Mike's Decluttered Design Den in London House Tour

 

Name: Mike Reid, Designer
Location: Hackney, London
Size: 490 square feet
Years lived in: 5 years; Owned

When Mike Reid moved into his garden flat five years ago, the space was poorly proportioned, divided into a living room, a small kitchen with a hatch, a cramped bathroom and a very large bedroom. After living in the apartment for several years, he recently redesigned the layout to better suit his needs. The kitchen and the living room have been opened up, creating a light and spacious entertaining area, the bathroom has been transformed into a sleek shower room, and the bedroom now accommodates a walk-in wardrobe.

 

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Since he's a designer, Mike's eye is naturally drawn to inspiring objects and interesting graphics, but he has balanced this against his instinct for order and organization. It is testament to Mike's design skills that he manages to display large groups of ephemera in a variety of ways without the space ever feeling cluttered. Records and books are housed in grid-like shelving, while clothes are neatly organised in the walk-in closet, and postcards, tickets and mementos are strung on a wire spanning the bedroom wall. The result is a calm and contemporary home with plenty of personal touches.

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Apartment Therapy Survey:

My Style: Mid-century modern and graphic geek verging on OCD.

Inspiration: Bauhaus, Pawson, graphic art and design, Japanese interior design.

Favorite Element: Designing my own built-in shelving and walk-in wardrobe storage — grid systems rule every graphic designer. And then getting to fill it all with great books and vinyl.

Biggest Challenge: It made sense to do all the DIY work I was planning at one time. So everything had to be chosen, designed and bought around the same time. Also trying to get a balance of simple vs homey in a small space is key. Down with clutter.

What Friends Say: 'Wow, neat, so much better.' 'The sofa is more comfortable than my bed!'

Biggest Embarrassment: None now, but maybe that it took so long to get it all planned.

Proudest DIY: I think 'opening up' the kitchen to the living space completely. Basically removing a plasterboard partition that acted as a partial divide.

Biggest Indulgence: Custom made storage and shelving — and paying for a professional to do all 'proper' DIY work. I would just mess it up or get too frustrated — let me do the design, the experts can do the 'doing'.

Best Advice: Buy less stuff. Buy stuff you will be happy with for (most of your) life. Buy wise — eBay still has some good stuff, if you get ahead of the curve or get lucky (I got two Kaiser Dell lamps for a snip). Do all renovations together if possible. It equals the least disruption, not playing 'Rubiks furniture move' or cleaning stuff up all the time.

Dream Sources: Liberty, SCP, Vitra, Muji, Viaduct, eBay, vintage shops.

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PAINT & COLORS

• Potters Clay 4 -

Dulux

 

 

LIVING ROOM

• Ceiling lampshade - Vintage Danish - The Modern Warehouse

• Modular sofa - Muji
• Red side lamp - Kaiser Dell - eBay
• Vintage skateboard - Alameda flea market, San Francisco
• Martin Sharp Print - eBay
• Paolozzi Litho - Flowers East Gallery
• Hockney etching - eBay
• Light letter M - Berlin market
• Natural wool carpet - Oatmeal

 

 

DINING ROOM

• Dining table -

Habitat
• Insect / Barb wire textiles - Studio job / Wannekes
• Chairs - Galvanitas - Dutch retro furniture store
• Vintage map of Fife - Vintage shop

 

 

KITCHEN

• Oak kitchen 'Ulriksdal' -

Ikea
• Kitchen sink / built in appliances - Ikea

 

 

BEDROOM

• Eames RAR rocker -

Liberty London
• Bed - Muji
• Bed linen - Muji / Habitat
• Bedside lamp - Kaiser Dell - eBay
• Graphic gallery - Various vintage shops / markets from travels
• Car badge collection - eBay
• Natural wool carpet - Oatmeal

 

 

DINING ROOM

• Fittings -

Bathstore
• Tiles - Topp's Tiles
• Photos - Taken by me on travels

 

 

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Thanks, Mike!

