Having grown up in an old brick house, I am extremely partial to a brick home. So when I saw this brick rowhouse, paired with a glossy black front door and a big window box just waiting for springtime blooms, it instantly had my heart.
Inside, the first floor’s foundation of original wood plank flooring, recessed lighting, and white walls is simple enough to welcome any combination of eclectic decor. Even if you were to decide to dress everything in neutral tones, I love the baby blue walls that enclose the staircase, paired with the royal blue stairs. It reminds me of a portal in Chefchaouen, Morocco, or some beautiful oasis filled with color.
Past the bright orange-and-yellow closet door into the kitchen, two windows bathe the terracotta-colored tiles and open shelves in sunlight. Upstairs, three bedrooms unfold, including one with a ceiling fan and ample closet space and another with golden-yellow walls and lots of open shelving.
Ascend another set of steps — these ones painted in a vibrant shade of red — to the third floor, a whitewashed attic with slanted walls, brick accents, and a skylight. Make it your yoga zone, your art studio, your writer’s retreat, or whatever else you need for your year of rest and relaxation.
Are you on the house hunt, or just the type of person who loves browsing real estate listings, even when you’re not in the market for a new home? Property Crush is a column where we feature actual real estate listings that get the Apartment Therapy seal of approval in regards to style (we haven’t done home inspections or anything, so don’t sue us). Know of a great house on the market? Email the listing to repitches@apartmenttherapy.com.
If you hate walls of exposed brick, soaring ceilings, and tons of glorious square footage, there’s no chance you’ll like this lofty home for sale in North Philadelphia. Originally constructed as a warehouse, the 10,000-square-foot building has been divided up into three separate units, all for sale together. Whether you’re looking for a live-work space to accommodate your growing business and your own living quarters or are looking to invest in some real estate, this townhouse could be the answer.
The warehouse vibes are definitively intact, thanks to the beamed and vaulted ceilings, ample red brick, and repurposed laboratory cabinets in the kitchen. Reclaimed antique oak floors run throughout the home, warming it up and leaning into its recycled, beautifully worn feel.
For more reasons to picture yourself in this warehouse conversion, just look around. There’s lofted office space, skylit nooks, and rows upon rows of shoe storage to round out this spacious pad.
Are you on the house hunt, or just the type of person who loves browsing real estate listings, even when you’re not in the market for a new home? Property Crush is a column where we feature actual real estate listings that get the Apartment Therapy seal of approval in regards to style (we haven’t done home inspections or anything, so don’t sue us). Know of a great house on the market? Email the listing to repitches@apartmenttherapy.com.
Name:Crystal Wyatt Location: University City — Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Size: 190 square feet Type of Home: Studio Apartment Years Lived In: 1 year, renting
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Crystal Wyatt owned a house in Philadelphia for more than 18 years before needing a change. “There were great memories in that home, as I raised my son there, started my first business (a prison transportation service), and wrote my memoir there,” she writes. “But it was also the home that my mother had died in, and I could never really shake the sadness. So, after shutting my business down (it was stressful) and surviving the pandemic — I decided to sell!”
“I needed to do some healing work — for myself and my community — but I needed a new space to do it in. I also knew I wanted to go ‘tiny,’” Crystal explains. “I went on apartmentlist.com and found a (less than 200-square-foot) studio apartment in University City. I’d lived in U-City 25 years ago and was surprised that I could even afford to live there anymore. The fun fact about this property is that it is owned by UPenn and is somewhat ‘rent-controlled.’ With that, I’ve found a safe and affordable space to clear my head of past trauma and cultivate my new love for massage therapy and keeping plants alive.”
Apartment Therapy Survey:
Inspiration: My home is inspired by a photograph of my mother from the ’70s. She was an Afro-chic woman, and a seamstress by trade that made 90 percent of our clothing growing up. In the portrait, she is wearing an orange-patterned head wrap and because of that, the subtle base color in my home is orange.
Favorite Element: My favorite part of living in this tiny space is that I get to see all my favorite things when I wake up. Downsizing from a two-bedroom home to a studio apartment meant that some of my art didn’t make the cut. But what did make the cut is a quilt a Yoruba priestess curated for me. It is made of two of my mother’s favorite jackets (one from the ’70s and one from the year she transitioned), one of my favorite dresses, and my son’s first sweatsuit as a newborn. It hangs in my tiny kitchen, and it grounds me.
