by Furnishly | Jan 18, 2023 | Design Inspiration, Style
We independently select these products—if you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission. All prices were accurate at the time of publishing.
Name: Crystal Taylor, husband, two daughters, five chickens, and two dogs
Location: San Marcos, Texas
Type of home: Historical House
Size: 2,700 square feet
Years lived in: 8 years, owned
For more content like this follow
Tell us a little (or a lot) about your home and the people who live there: The house was built in 1907 and the architectural style is folk Victorian. It has a wraparound porch and a beautiful chicken coop in the backyard that my husband built. We live in downtown San Marcos and can walk to the river and parks. I have two redheaded daughters (my husband and I are not redheads) who share a room upstairs.
Although there is a seven-year gap between them, their shared space speaks to both their needs and wants. We purchased the home in 2015 and started remodeling it in 2020. So far, we have remodeled the primary bathroom downstairs, added a new roof (a standing-seam metal roof), remodeled the kitchen/dining room, updated the living room, and transformed the primary walk-in closet. I love color, shiplap, funky designs, and conversation pieces! Although I try to highlight the original features of the home, I mix in some retro vibes here and there because I love mid-century. This year my husband and I will be remodeling the laundry room, main hallway, and our primary bedroom.
My identity is reflected all over my home through my love for mid-century. I love quirky art and have showcased that — especially in my closet. I love loud colors and furniture styles. I love old homes and concentrate on the parts of my home that make it original, like the stained glass window in the kitchen, original long-leaf pine floors, and pocket doors between the dining room and living room. There are two fireplaces downstairs and I make them focal points in my design. I love antiques and vintage, so the only style home that is for me is anything “old.”
What is your favorite room and why? My latest project, my closet. I’ve been living here for eight years and I finally have a closet. Old homes and their quirks, like no closet space! I have a beautiful abstract floral rug that has pinks and reds. Then I have this funky sculpted chair that is hot pink that sits in the corner. The light fixture is purple and mid-century inspired. The artwork is all from Scout Design Studio (my favorite vendor to shop right now). In addition to interior design, I also love fashion. My closet is where all my prized possessions rest.
Describe your home’s style in 5 words or less: A colorful, eclectic, whimsical farmhouse.
Any advice for creating a home you love? Highlight original features of the home. If the house was built in the ’70s, then embrace that time period. Also, put your own personal touch on it. Collaborate the two styles. Listen to your gut.
by Furnishly | Jan 11, 2023 | Design Inspiration, Style
We independently select these products—if you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission. All prices were accurate at the time of publishing.
For more content like this follow
This past spring, like many New Yorkers, I got the rug pulled out from under me and was forced to move out of an apartment I loved due to a drastic price increase ($1200 per month). The difference for me was that the whole internet watched it happen. I posted a video tour of my apartment to see if anyone would try to apply to the apartment and KEEP all the murals I had created, because otherwise, the management company would make me cover up my artwork. The video went viral on TikTok and I had hundreds of people message me with legitimate interest in finding info on how to apply, and I tried my best, but the management company refused to see the value in my artwork despite the thousands of people who were willing to pay even higher than they had listed the space for to be able to keep the murals. They refused to give my security deposit back unless they were covered, even if the new tenants wanted the work.
Once all that nonsense was taken care of, I was on the hunt for a new space during the worst market NYC has seen for renters in years. Keep in mind, I stayed in NYC through the worst of the pandemic and at this point had lived alone for two years. I run my own business, am active on social media, and was not looking to go back to roommate life at 30 years old. But being an artist, my budget was low (for NYC standards) and pickings were slim.
Finally, by a stroke of luck, I saw a one-bedroom listed on Craigslist in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, for $1800. At this point, the only apartments I had seen at that price were in unsafe neighborhoods, smaller in size, and didn’t have full kitchens. So I was beyond desperate and this place almost looked too good to be true.
I got there, viewed the space, and knew I had to jump on it. There were NO closets — that’s right, not one — but I could work with it. The bedroom would be very tiny and wouldn’t fit my side table, but I could work with it. The kitchen cabinets didn’t all match, but I could work with it. The sunlight was gorgeous. The walk to the subway was two minutes. The neighborhood was safe. I knew it would be mine.
Apartment Therapy Survey:
My Style: Funky, eclectic, colorful, joyful
Inspiration: Current fashion trends, color palettes I find on Pinterest, vintage finds
Favorite Element: My mural. It’s different than anything I’ve ever painted for myself or a client and it brings me so much joy.
Biggest Challenge: The bedroom size and layout was tough. The whole space is only about eight feet by eight feet, which meant my queen-size bed would be up against one wall and the dresser on the other. My bedside table had to go into storage because the door would hit it.
