blogspot.com/
view michelleinbrooklyn's profile
The pain colour looks a lot like the one we have in our kitchen. We have a Behr paint. Squash is the colour. Check it out.
view meech's profile
Hi Sasha! I love your home so much! Especially envious of the stove and it's adorable unicorn friend... Also, your master bedroom color is just what I am working on right now. Red is my favorite accent color. Rust and blue with white = delicious!!
I am leaning toward Ersatz by C2. That may be helpful to you others looking for the right blue. It's great in bright sunny rooms and tends to look more smoky in dark light. Looks fab against whites and creams!
Great job Sasha, as always!
Corie
view attic's profile