Name: Shauna Alterio & Stephen Loidolt of something's hiding in here
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (at the edge of the city)
Size: 2,300 square feet (1 bedroom & 1 bath)
Years lived in: 3.5 rented
Shauna and Stephen may have sacrificed being able to step out the front door of their loft and be in the heart of Philadelphia, but what they got in return makes the very short drive all worth it. They like to consider their loft one big studio — a studio that has been transformed from an old tire factory into one lively loft.
Shauna and Stephen have lived in Philadelphia for about 4 years and have spent most of that time in this loft. They both have very creative jobs and the wheels in their brains certainly don't stop turning when they come home after work. They boast that the majority of their things are from thrift & antique stores, Craigslist and IKEA. They take pride in their artistic abilities and transform many of the pieces they uncover from unlikely sources.
Their lively loft — that sits right next to railroad tracks — is illuminated with sun pouring in through the giant windows during the peak hours of the day. That light helps showcase all of the amazing and unique items that are spread throughout the space. One can find anything from a case full of anatomical figures to (wooden) "brass" knuckles. We also can't overlook Shauna and Stephen's two work rooms that help them run their Etsy shop: something's hiding in here. The workshops are both efficient and whimsical.
We've actually seen Stephen in action here on Apartment Therapy — teaching us How To: Make a Block Print!
Apartment Therapy Survey:
My/Our style: Our style is a mix of all the things we love.
Inspiration: We've been looking at the Zakka movement in Japan, its inspired us to search for pieces with natural textures and wood like our dining room table and wicker chairs. Mid Century education has always been an inspiration, from our colors (taken from our globe collection), to our favorite vintage finds like a classroom chalkboard and card catalog. We also love industrial items from the 70's like our green, metal flat file and metal tool chest. One day, we'd love to have vintage pieces by some of our favorite Mid Century designers like Paul McCobb.
Favorite Element: We love that it's an open space, we truly think of it as one big studio.
Biggest Challenge: The same thing that we love about our place is also its biggest challenge. Because it's one open space any changes we make effects everything.
What Friends Say: Our friends joke that we're always making or changing something in our loft, and it's true. We just can't help ourselves.
Biggest Embarrassment: We do have a dirty secret... the loft above our studio is all storage. We really want to turn it into a second bedroom for guests, but it's so nice to have a secret place to hide all the things you don't want to look at.
Proudest DIY: Our giant, built in, bookcase, made of scrap lumber from old projects.
Biggest Indulgence: There is one thing I still can't believe we bought... our Eames, fiberglass rocker. It was so worth it, even though we had to save for a year to buy it.
Best advice: Look everywhere... you never know where you'll find inspiration.
Dream source: We can't think of a dream source... but there's a piece of furniture we dream of owning: the Paul McCobb planner desk and chair. One day.
Resources:
Furniture: Thrift & antique stores, Craigslist, IKEA
Accessories: Thrift & antique stores, eBay, Etsy
Lighting: Gallery802, cb2, PBteen
Rugs and Carpets: IKEA, Urban Outfitters
Window Treatments: Home Depot (painters canvas drop cloth & galvanized pipe & flange)
Beds: IKEA, Craigslist
Artwork: From friends & Etsy.
Paint: Lowes - we buy LOTS of latex paint, it's the fastest way to make a big change with little time & money.
(Thanks, Shauna & Stephen!)
(Images: Kristen Lubbe)
Small Cool Lessons: Discovering Small Space Design Ideas That Really Work
Marisa and Peter's Playfully Eclectic Home
Good Food to Share 
The Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces 
Apartment Therapy Presents 
The Eight-Step Home Cure 
Sheex Bedding
Eileen's Beachside Oasis Kitchen
How to Make Fresh Pasta Dough in the Food Processor
what a freakin' dream craft space
What an excellent space to live in! There are some really great pieces in the loft that make it so welcoming and comfortable. I just want to wander around aimlessly exploring...
Oohhhh pretty! I love the deer "bookcases" and the bathroom and the dining area, and, and, and... How's that IKEA bed? I've been eyeing it for quite some time, but it felt reeeealllly rickety in the store. Thanks for sharing!
i love that the color palette was inspired by their globe collection - once you know that, the whole thing makes more sense!
This is so gorgeous! I'm decorating a new apartment in Philadelphia, and have been searching for good thrift/vintage stores. Other than the Philly AIDS Trust, are there any places (pref. in the city) that you found good pieces at?
