Name: Lauri Carleton, husband Bort Carleton, kids Kelsey and Ari Carleton, Buoy the Aussiedoodle, Zorba the Yorkshire mix, and Jake the orange tabby Maine Coon cat. Location: Lake Arrowhead, California Size: 2,300 square feet Years Lived In: Owned, renovations for 7 years, lived in for past 5 years Our family planted their roots in Lake Arrowhead in the 1940s. Lauri grew up spending an extensive amount of time with her grandparents that had built a family lodge in Lake Arrowhead.
Name: Jennifer Jorgensen and two pups Location: Kingfield — Minneapolis, Minnesota Size: 1,700 square feet Years lived in: I purchased it in 2012, so 7-ish years… I had no idea until I just looked up when I bought it—that’s a long time! Jennifer is one half of the Minneapolis-based, custom hand-painted and printed wallpaper and furnishings company, She She. (Kate Worum is the other half of She She, and we toured her home, too!
Name: Kate Worum Location: East Isles — Minneapolis, Minnesota Size: 1,000 square feet Years lived in: 4 years, renting Not all Minneapolis brownstones are created equal. The moment you step into Kate‘s spacious apartment, you forget where you are. Kate, one half of the Minneapolis-based custom hand-painted and printed wallpaper and furnishings company She She, lucked out when she nabbed this spacious, bright, and beautiful upper floor apartment.
Name: Adria and Dan Location: Ballard — Seattle, Washington Size: 1,200 square feet Years lived in: 1.5 years, owned Adria—who works in UX design and is also the founder of the food and travel blog, The Emerald Palate—says she never considered green among her favorite colors. But when she and Dan—a software engineer—first walked into this house in Seattle’s Ballard area, she immediately knew that the wall in the dining room needed to be green.
Name: Kate Keesee, Robert, Gracie , and our doggy Guinevere Location: Orange County, California Size: 1,375 square feet Years lived in: Grew up in this home! I was gifted this home that I grew up in by my mother who adopted me when I was 12 years old. I have over the years taken the unwanted and discarded to create a space that tells the story of how I found myself within these walls.
Name: Maya Goldfine Location: San Francisco, California Size: 400 square feet Years Lived In: 6 months, renting Call it fate or luck, but something aligned the day I found this studio. By chance I had come across the listing on Craigslist the evening prior—at 5:45 p.m. it was posted that an open house was happening at 7:30 a.m. the next day.
Name: Stevie Van Horn Location: Fort Greene — Brooklyn, New York Size: 950 square feet Years lived in: 2 months, renting Stevie Van Horn recently began renting this apartment in Brooklyn’s Fort Green neighborhood—employing “zero-waste” philosophies when decorating the interior.
There is so much beauty and elegance to gaze upon in this wonderfully minimal house tour, but our eye was drawn to one particular—and highly unlikely—element: that museum-worthy pedestal, which is secretly a giant Jenga set. Looking at this house tour on Emily Henderson’s site of designer Melanie Burstin’s home, one would never guess that such a chic, refined space would feature something as chaotic and, let’s face it, loud as a giant Jenga set.
Name: Kate Best Location: Pocono Mountains, Pennsylvania Size: a whopping 4,500 square feet Years lived in: Own Kate, a celebrity makeup artist for stars such as Vanessa Williams and Jennifer Lopez, spent 25 years living in Manhattan before deciding that it was time to move full-time to the Poconos. Passionate about interior design, her home works as a showroom for all of her artifacts she’s collected around the world.
When it comes to IKEA products and furniture, some items can feel a bit, well, over-exposed. Like if you see it one more time on Instagram or even in an Apartment Therapy house tour, your head might explode. Or is that just me? All kidding aside, there are more than a few IKEA pieces that have become cult-classics. And it’s not just because they’re cheap. They actually live up to the hype either in terms of form, function or both.
Beloved family sitcom “Full House” ended back in 1995, but thanks to reruns and a spinoff that debuted on Netflix in 2016, fans continue to be enamored with the Tanner family. Almost as iconic as the show’s characters is the beautiful San Francisco home they lived in.
Name: Amanda Suter and Dmitri Slavashevich Location: Hillcrest — San Diego, California Size: 1,848 square feet Years Lived In: 6 months, owned Amanda and Dmitri moved into their home this past July, but you wouldn’t guess it. Their Victorian vernacular cottage feels cozy and lived in, with lots of personal details.
