apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I love it when home tours are..... fun!!! Going through you slideshow was like a treasure hunt, wondering what interesting thing would appear next. Props for sticking to a theme - it's cool and quite unique without being too kitschy.
Enjoy your wonderful home!

One word...WOW! Amazing job on your place. So, this is what passion and determination looks like. Just simply beautiful.

That was so much fun to watch! I hate my place now! :(

I loved:
-red light in kitchen - made me feel like I was on a submarine
-obviously the backlit chunk of plane - so beautiful!
- the old doors - Autopsy, Laboratory...awesome!
- the way your garden doors open to the backyard so the dining room feels al fresco

I could go on and on. So much inspiration. Thanks for sharing.

"Remember: You can have it done well, quickly, or cheaply, but you can only pick two."

This is so true - words to live by when decorating, renovating, etc. I absolutely love your home. Like others said, the first word that comes to mind is FUN. You can tell that you really love your home and put your self and your heart into it.

DROOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What a cool pad!

I LOVE this place. The place has such great "bones" to begin with; but what you've done to enhance them! Yowsah... Who knew Bernal Heights had such flash, styley pads? Congrats!

It's all been said but I have to emote. I love it!
Thanks, for the tour

Positively brill! Your slidng doors idea is exactly what i've been thing for my master bathroom - will now go and sketch it out and source - weekend project coming up!!!!

After all those wonderful rooms-- golly gee, a gorgeous backyard too! It seems like a movie set, every room is so detailed and personalized. Love it!

Thanks to all for the nice comments! The renovations were hell, but we do enjoy living there now.

Regarding the big patio doors -- those are from Nana Wall Systems: http://www.nanawall.com/

Thanks for sharing. Your place is definitely one of a kind! I couldn't help but think of "X-Files" when I viewed your pics (autopsy door, lighted plane memorabilia), are you fans?

Lovely!! My unfinished home feels so sad now.

I feel as though I've seen a magazine that featured a home using airline "artifacts" somewhere before. Was it ReadyMade? I don't remember it looking this nice.

Holy crap! That was amazing.
The before pictures were hilarious. Did the previous owners just leave their stuff there? The fridge looked like it was attacked by an angry swarm of magnets and it made me laugh.
The place looks fantastic now. I have a fallout shelter sign and old Navy oscilloscope sleeping in the basement. I was going to give it to the kids because I thought it would look to dorm room to use, but now I've been inspired...
I think I'll look at the photos again. I'm so envious.

BEAUTIFUL! but, Humble? Give us a ballpark on how much you spent all together poleeze.

unfrigginbelievable! i don't know if i could look at this place and see what you guys were envisioning. this is truly amazing!
congrats!

Again, thanks so much for all the kindness. If you were all here right now, I'd mix you a cocktail.

amoeba, the photos of how it used to look only tell part of the story. It's just too bad you can't experience the odor of the place back then. Pungent.

Rustyletter, yes, the house was in a recent issue of Readymade.

Poorboy, all I can say is, the project cost a LOT more than we originally anticipated. Some things -- like an all-new foundation -- weren't in our original budget. But some expenses were also generated by what I later called "The Logic of While You're Here." In other words, while the walls and have all been torn out, you might as well install an all-new electrical system, Cat 5 broadband wiring, and radiant heat. Because when is the next time all the walls will be torn out? And so on. For what it's worth, when forced to make our two choices (per above), we chose "done well" and "as cheaply as possible." That's why it took 2 years to complete!

Wow Todd. Amazing. I love the bus line banner in the kitchen, it gives your place a sense of, well, place. Is it the real thing? And how did you get it?

Given what an incredible transformation it was, my initial reaction was: it only took two years?

Could you give us a time table for the whole project?
i.e. selecting/finding architect & designer took how long? actual design took how long? gutting and renovating took how long?

How did you ever see past the original house to even envision your gorgeous home?

An absolutely incredibly amazing job. I LOVE your place.

Holy God. I loved the house tour immediately, and then I saw the Before pics. A miracle happened here. truly astounding.