(Images: Rebecca Proctor)

• HOUSE TOUR ARCHIVE: Check out past house tours here.
• Interested in sharing your home with Apartment Therapy? Contact the editors through our House Tour Submission Form.
• Are you a designer/architect/decorator interested in sharing a residential project with Apartment Therapy readers? Contact the editors through our Professional Submission Form.

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Rob's Masculine Modern Condo House Tour | Apartment Therapy

Name: Robert Gerner – Agent, Four Corner Realty
Location: Wilshire Corridor, Los Angeles, California
Size:1,450 square feet
Years lived in: 1 year; rent

Rob's two bedroom apartment overlooks the Wilshire corridor and has a stunning view of the Hollywood Hills. His home is the perfect bachelor pad, with plenty of personal style. Designer Stefani Rosso lent a helping hand in pulling together some of the finishing touches on the interior design.

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The space itself is roomy and modern, but Rob has integrated his personal style throughout to create a livable and functional home. "Being a Los Angeles native influenced by so many different genres of styles growing up, finding one's own eclectic sense and feel is an evolution of its own," he says. When I asked Rob what was most essential about designing a home, he said it was all about restraint. "It is sometimes difficult to be selective and not overfill the space. Empty space can say more than eight items you thought you needed to have." With experience gained from his involvement in real estate, Rob was able to develop a home that he's proud of, incorporating his love of modern decor, and vintage maps.

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Apartment Therapy Survey:

My Style: A masculine compilation of contemporary and modernist elements. Can one's style really ever be totally defined?

Inspiration: I try to imagine a room where Thomas Crown, Bugsy Segal and Howard Hughes would be brainstorming the next move over a glass of prohibition era hooch.

Favorite Element: It's a tie between the rooftop pool and the concierge.

Biggest Challenge: At first it was waiting for all the furniture to arrive. I kept thinking "this is like watching my clients waiting to close escrow!" But once the furniture arrived, integrating my family's heirloom collection of antique maps presented another set of challenges.

What Friends Say: It doesn't get more bachelor than this.

Biggest Embarrassment: There is no cabana at the pool.

Proudest DIY: I hung all the maps myself.

Biggest Indulgence: Splurging on my interior designer, Stefani Rosso. She made sure all the important details were expertly handled.

Best Advice: Make sure you have accurate measurements of everything — and don't forget to measure the elevator!

Dream Sources: Locating unique pieces such as my fully restored vintage Milo Baughman Rosewood Case Sofa. This one came all the way from Chicago.

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Resources of Note:

LIVING ROOM

• Milo Baughman Rosewood Case Sofa; Modern Drama, Chicago

• Caulfield Coffee Table; Minotti Los Angeles
• Custom Ottoman & Bolster Pillows in Maharam's Violet Epingle Stripe by Paul Smith
• Adjustable Table E1070 by Eileen Gray; Design Within Reach
• Marcel Breuer Wassily Chair; Room & Board
• Larabee Dot Round Vase; Kate Spade
• Double 12 Dominoes; Etsy
• Chinoiserie Porcelain Cup; Melrose Trading Post (Fairfax Sunday Flea Market)
• Off-white Crocodile Tray; Vellum
• Eames Lounge & Ottoman; Black Vicenza Leather & Walnut; Charles and Ray Eames for Herman Miller; Room & Board
• Square Ribbon Vase; MoMA Store

DINING ROOM

• Cesca Cane Chairs by Marcel Breuer

• Diane von Furstenberg Radiant Lacquer Serving Tray; Bloomingdales
• Tea Towels; Hammock's & High Tea
• Lotus Blossom Votive; Designers Views on La Brea
• Gilt Horse Bookend; Sunset Bazaar; Silverlake

BEDROOM

• Andrew Martin Floor Lamp

• H.D. Buttercup Storage Chest
• Winter Patchwork Throw; West Elm
• Custom Headboard

BATHROOM

• Kartell Optic Cube

• Organic Woodgrain Towels; Westelm
• Vintage Pyrex Apothecary Jar
• Voluspa Candles
• Teak Laughing Buddha; Roadside Shop in Bangkok, Thailand

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Thanks, Rob! Also thank you to Stefani Rosso for connecting me with Rob for the tour!