Name: Alma Location: 515 Madison Avenue — Midtown Manhattan, NYC Size: Lounge/Waiting area: 800 square feet Private therapy rooms: 100-120 square feet typically Group therapy rooms: 200-250 square feet typically Interior spaces—the personal and public environments we spend much of our time in—have an impact on us. Emotionally, and sometimes even physically. You can improve and change decor elements in your home to affect the way you and others feel in your space.
Maybe you’ve had the same bed pillow for ten years and have your sights newly set on some memory foam. Or maybe you’ve got an extra five random pillows stuffed in your closet, just in case, and it’s time to KonMari. As with most things we toss or get rid of these days, old pillows can still be used long after they’ve left their prime days behind. Here are 10 ways this everyday basic can help you out around the house, no matter what condition they’re currently in.
Dear Alice, Since we’ve moved in, we’ve learned the hard way that one of the downsides to the new construction is really poor sound absorption, it’s so bad to the point that we can hear their dogs claws on the floor. Anytime their kids run around (which is fairly often) it sounds like a stampede and it’s genuinely disruptive. For example, if we’re watching TV we actually have to increase the volume so we can hear it!
Name: Kurt, Sparrow and Simon the catLocation: Hoboken, New JerseySize: 950 square feetYears lived in: 2½ Before I became a contributor for Apartment Therapy New York, I wrote in to Good Questions asking for advice on paint colors. I had a funny experience with the question and almost as soon as it was posted online, I started changing my mind about what I wanted to do with the rooms.
Name: Kittie and Lotus Blossom (her Shih-Tzu)Location: Tudor City, Midtown East, ManhattanSize: 170 square foot studio coopYears lived in: 5 years Original 1928 Pullman kitchen and Murphy bed Kittie and her husband pulled out the original Murphy bed and the original Pullman kitchen in order to create a small office nook and a modern kitchen counter, bar and sink area, respectively.
Name: Boston Home Magazine Concept HomeDesigner: Hacin + AssociatesLocation: Boston, MassachusettsSize: 2,180 square feet + 1,000 square feet terrace Boston Home asked Hacin + Associates — architects of the FP3 loft building — to furnish one penthouse as their 2009 Concept Home.
Name: Amy Location: Jamaica Plain, MassachusettsYears lived in: Rented for 2 years The timing of this house tour, in concert with Apartment Therapy’s September Art, Craft, and Collections Month, is fitting — and a great segue into October’s Color theme and Room for Color contest! Walking into Amy’s first floor, one bedroom apartment is a delightful experience. The colorful walls and bunches of large and small collections make it impossible to feel gloomy here.
Name: Matt, Sara, and Bella JanssenLocation: On the road, at time of post: Scottsdale, AZSize: Approx. 200 sq. ft. (32 ft x 8 ft)Years lived in: 8 months >> We couldn’t have dreamed up a more appropriate house tour to end our Small Cool month. You may remember Sara, Matt and Bella as finalists from the contest last year. We were impressed by their declaration, “Small is BETTER! Even with a 3-year old and surely more on the way, we will never go back. Small is the new big!
Name: Alvar Aalto & family Location: Munkkiniemi neighborhood of Helsinki, Finland Size: approximately 2,200 square feet Years lived in: 40 years Alvar Aalto’s first building built in Helsinki was his own home and architecture studio.
Name: Layla and Kevin PalmerLocation: Prattville, AlabamaSize: 1,910 square feetYears lived in: 2 years Documenting their journey of home renovation, Layla and Kevin Palmer have set out on a mission to create a beautiful, functional, comfortable and inspiring home. Located in Prattville, Alabama this home perfectly blends antique/flea market finds with a subtle nautical style all under a neutral color palette.
Name: Simone GeorgetteLocation: Brisbane, AustraliaSize: Approx 350 square meters (3,700 square feet)Years lived in: 2 years, Owned We featured Simone’s amazing waterside backyard a couple of months ago and we were excited to see inside her home today. Simone’s passion for all things vintage is evident throughout her house, with a lot of her furniture and objects coming from eBay, garage sales, op shops and found on the side of the road.
Name: Genevieve & Maxwell’s Poorgeoisie BungalowLocation: Silver LakeSize: 900 sq. feetYears lived in: Genevieve – 3 years. Maxwell – 1 yearWho else lives here? Lucy, our Pit-Lab mix. Sometimes you seek out house tours and sometimes house tours come to you. In the case of Maxwell and Genevieve’s Silver Lake abode, we discovered it when we showed up to buy some mid century chairs we’d spied on craigslist.