I cringed looking at the before pictures, but you guys did a wonderful job and have excellent taste...

I'll repeat what others have said already: AMAZING!

Lisa, the bus banner is original -- it's a 1956 San Francisco Muni destination sign that I found on eBay; $20 from some guy in Florida. I think that's my best eBay score evar!

A rough project timeline:

December 2002: First visit to the house, which was for sale "as-is" direct from the owner

March 2003: Purchase close. At the same time, our architect, Christi Azevedo (http://www.christiazevedo.com/) had visited the house and was developing the basic floorplans. We also began the permitting process (ewww), and the process of evicting the tenants.

June 2003: Tenants move out.

July 2003: Demolition of the old interior began.

January 2004: Foundation replacement and new addition foundations complete. After this, things began to get ugly with the contractor who was managing the job. Progress became veeeery slow, and stressful -- especially considering that we were on the hook for lots of $$$, but our house remained an uninhabitable shell.

July 2004: Structural modifications and repairs were complete, but the house remained a hollow shell when our contractor announced he had "had enough" and that he was divorcing his wife. I notice gray hairs emerging from my temples. Here's how the house looked at the time:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/telstar/217736657/

August 2004: We hire a temporary contractor to do the framing of the rear addition.

October 2004: With all structural framing and improvements complete, we hire Tim Schofield and William Collister to finish the project. They're young, energetic, pleasant to work with, and they bring good subcontractors in tow. *whew*

Feb 2005: We move in, although much work remains to be done.

June 2005: Housewarming Party marks the formal completion of the project.

Was looking at the before pics and I couldn't believe the transformation. (That before bathroom was disgusting!) Great job on the reno. One thing though: no greenery, no plants...how about some potted plants on the stairs in front of the house?

This place is AMAZING! You did a really nice job. Not only is it a huge improvement, but the "after" is very well planned. I love the consistent use of the airline/military items--very cohesive (is that right?). Anyway, good job! I love house tours, especially when you can see how much "work" has been done.

This is an incredible redo. A great example of having your space be personal but not overwhelmingly cluttered with kitch.

Does buying it "as-is" mean that the previous owner can leave it in that state? With trash and grafitti? I thought there were minimum standards when it comes to how you leave things, but I guess since you were gutting the place, it didn't matter. But geez would I be pissed.

I must know who what architect and contractor you used! They did a tremendous job!!!!

Love every element except the piece of aircraft. Seems spooky to me since we all lived through 9-11. Makes me think it's a scrap from a disaster. Horrible thought, but honest.

Love the airline beverage cart turned bar. Sheer genius.

Love love!! Where did you get the metal kitchen chairs, I've been looking for some like those forever. Thanks!

Wow. Thanks again!

The dining zone chairs are Emeco, but they're actual US Navy surplus -- hey still have ID tags on 'em from the former Mare Island Naval Shipyard in nearby Vallejo. For a while there, if you knew where to look, there was an upside to all the Bay Area base closures during the 1990s! Lots of great furniture hit the surplus yards and flea markets.

oh wow!

i love how you mix industrial with classic design pieces and unorthodox objects...

gorgeous!

i so want the emeco chairs!

Todd - it was great to meet you at the AT Launch Party last night. I just toured the house again - just as much inspiration as the first time. And, I hope you don't mind me sharing this, but guys, Todd told us last night that the exterior orange paint color is the exact color used for our beloved Golden Gate Bridge. Brilliant!

Victoria, it was great to meet you as well!

It's true: The front of the house, as well as the ceiling shown in the photo at the top of this page, are both painted the same color as the GG Bridge. Here's the secret:

I put a call in to the purchasing manager of the Golden Gate Bridge, who explained that the official paint is called "Golden Gate Bridge International Orange," and it's manufactured by Sherwin Williams. Who knew? Alas, it's a custom mix, and only sold in commercial quantities.