Biggest Challenge: I know it might sound weird to say, but there are no challenges for me living in this space. As a 4’11″ woman, this is first place I’ve lived that I can stand on my bed and touch the ceiling (which is great for hanging my plants). But it is a challenge for guests over 5’8″ as my ceiling fan may skim a hairline or two.
Proudest DIY: My proudest DIY is finding the right weight and style of room divider. Since the space was essentially a box, I wanted to create separation between the kitchen and living area without closing off the space. I also didn’t want to look directly at my refrigerator when laying in the bed. I searched high and low and found the perfect room dividers on Etsy. They are lightweight and see through. Hanging them was easy because I didn’t need a ladder. I just stood on a step stool and screwed the hooks into the ceiling.
Biggest Indulgence: My biggest indulgence was the velvet Chair and Ottoman from Albany Park. I had been stalking Albany Park, the Ekaabo Collection, for two years while living in my other home. I wanted the couch, chair, and ottoman but had to settle on just the chair and ottoman because of my tiny space. The chair actually fits two people and the ottoman I use as a separate seating area.
What are your favorite products you have bought for your home and why? My favorite decorating product has to be the home stickers I purchased from Etsy. I used the tribal stickers on my sliding closet doors and over the stove as a “backsplash.” It was an easy way to decorate a space without using just paint. My other favorite are stools I purchased from HomeGoods. The bones were great. But I knew I wanted them reupholstered with curtains from my old home that my mother made for me. I use the stools as extra seating but also as seating at my desk (which is really a sofa table).
Is there something unique about your home or the way you use it? I think what’s most unique about my space is that I sleep on a twin bed. I told myself if I was going to sleep on a twin, it had to be luxurious. I chose a twin because I’m small, my space is small, and I didn’t want to use up too much of my floor space. As a licensed massage therapist, I sometimes massage clients here and I need to get around my massage table with ease. It works!
Please describe any helpful, inspiring, brilliant, or just plain useful small space maximizing and/or organizing tips you have: I can not reiterate enough the benefit of buying a smaller bed for your tiny space. Think about it, you only sleep on one side of a bed anyway! If you have guests, invest in an air mattress. (I have a twin air mattress too!) Also, when dividing your tiny space, be sure to use items that you can see through to allow energy to flow. Layer, layer, layer — rugs, pillows, and bedding!
Finally, what’s your absolute best home secret or decorating advice? My best decorating advice is to fill your space with items that speak to you. Don’t be afraid to put images of yourself up on the walls. Be bold with your patterns and keep your color scheme limited to four and use variations of them throughout your space. My four colors are: orange, black, green, and white. Those four colors have also been used in my business logo designs as well — again all inspired from the orange in the photo of my mother.
Thanks to Crystal for sharing a beautiful and inspiring home with Apartment Therapy and our readers!This tour’s responses and photos were edited for length/size and clarity.Share Your Style: House Tour & House Call Submission Form
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Name:Sue Liedke, and cats Matt LeBlanc the Worst Friend, and Una Location: South Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Size: 860 square feet Years lived in: 9 months, owned
When art teacher and museum educatorSue Liedke was looking for a house to buy in South Philadelphia, she fell in love with some of this home’s character… like the vestibule, archway to the kitchen, 1970s kitchen, tiled bathroom, and even the layout, which she says is typical of most houses in this area. Sue didn’t love everything about the house, though, but says her handy friend Ryan helped her “see past some of the less desirable features of the house.” She was glad for Ryan’s perspective, and the timing of her home purchase worked out well, too.
“Buying a little house during quarantine turned out to be great because I suddenly had loads of time to spend on fixing things up (with his help). The big projects were having the old plaster ceiling removed and replaced, choosing new floors for installation, and having drywall put in (kitchen and bathroom),” she explains.”
“The house is walking distance to both of my jobs and the mortgage is less than I was paying for rent. I have room to spread out and work on projects, and my cats love having two staircases to romp up and down!” You can enjoy more of Sue’s passion for “hyper-local vintage style” on her Instagram, @s.philly.time.capsules.