Name: LorinLocation: Greenwich Village, ManhattanSize: 400 square feet — StudioYears lived in: 9 years “Just because you have to live in a small space, doesn’t mean you have to forgo convenience, organization, OR luxury.” After nine years in a studio in the West Village, this is Lorin’s modus operandi. Not only did her square footage change dramatically when she moved from a townhouse in DC, but her style did as well.
Name: Jen & Rob French, Hank & Dexter French (twin 2-year-old boys)Location: Providence, Rhode IslandSize: 2,200 square feet | 3 bedrooms Years lived in: 1½ They may have dark-colored walls and a few dead things displayed here and there, but Jen & Rob French’s 1920s bungalow is still bright and full of life — thanks to a carefully curated art collection, a whimsical sense of humor, and the happy squeals of their twin two-year-old boys, Hank and Dexter, echoing through the house.
Name: Max and Peter Kater of Murchison-HumeLocation: Sydney, AustraliaSize: 250 square meters (2,700 square feet)Years lived in: 7 years We’ve loved Murchison-Hume products for a while now, not just because they’re effective eco-friendly products, but also because they also look so darn good. We were thrilled to discover the aesthetic of Murchison-Hume products flowed from the founders’ own home. Max and Peter’s abode is refined, yet is still entirely a family home.
Name: Jeff and Martha Location: St. George, Staten Island, New York CitySize: 3,000 square feet — 8.5 bedroomsYears lived in: 3.5 years >> We all know people who enjoy renovating their home and who take particular pride in respecting the original detailing or who wish to pay homage to the history of their dwelling place. Martha and Jeff, one can say without a doubt, have taken this approach to a whole new level…>> Martha and Jeff did not buy this century old house lightly.
Name: Jay RobertsLocation: Chelsea, New YorkSize: Studio apartment, 400 square feetYears lived in: Rented until 2005, then bought We recently toured Jay Robert’s Chelsea, NYC studio apartment, and boy were we impressed! What the apartment lacks in space (it is 400 square feet), it more than makes up for in efficiency, smarts, style and personality.
Name: Vicki, Richard and Dino (Portuguese water dog)Profession: Owners of Museum of Robots, a modern housewares company and KÜNGDESIGN, a creative studio specializing in design for Web and Second Life. Location: San Rafael, CASize: 1600 sq. ft.
Name: Jessica Engeman & Erik HovmillerProfession: Historic Preservation Specialist & Social WorkerLocation: Portland, OregonSize: 1500 sq. ft.Years lived in: 5 months, owned >> When they began their house hunt, Jessica and Erik, like so many first-time home buyers, found that most of the houses in their budget were old and needed a lot of work. But for a young couple with the creativity, vision, and unstoppable work ethic of these two, a fixer-upper can be a blessing in disguise.
Name: Shawn Gold and Amy Neunsinger Location: Laurel Canyon area of Los AngelesSize: 5,500 square feet Years lived in: 2 years since remodel, 8 years total >> Enter SlideshowWelcome to the home of Shawn Gold & Amy Neunsinger. Husband, wife and now business partners in cocodot.com. Amy is an accomplished lifestyle photographer and Shawn is the former CMO of MySpace. They bought a 1,500 square foot home on an amazing piece of property in Laurel canyon in 1998 and starting designing a year later.
Name: Michele and BradLocation: SoHoSize: 1600 square feet 1-bedroom rental loftYears lived in: 10 years >> Walking into Michele and Brad’s home elicits a gasp. It’s not everyday one sees such evidence of creativity, time, talent, and skill. After a career in fashion design, Michele migrated to accessories and tried her hand as a sole proprietor. Since 2001, she’s been creating pillows and textiles as well as curating cool stuff for her eponymous store on Crosby Street.
Name: Dave Lefner, artist and Shyla Marlin, actress and writer Location: The Brewery Art Colony in Downtown LASize: 2,000 sq. ft. Years lived in: 8 years >> We have to admit, when we walked into Dave and Shyla’s downtown pad, we felt like we were walking onto the set of “BIG”. The huge loft is a mixture of eclectic fun (and like their friends claim–we could have stayed all day looking at everything).
What do you do with a white walls, brick, and cold concrete: Add lots of color! Holly Conrad's studio loft in the heart of Chicago is refreshing and full of vibrant colors.
Name: NinaLocation: West VillageSize: 450 square feet subletYears lived in: 1.5 years >> Nina’s last apartment was very frilly and pink. This apartment is much more on the opposite end of the stereotypically gendered design spectrum. And Nina loves it that way and feels at home. In addition to being an interior designer, Nina writes a design blog and is about to launch a small design store in NoLita!
