The Latest: Feb 2019

Names: Bianca Sotelo, Blogger at A Fabulous Challenge and Editorial Manager for Apartment 34 & Craig King, Assistant District Manager, G-Star Location: Alameda, California Size: 750 square feet Years lived in: 3 years; Rented I love interiors that set a certain mood and turn the innate quirks of the space to their advantage. The style mix in Bianca and Craig’s place does just that. Bianca and Craig live in a garden level unit and their design embraces the naturally dim interior.

Name: Chris MacDonald (tattoo artist) & Meg Tilston (furniture designer) Location: Toronto, Canada Size: 900 square feet Years lived in: 7 years; owned Tattoo artist Chris McDonald and furniture designer Meg Tilston knew they’d found the perfect home when they first saw this tiny cottage in Toronto.

Name: Mark Salvie, plus roommates Rob and Jeff and dog Bubs Location: The Heights; Houston, Texas Size: 2,188 square feet Years lived in: 1 year; Owned Mark is the guy with all the cool stuff. Everywhere you turn, there is something interesting to look at. The thing about Mark’s house, though, is that it doesn’t feel cluttered or crowded. It is, as Goldilocks would say, just right.

Name: Esthera & Gus Preda-Engle, along with cat Lotlita Location: Fossambault-sur-le-Lac; Quebec, Canada Size: 1,200 square feet Years lived in: 2 years; Owned Esthera, a videographer at Boat People Vintage, and Gus, a professional snowboarder, are quite the talented couple. Esthera and Gus’s home truly embodies their style and heritage: Esthera is a first generation Romanian-French-Canadian, and Gus is half Native American.

Name: Kristen Philipkoski, Kourosh Karimkhany, and daughter Frida Location: Pacifica, California Size: 2,000 square feet Years lived in: 2.5 years; rented When Kristen Philipkoski, a science writer turned fashion blogger, spotted this 70s beach house in Pacifica, just 15 miles south of San Francisco, she knew she had to have it.

Name: Tim Eddy and Hannah Fuller Location: Tahoe, California Size: 196 square feet Years lived in: 1.5 years; Owned Hannah grew up in a home her parents built (her father is a boat builder), so it was only natural for her to follow in their footsteps. Tim, on the other hand, has never built anything but fires.

Name: Cinda & Mark Boomershine Location: Atlanta, Georgia Size: 3 Bedroom, 2.5 Bath Years lived in: 7 years An architecturally traditional home filled with bright color and bold contemporary art is just the first of many contrasts that make up Cinda and Mark’s style.

A truly bittersweet tour for me – walking around Megan and Mike’s lovely home knowing that boxes waited in the other room ready to pack up everything and officially close their Amsterdam chapter – made this a sad day, but a happy one knowing we shared some nice memories in this canal-side flat.

Name: Jessie and Jon Location: Brooklyn Heights; New York, New York Size: 710 square feet Years lived in: 7 months; rented Within every couple-cohabited space there is a love story: the how, when, and why a house adapts to contain the spirit of the two people who have worked together to share it and create for themselves a home.

Name: Sarah Becker, of Sarah Becker Skincare Location: Pacific Heights; San Francisco, California Size: 500 square feet Years lived in: 6 years; Rented Upon stepping into Sarah’s apartment, your eye is immediately drawn around the room, resting on carefully arranged collections of found objects and curiosities, colorfully patterned textiles, and a collection of paintings culled from the local flea market.

Name: Sarah & David Location: Fort Greene, Brooklyn, New York Size: 1 bedroom + outdoor patio Years lived in: 10 months; rented Sarah and David’s apartment is the perfect example of a great tenant/landlord relationship. Their apartment had great bones to begin with, with exposed brick, a beautiful chandelier, and lots of lovely traditional moldings that provide a nice contrast to the soon-to-be married pair’s modern taste.

Name: Sarah Glicken of Develop Agency Location: Potrero Hill; San Francisco, California Size: 1,100 square feet Years lived in: 5 years; Owned Sarah’s loft is open and expansive without losing a sense of warmth, and keeps the relaxed sensibility of a space that feels truly lived in while still maintaining a strong point of view and style.

Name: Grant Spanier and Veronica McCracken of LESS Co. Location: The Everest Building, St. Paul Size: 1,400 Square Feet Years occupied: 1 LESS Co. is the kind of place that really lives by its name. The crisp white walls are offset by smart and efficient black furniture. Every detail, plant and tchotchke is lovingly thought out and has a meaning to its owner. That’s why it comes as no surprise to me or others that the LESS Co. space is just as much about the people in it as the stuff.

