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Melissa’s Modern & Organized San Francisco Home

Written by

Adrienne BreauxHouse Tour Director at AT Media
Adrienne BreauxHouse Tour Director at AT Media
For more than 10 years, I've led Apartment Therapy's real home content, producing thousands of house tours from around the world. Currently, I live in my maximalist dream home in New Orleans, Louisiana, with my partner, a perfect dog, and a cute cat.
published Jun 14, 2014
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Name: Melissa
Location: Cole Valley, San Francisco, California

Before we lived in Cole Valley we lived six blocks north in the Upper Haight neighborhood. Like a lot of San Francisco homes our apartment was vulnerable to the dampness of living in the western part of the city and we incurred a horrific mold outbreak. It’s hard for a home to feel like a home when you can’t even hang pictures on the walls. But our forced move turned out to be serendipitous- Cole Valley was where we were supposed to be all along! We fell in love here, got engaged here, and married here (all within a 7 block radius of our apartment!).

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Everything in our home has been acquired over time. I came to San Francisco with four suitcases and Alec, my husband, came with his mattress and TV, so it’s crazy how we have cultivated such a grown up place in just a few short years! But what I’m most proud of is that we’ve done it all on a budget. Our wedding at the Randall Museum was featured on Style Me Pretty for having great style on a small budget and I hope our home reflects that as well. Many items were found on Craigslist, from the Alameda Flea Market, DIY’d, or art from friends- it’s been a true labor of love, pieced together over the years.

Some of our favorite things? The giant N in the hallway. It perfectly encapsulates the “Nunez Nest” moniker for our home. I also love that we have a ton of artwork. Most of it has been gifted to me by Alec over the years for birthdays and holidays. All of the water colors were done by my friend Melissa Kelman (papierfabrik.blogspot.com) who I’ve known since I was 10 years old. The photographs are a mixture of Alec’s (on his film camera!) and mine (trusty iPhone!). It makes our home truly “ours.”
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Our Style: Organized, Classic, Modern with a touch of whimsy- on a budget.

Favorite Element: The natural light! We have big windows in four rooms of the apartment that face West and North. I also love all the vintage details- the tray ceilings, the picture rails, and the built-ins. It’s the sort of charm you only get from an old building.


Biggest Challenge: There isn’t one right angle in the whole place which makes it nearly impossible to hang a picture straight. And our apartment runs really hot as we’re over the boiler for the whole building. Even if no one opens their radiators it’s always 72 degrees- we have to remind friends to leave their wool sweaters at home whilst they melt.
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Biggest Embarrassment: We still haven’t bought curtains…

What Friends Say: This place is huge! Followed by- when are you guys going to move to Oakland so I can move in? (Seriously- we have a list).

Proudest DIY: The cabinet under the sink in the kitchen. It was just brown plywood before and I painted it and added the hardware and the molding. It instantly brightened up the room. And the nightstands in our bedroom- it was my first time staining and I realized very quickly why those projects are meant for people to do in a garage and not in their living room.

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Biggest Indulgence: You mean aside from living in San Francisco?! Framing all of our artwork. But absolutely worth it. You can never have too much art or too many books.

Best Advice: Design is never done. We’ve been living here four years and we change things all the time- it evolves as we do.

Dream Sources: Anything from Charles and Ray Eames, Lilly Pulitzer, and Jonathan Adler. Their style is classic, but fun- it’s the kind of stuff that makes you feel happy.

Inspiration: Our travels, Pinterest, Instagram, Design Sponge/ SFgirlbyBay, my friends!

Thanks, Melissa!

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