(Images: Bethany Nauert)

• HOUSE TOUR ARCHIVE Check out past house tours here
• Interested in sharing your home with Apartment Therapy? Contact the editors through our House Tour Submission Form.
• Are you a designer/architect/decorator interested in sharing a residential project with Apartment Therapy readers? Contact the editors through our Professional Submission Form.

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Alex & Sarah's Traveler's Home House Tour

Name: Alex Cole & Sarah Brady: Alex is an art director, and Sarah was in the trend forecasting business for 11 years prior to opening Platform with Alex.
Location: Highland Park – Los Angeles, California
Size: 900 square feet
Years lived in: Alex has lived in the house for 6 years, Sarah has lived there for close to 3 years.

I took a few looks around Alex and Sarah's home and asked Alex where he has lived. I could tell that he had lived in a few international cities. His face lit up. "I took 10 years to travel around the world and lived in India for a handful of years." It definitely shows — Alex and Sarah's home has a well traveled and spiritual aesthetic and energy.

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I always say that when a home is designed well and has great energy, the square footage becomes irrelevant. This is definitely the case in Alex and Sarah's home. You get lost in the rooms and niches. All the personal treasures and photographs speak volumes of a life well lived. Every piece in the home has a meaning and is important in the overall design.

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Apartment Therapy Survey:

Our Style: India, Mexico, Europe; travel really inspires our style. We like to think of it as world traveling eclectic with a handcrafted modern twist.

Inspiration: Well, when I moved in we had to come up with a way to merge our furniture and decor. It has been amazing and challenging to bring it all together, but I think we are getting there… our ultimate goal is to create a warm, welcoming and cozy environment that tells a story and is a true expression of our style and travels. Lots of texture, pattern, ethnic accents, color, natural materials: a mash-up of everything we love and are inspired by!

Favorite Element: The living room is our favorite part of the house — it reminds Alex of his home back in London and is the perfect setting to lounge, relax, entertain and play with the dogs. We especially love the bookcase which Alex designed and had custom built. It offers the perfect place to display not only our books, but also sentimental treasures and souvenirs from our travels and loved ones.

Biggest Challenge: The bathroom. Alex had it demoed when he moved in, then rebuilt from scratch. It is now one of my favorite rooms in the house, especially the Turkish style tub! It's such a peaceful room.

What Friends Say: Our friends compliment us on our unique style and how cozy our home is. Most of them say the house has good energy and they like spending time in it, which makes us so happy! They like all the color, texture, art and curios. Most of our friends like our green kitchen, the bathroom and the backyard. They seem impressed with how we somehow stay organized in such a small space. I say lots of shelves, which means all your stuff is on display, which we like because we enjoy creating little vignettes.

Biggest Embarrassment: Alex would say the storage shed. He built this when I moved in because he was trying to clear space for my stuff. He needed a place to house all his tools and other odds and ends, so he got busy and built himself a little storage shed. It's not perfect, but it does the job! I would say the kitchen floor, I can't wait to retile that baby!

Proudest DIY: The garage conversion. Alex wanted to convert the garage into an office/closet for me when I first moved in, because back then I ran my trend forecasting business from home, and I have a crazy wardrobe. He put the door and window in himself, had a little help with the walls and flooring, painted, and built a customized IKEA closet for me. I mean, a man builds you a room with your own customized closet, YEAH! It was the sweetest thing anyone had ever done for me. I was very impressed and Alex was proud.

Biggest Indulgence: Our Matera bed with storage from Design Within Reach. This bed is all walnut and the design is so beautiful. We were concerned about having enough drawer space, so this bed offered a good solution with 6 storage drawers — we LOVE it! We also indulged in a really nice ceiling fan for over the bed. We are very grateful for our fan during those hot LA nights.

Best Advice: Your home is always a work in progress — have fun and don't take it too seriously, and most importantly, think of it as a canvas to express yourself. There are fun little tweaks you can do on a daily basis to shift and play with your space, and when budget does not allow for major or even minor improvements, BE CREATIVE!

