apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Lisa I love what you've been able to do with the restrictions we all have as a renter. You've made your home very welcoming yet with an artsy feel that makes me want to explore every nook and cranny (ok ok won't look that hard!). I LOVE IT.

And good for you to be able to stay in a rental for so long. My parents were at their rental for 30 years until the landlord passed away...but I'm still holding strong at my rental for the past 7 years.

try as i might, i still CANNOT get the images to load. on any house tours. ever.

Hi Lisa - I genuinely enjoyed your house tour. The others usually are fun, but this one was a really pleasure. It's a delightful place -- comfy, inviting, and personalized. What's even more cool is that your place isn't cool because it's decked out in the latest designer furniture or cookware, but because each carefully chosen piece is beautiful and meaningful to you. What a funky and simple vibe this home has. Well done -- thanks so much!!! -- Jill

It's a very cool space. I love the pops of color, including the orange lamp in the living room (similar to one available at Lum (www.shoplum.com) and the blue rug in the dining room. It looks like a really large space (especially for SF).

T8
www.strangeclosets.com

When design takes priority, the result is often strange closets.

jamie, the slideshows aren't working (we know and are coming up with a new slideshow format), but you should be able to click through the photos.

oops, i meant to type jamie*.

Lisa, I am jealous of your abilities.

I too have an older flat in SF but the rooms are so difficult to work with because of size and layout, I love your big square rooms. You have done a remarkable job in mixing it up and it not looking cluttered. You have also made the IKEA pieces look a lot more expensive and I love your eclectic flair more adult less cutesy.

It was worth the suffer through the AT format.

Love the oak paneling. It's such a treat to see an apartment where the wood hasn't been painted white.

I, too love the paneling. What a gorgeous place you have!

leslie - can't click through photos either. basically, no nothing.

Beautiful house....love all of your personal touches. The first picture up top hurts my eyes though...its the blur.

nothing is working.

No photos for me after the first three, ah well, tantalizing little bits . . .

I was able to see this without problems and I'm having issues with Explorer here at work too! A house tour last week didn't work for a couple of days for all I could see was the first image, then it worked after that though.

What a place and I love what was done here, While decorating really is about thinking the room through from side to side and from top to bottom, sometimes letting it evolve organically can also be good, as long as you have a good foundation to start with, which it seems to be the case here.

Well done. Love how you were able to find some very cool and colorful stuff to play off the woodwork throught the space. Nice job.

I've tried several times to go through the photos, and it's always worked for me. I'm using Safari. Those of you with trouble, tell me what browser you're using so we can try to pinpoint the problem?

(Also, other problems are usually resolved if you clear your cookies, so maybe that will work?)

(Apologies for the slideshow glitches.)

I'm using IE Version 6 in XP. I get a quick glimpse of the slideshow & then nothing but the advertisement. I've tried clearning my cache but nothing works.

i'm using internet explorer 9

i can see the first image, but i can't see any after that - even when trying to click through.

the page loads as "done" but there's only the ad in the top right corner, no house image.

Totally awesome and creative place. I truly enjoyed the house tour. Thank you!

Great place. Love the living room. Where did you get that really small stool by the tool. Great size for a small space.

Thanks for the browser info -- working on it!

looks fantastico, lisa!! and, i've been there, and it is just this beautiful, if not more! lisa has amazing taste and an eagle eye for the great find. bravo, sister!

LOVED IT! It looks very "sanfranciscan".

Wow.
What a dream.
I always look through the photos first, and then read the bits and pieces. I was shocked to find out it's a rental!! Amazingly fleshed-out and settled.

Nice nice nice.

i think this is my favourite house tour. i am completely envious of the amount of gorgeous space you have to fill up with beautiful 2nd hand flea market finds. envious to the bone.

Wow! Drool! What a fantastic apartment. Very inspirational! I also get everything in my place at little vintage shops, the flea market and etsy. It really adds such a nice and comfortable feel. Great blog post! Thanks!

Mina
www.bohemianvintageonline.com
www.mina180.etsy.com

I love those Takahashi tin containers. Where did you find them? Are they new or old?

I love the shower curtain! Where did you get that?

thanks for the FANTASTIC comments!!!!! this made my entire year! as for your questions....the shower curtain was from anthropologie 2007, the Takahashi containers were from (believe or not!) the bargain bank on polk street 4-5 years ago. and stool was from the alemeny flea market. more q's? I have answers! ;)
ciao.

