What is your one favorite element in your small, cool home? It is hard to choose a favorite element. I love the beautiful old windows that over look downtown Houston. I love wrought-iron window between the bedroom and the living room. I love the original sink in the kitchen from when the building was built in 1929. I love the beautiful non-working fireplace. But I would have to say my favorite element is the beautiful wrought iron staircase in the living room with the butterflies sculpted to match the lines of the stairs.
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What was one of the biggest challenges you faced in furnishing your small home? This apartment had several design challenges. First, the front door is through the kitchen so the first thing guests see is a stove and a refrigerator. The apartment has high ceilings so I decided to draw the eye up and created an alter above the stove and utilized the space above the refrigerator as a display area. Now when guests first enter their eyes are drawn up to a fun whimsical display. I was inspired to paint the walls Mountain White as a reference to the the time period of the building a Spanish Colonial building from 1929. The color is a modern interpretation of a mid-century kitchen.
The second design challenge was the split-level apartment. The living room is made even more narrow by the staircase. To solve this problem, we decided to paint the rest of the apartment the same color - Finesilver Gray. We chose Finesilver because most of the furniture had white trims. Furniture placement was done to make the room wider - the couch is under the windows to give the impression of a wider space. Finally, since the living room is so small, we decided that there was no room for a traditional entertainment area and instead chose to hang the tv on the wall. The VCR, DVD player and Apple TV are hidden in the side tables within coffee table books.
With small spaces, organization is always the key. We edited and reedited until only the bare essentials were left.
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i like the brown sofa!
Where did you get that neat cabinet next to the fridge, the one that is holding the microwave?
what's on the wall above your bed? and by the stairs? i'm intrigued.
What is that on the wall? Do I need new glasses?
Yea for Houston! I like your home, too.
Lovely.
What is the brand of paint? I love it with the green window coverings in the bedroom. And the fan looks great--I'm wondering how you have managed to make it look decent. Mostly they are an ugly Southern necessity.
I love the layout of the space, along with the furniture and decor.
creativeneurosis - Hanging above the bed are Inhabit Wall Flats squares.
http://www.inhabitliving.com/detail.aspx?ID=850
You can find them at many stores...the above is just 1 link to them. They range from $80-$86.
They look great above the bed!
love this!
I absolutely love the layout of your living room and your sofa! And have a random question- where is your coffee table from? I have been looking for something just along those lines.
Oh! I love the butterflies! Where did you get them or is this an DIY?
Besides, very nice living room (what great windows).
I love the kitchen. Where's the shelving unit next to the fridge from?
coffee filters? haha, i love it just the same.
i like the idea of something fluttery like that on the wall. is that hard to clean though?
i really like how you set up your front room. it's giving me some ideas of how to re-set up ours. thanks!
Airy. Liveable. Lovely.
Great arrangement of furniture! I may have to steal some of your ideas!
So creative! I wouldn't have thot of putting up those things you have on the wall...super cool.
plus that coffee table...is that marble top? Looks divine!
Where is it from?
Angled rug is awesome :)
Great use of space. I like the symmetry and order of things, very clean and well thought-out design.
Beautiful.
I didn't notice your fireplace at first, but I love it! Lovely home.
those butterflies remind me of the umbra wallflowers, they are little magnet/tack things that you can put on walls or any metal surface. Plus, they're plastic so if you're worried about dirt you can just wipe them down no problem. I've been looking into buying some and they run about 30-40 bucks for a set of 25.
Go Houston!!!!
Adam, did you prime then paint your Wall Flat squares? How did you hang them? I've been debating whether to affix mine to another surface (plywood or foamcore) and then hang or attempt to hang directly on the wall.
Please tell us more about the butterflies! They're awesome!
Your house is so beautiful!
I was thinking the same thing about the butterflies, Cambra. I just saw the wallflowers in the new Umbra newsletter. These look more sophisticated though...I didn't realize they were even butterflies.
Those windows are incredibly gorgeous. Score!
love this apartment--where did you get your sense of style?
He was born with a great sense of style! Love it!
this is really nice. clean and refined yet still looks like someone lives there. most important of all not all one note. it has a nice blend of eclectic pieces that makes it feel more personal.
are the butterflys really coffee filters. They look like oragami.
Please tell us who you made them.
I bought wall tiles on sale $4.50 each and I can't wait for them to get here. How did you install yours?
amazing...where in Houston do you live? I have been looking everywhere for a place with this much character.
Thanks to everyone for the really great comments! I need everyone's vote for the next round!!
I will try to answer a few of the questions...the butterflies are origami and were handmade for me. They are attached to the masonry walls with sticky tack.
The shelving unit in the kitchen is from IKEA. I added doors, drawers and my own knobs to dress it up.
The paint is ICI Dulux.
I was lucky enough that the bedroom ceiling fan was black with reversible black blades, so it ends up looking like the fans that were original to the building.
Blandwagon: you hit the nail on the head; the space needed to be clearly defined and the rectangles serve as the guides.
The coffee table is a vintage piece from my grandmother's store with chrome base and marble top.
The wall flats in the bedroom are not primed or painted and they are attached using the stick-on backs directly onto the wall.
Thanks again for your support!
Sincerely, Adam
Looks amazing! I am proud of you!
where did you get the white chair?
Can I move in? LOVE this space!! Love the stairs, love the windows, love the floors, love the furniture. I especially love the Florentine guilded demilune table against the stairs. A very unexpected and sophisticated touch. Especially with the contrast of the stark white wall and black wrought iron stair rail. I just got back from Italy and it makes me miss Florence very much (tear). Oh, and I'm heading to the grocery store tonight to get some of those candles you have in the kitchen. I always stop to look at them but I must have some now because I see how very cool they look in my new place ... uh, I mean your place. Eh, eh.
You got my vote!!
Hi Adam! The apartment looks amazing - I am so happy for you. Hope you win :o)
Very well done. Interesting scale and if I had a nice dressing room off the bedroom the size wouldn't matter to me.
Great work.
Is that one of Dale's paintings above the table?
oh those butterflies are amazing
Espectacular!!! Pero ésta no es la casa que yo conocí!!! Está increíble!!