Apartment Therapy Survey:
My Style: A friend recently described it as “MomMom meets MoMA” and I love that. I love finding and collecting vintage housewares, linens, and furniture, and try to mix that with my art background as I decorate!
Inspiration: I draw inspiration from estate sales in untouched time capsule houses, old magazines, and period movie and TV show sets.
Favorite Element: I love the details of this house that make it a typical South Philly rowhome — vestibule, the archway to the kitchen, the tiled bathroom, and even the giant mirror in the living room. It’s the same layout for almost every house in this neighborhood, and it’s great to see how people change them and make them their own!
Biggest Challenge: Solving the “creative” adjustments the previous owner had made. He had screwed fan blades into the bathroom walls to mount grab bars, installed a DIY rooftop sprinkler system for no reason, and wired the stove ignition switch to the inside of a drawer. There was also CC TV lines everywhere and a peephole in the bathroom from which you could spy all the way down to the front door! I am still discovering some of his strange inventions and alterations to this day.
Proudest DIY: I hung all my own wallpaper (with various success, ha). There are seven different prints(!), which seems like a lot… but I tried to use it in ways that don’t overwhelm you in the space.
I used all different kinds of papers from different eras: the paper in the vestibule was from the ’50s and very brittle and scary to work with, the bathroom and kitchen paper were both vinyl from the ’70s, and the floral papers are contemporary peel and stick. Each came with challenges, but I’m pleased with the outcome!
Biggest Indulgence: Perhaps not my most expensive indulgence (that would be floors), but my favorite indulgence is the bathroom. It was a wild scene in there when I bought the house — peach and pink tile, MANY safety bars and shelves and racks drilled into the tile, a drop ceiling with fluorescent lights. There were light switches in crazy places and the window was sealed up so it couldn’t open. It was dark (there was an awning covering most of the window) and dingy.
I had a vision of a cute and bright ’50s ladies room in my mind, so I got rid of all the extras and the drop ceiling. When it was down to the basics, I had the tub, tile, and sink reglazed in Sherwin Williams’ Rosy Outlook to match the existing floor tiles, and hunted down a matching vintage toilet. The drop ceiling was replaced with drywall, and electricians redirected the switches and put in new lights. I finished up with wallpaper and the right vintage accessories!
Is there something unique about your home or the way you use it? I try to avoid buying new — of course there are exceptions in my home, but I’m of the mindset that there is SO much good old stuff out there, I can do with way less mass-produced contemporary items.
What are your favorite products you have bought for your home and why? Vintage kitchenware! I’ve collected for years and have an absurd amount for a person who lives alone and doesn’t regularly cook, but I love the thrill of the hunt and the joy of finding a mint $3 chip’n’dip at a garage sale.
Please describe any helpful, inspiring, brilliant, or just plain useful small space maximizing and/or organizing tips you have: Use storage furniture whenever you can. I just counted and have six (!) storage pieces in my living/dining room.
What most people get wrong about using color in their home: I think a lot of people (myself included, sometimes!) overthink color — keeping those swatches for months and dwelling on barely imperceptible differences. Maybe we could all benefit from a “go with your gut” mindset, and just get that color up! You’ll know soon enough if it’s the perfect shade.
What are the biggest tricks/secrets to using color in decor? Give your eyeballs a moment of rest. It probably doesn’t seem like it in my bordering-on-maximalist home, but there’s a lot of white! It gives the colors a moment to shine.
What’s your favorite wall paint color of all time: Speaking to my above answer, I really like Benjamin Moore’s Swiss Coffee. Not too white, but doesn’t veer into gray or cream either.
Finally, what’s your absolute best home secret or decorating advice? Allow for evolution of your style! Spending a ton of money or doing everything at once might end up locking you into a certain vibe that you could quickly outgrow.
Thanks Sue for sharing your home with us!
This house tour’s responses were edited for length and clarity.
Carina is a freelance editorial and portrait photographer in Philadelphia. She co-owns Love Me Do Photography in Fishtown with fellow Tyler School of Art Alumni, Amanda Jaffe. Carina’s work has been published nationally and internationally.