Dream Sources: TRAVEL TRAVEL TRAVEL! Nothing beats finding those unique one-of-a-kind pieces that have a great story. It can be from somewhere exotic or even from a road trip. We found some incredible treasures on a recent road trip through Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, and Utah. If you can't get out of town, visit a great flea market, thrift store or some of the shops that focus on exotic imports (LA has many!!!)

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Resources of Note:

APPLIANCES

• Square Deal Plumbing

HARDWARE

• Rose Bowl Flea Market
  
• Long Beach Flea Market
  
• Liz's Antique Hardware
  
• IKEA
  
• Silverlake Salvage

FURNITURE

• Rose Bowl Flea Market
  
• LA Box Collective - Various pieces of furniture from the LA Box Collective can be purchased at Platform
  
• The Living Room
  
• DWR
  
• H.D. Buttercup
  
• Amsterdam Modern Warehouse Sales
  
• Olde Good Things
  
• Iron & Ducks
  
• Sueno (no longer in business)
  
• Ten10 (no longer in business)
  
• West Elm
  
• Anthropologie
  
• Oasis Imports
  
• Foothill 5 Fifty

ACCESSORIES

• Heath Ceramics
  
• Roger Lee Ceramics - his ceramics can be purchased at Platform
  
• Etsy
  
• Textiles from our travels
  
• Badia Design
  
• Rose Bowl Flea Market
  
• Santa Monica Outdoor Antique & Collectable Market
  
• Potted
  
• Past Perfect in San Francisco
  
• Tortoise General Store
  
• Mt. Washington Pottery - her ceramic bells can be purchased at Platform
  
• Rolling Greens

LIGHTING

• Practical Props North Hollywood
  
• DWR
  
• Tortoise General Store
  
• Roost

PAINT

• Jill's Paint
  
• Restoration Hardware

FLOORING

• Roberto (323) 371-1430 - our local very handy man that did all the concrete in the garden and installation of french doors and window. WE LOVE HIM!
  
• Samuel Hardwood Floor: Global Hardwood (818) 402-5219 - Very nice and helpful!

RUGS & CARPET

• Bashir Tribal Rugs
  
• Travels
  
• Peace Industry
  
• Family Heirlooms
  
• Rose Bowl Flea Market
  
• The Southwest
  
• Muskhane Paris, FR

TILES & STONE

• Discount Tile Center

WINDOW TREATMENTS

• Fabric District Downtown LA
  
• Michael Levine
  
• Oxy Blind & Shade Company
  
• IKEA

BEDS

• DWR
  
• For Bedding - Caravane

ARTWORK

• Kat Hutter - art and ceramics can be purchased at Platform
  
• Samantha Streets - art and design can be purchased at Platform
  
• Travel
  
• Flea Markets
  
• Estate Sales
  
• Antique Shows
  
• Family Heirlooms
  
• Ginger Hale Crowell
  
• Gretchen Kimball
  
• Toulouse-Lautrec
  
• Alex Cole Photography - his photos can be purchased at Platform
  
• Martin Rusch Photography (his photos can be purchased at Platform!
  
• Framing - Fine Art Solutions

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Thanks, Sarah & Alex!

(Images: Marcia Prentice)

• HOUSE TOUR ARCHIVE: Check out past house tours here.
• Interested in sharing your home with Apartment Therapy? Contact the editors through our House Tour Submission Form.
• Are you a designer/architect/decorator interested in sharing a residential project with Apartment Therapy readers? Contact the editors through our Professional Submission Form.

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Pamela's Blank Canvas Goes Bold House Tour

 

Name: Pamela Beecroft
Location: Washington, DC
Size: 800 square feet
Years lived in: 4 months (at the time of the tour); Rented

When the owner of her rental apartment suddenly decided to move back in, Pam found herself scrambling to find a new place to live. With few options (it was winter...not a lot of available apartments) and very little time to search, she was forced to move from a smaller space with plenty of soul and character to a larger and more impersonal place.

