A Nature Illustrator’s Virginia Rental Home Is a ‘Modern Victorian Surrealist Cabinet of Curiosities’
Name: Naomi McCavitt, husband Freddy, and cat Marvin
Location: Byrd Park neighborhood — Richmond, Virginia
Type of home: Apartment
Size: 750 square feet
Years lived in: 5 years, renting
Tell us a little (or a lot) about your home and the people who live there: We moved into this apartment when we first landed back in Richmond after living in Phoenix for a year and attempting to move to Brooklyn (the universe gave us a resounding “no” on that one!). I love this place because you can see the little fountain lake with paddle boats in Byrd Park from our balcony. That was one of the main selling points. That and the hardwood floors, French doors to the balcony, and afternoon light from all of the windows.
This place is my home with my husband (and business partner) Freddy and our cat, Marvin. It’s also my studio where I do all of the painting/illustrating for Thicket Design. We made the larger bedroom into my studio and the smaller office houses our bed.
The first thing we did was paint the walls; I love the dark navy for making all the other colors in our home pop. I think navy walls can function almost like a neutral color and they go with everything, like denim! Freddy collects like crazy and most of the specimens and taxidermy are part of the wunder kammer he’s creating in our apartment. All are secondhand or bought from folks who do this work ethically like Paxton Gate in SF. My work pulls from the natural world so these objects are inspiring to me.
Most of the paintings in the apartment are mine from various phases, or painter friends like Emily Erb. We are big fans of thrifting so many of the pieces in our space are secondhand. Some have been given new life with paint, refinishing, or reupholstering, (like the little green couch in the living room).
Describe your home’s style in 5 words or less: Modern Victorian Surrealist Cabinet of Curiosities
What is your favorite room and why? I love our living room and the studio equally! One is for work and the other for relaxing. The living room really came together when we put up the wallpaper mural and bought the green velvet sofa. The mural is from a painting of mine turned into wallpaper by our manufacturing partner Muse Wall Studio. The studio is where I spend most of my time. I painted all the furniture white to give the space a calming cohesive feel. The plate/chart wall is an ever-changing installation of new and old Thicket designs. The mood board above the desk is always changing to have new inspiration for whatever I am working on.
If you could magically change something about your home, what would it be? The bathroom! It’s an old building y’all and I love that, but the bathroom could really use some updating/re-tiling/rip it out and start from scratch.
Any advice for creating a home you love? Don’t be afraid of color, painting your walls dark, or hanging up artwork. Purge belongings that don’t suit anymore often and hit the secondhand shops for a good find.
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