Name: Chika Eustace & Jared Randall + 8 month old Lisle Randall
Location: Ballard, Seattle, Washington
Size: 850 square feet (living) + 500 square feet (basement studio)
Years lived in: 5 years; owned (co-owned)
On the left side of a cozy little duplex in Ballard (the tour of the other half is coming up next week), Chika Eustace and her husband Jared Randall live with their son Lisle in a colorful and creative space. The duplex (sweetly referred to as "The Dupe") is co-owned by Chika and Jared, along with Chika's business partner Jean and her fiance, Dylan. Chika and Jean own R&L Goods, a textiles and accessories company, and the two couples have found a serene and productive way to combine work and life.
Enter House Tour
They are busy little bees at The Dupe, with their basement doubling as a work space and sewing studio for R&L Designs' goods. When she's not working downstairs, Chika co-owns the local independent clothing boutique, Velouria, which fosters an appreciation for creative design, independent fashion and local artisans.
The space itself is, in Chika's words, a house of "colorful and mundane clutter." It doesn't seem to me that there is anything mundane about boldly beautiful walls and quirky fixtures — check out the vintage dental drill on the desk! The house is cozy, with sweet little baby accouterments here and there. "We like to joke about putting Baby in the corner," Chika says, referring to the playpen slipped into the corner of the room, barely noticeable, but filled with happy toys and plushy friends.
I was delighted to have the opportunity to take my camera over to their home to explore. Warning: adorable baby alert!
Enter House Tour
Apartment Therapy Survey:
Our Style: Colorful and mundane clutter — for this place.
Inspiration: We like things, and we like looking at things. I think we were both heavily influenced by an adult friend of ours in college who had ALL of these little objects of interest displayed on the eye height wainscoting of his massive apartment. It was just so fun to look at all the stuff! Our color inspiration is definitely Jared's Grandma Alice.
Favorite Element: I feel very grateful for the project space in the basement workshop and studio. It's so nice to have a space to make a mess, and really nice to have doors and stairs separating me from my work space. Also, knowing and liking our duplex neighbors is so great!
Biggest Challenge: I wish we had more room for comfortably hosting larger parties. Especially parties with kids. And I wish we had higher ceilings for cooler lighting.
What Friends Say: Oh — cute!
Biggest Embarrassment: We bought our Arcade Fire poster by Shawn Wolfe because we liked the pretty colors, not because we went to the concert or knew who The Arcade Fire were at the time.
Proudest DIY: I like what we did to our kitchen cabinets. They were really gross when we moved in, so we decided to make a big and quick statement to make them tolerable until we got around to a "tasteful" renovation of the kitchen. I'm proud of us for not being overly precious with the decisions, though I was definitely overly precious about the paint job on the cabinets.
Biggest Indulgence: This is a boring homeowner answer, but probably the front windows.
They're beautiful and are a huge improvement to the face of the
building, but I think we were all optimistic about how much maintenance a
wood south facing window requires when we made the call to get them. No
regrets, though!
Best Advice: If you can, leave dry walling to the pros. Mudding and sanding is just
awful. Also, if you order custom trim, and it costs more to have it
primed, and it seems like a lot — PAY IT. We spent SO many weekends and
week nights priming and painting our trim — and our place is relatively
small!
Dream Sources:
Chadhaus for bedroom furniture, Iacoli & McCallister for lighting and
tables, Christopher Speece chairs, Piano Nobile for our dream kitchen
and whole house remodel!
Enter House Tour
Resources of Note:
PAINT & COLORS
- Living Room: Behr Leapfrog in the living room, which transitions into the long hallway which I think was a 50/50 mix of Leapfrog and Sun Shower.
- Kitchen: Behr Emerald Coast with cabinets and trim in Vermont Cream
- Bedroom: Behr Wheat Bread with Vermont Cream trim.
- Baby bedroom: Behr Wheat Bread with Vermont Cream trim.
LIVING ROOM
- Hutch: The Hans Wegner hutch is a loaner from a very good friend with a smaller apartment. We will miss it terribly when it comes time to return it!
- Couch: the Canyon sectional is by INFORM's in house line, Bensen. It was our first major purchase about 7 years ago, and has served us very well. Coffee Table: a custom piece by Chadhaus - and it weighs a TON. We asked for a steel framed table with a storage shelf and a PaperStone top, so yeah those are corner protectors for the baby (and for us).
- Curtains: Home made from custom printed Piano Nobile fabric
- Prints: mostly from talented friends, craft shows, and family
- Pin up board/shelf: Home made from pressed paper board, linen, and hacked Ikea shelves.
- Bulletin Board: St. Vincent De Paul
- Pillows: Zanna Textiles, Nell & Mary
- Dental Drill: Chika's Grandfather's Army issued dental drill from WWII
- Lamps: Ikea with home made Liberty of London fabric shades
- Credenza: a Steelcase piece that was refurbished by neighbor Dylan when he was a recent college graduate.
