FarmHouseUrban

Traditional Home Napa Valley Showhouse and my birthday weekend.

I'm short on words today, but wanted to show you photos from my birthday weekend a few weeks ago which I spent in wine country. It was perfect in every way.

Traditional Home magazine - with the help of a bevvy of talented designers - transformed the guest cottage located on the grounds of Cardinale Winery into one of the most impressive showhouses I've seen.  It was our first stop.

The view from the driveway.

I liked this rock wall, so I took a photo to keep on file for future landscaping inspiration.

The foyer designed by Kathy Geissler.

I loved the rug, especially with the Fortuny pillows and antique bench.

The library was designed by Cathleen Gouveia - a veteran of Bay Area showhouses. Her rooms never disappoint. She puts so much thought into the details.

The walls are venetian plaster.

The living room was designed by Sunrise Home of San Rafael.

Great lessons to be learned in styling bookshelves.

A close-up of these linen and nail head uphostered pieces.

The dining room was designed by Joe Lucas.

My absolute favorite room was the kitchen, designed by Barbara Colvin. Check this out.

I really liked the gray cabinets + bronze hardware. Bronze and brass are a huge trend in kitchen and bath fixtures these days. 

I ususally don't gravitate to bright neon colors, but these stools in lime green worked beautifully with the gray. I may be a convert.

The paint colors she used...I think from Pratt & Lambert.

Here is the adjascent family room, also designed by Barbara Colvin.

The table was an existing piece belonging to the homeowner. The armchairs are by Lee Industries.

French doors in the family room lead you to the patio and this view.  They were pouring wines from Cardinale, so we took a moment to sit and savour them and the scenery.

The bench cushion and big pillow fabric is by Martin Lawrence Bullard. 

The lower level lounge was designed by Elizabeth Cameron and Kathleen Pfaff.

Cool piece of art - I think it's an actual grape vine.

My other favorite room was the Master Bedroom designed by Melanie Turner.

I didn't get a shot of the bed! Darn! It was so pretty.

The guest suite was designed by Melanie Coddington.

This is a close-up of the wallpaper in the bathroom. It's so pretty.

The showhouse was not big, but the rooms were cohesive and worked together. 

Here are a few random photos from our weekend...

We went to a fruit and wreath farm on Saturday morning.

Hi there little bee.

Later we went wine tasting. The most beautiful was Bella (the wines were good too!)

Inside the cave.

This is a ceiling mounted art piece.

Driving to Geyserville for lunch.

The driveway into Trefethen Vineyard. Gorgeous!

After our visit to the Traditional Home Showhouse, we were smitten with Cardinale Vineyards and scheduled a private tasting on Sunday. Here is what was served. The wines were outstanding (with prices to match).

Last but not least, the spectacular Carneros Inn.

It was an amazing weekend. The birthday festivities continue... Girlfriends arriving from Seattle this weekend for some SF fun!

Wishing you a fun filled weekend too!

Recent Design Project: Coastal Farmhouse 'before and after'

Recently I completed a small, sweet project I've been meaning to show you. I met my client when she came into the shop a few months ago. She and her husband have three young children and just bought their first home which overlooks the water in Belvedere, CA .  She likes the farmhouse style, but wanted to weave in a coastal vibe since the home has water views from almost every room. 

before's

The scope of the project was to furnish the living room and solve what to do with the off-center fireplace wall.

after's

We wanted to make the shiny black granite disappear and at the same time make the fireplace and tv not feel so off-center.

The wall color is Restoration Hardware's Charcoal.  The beam is an old, reclaimed piece that my wood working guru had buried in a pile behind his shop. It was sanded and sealed to perfection (just luck that it ended up being a close match to the coffee table).

Here are more photos...

Before

The home doesn't have a mud room or coat closet. With three kids, things were piling up around the front door. As a temporary fix, the homeonwner used a coat rack for hanging items, but there was no place for shoes and other miscellaneous outerwear.

I had a custom bench made based on the size of three vintage-style wire baskets my client purchased at the shop. One for each child. 

Hooks mounted on wood planks replaced the coat rack.

Below is the other side of the entry.

before

after

The homeowner found this great industrial piece (I forget where, but Carrie if you are reading this maybe you can put the source in the comments?) We thought this trio of mirrors (sold individually) makes a much more interesting vignette than just one.

More photos...

The living room was a blank canvas. It's the room you see first upon walking into the house. We started with the striped wool dhurrie rug and pulled the colors from there.