Name: David Tomb and Susan SweetLocation: San FranciscoSize: Living area 1700 sq. ft., office/studio 700 sq. ft.Years lived in: 10 years owned >> Back in 1996, the architect Bruce Tomb heard about a 1950s dragnet-style police precinct coming up for public auction in San Francisco. At the time, Bruce’s brother, the artist David Tomb, and his wife, Susan Sweet, were living in New York, but hoping to come back to the Bay Area to start a family.
Name: Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari Location: Mumbai, IndiaSize: 1150 sq. ft.Years lived in: 5 >> Like a Bollywood spectacle, today’s house tour is an ode to all things colourful, a Mumbai residence with spaces that radiate the creative personality of its occupants through the glowing spectrum of paints, the texture of decorative details and an apparent love for the handmade evident in each of the rooms. Stark minimalism this is not.
Name: Samantha Martin-EvansLocation: San Francisco, CASize: 950 sq. ft., 2-bedroom Edwardian carriage houseYears lived in: 11, owned >> Photographer Samantha Martin-Evans doesn’t know whether her hundred-year-old Edwardian cottage in Noe Valley was ever actually used as a carriage house, but one thing is for certain: the interior has come a long way from its buttoned-up origins.
Name: Archana, Srinivas MallikaLocation: BangaloreSize: 2900 sq. ft apartment Years lived in: 4 Months >> Today we make our way back across the globe for our second house tour from Bangalore, India, this time visiting the spacious and traditionally decorted home of Archana, Srinivas & Mallika.
Name: Alberto and JeffLocation: Fort Greene/BAM, BrooklynSize: 1360 sqft. 2-bdrm condoYears lived in: 1.5 months >> Alberto and Jeff had a year and a half between closing and moving in to their new condo, to plan. According to Alberto, a house tour veteran, Jeff made multiple copies of a detailed floorplan of the new apartment and used the interim 18 months to sketch ideas as well as to plot out the sequence of events that would occur the moment they were handed the key.
Name: Rajiv Majumdar, Architect, PraxisLocation: Bangalore, India Size: 500 sq. ft Years lived in: 4 months We’re very happy to present our first house tour from India, compliments of architect, Rajiv Majumdar, whose modest sized 500 sq. ft. apartment is an amalgam of styles, components, textures and colours.
Name:Simon and EktorasLocation: East VillageSize: 515 sqft rented railroad flatYears lived in: 25 years >> Ektoras, a video artist and bartender, and Simon, an actor and photographer, share a small railroad flat in a 155 year-old tenement building with a bathtub in the kitchen.
Name: Kelly Van PatterLocation: Mt. Washington, Los AngelesSize: 1500 sq. ft.Years lived in: 4 years >> Just a hop, skip and jump from the last house tour we photographed in the scenic and historic inclines of Mt. Washington, we found ourselves on a street lined with genteel homes all glowing of Los Angeles’ oft forgotten past.
Name: Sherry and Miguel, owners of MarvimonLocation: Chinatown/Elysian parkSize: 3,500 sq. feet (interior) + 2,500 sq. feet (vertical courtyard)Years lived in: 3 years >> Walking into Sherry and Miguel’s home is quite the experience. Quite larger than most AT House Tours, they manage to make the space feel warm and cozy, despite its enormous size. It turns out that the space was once an automobile showroom displaying Italian cars in the 1920s.
Name: Seonna HongLocation: Mt. WashingtonSize: 926 sq. feetYears lived in: A little over a year >> Finding Seonna’s hillside Mt. Washington home was an adventure in itself, with more twists and turns than a spy thriller novel. Clinging to a dramatic hillside, the post and beam residence expresses its pedigree with a variety of original midcentury architectural details, all complimenting its most impressive feature: an expansive hillside view of Pasadena and the Angeles Forest.
Name: Mason St. Peter and Serena Mitnik-Miller Location: Outer Sunset, San Francisco, CA Size: 400 sq. ft. Years lived in: Mason: Since July 2007, Serena: Since July 2008 >> >> Mason and Serena, business partners of Two Birds Fly, a green company that curates the art and design of surfboards, had to find creative ways to make more living space when Serena moved in this past July. Nestled in back of the main house inhabited by their landlords, their bungalow is of modest size.
Name: Stephanie & Bob Walker Location: Silver Lake, CA Size: 1435 sq. ft. (with downstair bonus room it’s close to 1,600 sq. ft.) Years lived in: 2 >> Sitting ontop of winding section of Silver Lake known as Silver Ridge, the home of nearby neighbors Stephanie and Bob Walker affords the couple a near 180 degree view of Los Angeles that stretches from the Hollywood Sign across to nearby Glendale, and all the way to the eastern most San Gabriel Mountains.