Name: Ekaterina Yaschuk of Meystyle Location: Waterloo; London, UK Size: 750 square feet Years lived in: 5 years; owned Tucked away at the top of a flight of narrow and twisting stairs, over one of the best tapas restaurants in South London, is the glamorous and glossy apartment of the equally lovely Ekaterina, a wallpaper designer with a difference — she makes bespoke papers and fabrics studded with LEDs and crystals. I admit, I was hoping for floor to ceiling shimmering opulence.

Name: Eva Schone Location: Hyde Park; Austin, Texas Size: 850 square feet Years lived in: 3 years; rented Eva Schone, the founder of Trophyology (and an architect on hiatus), describes her style as “light, cozy, and green with a sense of clarity.” It’s true. Upon entering her sun-drenched two bedroom garage apartment, Eva’s decisions and delights are perfectly clear, without the appearance of a lot of work or fuss.

Name: Taryn & Sanford Parker (and their dog Iris and cat Tron) Location: Logan Square; Chicago, Illinois Size: 2,000 square feet Years lived in: 3.5 years; owned It’s almost unimaginable. You buy a house, and a few days before you’re slated to move in, some hooligans break in and burn the interior, and you are faced with a gut rehab of what you thought would be a virtually move-in-ready space.

Name: Mimi Shim Location: Fort Greene, Brooklyn Size: 720 square feet Years lived in: 3 years; Owned Mimi shares this colorful, light-filled Brooklyn apartment with her husband and two cats. The space manages to feel comfortable and welcoming and yet chic and well edited. The lack of clutter and well designed living space are a testament to this couple’s attention to detail, and the results are nothing short of charming.

Name: Candice and Jason Rose Location: Mission, San Francisco, California Size: 1,000 square feet Years lived in: 6 weeks; Rented Candice and Jason moved into their current apartment six weeks ago — yes, six weeks. But you would never know it when you walk through the front door. The space feels warm, collected, and well organized.

Name: Heather Frank Location: Alamo Square Park, San Francisco Size: 950 square feet Years lived in: 3 years; Rented Film, fashion, and French culture are just a few of Heather Frank’s favorite things. The video producer turned turned this classic San Francisco apartment, which sits right above Alamo Square Park, into a space that reflects all of her passions. It’s an eclectic mix of Japanese art, movie posters, vintage furniture, and travel mementos.

Name: Tim Speicher, Director of Marketing and Communications at Victory Gardens Theater in Lincoln Park, and Ellenkate Finley Location: Lincoln Square — Chicago, Illinois Size: 900 square feet Years lived in: almost 9 months; Rented You know a tour is going to be different when you’re warmly invited to check out a cozy crawlspace/adult fort underneath a completely DIY lofted bed!

Name: Eva & Jason Hume Location: Mt. Tabor; Portland, Oregon Size: 750 square feet Years lived in: 4 years; Owned It’s been four years since Eva, Jason and their French bulldog Santo settled into this perfect little nest in the heart of southeast Portland, Oregon. The neighborhood is made up of an array of eateries, jam-packed coffeehouses, vegan bars, offbeat clothing stores, and vintage oddity shops.

Name: Lauren Spain Location: San Francisco, California Size: 450 square Feet Years lived in: 1 year 8 months; Rented I don’t meet a lot of people my age that really have their shit together, but Lauren is the exception that obliterates the rule. You wouldn’t know it now, but Lauren has had to redecorate her apartment TWICE. Yes, twice. Two months after moving in, her oven caught fire and ruined many of her belongings.

Name: Thayer Allyson Gowdy and Scott Paterson Location: Bernal Hill, San Francisco, California Size: 1,200 square feet Years lived in: 7 years; Owned Photographer Thayer Gowdy’s carefree style comes together with a mix of clean-lined Danish designs, eclectic accessories, and pieces sourced from her travels around the world. → Re-edited from a tour originally published in 2014 The result is collected without feeling too busy, and modern without losing its sense of warmth.

Name: Jaclyn Simpson, of Jaclyn Simpson Photography Location: Lincoln Square; Chicago, Illinois Size: 1,500 square feet Years lived in: 2 years; Rented Jaclyn is exactly the kind of wedding photographer you want with you all day during your big celebration: warm, generous, funny, and absolutely genuine. Her live/work space is filled with personal pieces and DIY projects galore, creating an earthy/quirky combination that is distinctly her own.

Name: rabble+rouser, Christina Schroeder, Principal and Founder Location: Blake Street, Denver, Colorado Size: 7,000 Square Feet Years worked in: 3 years There’s nothing quite like an old warehouse space embracing color. It bolsters creativity and just makes everything feel alive. At rabble+rouser, bright blue and orange feature walls keep a space that once served as a furniture workshop feeling new, vibrant, and fresh.

Name: Adam Lopez, Owner of vintage clothing shop October 18th Location: Echo Park, Los Angeles California Size: 650 square feet Years lived in: 1.5 years; Rented Adam is one of the Angelenos lucky enough to have landed a rent controlled bungalow in the heart of the city. Centrally located in Echo Park, his home is a cozy one bedroom with plenty of space to house his art and vintage treasures.

Name: Rachel Yacapraro, blogger at Taffeta and Cedar, and Brian Willard, Visual Effects Artist at Radar Studios Location: West Town; Chicago, Illinois Size: 1,600 square feet Years lived in: 9 years; Owned Warmly considered and lovingly maintained, Rachel and Brian’s flat has the broad, open feel of a loft, while retaining the flow and privacy of a traditional apartment. Luckily for this couple, Rachel and Brian share a similar clean, modern aesthetic with a vintage twist.

Name: Fancy Tiger Crafts Location: 59 Broadway, Denver, Colorado Size: 4,000 square feet Years worked in: 2 years Fancy Tiger Crafts is kind of like a knitwear wonderland. With wall to wall shelves of wool and felt yarns being stocked by lovely ladies in hand-crafted sweaters, it’s definitely a place a shopper can really escape to for a while. But it’s not just a great little shop: it’s a community classroom for sewers, knitters and crafters of all skill levels.

Name: Jim & Doris Location: Honolulu Size: 14,000 square feet Years lived in: Owned It’s always fun to get a sneak peek into really spectacular homes, and today’s tour certainly fits the bill. Tucked away on the island of Oahu, Jim and Doris created a retreat from everyday life that’s as remarkable as it is immersive. As you move through the rooms, it’s hard to believe this house is located in the USA.

Name: Jacqueline Clair Location: Upper East Side, New York City Size: Approximately 400 square feet Years lived in: 3 years; Rented If you take a peek at New York City blogger Jacqueline Clair’s Instagram account you’ll see plenty of images that are well-composed, colorful, chic, and fun. The same could be said of her Upper East Side studio. Her taste reads clean and polished, with touches of whimsy and romanticism.

Name: Lesley Greening Lassoff and Pea Crabtree of Aardvark Location: Hastings Old Town, Sussex, UK Size: “It’s one room in an old brewery.” Years worked in: 6 years in business and 3 years in this studio Step inside the wonderfully wonky world of Lesley and Pea, creators of old-style letterpress prints, enthusiastic tea drinkers, and champions of all that is homemade, folksy, imperfect and authentic.

Name: Mikola Accuardi, photographer and blogger at Portland Supply Co., Randall Garcia, designer at Wieden + Kennedy, and baby Valentino Location: Southeast Clinton; Portland, Oregon Size: 900 square feet Years lived in: 1 year, 5 months ; Rented Mikola and Randall’s apartment is one of those spaces I swooned over, but never actually get to visit, until today.

Name: Isaac Larose and Florence Provencher Proulx Location: Le Plateau; Montreal, Canada Years lived in: 9 months; Rented If everything you wore looked just like your home, I’d be wearing a kilim rug and antlers on my head — doesn’t sound so cool, right? It’s rare to find a home designed in such an authentic manner that becomes a true reflection of the resident’s personal style, but Isaac and Florence’s home is the exception.

Name: Hope & Pete Colling Location: Terra Linda, California Size: 1955 sq ft. Years lived in: 2 years; Owned Pulling up to Hope and Pete’s home I can’t help but notice that I’ve entered a place where all of the homes are perfectly landscaped in gravel and native plants and maintain a uniform sense of modern, minimalist design. It’s almost Stepford-ish in its perfection, if the Stepford wives took their cues from Dwell magazine.

Name: Mandy and Matt Location: Amsterdam, Centrum Size: 1,200 square feet Years lived in: 1 year; Rented Before packing up their belongings and moving back to the United States, Mandy and Matt wanted to share their lovely Amsterdam canalside home.

Name: Karen LaShelle (nonprofit director) and Deborah Esquenazi (documentary filmmaker) Location: Cherrywood; Austin, Texas Size: 2,100 square feet Years lived in: 9 years; owned It’s been five years since we first toured Karen’s house in Austin. Since then, her 2 bedroom/1 bath house has undergone some big and meaningful changes.

Name: Nancy Sickbert-Wheeler, Andrew Wheeler, and their dog Bailey Location: Evanston, Illinois Size: 2 bedroom + finished basement Years lived in: 19 years; owned Metal, enamel, and film: all three media require a creative eye, a deft touch, and a sense of possibility.

Name: Lisa and Richard Location: Museumplein, Amsterdam, The Netherlands Size: 1,150 square feet Years lived in: 2 years; Owned Lisa, from the States, and Richard, from the Netherlands, bought their first home in Amsterdam in 2012. Their vision was to create “a space that had character but was still minimal and not overloaded with artifacts.” They also wanted a home with a cozy feel, or as the Dutch would say, “Gezellig”.

Name: Stephen Turner Location: The Beaulieu River; Hampshire, UK Size: 6 meters long, 3.6 meters wide Years lived in: 9 months At the head of a creek somewhere in the South of England, a weird and wonderful structure bobs up and down on the tide. It is a giant wooden egg, polished smooth by the wind until it shines like silver. A round window on the top and a hatch on the side are the only clues that this may be something more than an otherworldly sculpture dropped down in a remote salt marsh.

Name: Amanda Bullock & Justin Taylor Location: Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn, New York Size: 1.5 bedroom; 600 square feet (estimated) Years lived in: 11 months; rented Amanda Bullock and Justin Taylor like books. Amanda came from the book publishing world and is now the Director of Public Programming at Housing Works Bookstore Cafe; Justin is an acclaimed author and teaches creative writing at a number of universities in the city.

Name: Nick Fanelle & Spiro Georgi Location: Andersonville; Chicago, Illinois Size: 1,100 square feet Years lived in: 2 years; Rented There’s no reason you can’t enjoy both the vibrancy of city life and the peacefulness of a rural retreat. Now, if you were to find an urban townhouse on a farm, it might strike you as a bit odd, but bringing the rustic, worn-in feel of the country into a Chicago apartment turned out to be just the thing for Nick Fanelle and Spiro Georgi.

Name: Homepolish Location: NoMad, New York, New York Size: 1,000 square feet Years worked in: 1 year When you’re a design team known for creating fabulous office spaces for high tech and high profile clients, the pressure can really be on when it comes to your own workspace. This was Homepolish’s challenge — and one that they’ve risen to with comfort and grace. The folks at Homepolish are known for mixing vintage treasures with modern and classic pieces.

Name: Dave Widmer, CB2 eCommerce Brand Director and Chad Ross, Crate and Barrel Visual Merchandising Team Lead Location: Andersonville; Chicago, IL Size: 1,600 square feet Years lived in: 2 years; Owned Never hesitate to walk through a bright green front door: I promise you, only good things are waiting for you on the other side. In the home of Chad and Dave every last detail from the foundation to the roof and everything in between was meticulously thought about and designed.

Name: Meg, Joe, & Wells Piercy and their toy poodle Jack Location: Uptown; Chicago, IL Size: 2,400 square feet Years lived in: 1 year; owned In Meg and Joe’s living room, there’s a blackboard with a family friend’s delicately drawn reminder to “live life in full bloom,” and the Piercys have certainly taken this advice to heart.

Name: Sibylle Location: Berlin, Germany Size: 1,076 square feet Years lived in: 8 months; rented Sibylle is at it again but this time in a different part of the map. We saw the first tour of her home in Montreal that was filled with her funky DIY style. Now that she has moved across the world to get back to her roots in Berlin, we are getting another peek into her fun and eclectic decor world.

Name: Matt and Mel Location: Fairfax, Virginia Size: 816 square feet Years lived in: 10 mos; Renting Is it ever the case where you visit the home of designers and find that their space isn’t the coolest one on the block, filled with creative design and a beautiful harmony of eclectic trinkets? Never! And the graphic home of designer and animator Matt and Mel is thankfully no exception.

Name: Erin of Apartment 34 Location: Mission/Potrero Hill , San Francisco CA Size: 900 square feet Years lived in: 1.5 years Anyone who follows Erin’s lifestyle blog Apartment 34 will know that her style is synonymous with clean lines and tasteful restraint, with a touch of glam and global influence. Her loft follows suit with beautiful bones, and airy style and refined textures, with perfectly styled accessories bringing things up a notch or two.

Name: Jose Campos and Oliver Herbert, co-owners of SUPERMERCADO SHOP (plus pet finches Selena and Harry) Location: Converted Victorian Tram depot, Southeast London Size: 1200 square feet Years lived in: 2 years Jose and Oliver can attest to the fact that finding a flat in London isn’t easy.