A new sofa from Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams replaced the old one (very similar, but new one is less modern), a Belgian style coffee table and a few new accessories finished off the space.

The chairs were purchased previously, but the home owner was not fond of the contemporary lines, so we added vintage grain sack pillows and matching throws to soften the modern style.

We're still filling in a few blanks, like this corner...

Everything is new in this space. We're considering different chair options that can serve double duty for extra living room seating for parties, and we'll move the zinc accessoires to a new spot.

I hope you like the tour of this coastal farmhouse!

THE EAGLE HAS LANDED!

Do you know what this is?  It's our building permit!!! Mother @#$%er what an ordeal that was! Two years after starting on our house plans, we are finally under construction!

For those new to the blog, or for those who have forgotten (since it's been 2+ years!), I started this blog solely to document the remodeling of our house. Once we fell into the bureaucratic crevasse aka the Marin County permitting process, I needed to supplement with posts about other things (art, architecture, furniture, chothes, food, etc), which I have thoroughly enjoyed and will continue to do. But I couldn't be more excited to finally be able to share from beginning to end, what this blog was created for.

It's been two weeks since we began, so let me get you all up to speed... DEMO. The house is completely gutted. The only design decision made so far has been selecting windows. All framing is contingent on getting the exact window specifications. Our contractor and I went on a field trip to a window showroom whereI learned a ton! That will be in another post, but for now here is week one in review. Be sure to check out the video tour below!

 

One of five dumpster loads of debris.

 

Kitchen fireplace will be taken out since we don't use it. In its place (and the space behind)  will be a family room 'nook'.

This is the view of the kitchen from the other direction. It looks into the dining room. The wall separating the two rooms will be taken out.

Two wiindows will be added to the wall on each side of the range.

This was a funky open bar area (they were the rage here in Nor Cal in the 50's apparantly). It will be enclosed and half will be a pantry and the other half will be a powder room (entered from other side).

This is the living room. There will be french doors going out to a larger deck.

This is the dining room. The far wall windows will be made bigger and french doors to a juliet balcony will be added.

To the right is where the new powder room is going.

I took this video a couple of days after I took the above photos, so the progress is farther along...

  

 

Sausalito 60's Mod Pad Unveiled in Rue Magazine!

This past November I finished working on a very special project. I mentioned it briefly here, but haven't shown 'after' photos since it took almost a year to put all the final touches into place.  In December I had the space photographed by the incredibly talented Sean Dagen of whom I've been a fan since I first noticed his work in the Serena and Lily catalogs. During the shoot, Sean's agent Traci mentioned that she knew the ladies at Rue Magazine and wanted to show the photos to them!

Fast forward to today -- I am beyond excited to say that the project was included in the March/April 2012 issue! Thank you Rue!  

For those not familiar with online design magazines, they have filled the void left by many of the shelter magazines no longer in print.  Once you subscribe (by clicking the button on the front page) you will receive a copy in your inbox.  The great thing about online magazines vs. print is the 'click thru' capability.  If you see a product you like, often you are able to click on it and be directed to the source. It's also so easy to forward photos or articles to facebook, twitter, Pinterest, etc.  You can check out Rue and subscribe by clicking here.

   

Traci, Sean and I setting up.

 To see the rest of the Sausalito apartment and article click here.

I thought you might like to see some before photos of the apartment.  Keep in mind it's a rental, so there were limitations in what we could do to the space itself.

The budget was not big, but there were specific higher end pieces that my client really wanted. When we splurged, we had to find a way to cut back somewhere else.  It's amazing how many inexpensive but stylish options are out there. You just have to dig around!

There were pieces that just had all the right elements and for those there was no compromising.  Some of the higher end items... 

Eames Chair - Design Within Reach

Dining Chairs - Bungalow 5

Blue Writing Desk - Chelsea Textiles

 There were some pieces that we were able to find at substantially lower prices because they were not authentic, but the remake was so close that even a trained eye wouldn't know the difference. Some of the lower priced alternatives...

(Faux) Saarinen Dining Table found on ebay 

(Faux) Noguchi Coffee Table found on ebay

We filled in with some pieces that could easily blend in...

Daybed- West Elm

Bed - Ikea 

Many of the accessories and accent furniture were found at antique stores, estate sales and flea markets.  

Please let me know if you have questions about specific pieces.  Happy to share the sources.  Again, the link to the article and photos is here.

Thanks again to Rue Magazine!

New York City Visit: cool apartment

There is just nothing like this city, the best period. I have so much to share with you about the trip - it was all crazy good.

I was there with one of my closest friends in the world, who is also originally from nyc but now lives in Seattle.  We stayed at her relatives apartment on the Upper East side.  Unlike the last time we were in ny together last January (to read about that trip, click here) and spent the majority of our time on the Upper West and East sides (our former hoods), this time we mostly went downtown.

The building and location couldn't have been better - E 65th and 3rd Ave.  The apartment we stayed in was technically a studio, but it was 'L' shaped and a wall was built dividing the bedroom from the rest of the space, so it felt like a one bedroom. At 600 sq ft, it was just perfect for the two of us.  In the same building, several floors above, my friend's cousin, husband and baby son live.  They had a two bedroom apartment, then the 'L' shaped studio next door came available, so they combined them and just finished their renovation.  

There is an additional guest bedroom as well as a playroom and lots of storage.  It's such a hip, fresh space that reflects the adorable family that lives there.  

More to come!

Go NYC Marathoners!  

 

 

A Contemporary Farmhouse

A few weeks ago I received an email from real estate developer and designer, Jason Urrutia, letting me know about a house he had completely rebuilt in an 'urban farmhouse style' in Mill Valley, CA. It had just been put on the market. When I saw the photos I was completely blown away by the home's new look and how beautifully it was furnished and styled - ALL by Jason.  I know you will enjoy soaking up every detail of this dramatic transformation as much as I did. And by the way, the house sold immediately!

Go get yourself a cup of tea (or wine) - this is a long one...

before exterior

after exterior

before kitchen

after kitchen

before - stair landing/sitting area

after - stair landing/sitting area

before - den

after - den

before - bathroom

after - bathroom

before - exterior back

In addition to designing the house and overseeing the construction, Jason also designed the interiors, selecting all the furniture and accessories to be sold with the house.  Many pieces were custom, such as pillows, benches and ottomans and some upholstered furniture. Others were vintage that he had restored.  The homeowners didn't purchase everything, so if you see something that you like or are curious about, contact Jason - it might still be available!

I looove these pillows...

The guest apartment...

Contact info for Urrutia Design click here.

 

This adorable wine country home could be yours!

If you've ever considered living in Northern California's wine country, but didn't want to make a long-term commitment, have I got an offer for you!  One of my best friends is about to put her house on the market - for sale at $799,000 or $3,500/month for rent. Three bedrooms and three baths, with a garage and hot tub, this house is cute as a button!!  If only my bff would throw in the contents of her closet (she's one of the best dressed people I know!) then I would take it!

This is a great opportunity to jump on a super house in the best town in all of wine country - St. Helena. The house is in the heart of town and just a few blocks from Main Street where all the shops, art galleries and fantastic restaurants are located.  Just think, you could have a weekend home just in time for the grape harvest and crushing season - the most incredible time to be in wine country! Or rent your home for a year and try out life in California!

Since this is a preview, please keep in mind the house was not staged when she took the photos:) Some of the furniture can stay in the house if you're interested.

House description and contact info:

This 1822 square foot single family home on 12196 square foot Lot has 3 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms, 1-car garage is located at 924 Pope St Saint Helena, California. Gourmet kitchen, beautiful living room with fire place opens to a deck with family size hot tub overlooking a private garden and fruit trees.  Walking distance to St. Helena Main street. RENT for $3500 OR buy at $799.000.  This home is in the Saint Helena Unified School District. The nearest schools are Saint Helena Elementary School, Robert Louis Stevenson Middle School.Call (707) 480-8839, email: cristine.salzner@gmail.com. 

 

 

 

For a cool $32 million...

 

For anyone familiar with San Francisco, this stately Neo-Classical Greek Revival mansion on the most prestigious corner of Pacific Heights - Broadway and Divisadero Streets - is a well known sight. Located on the highest peak with views stretching from the Golden Gate Bridge to the Bay Bridge with the city skyline in between, the location is considered to be one of the highest valued in California. The lot itself is only 66' x 137', while the house is 16,000 sq. feet, five stories with 7 bedrooms, 7 full-baths, 4 half-baths, 2 family rooms, 2 kitchens, 2 offices, 3 roof-top terraces, an indoor basketball court and a commercial speed elevator. 

More info and photos of this home can be found here.