- End table: Iacoli & McCallister (a lucky deal from an auction)
- Foam core scythe
BABY BEDROOM
- Bear paintings: Maia LeDoux
- Cranes and Poles Print: by Jennifer Zwick (purchased at an auction, and also the reason Chika is not allowed to attend auctions anymore)
- Animal prints: Matthew Porter
- Treehouse Print: Slow Loris
- Furniture: Ikea, plus a $10 dresser from Goodwill
- Windows: window frames by Jared, curtains are homemade with Kokka fabric and Ikea track system
KITCHEN
- Dishwasher: Miele found by neighbor Dylan on Craigslist for a DEAL
- Oven: $80 add on for another Craigslist find
- Dishes/Cookware: Hornsea, Heath, Le Creuset, All Clad, plus some handmade mugs by Jared and other friends
- Kettle: Sori Yanagi
- Coffee Maker: Aeropress - worth noting because it's ugly, but awesome and we use it every day.
- Tiny Microwave that looks like a TV: Whirlpool
- Chairs: Fake Eames hand me downs from a friend
BEDROOM
- Bed: West Elm (with an unsecured piece of scrap wood for the headboard)
- Clothing storage: a lightly hacked Stolmen drawer system by Ikea.
- Wall Shelves: shelf supports by Rakks, and Jared built the wooden shelves.
- Windows: window frames by Jared, curtains are homemade with Ikea fabric and track system
- Yellow Leather Wicker chair: gift from a good friend who got it as a floor sample from a store in NYC.
SEWING STUDIO
- Cabinets and shelves: Ikea
- Sewing Machines: Mitzi and Husquvarna Viking
- Teak Flatfile Credenza: Dux
- Lasercutter: Epilog
- Pin up boards under cabinets: compressed paperboard covered in fabric from various sources.
Enter House Tour
Thanks, Jared & Chika!
(Images: Andie Powers)
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OMG what is with that grim reaper ax in the third page?!
Whoaaaaaa, the scythe! That's a little imposing.
Cute house! Love love love your colors :) Gotta say though, the scythe seems a little dangerous with a baby crawling around!
love it exactly as is, like a stroll through the museum of your lives--and i wish i had a super imposing looking scythe beside my front door for scaring out the ne'er-do-wells...
I Love your place, especially the studio/workshop. Your little son is so cute, like a knitting pattern baby. I dont like that Scythe displayed, I am sure its anchored, but I would be afraid it would fall down and guillotine my head off. Maybe display it in your garden.
I bet that scythe makes your house the best decorated during Halloween. It's pretty eye catching.
wow - how did you get that Providence poster by Mad Peck!!
yes, please tell us that the scythe is anchored to the wall somehow! especially if you want to have parties with kids there. otherwise, i love the avacado and teal color scheme, and the big photo above the changing table is cool for your son to look at when he's getting changed. very original!
I like almost everything in this house but if I lived here I'd have to de-clutter quite a bit. But that's just me, and I don't, so ... I'm in love with the colours, especially the Leapfrog (both the colour and the name!). I also really like the style of The Dupe itself with the garage underneath.
And the scythe! Is it real?? Its fab!
too many knick-knacks for my liking but the overall look is lovely - I especially like the kitchen counters and layout! :)
Ok I can't find the scythe...??!! I love that little fox though, and nice artwork!
I love your kitchen cupboards/shelving! Are they custom made?
Tell me about the bedroom ceiling lights.
How so fun and funky! Love it and so much details and color!
Commenters: The scythe is foam core. It is made of foam core.
They're from Ikea - and the one in our bedroom is probably hanging a little too low for the space (it's easy to bump when folding laundry) but we love it and couldn't pass it up! The one in the baby room is on a dimer, and has been a very soothing element at bedtime.
:) I think I picked that up from the RISD store in 2001.
Never fear! The scythe is a foam core and tin foil prop from a Halloween costume :)
Thanks! We did a quickie renovation of the kitchen when we moved in that involved stripping the cabinets of laminate, cutting out the arches, and painting the cupboards. I added a mini tier of shelves to hold spices and more mugs in the back of some of the cupboards.
I love your aesthetic (including the scythe)! We are moving into a townhome sized similarly to your Dupe in May (with a baby on the way - I just hope she's as adorable as yours) and I am definitely bookmarking this for ideas. Good luck with continuing the awesomeness in the future :)
Super cute place, cute family, awesome art!
I think all the AT folks who want to rip out their kitchens should take a look at how great your kitchen turned out using creativity and color. That peachy tile is totally working with the paint colors you picked along with your retro dishes and things. Good design can make those perfectly good older kitchens come to life. Very inspiring.
My favorite thing is the cranes and poles print in the baby room! So cool! :)
Love the kitchen, the color in the cupboards is very nice. In fact I like the entire dupe.
And, that is one darling cute baby!
Love the colors,love the light,love that adorable baby! Those kitchen shelves are awesome!
Love the kitchen shelves too!! And wow, I can't believe that scythe is a fake!
I love that they work in textiles and Chika named her son Lisle
X-D.
I love all of the wonderful pops of color! The shape of the cabinets is great, such a simple touch makes a great statement. With all of the color elsewhere, I would have expected a little more in the baby's room though. Great space!
Foam core scythe, naturally.
Love the house, love the scythe.