But after visiting a Sherwin-Williams dealer in San Francisco, I was told that the consumer color called "Fireweed" (color code SW 6328) is a color equivalent to the paint used on the bridge. It looked way too dark on the chip paint chip, so I drove out to the bridge to compare:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/telstar/2903029/

As you can see, it's true! And just like the bridge, the color of our house and kitchen varies dramatically depending on what kind of light is hitting it at any given time. We're really happy with how it turned out. Cheers!

You have a great place and you should be very proud of what you've done, but I think showing some of the "before" pictures is cruel. Family photos, religious icons, Christmas stockings, elementary art school projects are all displayed without the owner's knowledge. These people had hopes, dreams and aspirations too. Am I the only person who feels this way?

Genius + Patience = Perfection. I am totally blown away. I cannot believe it. It's like you just tore down the old place and built something different. That place would have freaked me out and sent me running for the hills! I am in awe of your most WONDERFUL transformation. I wish I had the patience, I think my husband and I are going to live in a Yurt and build our own house. I am definitely stealing some of your ideas.

the apartmenttherapy x-prize is awarded to...

you will just have to wait for the next smallest coolest apartment contest.

hint: nebs compliance

Thought out. Rediculously clever. Inspiring. So well done, it made me blog for the first time.

Thanks.

I mean, ridiculously.

I seriously got all giddy at the pantry. The whole place is gorgeous, but as a thwarted-by-the-landlord apartment-dweller, I covet storage and yours is particularly fantastic.
I also love the ceiling in the kitchen- how'd you get that look?

Sort of like American Psycho meets Texas Chainsaw Massacre! Those metal sliding doors are scary, and I'm not sure that's a bad thing.

AMAZING!!! I thought the fuselage was genious. If you don't mind me asking, how much does something like that cost?

Faaabulous! Truly.

Is the kitchen floor polished concrete? Was the tough/expensive/wierd to do? I'm thinking about it for my kitchen, and heard I need 28 days for it to cure...

UN-believable!!! I am truly blown away, not only at the style and execution, but that you had the vision to realize you could transform the before into the after. Kudos!

That catchphrase is a slightly wordier version of one I know from the computer industry: good, fast, cheap, pick two.

Refreshing and liberating! I LOVE seeing a home in which someone's personality and interests are not cowed into drab beige submission by the cookie-cutter, completely predictable "tastefulness" of Modern Design 101.

Thank you for sharing your beautiful home with us!

Miki: As I'm sure you know, submission comes in white this year.

Alibobally: The floors are smooth-troweled concrete. There's a 6" concrete base, then we put down radiant heat, then we did a 2" concrete skim. Like this:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/telstar/4463721/

When that cured -- yes, from what our contractors said, it's wise to allow concrete a few weeks to cure -- we put on a few coats of concrete sealant. That's it. We mop often, but it's holding up very well.

Matt: The fuselage was $350, plus another $150 to have it shipped from Tucson to San Francisco.

Rachel: The stuff on the kitchen ceiling is steel decking, of the kind used to support concrete floors in high-rise or office construction. It's much more beefy and angular than the usual corrugated tin. Sourcing it locally took some digging, but once I found the material, it wasn't all that expensive. We screwed it to the ceiling rafters -- it's non-structural in our house -- and painted it the color of the Golden Gate Bridge.

Can you tell me the color stain that is on the hard floor. Lovely!

I don't even know what to say, this is incredible! Congratulations on such a successful renovation, your house is inspiring!

Wow, I feel like I'm back in the NAVY!

This is great! Love the emecos and Grcics.. and... EVERYTHING!

thanks for sharing!

Joel

Absolutely stunning! I love everything about it.

LOVE IT! where are the dining chairs from? or something similar?

Todd & Nicole,
I am a location scout in the Bay Area. I work for several different national magazines. I am looking for decorating stories and kitchen stories at the moment. It looks as though you have done a fantastic job with your renovation. I am very interested in scouting your home and possibly submitting to a couple magazines.
If you are at all interested, please contact me at
albaworks@gmail.com or call 225-1903
Thank you,
Sarah Alba