The other biggest challenge was storage — NO closets. I had to outsource and buy three large wardrobes from IKEA — but I made it work and I actually love that I got to customize my various storage options like clothing racks, drawers, and shelves.
Proudest DIY: THE KITCHEN. Man this was an overhaul. Covering my cabinets (safely with no damage) took HOURS of work. But I am so glad I committed because each day that I looked at the wood stains that didn’t match each other, I hated it more and more. Since the main space is all one room, there’s no avoiding seeing the kitchen, especially since I am so often taking photos and videos of my space.
Budget: I pay $1800 a month. Any New Yorker who understand the boroughs and their pricing for studios/one bedrooms will realize how insanely lucky I got with this price, even if the space isn’t perfect. Almost everything is the same from my last apartment. I had to buy two items to make this space work. One was a splurge at $1500 for my closet and its components from IKEA. The other was smaller side table from IKEA for $120.
Is there something unique about your home or the way you use it? I would say for the most part, my home is arranged in a traditional way. The difference for me is that since I also work at home, a lot of my storage is used up by business supplies, like paints, brushes, and other mural necessities. That will soon change as I just signed a lease for my very first art studio space!
Please describe any helpful, inspiring, brilliant, or just plain useful small space maximizing and/or organizing tips you have: I have become a master at organizing my small spaces because for an NYC girl, I have a lot of stuff. Beyond your usual clothes, shoes, and makeup, I also have to keep my art supplies at home so maximizing the space is essential. My best tips is to get solid furniture with drawer/cabinet space. A large dresser is a must. A wardrobe/armoire with doors that close versus something with a glass/open front. This will help you to hide away the stuff that makes a space feel cluttered. Then within those pieces of furniture, dividers or bins are a necessity.
Finally, what’s your absolute best home secret or decorating advice? My best advice is to be bold — if you see something that inspires you while you’re out shopping, but you don’t know how you would decorate using those colors, just buy it and let the rest of the pieces fall into place. Not everything is going to “go” perfectly together. Collect items over time that you fall in love with build around them instead of fighting against your instinct.
by Furnishly | Jan 8, 2023 | Design Inspiration, Style
Do you know your planetary color? It’s the color of the planet that rules your sun, rising, and moon zodiac signs — like bright red for Aries or maroon for Virgo. I’m a Leo sun sign, ruled by the sun, so my color is (naturally) gold.
For more content like this follow
Gold is also one of my favorite colors to use to accent different things in my life. I have a blanket with gold constellations, a pasta container with painted gold highlights, and a button-down shirt with gold thread running through it.
Once you’ve figured out your planetary color, you’ve got a ton of options for incorporating it into your life in fun — but not overbearing — ways. Try some of these for a blast of relatable color in your world.
by Furnishly | Jan 5, 2023 | Design Inspiration, Style
We independently select these products—if you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission. All prices were accurate at the time of publishing.
Name: Emma Chasen (@phillyfunhouse on Tiktok) with fiancée Carolyn Chernous and our two cats, Winx and Scout
Location: Manayunk — Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Size: 1403 square feet
Type of Home: Victorian row home
Years Lived In: 1 year, owned
For more content like this follow
“Our home is a 100+ year old Victorian row home in the Roxborough-Manayunk neighborhood of Philadelphia,” begins Emma Chasen, a grad student with a love for bold style and a first-time homeowner. “The character of the home immediately stood out. In this neighborhood and many other neighborhoods of Philly, there are a lot of shoddy flips. The new construction is flashy on the surface but can’t really be trusted.”
But Emma says this 1403-square-foot house wasn’t one of those shoddy flips, and that’s part of what attracted her and fiancée, Carolyn Chernous, to it in the first place. “It had been with the same family since the ’80s and had such a quirky character about it,” Emma continues. “Plus, the house is literally solid as a rock — the walls are made of stone and it has been impeccably cared for by the previous owners. It has some really good bones. The house is also on a corner lot, so it was only attached to one other home at the back of the house. This is such a rare find for a Philly rowhome and allows for so much natural light in the space, which is incredibly important to me.”
“When we first toured our home, my fiancée got this gut feeling that we belonged here. She describes it as the same gut feeling she got when we met. And after viewing 13 houses before this one, I agreed — this home was special and there was so much opportunity to put our stamp on it,” Emma explains.
“I try to embody a sense of playfulness and experimentation with my style, finding so much joy in the creative process of doing whatever the F I want. It has been so much fun documenting my mural creation and home decor on my TikTok: @phillyfunhouse.”
