My Curated Home

I was lucky enough to build my home from the ground up 25 years ago, and as an interior designer and general contractor, it was a dream come true. There were a few mistakes along the way, but I think that I definitely nailed it a few times too. I've learned a lot over the years, and at this point, I can honestly say, that I love my home, it suits me, makes me, inspires me and is truly a place of comfort and relaxation.

In my “curated home,” instead of everything being “matchy-matchy” and within one specific style, the space look less planned and more natural, every item has been thoughtfully acquired, and collected slowly over time. Each piece has a story, and all of the elements flow and complement each other.  As much as I LOVE furniture stores, including Pottery Barn, Crate&Barrel, Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams, Room and Board, Design Within Reach, plus many others, I didn’t want my house to look like a retail showroom. I want the look of my home to be warm, sophisticated, lived in, loved in, interesting, unique and all about the people who live here. 

It had been 10 years since my last major update, and over the last year, I have been working on an update of my family room, nook and kitchen.  It took literally a year, to plan out, shop for, line up the subs and execute. I did love my old look, which I painstakingly took to create all those years ago, but now it was time for a fresher look, new colors and a change up of styles, and basically “something different”.  Something less Craftsman style and more Mid Century Modern (but not too much.) I’ve incorporated hand-crafted art, an Asian Flair plus a little bit of sass!  

- The Before and After -

BEFORE

BEFORE

BEFORE

AFTER

AFTER

AFTER

No new furniture was purchased, which was surprising, since I started out thinking I wanted a new sofa and dining table. But in the end, what I actually did was to repaint, moved around existing furniture from different parts of the house, added a new light fixture, changed out the kitchen faucet, swapped out existing art and accessories, then purchased a new area rug and new set of dishes. It seemed daunting at the beginning, but really the solutions were so simple, and I truly LOVE the new look!

NOOK BEFORE

FAUCET BEFORE

NOOK AFTER

FAUCET AFTER

- Suggestions to achieve The Curated Home for yourself - 

• Choose a unifying color palette, typically one or two neutral tones, an accent color, and a “pop” color 

• Mix old and new pieces of furniture 

• Combine styles – but keeping consistent themes of color, shape and texture 

• Change out existing lighting fixtures  

• Change out your door hardware and hinges 

• Change out your plumbing fixtures 

• Decorate your walls, as often as possible, with real art.   

• Shop thrift stores - they are great sources for wonderful and unusual items 

• Think out-of-the-box and let your creativity guide you 

• Use plants as living décor 

• Choose things you really LOVE!   

- My Home Sources -

Quirky, Cats, Kimonos and Torri Gates | Japanese Wood Block Print | Framer - Lissa - Hangin' Custom Framing

Alfred | Japanese Wood Block Print from Azuma Gallery in Seattle | Framer - Lissa - Hangin' Custom Framing

Ray Morimura, artist | Japanese Wood Block Print from Azuma Gallery in Seattle | Framer - Lissa - Hangin' Custom Framing

Just for fun, here are the list of resources for my home that I used.  As you can see there’s a wide variety of places, styles and price points: 

• Brown and gray tweed sofa – H.I.P

• White sofa, tall occasional chair, round, marble topped coffee table (these were splurge items bought during a sample sale) - Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams

• Velvet Occasional Chair – PH Reed

• Dining Table – Kitchen Kaboodle

• 2 Dining Chairs – Kitchen Kaboodle

• 2 Dining Chairs – Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams

• Family Room Rug – West Elm

• Pillows – West Elm, Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams, Restoration Hardware

• Chrome and glass display shelf – Thrift store find 

• Teak wood mid-century chest of drawers – Thrift store find  

• Chinese antique side table with ivory inlay – Thrift store find  

• Hand-blown glassware, ceramics, craftwares – Variety of galleries like glassybaby, craft fairs, even Goodwill (where I have found some of my favorite pieces) 

• Japanese woodblock prints – Azuma Gallery, Seattle, WA – Tolman Gallery, New York, NY 

• Native American Art – Makah Reservation, Neah Bay, WA 

• Paint Color, Family Room + Kitchen – Sherwin Williams (Bona Fide Beige)

• Paint Color, Nook Accent Color – Sherwin Williams (Rose Colored) 

• Brass Light Fixture – Globe Lighting 

• Brass Kitchen Faucet - Brizo 

This is our sweet Dosha - she loves snuggling next to the fireplace on our area rug.