I'm planning a kitsch kitchen design, where did you get the KitchenAID blender from and how much did you pay for it? Not that I'm implying anything of course.

Ok...now i know for sure you guys will post photos of any old place. No, offence but this one looks a hodge-podge of styles with no connecting traits or sense of balance to the rooms. Boo, hiss.

My reaction ranged somewhere between twolibrans everyone elses'. The "bones" of the apartment are fantastic -- in fact i might even say magnificent -- so were this my space (but it's not), I'd draw attention to them in any way possible.

I love the curated feel, and that most items aren't new, but a little more editing would show off the space and highlight the connections between the objets. As an example, the white "mantelscape" with the art and ceramics in the living room is perfect. There's so much great stuff here but it feels a bit unsettled to my eye.

I just love it. It doesn't look like some over stylized showcase home; it looks like some one actually lives there. Your personality and own sense of style really comes through.

It is beautiful and very lived in and all these details are marvelous. Kudos!

my favorite so far.

I could live in this home forever, what a great place. I love the bits of fun that are all over and the built-ins are fantastic. You have done a great job, one ity bity negative (JMO) ditch the curtains or find some fabric to add to the hem making them longer

This is such a great space that feels very homey and individual. I can definitely see that time has been spent living here, and I'm really inspired by all your clever solutions to the renter limitations. Aside from that, I'm just inspired by the home in general. Kudos!

I really liked the space. I couldn't help thinking though- Renting for 12 years!! Accck!!

Omg, I love everything about this apartment...

as for the kitchenaid mixer....it was yet another craigslist find for $70. just checked every day for a few months and finally found it ;)

I think my feelings are in the middle too ... I really like this place a lot, but I don't see how different it is from most of the house tours, so I guess I don't understand all the wildly excited replies.

And as for renting for 12 years ... what's wrong with renting for 12 years? Plenty of people aren't in a position to own and/or don't want to commit to it. And especially in large cities, many people rent their whole lives.

I don't think there's a problem of editing at all, but maybe one of color contrast. The fact that the moldings and built-ins have been left with the original grain and not painted, combined with all of your wood furniture, bamboo rugs, the wood floors, etc -- it's just a lot of wood and it's hard for the eye to take in all at once. However, I absolutely love the office. There the furniture really pops against the white and you can tell how much thought went into the placement.

nice place, but quick question. i have the same west elm rug for about a year now (albeit in a smaller size, considering your apartment is over 1000 sq ft larger than mine) but it doesn't stop shedding. have you had the same problem? suggestions? it's like i own a sheepdog.

I'm so envious of this place! This is one of my favorites.

This is one I like. Lots of reasons...

Taking a rental space and using it to suit the needs of the occupant, even with restrictions is what I'd like to see more of on AT.

Some things we all might be able to do, an interesting shower curtain:
http://gallery.apartmenttherapy.com/photo/060908lisacoristour/30lisacoris

Got a weird niche? Use it for what you NEED it to be, Lisa uses a niche to store all her towels:
http://gallery.apartmenttherapy.com/photo/060908lisacoristour/31lisacoris

Art over the toilet:
http://gallery.apartmenttherapy.com/photo/060908lisacoristour/29lisacoris

I want to know how it stays up and doesn't fall on your head. Or slide off onto your back. Because I look straight down a short hall into the bathroom, featuring a toilet. I would much rather look down the hall and see something colorful.

Good example of "How to mix chairs" in Lisa's dining area:
http://gallery.apartmenttherapy.com/photo/060908lisacoristour/11lisacoris

The same room has cool colors and warm colors:
http://gallery.apartmenttherapy.com/photo/060908lisacoristour/12lisacoris

Blues and greens of the rug, chair seats, and the letters "D" and "E". Red, orange, pink tones in the lamp, wall art stripes and just outside the door, the base of the go-go boots art. Behind the door too, looks like a red Ghirardeli sign.

And while someone said they didn't see things being tied together, I do. Maybe not being identical or matchy-matchy. I just showed you the cool color groupings and the warm color groupings. You'll see that in most every image/room...