Apartment Therapy Survey:
My Style: A mix of eclectic, maximalist, Art Deco, and retro-inspired
Inspiration: ’90s cartoons, French Victorian greenhouses, immersive art installations
Favorite Element: My favorite room is the dining room. It is a perfect representation of my style and the central gathering place in our home. Coming from an Italian family, we often eat large family dinners and spend hours at the table talking and laughing. So the dining room is, in ways, a sacred space. My dining room has such a beautiful mix of playfulness (a mushroom painted on the wall, a drippy paint cabinet come to life with eyeball knobs, a wavy mirror DIY, a mini heat map mural around the thermostat), plus heritage (heirloom cherry wood dining table from my fiancée’s mom and an antique workbench as our sideboard) plus art plus a large deep-set window with plants. It is also the only room that doesn’t have a ceiling fan — the house came with a different ceiling fan in every room and I was adamant that at least the dining room ceiling fan had to go in favor of a light fixture.
Biggest Challenge: We are definitely working with a small budget, really a non-existent budget. And I’m an incredibly impatient person with a lot of things I want to do at once. Our kitchen has been the toughest space to work within. I love to cook and when we moved in, it wasn’t at all set up to do so as it is a very small galley with hardly any storage or counter space. We don’t have the money for a kitchen reno, so we turned to DIY. We used our small budget to buy an IKEA butcher block island and then made shelves with some old barn wood and painted our cabinets. It’s transformed the space and has allowed us to actually use the kitchen.
Proudest DIY: I love all of my murals but if I have to pick the one I’m proudest of it is probably the rainbow ribbon in my second and third floor hallway. It took so much work because I wanted it to be really precise and I am in love with the way it turned out.
Budget: We pay just under $1700 per month for our mortgage. We feel so privileged to own a home. When we bought our house we moved across the country and didn’t bring any furniture with us. So we were starting from scratch. We saved about $5,000 to completely furnish and decorate our house. We’ve saved a lot of money by decorating with paint and reusing paint from one project on other projects. Paint makes such a big impact without too big of an expense.
Is there something unique about your home or the way you use it? We transformed one of the bedrooms into a dressing room for my fiancée complete with a green velvet couch. It’s really the only room in our house with closet space and my fiancée gets up super early for work so she has all of her clothes and gets dressed in her dressing room so she doesn’t wake me up.
Please describe any helpful, inspiring, brilliant, or just plain useful small space
maximizing and/or organizing tips you have: I’ve taken to displaying otherwise mundane items as decor. For example, I put all of my unrefrigerated produce in bowls on my side board and I love the way it looks. On a similar line of thinking, I utilize open shelving in my space and display items I like and free up more closed storage for things that are a bit uglier.
Finally, what’s your absolute best home secret or decorating advice? If you’re unsure about a design or a style, just try it out! Experimenting with colors and shapes has allowed me to make mistakes that have aided to a final product that I love. Also, decorating is a marathon not a sprint. Be on the lookout for thrifted pieces you love and let your style evolve as you evolve.
Shopping local and secondhand: I love to scour local shops such as Philly Aids Thrift and Philly Vintage Bazaar for vintage home goods and treasured thrift finds. My favorite thrift find to date has been the mid century mod lamp that sits next to my cow chair (found at Philly Aids Thrift!) – it is such a treasure. All art in my home has been gifted to me or sourced from small, independent artists that I’ve found through local flea markets or seen through the power of the internet.
by Furnishly | Dec 31, 2022 | Design Inspiration, Style
We independently select these products—if you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission. All prices were accurate at the time of publishing.
In 2022, a colorful couch is nothing new. The internet has been awash over the last few years with photos of sofas in emerald green, cobalt blue, and blush pink.
For more content like this follow
Maybe it’s not so surprising, as we’ve all spent more time at home during the past few years, to seek out the color of sunshine for our spaces. Sofie Hepworth even planned the color scheme of her bright garden studio in Kent, United Kingdom, around a yellow sofa. “I just thought it was so joyful and fitting for the home I wanted to make you instantly smile!” she told AT.
Hepworth’s studio and Ash Appleton’s Nairobi, Kenya, apartment both use yellow couches as building blocks in kaleidoscopic rooms filled with vibrant wall coverings, furniture, and decor.
Alternatively, Andrea Plaid leaned into yellow in her Detroit studio, which features not only a yellow couch, but yellow window treatments, chairs, a rug, and bedding, too. “The color complements the studio’s windowed sunniness and serves as a counterpoint for cloudy days,” she said in her house tour.
And if you’re wary of going full throttle on such a bright color, consider Olga Fermin’s vibrant pop of summery sofas, which sit in an otherwise fairly neutral room in her Brookfield, Connecticut, house.
Luckily, there are plenty of yellow shades and sofa styles to play around with. Here are just a few:
