Name: Jennifer B.
Location: Sausalito, CA
Size: One-bedroom apartment (about 550-600 sq. ft.)
Years lived in: One
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You've probably heard this design advice before: Fill your home with things you love. And we admit, we've been skeptical that this simple approach will lead to a cohesive space (e.g., can action figurines really co-exist with vintage, floral cushions?). But Jennifer's Marin County dwelling is making believers out of us. Many of her finds are from flea markets and small Bay Area shops, as well as from her travels. The end result is an apartment infused with her personality — and it definitely all works together.
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My style: Eclectic — French flea market meets mid-century meets Rajasthan. Balancing a love for color and interesting objects with an attempt to keep my small apartment relatively uncluttered.
The inspiration for my home: Taschen’s Indian Interiors — “exuberant modernism meets unrestrained fantasy” — the first time I saw my place I was immediately drawn to the view in my living room looking out over the boats in Richardson Bay through a stand of huge old oak trees. There isn’t a lot of light, but it gives the impression that I’m living in a tree house. To keep it bright I’ve added Bertoia chairs in acid yellow (from Eden & Eden) around an old teak table and covered the mid-century sofa in Marimekko fabric (from Textile Arts). Most of the pillows were bought recently in New Delhi on my first trip to India (at Noor Jehan in the Santushti Shopping Complex). Rajasthan is famous for its textiles and color!
Favorite element(s): The stripped-down old iron bed from Zonal in Hayes Valley and my vintage steel dresser, vanity and desk from Aria in North Beach. In their original, dingy lives in offices, hotels, hospitals and even Army barracks these pieces were painted green or white, or had fake wood-grain surfaces.
Biggest challenge in designing my home: It’s old and cold. Built around 1904, it was originally a one-family home converted into three smaller apartments. The entire living room/dining room area only has two electrical outlets.
What friends say about my home: My friends say the place really suits me and they completely see me here in this environment. They love my artwork framed by Sausalito Framing and Shein & Shein in North Beach.
Biggest embarrassment in my home: I have a 16-year-old “indoor cat” named Grace who weighs 20 pounds and have never been able to find the perfect place to put a litter box.
Proudest DIY: My friends were pulling an old '60s redwood wall unit out of their home in San Anselmo a couple of years ago that I painted a bright green and put in my hallway to hold overflow books, CDs and tchotchkes.
Biggest indulgence with respect to my home: I love to change the fabrics on my bed and sofa often so I fall prey to wonderful quilts and duvet covers from Erica Tanov and John Robshaw. I just found the most beautiful Peruvian wool blanket at Nest and asked Liz TerboLizard to sew two sets of pillow and cushion covers for my sofa. I am with pillows the way Imelda Marcos was with shoes.
Best advice given or received: If I feel like my place is beginning to look cluttered, I instill a rule that for every one thing I bring home from a flea market or favorite store, two things get given away, donated or recycled.
Dream source for stuff: The Alemany and Alameda Flea Markets in the Bay Area and the Santa Monica Flea Market at the airport in southern California. If money were no object: ABC Carpet & Home.
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Resources
- Hardware: Restoration Hardware, Fredericksen’s, Brownie’s, Cole Hardware
- Furniture: Zonal, Swallowtail, Eden & Eden, Aria, Chelsea Antiques in Petaluma, The Magic Key, flea markets
- Accessories: AREA, Nest, Eden & Eden, flea markets
- Lighting: Nowell’s Lighting, Nelson lamps from DWR or vintage from flea markets (they have a lovely soft yellow patina)
- Paint: Behr from Home Depot wins consumer tests
- Rugs and carpets: Anthropologie, Nepal and India
- Window treatments: saris from India and Marimekko fabric from Textile Arts
- Bed: Zonal
- Artwork: Original artwork from Open Studios, flea markets and traveling through India
- Upholstery fabric: Sal Baressi Fabrics in San Francisco, Textile Arts
- Framing: Sausalito Framing, Shein & Shein
- Plants and flowers: Lady Bug florists in Sausalito, Columbine Design, Cottage Nursery, Berkeley Horticultural
- Music: Amoeba Records and iTunes. You can create a lot of atmosphere with the music you have
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Thanks for sharing, Jennifer! If you want to check out more photos of her apartment — with captions! — check out her Flickr set.
your bathroom blue drawer unit gave me a flashback to the same thing my parents had when i was a kid. same silver knob, but yellow instead of blue. now i wish i had it in my house!
view peaceyall's profile
I love this house! Love! Where in heaven are those neon-felt doilies from!?!?! (Please forgive if they are not actually neon or felt, it looks like it from here.)
view buyersremorse's profile
everything thing is beautiful, but i have no real sense of space usage. i like all the individual accents but i cant see how well the space was used and that's what the contest is all about.
beautiful art and furniture pieces.
view Oneformybaby's profile
buyersremorse - If you're in the Bay Area, you can pick up those doilies (which are indeed felt) at Eden & Eden on Jackson. They're available in several colors (brights and neutrals).
view anh-minh's profile
Gorgeous, eclectic style! And that has to be the biggest cat?! I've ever seen. Or perhaps it's the perspective.
view wig3000's profile
I was wondering what the big poofy thing on your bed was - then I saw your note about your 20 pound cat!
Somewhere in there it looks like you have a 20 pound goldfish too. What's going on there?