I saw this space when it was featured on Etsy a while back. Loved it then and love it now. I feel like it is the perfect blend of vintage-rustic-modern-functional elements. It makes you want to spend a couple hours looking at every detail.
OH MY GOODNESS! I've never been so jealous of a craft room in all my days! Sweet Jesus! And if my husband saw the building area he'd cry...not to mention those wicked beautiful windows. Lovely.
I think this may be my favorite AT tour to date. I love my place, but I seriously want to be that couple and live in that place...
your place provides lots of inspirational ideas. i love the desk. thanks for sharing.
Old globe/map colors are the best! Congrats on a lovely palette and a beautiful space.
Beautiful space. I like the little turquoise cups for markers that hang on the wall in the craft space.
I love all the shades of blue and green in this space!
I love every inch!
ec05- you said it!
congrats on the incredible bookcase! how long did it take you to design it?
dying a little of jealousy here... love the craft area and the workshop and the colors and the ashley g collection. sigh.
Eclectic, fun, colorful, homey, and WOW what a space! Thank you for sharing with AT!
love love loveeee
I love your craft room. I am amazed that you can keep the home so clean and tidy when there is so much stuff. Well done.
I LOVE the swing! And that bookcase! If I had that, I'd finally be able to dig all my books out of closets & crannies and put them in one place! ~sigh~
What a cute space, and I'm drolling over the craft area. That coat rack is exactly what a want, please say there are some at a store somewhere and i can easily purchase it, hehe.
Amazing, amazing. There's nothing more to say!
one of the best homes featured on at ever! truly unique and inspiring. wonder about the bathroom cabinets...are those just plywood with blue stain? also, love the matchbook lamps! what are their day jobs? amazing.
This is BY FAR my favorite HT ever. So whimsical! So smart and inviting! Even the tool atelier is nice and welcoming. There isn't one false note. bravo!
I lovvve. Every bit of it. They are adorable, and their home is to die for. One of my favorite House Tours yet!
Wow! You can't swing a Chihuahua in there without hitting a hipster design trope (woodland photomural:check, granny afghan:check, paint-by-numbers:check, owls:check, stack of Dwell magazines:check), yet the place still has charm and personality. It's not my taste at all but they have succeeded where so many other have failed in making this kind of improvised styling look carefully curated and appealing, rather than haphazard and makeshift.
love, love, love.
Swoon. This bedroom? The craft space? Everything else? LOVE.
I think this hipster look is cute and the loft is to die for and that is probably where my frustration comes from because I love the loft and see so much potential lost. Oh well.
And also they are adorable and have good taste.
I LOVE the treatment to the desk . . . SO fantastic! Furniture doesn't quite fit the way you want it to? MAKE it fit! And it just looks fantastic. Great job!
I have a pair of those little plastic 50's deer with the glitter on their antlers. They were my grandmothers. It made me smile.
I've seen this home posted elsewhere before, but I fall in love with it each and every time I see it! Way to make Philly proud!
I've seen their place on a bunch of other blogs, and it's still one of my favorite things ever. They actually work at my company but I've never spoken to them, and every time I see them around I feel like I'm celebrity-spotting.
P.S. What's with all the hipster-bashing? It's ok to like things that might have been done before, people. I at least think this style is much more homey and attainable than some of the other $$$ and impersonal high designs featured on AT. I love that they acknowledge that their Eames rocker was a huge splurge.
What I really LOVE here: the SIGNS! Recalls Barbara Kruger's famous conceptual verbiage art (one of my favorites) and pushes that idea to something TOTALLY DEMOCRATIC and personal. The "concepts" here are so loving somehow – a reflection, I expect, of Shauna & Stephens talents & hearts. Beautiful.
Definitely one of my fav tours. Miajaffe's comment does it for me. So lovely, so livable. Even if you're not into a particular item that is collected, the use of a particular collection in a particular site is nicely done. Sub in, i dunno... agates for the deer and let's say B&W photos of jazz musicians for the paint by numbers, and it still works beautifully. LOVE the desk. And the duvet cover is in a pattern that I had when I was in college. I still have the twin sheet because I loved that pattern so. (Had to share that bit.)
Please do tell us about the blue-stained wall in the bathroom.
I really can't love this place enough.
Not for me, but lovingly designed with style, wit and comfort in mind. The dogs are probably my favorite accessories.
I thought amed studio's comment was witty. On the one hand, many beautiful, original ideas. I love the colors, and the work spaces are to die for! The sofa is elegant and beautiful.