All together in art:
http://gallery.apartmenttherapy.com/photo/060908lisacoristour/33lisacoris

In the kitchen:
http://gallery.apartmenttherapy.com/photo/060908lisacoristour/05lisacoris

On the shelf:
http://gallery.apartmenttherapy.com/photo/060908lisacoristour/36lisacoris

This center image is part of the same room as the previous and next image:
http://gallery.apartmenttherapy.com/photo/060908lisacoristour/38lisacoris

Blue green lamp, red dog, yellow pillow, green box under the desk, purple art. Warms and cools.

And it's all played off a background of whites and warm woods, like here:
http://gallery.apartmenttherapy.com/photo/060908lisacoristour/18lisacoris

What else is there? Warms and cools! Orange lamp, pink in the big art. A wonderful autumnal golden tone in the big art that goes well with the pillows on the sofa. And lo and behold, there is cool in there, in the smaller art, a blue green.

Window area, blue and green planters, with green plants, and yes, red and yellow bird(?):
http://gallery.apartmenttherapy.com/photo/060908lisacoristour/03lisacoris

Kitchen again, red and blue on the stove, red and green letters up above, red bike, red in the rug in the hall, and again we can see the blue-green in the dining area:
http://gallery.apartmenttherapy.com/photo/060908lisacoristour/04lisacoris

It's like a feast of color. But it's NOT too much color. She's drawn to the same colors again and again, and they work. They work together, and they would work individually.
http://gallery.apartmenttherapy.com/photo/060908lisacoristour/08lisacoris

If you drew a line from the upper left to the lower right, you would divide the warms from the cools in that image. But they look better together. The varieties of color look better against other varieties...

Have you ever been in a paint store? And stood in front of the paint chip rack? And been in awe of all the lovely colors? So after much consideration, you choose a color that is bluer than this one, and greener than that one, and paint your project. Only to realize it's flat...not at all bluer or greener...because you do not HAVE objects in the bluer or greener colors to compare or contrast with your project.

Lisa HAS the other colors, the things that are greener or bluer. Darker or lighter. And it makes each color more lively that it would be on it's own.

That is what *I* am getting from her space. And I'm really liking it!

Not sure if I can say anything that hasn't already been said. I was a little skeptical when i first opened up the house tour, but as room after room (and angle after angle) unfolded, I began to feel a very deep appreciation for Lisa's use of restraint and her ability to combine things so they felt absolutely perfect.

What I'd really love to know is what your process is like? How would you do it if you started form scratch? How do you find room for something you just bought recently in the flea market? How often do you switch things up, and how do you decide how to do it?

answers to your q's:

What I'd really love to know is what your process is like? THIS PLACE HAS EVOLVED OVER 12 YEARS. I SPEND SO MUCH TIME HERE LIVING AND WORKING THAT IF A CORNER OR A WALL DOESN'T SET WELL WITH ME I KNOW IT'S OFF AND I SWITCH IT UP. I HAVE A LOT OF EXTRA STUFF, LIKE A STAGER! How would you do it if you started form scratch? PERHAPS GET SOME GREAT IDEAS FROM APARTMENT THERAPY! How do you find room for something you just bought recently in the flea market? GREAT Q. I HAVE NO ROOM LEFT SO THE "DEAL" IS THAT IF I ADD I NEED TO SUBTRACT SOMETHING ELSE - I OFTEN GIVE IT AWAY OR SELL GOODIES ON CRAIGSLIST. How often do you switch things up, and how do you decide how to do it? ALL THE TIME - WEEKLY AND SOMETIMES DAILY. I DECIDE BASED ON WHAT I FIND OR GREAT IDEAS THAT I SEE.

I like the fact you weren't able to paint etc. You've managed to make that place look fantastic despite the less than ideal kitchen and bathroom you had to start with. Well done... it's also a very Green thing to do. One of my favourites ever.

LOVE LOVE LOVE. You have such an amazing eye for objects-- and I am in absolute LUST with both of your red lamps (one in the dining room, the other in the living room). Any sources you can point me to (other than fleamarkets)?

Truly a drool-worthy home.

One more question: who made the DANG picture above your fireplace? I really love it.

Thanks!

Totally cool. I like that it's got this sort of pack-rat vibe without looking messy. something I aspire to.

Especially like the succulent vignette with the buddha.