Love everything, by the way.
view foreverwilbur's profile
i never comment, but i couldn't keep quiet on this one. gorgeous!!!
view mzzlizz's profile
Outrageously beautiful and stylish home! Details, details...all in right proportion, color and space. Lovely!
view Astrid Vladi's profile
thanks anh-minh. I'm in NYC but I'll call them.
view buyersremorse's profile
oneformybaby, this is not a contest entry. it's a house tour.
very nice. i love it.
view Lady J's profile
my kingdom for acid yellow bertoia chairs!
view jenny!'s profile
I was wondering about the humongous goldfish, too!
Cute place :D
view AKirstin's profile
I love your yellow sofa and patterned chair -- mostly because I don't have the courage to pull off such bold choices. Good for you!
view ndk's profile
I don't even know what to say here, it's everything I want to surround myself with and more.
view aladywhoknows's profile
What on earth do you feed your cat? Babies? I absolutely adore your space, especially your bedroom.
view MandarinOrange's profile
i love this place. i wish the pictures were better quality though. with your place only 550-600 sq ft, i wonder why you didn't enter the smallest coolest contest? you would be kicking butt!
view scarlethue's profile
i just want to curl up on your couch and read a book. there are so many individual components that i love (especially the owls, bedroom dresser, blue door) and together it is eclectic and beautiful. love it!
view universal mod's profile
scarlethue - I think I'm to blame for the quality issue. The photos in the Flickr set seem to look much better. I'm not sure what happened when I downloaded them for the AT slideshow, but definitely check out the Flickr set if you get a chance because Jennifer provides lots of good info in her captions, too.
(And, btw, I was also thinking that she should have entered the contest!)
view anh-minh's profile
This is stunning - and your view reminds me why people live in California (though I do not).
view theseboots's profile
I think I spied a Raja Ravi Verma painting reflected in the dresser mirror..
Bhavna
view AnIndianSummer's profile
Thanks for all the wonderful feedback! I do have a huge cat and a really big fish whose name is Patrick. I've lived with them both for over fifteen years now that I think of it.
Yes, Bhavna that is a Raja Ravi Verma painting I picked up in Jaipur this January on my first trip to India. The folks at Sausalito Framing did an amazing job of framing it.
I do have a fascination for Indian culture as evidence in my blog - http://outofpaperblogspotcom.blogspot.com/
view honeydonthink's profile
You should have entered the Small Coolest Contest!
The color/style/pattern combos are DIVINE.
You truly have an eye.
view elizabet's profile
What a wonderful abode! I love how a lot of the wood furniture is painted green. The views certainly make it feel like it is a treehouse. Wonderful use of color :)
Karen
view Alkemie's profile
A real treat, thank you. Warm, cosy and beautiful views.
view hrhprincessfiona's profile
You are so not alone with the litter problem and the 20 pound cat!!
I live in a apartment the same size as yours (and my cat weighs the same too!! lol) and the only place I could find was either in my bedroom or beside the couch... yuk.
view girlfriendtd's profile
What a stylish, warm place. I love all the yellow, it really makes the apartment.
view robinm's profile
Lovely pattern combos and collections under control. I'm not a big fan of tchotchkes (sp?), but here they appear well chosen and displayed smartly. The yellow Bertoias are really cool, and the green wall unit is a stand-out.
view farmhousemoderne's profile
I love your place! I could happily move in right now!!
view elevenhounds's profile
I completely agree, the place is wonderful and inspiring. I can tell that you really love everything you placed inside.
view rhiana's profile
This is my all time favorite apartment tour. I love how colorful the place feels, yet you have white walls. It feels open, cheery. Its nice to see how you incorp your outdoor space too. Your apartment is heavenly!
view barnicle's profile
Oh my gosh, your kitty is a gigantor love lump. Is he a Maine Coon? (He looks fluffy and those are the only cats I've seen that get that big.)
And your place is gorgeous. I am so envious of your Indian finds and your metal furniture. Since you didn't enter Small Cool, you should definitely enter the Color Contest (if they have one). Your eye is great.
view Cassis's profile
Wow, your place is awesome! I love all the mismatched side tables throughout the apartment. I'm a sucker for collecting those!
view spaceagemouse's profile
I agree with you that college loft beds are a great choice when looking for an
affordable solution to sleeping conditions. But the materials used over in this college are not fine that is why the solution for these is using up of bedroom accessories.
.
view jimmyjackson143's profile
I love it....very enchanting! I love the colors and your personal collections. It's definitely my type of place...warm, cozy and with interesting stuff. I love the setting, definitely like living in a tree house! How lucky you are! I would say this is one of my favorite homes.
view junklover's profile
I love your space, especially your steel furniture and iron bed. Such a beautiful, comfortable home.
view swerve's profile
Very nice, comfy. I love the colors used.
view crash's profile
I'm in love with the following things and the whole apartment:
bedside lamp
http://gallery.apartmenttherapy.com/photo/jenniferbsausalito/03BedLeft
mix of chairs and sofa.
http://gallery.apartmenttherapy.com/photo/jenniferbsausalito/09Couch/medium
lamp, dining table (reminds me of my old dining table), chairs and yellow!
http://gallery.apartmenttherapy.com/photo/jenniferbsausalito/15DiningTable/medium
owls
http://gallery.apartmenttherapy.com/photo/jenniferbsausalito/19Owls/medium
miniature Taj Mahal
http://gallery.apartmenttherapy.com/photo/jenniferbsausalito/21Books/medium
red clock and another cute dining table set in kitchen
http://gallery.apartmenttherapy.com/photo/jenniferbsausalito/24KitchenCorner/medium
I really like the way she uses color. It's not overwhelming, but charming and light.
view lolax's profile
inspirational powerhouse (and thanks for the resources links, good to see such a swath), just too good!
view orangered's profile