 

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Finding herself confronted with a larger "blank canvas" than she was accustomed to when it came to apartment set-up and decorating, she says for her that the big challenge was to infuse as much comfort and personality into her new apartment as she had in her old one. I would say she succeeded, and then some.

The apartment is full of colors and patterns and objects, but manages to avoid feeling cluttered or busy. Instead it feels warm and welcoming. Everywhere you look there are beautiful or cool or funny things to see. She has traveled a lot since childhood (her father was a diplomat) and she weaves international objects into the decor without it ever getting too folk art-y or museum-like. The grey, yellow and orange that you find throughout the rooms hold everything together.

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Apartment Therapy Survey:

My Style/Inspiration: Comfortable modern, with Scandinavian and other international influences. I don't know about any one inspiration, but I'm drawn to texture, bright colors and clean lines. I also love images and art, and have filled my apartment with them. I like to keep things light and made sure certain colors carry through spaces without it looking too designed.

Favorite Element: The light, and the flow of the whole floor plan.

Biggest Challenge: Figuring out what to do with the space between the living room and kitchen. (I eventually got an orange storage bench.)

What Friends Say: "It's so nice! Do you think you can come over and help me pull my place together?"

Biggest Embarrassment: Not much so far (but I'm only four months in!).

Proudest DIY: My "media center," which I made by converting the middle of my three bookshelves into a space to hold my TV, stereo and cable. Not very complicated to do, since it just needed a circular drill to allow wires to go through, but it makes such a difference to have all that equipment "embedded" among my by books and other things, instead of standing out.

Biggest Indulgence: One of my chairs in the living room. Most of my things look nice but are not expensive, but I bought the chair at Room and Board. Not cheap, but I love the fabric and the lines, and it's so comfortable. Worth every penny!

Best Advice: Affordable fantastic art is everywhere, and don't be afraid to mix high and low, serious and silly. Same with furniture and everything else — you can do a lot surrounding very basic and cheap furniture with great accents and images. If it's fun, if you like it, then it's right!

Dream Sources: Blu Dot, Miss Pixie's (a used furniture place in DC), Goodwood (ditto), Room And Board

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Resources of Note:

LIVING ROOM

• Sofa: I can't actually remember anymore! Some European import site. The sofa opens up flat into a bed.

• Coffee table: Overstock.com
• Throw blanket: West Elm
• Striped blanket: Kenya
• Pillows (on couch and armchairs): Ikea fabric, home-sewn, as well as Target
• Floor and side-table lamps: Target
• Grey armchair: Overstock.com
• Pair of armchairs: family hand-me-down, reupholstered with fabric from Fishman's
• Side table: CB2
• Bookshelves: IKEA Billy
• Art: Etsy, wood block art from Minimumwageart, photos are my own, as is the collage and the black and while drawning, masks from the Democratic Republic of Congo
• Mirror with tiles: Tunisia
• Elongated wood sculpture people: Burundi

 

 

DINING ROOM

• Dining table and chairs: IKEA

• Tablecloth: Target
• Pendant lamp: CB2
• Sideboard: IKEA
• Lamp: China
• Photos: mine

 

HALLWAY

• Rugs: from Bosnia and Jordan

• Small white bookshelves: Staples
• Lamps: IKEA and Target
• Orange storage bench: Target
• Throw pillows: Target and IKEA
• Standing lamp: West Elm
• Art: a mix of Etsy, an image I picked up at a rock concert (Dorothy being searched by a riot cop), a gift from Vietnam (the woman with the gun and the baby), my photo of NYC, and the felt polar bear was made by my cousin in Norway - it's for sitting on when you go hiking :)

 

BEDROOM

• Bed: On-line store - just a plain old metal frame

• Bed linens: West Elm
• Bedside table: Target
• Desk: Container Store
• Green shag rug: K-Mart and it's Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen dorm-room series, of all things!
• Photos: mine

 

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Thanks, Pamela!

(Images: Chris Beecroft)

• HOUSE TOUR ARCHIVE: Check out past house tours here.— Chris Beecroft

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