Name: Serena Mitnik-MillerLocation: Santa Cruz, CASize: Approximately 100-120 sq. ft.Years lived in: 2 years, rented >> Artist and Mollusk Surf Shop Gallery Director Serena Mitnik-Miller sent us these photos of the tiny surf shack that she lived in, when she resided in Santa Cruz. We loved the photos so much that we decided to share them with you in this mini house tour.
Name: Mark Cognata and Katie MancineLocation: Anytown, USAType: T@B RV with U-Shaped FloorplanYears Lived In: Since August, 2008. >> Mark Cognata and Katie Mancine live life in a sort of contradictory state. They have a living space of 10′ 3″ by 5′ 9″, while simultaneously making over 5,984,685 square miles their home. Since the end of August this year, Mark and Katie have begun traveling the country wanting to “Go out and relearn what America is about.
Name: Greg and LauraLocation: Austin, TexasSize: 720 square feetYears lived in: 8 years>> Converting a small house into a chic, modern home was the task Greg met when he first bought this Austin house in 2000. When he married Laura a few years ago, the task officially became a challenge on how to fit two people happily in 720 square feet.
Name: KathyLocation: Brooklyn Heights, BrooklynSize: 750 sq.ft. 3 rooms, no kitchenYears lived in: 3 years >> As I climbed the weathered but beautiful winding wood staircase up the five floors to Kathy’s apartment, I imagined an ascent to a 19th century Parisian atelier filled with dust and clutter, but also a room full of gems. When I arrived I was not disappointed…>> Kathy does not have a front door or a kitchen, and if you put down your glass of water, it is hard to find it again.
Name: Erin from Design For MankindLocation: Los AngelesSize: 2200 ft2Years lived in: 3, Owned >> Erin from Design For Mankind was nice enough to let us in to see her organized home (perfect for the close of organizing month!). She’s definitely a collector, a thrifter, a girl full of projects, but there’s nothing out of place or cluttered about her home. She’s found a place for everything (and everything in its place).
Tassels are a great way to add color and texture to absolutely anything. Beautiful additions to gift wrap, home decor, and fashion —they are a project you should absolutely add to your DIY repertoire. Tassels can be made out of an array of materials, from silk and wool yarns to basic cotton embroidery threads. While there are a number of ways you can construct a tassel, we chose a basic method you can use on any material. Yarn or Thread Scissors 1.
Name: Sean Michael Davis + Dog, Charlie Location: Ponce City Market in Old Fourth Ward — Atlanta, Georgia Size: 575 square foot studio Years lived in: 1 year With great natural light, clean lines, and a touch of creativity, this space is the envy of bachelor pads everywhere. Local Atlanta graphic designer, Sean Michael Davis, welcomes us into his home. Coming in at a whopping 575 square feet, this studio space is on the smaller side of the spectrum.
Name: Eryn and Jared Erickson + Dog, Sprocket Location: East Atlanta; Atlanta, Georgia Size: 1200 square feet Years lived in: 7 months, Renting Eryn Erickson of lifestyle brand, So Worth Loving, and Jared Erickson of the beloved Atlanta motorcycle co-op space, Brother Moto, combine their individual aesthetics and open their doors to give us a glimpse at where the magic happens in this beautiful and eclectic East Atlanta home.
Name: Jess, Zach, and Roxie Monette Location: East Lake — Atlanta, Georgia Size: 1400 square feet Years lived in: Owned 3 years Take a visual stroll through a bohemian dream in a 1938 “American Small House.” Jess, curator of Scoutmob‘s maker shop, has filled her home with charming family mementos and handmade goodies, lifting this depression-era cottage into its serene style.
Name: Rachel Stroly, husband, and two rescue cats Location: Atlanta, Georgia Size: 1,600 square feet Years Lived In: 3 years, owned The house has a totally granite exterior and sits on top of a hill, so we fondly call it the “Frankfurter Fortress,” a.k.a. “The Fort.” I met my husband four years ago at a Halloween party. He was dressed as a chicken and I was a hot dog (frankfurter) so there are a lot of hidden (and not so hidden!) references to that around.
Name: Kevin O’Gara and family Location: Cabbagetown — Atlanta, Georgia Size: 1,500 square feet Years Lived In: 5 years, renting My dad first moved to Cabbagetown, a historic neighborhood in Atlanta, when my parents divorced in 2009. His first pad was a three-room shotgun duplex where my sisters and I first started exploring the neighborhood, and quickly we fell in love with its artistic charm!