On the other hand, there are the ceramic deer in the headboard space. Lots and lots of them. Why? Can one really be in a romantic mood with one's significant other and look up and contemplate kitsch? Wouldn't the general commotion of a happy marital bed disturb the little china animals?
The two deer with the books tied to their backs are a design idea gone way wrong. Does anyone want to think of deer as beasts of burden? No, no, no.
I see live deer four or five times a week. It's a mystical experience each time. I don't know how the life force in the universe came to make such delicate, exquisite, fragile animals, but every time I see one, I rejoice that they are here on earth with us. Still unfettered, for the most part, despite the ravages of civilization. Cluttering up an interior space with kitschy imitations just doesn't do anything for me.
These people obviously have wonderful imaginations and have done a beautiful job with their place. The emphasis on ceramic deer and stuffed deer and faux deer is just an odd piece of the zeitgeist floating through an otherwise original interior. I also wonder what it is with the paint by numbers art work. It's another a la mode celebration of kitsch that I could do without.
More positive feelings about this place than negative ones. I can't say enough about the colors. And the globe collection is nicely displayed. Here's hoping that these creative people get their Paul McCobb piece! I share their dream in that respect.
The sign reads, "I have everything I need." Well, it certainly looks that way!!!
thanks everyone for your thoughtful comments and a special thank you to kristen for including our place on AT's house tour.
mjr: we've had it for a few years and still LOVE our ikea bed. when you take time to put it together correctly, we have to say that ikea furniture holds up well. tip: always use real tools, not the disposable ones they include. http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/S69871265
pej: when we're looking for a day of thrift shopping we go to adams town. it's a bit of a drive, but really worth it. http://www.antiquescapital.com/
LeahDC: we spent two weeks building the shelves. http://somethingshidinginhere.typepad.com/my_weblog/2009/01/the-shelves-are-finished.html
molly h: thanks! ashley g is one of our favorite people ever. she even made a print inspired by our "mustache on a stick". http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=26975820
Lizzykewl: the coat rack is from target online. http://www.target.com/Coat-Rack-Walnut/dp/B000IK4JMM/ref=br_1_6?ie=UTF8&frombrowse=1&searchView=grid5&searchNodeID=16234731&node=16234731&searchRank=pmrank&searchPage=2&searchSize=30&id=Coat%20Rack%20Walnut
miajaffe: we built and painted the blue wall in our bathroom. the faux bois finish was created with a wood graining tool. http://somethingshidinginhere.typepad.com/my_weblog/2008/07/faux-bois-how-1.html
complicatedshoes: thanks!
such a fun and unique home. would you reveal where you found the glass lamp base to hold the matchboxes?
siobhang: sure, they're from cb2. http://reviews.cb2.com/7259/2985/reviews.htm
great job all around! when i saw the couple i was pretty sure i'd seen their home on design*sponge a few months back, but it was shot in a way that made it feel fresh, interesting, and still quirky - it was like a totally different space!
i love it: it's a testament both to the amazing nature of their home and to the photographer. the complete absence of that weird, voyeuristic sense of deja vu you get when looking at the same pictures of someone's house on the internet - AGAIN - was soooo appreciated.
your place looks amazing! I think I used to live in that building...perhaps even that space! Man I miss loft living, it lets your creative juices flow! Awesome job!
love!
WHOA....I am not normally impressed. I am impressed. I LOVE all the antique/vintage chairs (especially the pink one), the brick, the art room (who wouldn't?), the SWING!, and the color scheme, of course. That desk is really great, too! I see someone does woodworking...jealous! I live in Lancaster and absolutely agree with you about Adamstown- Shupp's Grove is the bomb for good vintage and antique stuff.
What an adorable couple, and their house matches! I love the color blue on the walls, and that crafting space is to die for, I need to dedicate a small room to just crafts and scrapbooking supplies, this has given me some inspiration!
can you tell me what paint color you used on the 'something's hiding in here' wall?
love it!
Gorgeous home! Love it, and as others have said, love that craft room. Thanks for sharing.
I want that duvet cover! Do you know who made it and if it is still available?
the deer bookshelves are adorable. and the craft and workroom make me wanna get all crafty and build stuff. wonderful use of space.
oh wait--and that desk! that awesome desk! did you just decide to chop it up a bit and rebalance it?! it looks so--sculptural!
perfection!!
Oh wow I love love love this space. Shauna & Stephen really are good together! Thank you for sharing this. I'm coming back to get some ideas from your pics to organize my own space. :)
Thanks for a great inspiration on having a fun color palette. I don't think that I would have ever thought of using globes. But, they are such a clever choice.