Two San Francisco Artists Share Their "Favorite Things"Decor8

Holly over at the wonderful blog Decor8 has been running a series of guest posts this month in which artists and designers share their favorite things from their own homes. As it happens, two of our favorite local San Francisco artists, Lisa Congdon and Mati Rose McDonough, have been featured this week. Not surprisingly, their entries are full of inspiring color and well-designed displays of beloved objects...

We've really been enjoying perusing the "Favorite Things" posts, because overall what they demonstrate is that if you display only the things you love, and also infuse with love the displays of things you need (like the bulk food jars in Lisa Congdon's kitchen, first photo above), then you might just conquer clutter without even trying.

We also love the way Lisa and Mati's vignettes show a willingness to play around with contrasting color. When you're designing a display of objects in your home, think about grouping colors together that will provide contrast with the background, be it a painted wall or a curtain or what have you. The reds and oranges on Lisa's shelves in the second photo really pop beautifully against the blue wall.

The first two photos above show Lisa Congdon's favorite things, and the second two are from Mati Rose McDonough.

Click over to Decor8 to see more of these two artists' favorite things, and to see more picks from other artists' homes.

(Images: Lisa Congdon, Mati Rose McDonough, Decor8)

To me, this opening picture is the exact reason why I shy away from open shelving--too much stuff on view!

posted by culturep0p on August 13th 2009 at 10:15am
view culturep0p's profile

I absolutely love all of the little canisters in the open shelving. Beautiful space!

posted by AnnaSkates on August 13th 2009 at 10:22am
view AnnaSkates's profile

I think the *star* of the first picture (and really, of the whole lot) is the graceful free-form arrangement of the dishes on the wall. Good work -- I'll bet it was a lot harder to do than one would suppose, to achieve that nice balance of form and color.
I also like the way the colors of the items on top of the shelf units echo the plate colors.
But, as noted above, the stuff underneath detracts, IMO. Much nicer to have some plain white doors on those units.

posted by mirandabee on August 13th 2009 at 10:31am
view mirandabee's profile

Secon image is very nice, love this ikea can.

posted by handz on August 14th 2009 at 9:21am
view handz's profile

Thank you, your account has been registered.

We have sent an email to the address you registered with for verification purposes. Please use the link in the verification email to activate your account.

apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time