Name: Xing
Location: Bellevue, WA
Size:1800 sq. ft.
Years lived in: 4.5
We first saw Xing's home in last year's Fall Colors Contest. He recently offered to show us more of his fascinating, eclectic home. Xing clearly knows not only how to mix and match pieces and styles, but how to spot deals -- many of his finds are from Craigslist and eBay and his travels. Take a look.
Do you have an idea for a house tour? Let us know! tips (at) sf (dot) apartmenttherapy (dot) com
My style: As clichd as it is, eclectic, but hopefully not cluttered (most of the time, when I get around to cleaning it.)
The Inspiration for my home: Elle Dcor, Travel
Favorite element: The remodeled master bathroom. It feels nice to shower in the morning while light is pouring in from the eastern facing window, and not have to shower in a tiny 30x30 shower stall any longer.
Biggest challenge in designing my home: Since it is an older house, the ceiling is the old standard height of 8 feet, so I tried my best to make ceiling feel higher using recessed lighting, floor to ceiling curtains and lower furniture.
What friends say about my home: It feels urban even though it is in the suburbs, or it is comfortable."
Biggest embarrassment in my home: The yard.
Proudest DIY: The kitchen cabinet replacement.
Biggest indulgence with respect to my home: All windows are replaced.
Best advice given or received: Used or antique furniture often is much cheaper than new furniture of the same quality, and has more character. Except that reupholstering old furniture is much more expensive than buying new ones. So other than upholstered furniture, I usually want to buy used.
Dream source for stuff: High end furniture stores.
Resources:
Hardware
• Ikea
• I found some old hardware when I was on a biz trip in Beijing
Furniture
• Craigslist
• eBay
• Ikea
• Restoration Hardware
Accessories
• Travel
Lighting
• Ikea
• B&H (photo & video)
Paint
• Ralph Lauren
Flooring
• Original floors
Rugs and Carpets
• Craigslist
Tiles and Stone
• Home Depot
• Lowes
Window Treatments
• Ikea
• Craigslist to find someone to custom make something
• Friend to help sew
Beds
• Craigslist
• Ikea
Artwork
• Oil painting I painted myself
• Photographs taken during travels
Other:
• Michaels (art and crafts)
Thanks, Xing!
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Great craigslist finds! Are the white curtains IKEA Merete, by chance? They're exactly what I want for my 8' ceilings.
view pbphoenix's profile
This place is breathtaking. I love it and wish my eye was as capable of seeing how such disparate pieces can come together to make a balanced whole. Just lovely
view Trumystique's profile
It's SO beautiful. Somehow he made everything works together. I really like the contrasts and the colors. Also LOVE how he pulls the reminders from his travels for his home. I wonder how much time he spent on C's L & ebay to find all these great stuff?
Cheers,
Cindy
view cindy@staged4more's profile
i can't imagine the amount of time it took to do all this. i'm most in love with those wood floors. those iron chairs in the backyard are also a dream, but does anyone ever sit in the one on the right?
this is def a catalyst to make me want to take a closer look at white furniture.
view ung's profile
what a smart space! you did a great job :) love the bedroom!
view kdkaboom's profile
What a beautiful home!
view vitamin design milk's profile
I just lost my comment just now when my window closed. Dammit. I was basically saying that I love your place. I want it.
view Deidre88's profile
I want it bad.
view Deidre88's profile
This home is simply breathtaking. If I were to visit, I would never leave. I am so in love with the home, I barely no where to start.
The amount of love that went into creating this home is evident. Your art is incredible, and I love the ethereal nature of your paintings, I love the Buddha statutes and driftwood.
Somehow you've taken disparate objects and created a cohesive look. I love the restrained elegance and simplicity.
Great work. I am so happy we got to see more of your place.
view peggy's profile
nice colors and textures.
view godsfool's profile
you did a wonderful job and have some awesome finds. good work! you can tell it wasn't rushed, or thrown together.
view jamie*'s profile
Wow, this is really awesome--it brought a smile to my face. Thanks for sharing!
view Jenny in DC's profile
What a wonderfully original place. It is beautiful! It's the kind of place I strive for. Definitely one that is created from years of "living."
A couple of questions, though: The sink seems too shallow, does it create oversplash? And do my eyes deceive me or is one of the green iron chairs missing a leg?
view RJD's profile
Thanks for all the kind works.
Yes, the white curtains are from Ikea, not sure the name of it now.
The sink is relatively low, but it is very wide and big. It is about 24"x24", (not much smaller than original shower stall which was 30"x30"), so the water doesn't splash out that much. The sink is called "purist" wading pool sink.
http://www.us.kohler.com/onlinecatalog/detail.jsp?from=thumb&frm=&module=Lavatories&item=6406802&prod_num=2314§ion=2&category=16
But the large size of the sink actually caused a lot of problems for me when I was try to find a table to put it on. After removing the original shower space there is a recess in wall of about 32". To find a table/cabinet that is not almost exact 32" inches and at least 25 inches in depth was really challenging. Even though Kholer had a cabinet designed for the sink, it was two expensive and too wide. The Kohler's "Purist" faucet that was seems to designed to match the sink was also too expensive, (the sink was already a huge splurge), and I didn't want everything to match.
Yes, the green chair is missing one leg, but because it is made of solid iron and very very heavy, it is actually quite stable.
view xing's profile
This is my all-time favorite style: Asian plus modern. I've rarely seen it done so well. Congratulations -- the place looks fantastic!
view carson's profile
Beautiful.
The painting with the red gong behind the Eames chair (photo 8)--where is that from? I love it.
Do you sell your artwork?
view Alana in Canada's profile
YOU FOUND AN EAMES LOUNGE CHAIR AND OTTOMAN FOR $35?!
view the7000club.net's profile
Your place is spectacular! My mouth dropped with every picture. You put everthing together so well!
view reesecupLIC's profile
Hi Alana, thanks for the compliment. yes, I painted that painting. Since I am not a professional artist (I work on video games), I am not represented by any gallery, but do I sell my paintings if people are interested to make an offer.
The "Eames" lounge & ottoman is not by herman miller, it is by Plycraft, so it is not original.
But I do have a pair of original 60s "Eames" aluminum management chairs made by Herman Miller, which was a real bargain for $100 each.
view xing's profile