You made so many great things happen in that space and I can tell your family is inventive and resourceful. Bravo. Bravo!
I'm assuming the scythe is Jared's idea? Jared, stop it already. Toss it.
hahaha
I really enjoyed this tour. Whatever you did to your kitchen cabinets, it was very successful! Where did you get the kilim that's on your living room chair?
I like the open open cabinets in the kitchen--the color looks good. However, I'm wondering if the baby is crawling or pulling himself up yet. If he isn't he soon will be, and there appears to be a LOT of stuff for him to get into. For example the black bins and the bottles on the low shelves in the kitchen, the baskets under the fireplace hearth, and the pool balls and other collectibles that are on display. I don't mean that these are dangerous for the baby, but you probably don't want all this stuff spread around and smashed, chewed, etc.
@deon marais
Kind of harsh to call it "a dump". It seems clean and organized (if not baby-proofed) and attractively decorated. Not everyone has an unlimited budget.
Interesting place. Yes, just like everyone, the scythe caught my eye and I had to go back to see it a few times over because it doesn't look fake at all from these pics! Regardless, I thought that this house is filled with humor, irreverence and a bit of darkness(maybe it's the scythe... what can I say!) It is not my personal style but I see "character" written all over the place, it has personality, it makes me wanna meet these people. Who would think of hanging old cabinets over the fireplace? And they pulled it off!
@deon marais - "strange people's homes..." what does that mean? They seem to have a unique taste and object consistency throughout their home. You may not like it, but dismiss it all together suggests your taste is on the rigid side. blah.
a warm family, good job.
Oh, I totally love this! Especially the cabinets used to display stuff above the fireplace, the 'dupe' sign and the creatures hugging in the welly boots. Plus the kitchen cabinets make me melt in a big pool of desire - they are totally amazeballs!!!! Love the lack of fear of colour, love the collection of mundane objects - wish my house looked this coll!
Hurray, a perfectly imperfect house with real clutter. Thank you AT for showing how the other half lives. I adore the scythe and admit I was a little saddened to read it is foam core. The cranes photograph and the bear brushing his teeth are so fantastic. I want reach into my screen, grab them, and hang them on my wall. Your home makes parenting look so normal; a nice change from the odd aesthetic preoccupation that so many posts on AT portray.
I don't understand-- what can be said about people whose curtains don't go all the way to the floor?
I love the house. It is colorful and playful and shows that the people who live there don't take themselves too seriously. And it isn't unattainable. But I like the Arcade Fire, too, so what do I know? ;)
The trolls here are so boring.
I went through your Dupe tour with a smile on my face. Such a happy space. @Deon Marais your comment that you are sure that they are a "lovely couple" does little to soothe the sting of your other comments. The growing up is yours to do, along with a bit of tolerance for other people and their taste. Diversity makes our world bloom! How boring life would be without that. Jared & Chika I love the unique nursery, sweet baby boy!
Now this is a real home. Warm and comfortable with beautiful things collected over time, not bought in one trip to West Elm. Especially cool to see the studio down below - nice, clean organized space, hard to tell it's a basement. I love seeing homes where the owners worked with what they had! Case in point, the kitchen. New bin pulls, opening up shelves, painting the backs of cabinets teal, arching the woodwork. How much money would that cost? Not much, but the effect is lovely.
Deon Marais- I signed in just to flag your comments as offensive. ;)
lovely place, love the aqua and sharp yellow paint, your collections, the high & low shelving in kitchen & bedroom, so clever to use all the vertical space
we have a homemade scythe in our living room too!
broomstick, shoe lace, foam core, alunimum foil & tape,
perennial favorite at haloween
we also have a sharpened spear: tree branch, cardboard, and foil, haha!
cute kid, freaky scythe (even foam) - adore the bucket truck picture and cool curtains in the kid's room - my little guy would love them. also really like the plants on the fireplace - neat home, thanks for sharing!
cute kid, freaky scythe (even foam) - adore the bucket truck picture and cool curtains in the kid's room - my little guy would love them. also really like the plants on the fireplace - neat home, thanks for sharing!
; )
Howdy neighbors! I think I've seen this house on my Ballard jogs (we live up the street from you on 62nd--farmhouse w/ the tangerine door). You have a spectacular flair for color combinations. I don't have the gift but I admire it in others. I'm sure I'm not the only AT reader who's curious about The Dupe logo. Love it! What's the story? It's like your own family crest.
yr tour made me wanna go out and buy paint. really strange cos im a very restrained kinda person... first i felt that with the yellow walls. and then i decided im really convinced seeing the kitchen pictures - whats happening !!?! (haha) esp funny cos im SURE youre not even intending to sell paint... BenMoore advertisers needs to employ you/your photographer...
these people are seriously creative... *awe*
What a fun house- beautiful yellow/teal combination. Is that a pass-through in the baby's room? I have one too and can't quite figure out what it's for. I think our houses are long-lost cousins.
Lisle can drool over at my house any time he wants to.
Love the bear pics in the baby room! So cute!
Jared and Chika are fearless creatives, and it comes through in their warm, welcoming home. Their collection of objects, books, and prototypes has only been enchanced by the addition of baby stuff!