Turning a Rental into a Home By: Amy Azzarito

When documentary filmmaker John moved to this apartment in San Francisco’s Noe Valley, he really wanted to turn this rental into a home. He travels frequently shooting all around the world (he just returned from China), and when he’s back in San Francisco, he needs a space where he can unpack and fully recharge. He called upon Jill Cordner to turn the rental apartment into a home. First, Jill took stock of John’s existing furniture and together they came up with a list of new purchases – a sofa, filing cabinet, dining set, nightstand, bookshelves, a coffee table, rugs and wall art. She found lots of great pieces from stores like Restoration Hardware, Room and Board and Design Within Reach, but what really added personality to the space was scouring flea markets and vintage stores for unique pieces that expressed his personality. When he’s home, John makes the most of the space. He recently hosted a birthday dinner party for a friend, and Jill helped him figure out how to reconfigure his living room into a dining banquette for seven people. Having a space that is flexible enough to bring people together is truly what makes a house a home. -Amy

Photography by Liz Daly

Image above: “The living room is one big open space separated into an office and living room zone,” Jill says.

Image above: “Bedroom: It was really important to John to feel a personal connection with many of the furnishings. The eye chart is from Restoration Hardware but it reminded him of his mother who is an optometrist.”

Image above: “Helping clients personalize their spaces is one of my favorite parts of being a designer. We found this vintage brass trunk at Leftovers in SF, a consignment store.”

See more of this Noe Valley apartment after the jump!

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via Design*Sponge http://ift.tt/VzI5li From Amy Azzarito

RASTLED: RAST Bedside Table + LEDBERG Strip Lighting By: Ian Lim

Materials: LEDBERG LED lighting, RAST bedside table

1. Wanted to a cheap and easy to work with bedside table

2. Purchased RAST Bedside Table and LEDBERG LED Strip Lighting

3. Spray painted RAST Bedside Table White using 2x Spray cans

4. The LEDBERG hack involves creating wires for the 3 strip lightings

- First off at the back of each strip lighting there is a small circular tab that prevents the LED board from sliding out, melt away or drill through to remove it.

- Pull LED board out

- Desolder connector from board

- Solder wires to the connectors, placing a heat shrink on each connection part to prevent them from touching each other

- Put wires though the bottom of LED board and up through the hole to be solder onto the gold plates on the board.

- Repeat for 2 boards

- Place a wire organiser to cover wiring to look more nicely done up

5. Mount LED lighting to the underside of RAST bedside table top panel

6. Cut a piece of VARIERA Drawer mat to place on top surface

7. DONE!

via IKEA Hackers http://ift.tt/Xv3GNK From Ian Lim

Who needs a couch with a view like this? By: shannon

What does it mean to live in a 350-square-foot space in the middle of downtown San Francisco? It means that Rachel Gant and Andrew Deming have killer views from their 11th floor apartment. It means Saturday afternoon parties with friends that start with gin punch and end on the rooftop, soaking up the sun. It also means that they don’t have room for a couch. For the past four and a half years, however, they’ve managed to make the space work, frequently rearranging items to accommodate new vintage finds and gifts from friends. Though they say their favorite thing about their home is the view, the location is pretty amazing, too. Weekends are spent walking around the city or taking day trips out to Healdsburg or Mill Valley. Together Rachel and Andrew founded their company Yield, a design house dedicated to producing products they want to see in the world – from bags and tabletop goods to small furniture pieces and fine jewelry. Earlier this year they launched Endswell Collection, a line of gold rings for men and women. Thank you, Rachel and Andrew! -Shannon

Image above: “We like to fill our home with meaningful objects,” Rachel says. “Most are either thrifted and come with a story of their own, and most others are gifts from friends and family. The painting above our bed is a gift from our friend and fellow CCA grad Nate Masse. The quilt was made for us by Andrew’s grandmother in South Carolina patterned with the classic Norwegian Selbu Stars.”

Image above: “This credenza probably takes up more room than any piece, but it brings so much character we were happy to make room. The vase is a hand painted vintage find from our visit to Saint Augustine, FL near where Andrew grew up.”

Image above: “Meals are incredibly important to us, whether it’s just a quick breakfast or a weekend gathering, they are our time to recoup. (Cup is vintage, cutting board is IKEA, plate is Heath Ceramics)”

See more of this San Francisco home after the jump…

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via Design*Sponge http://ift.tt/1oUs7t0 From shannon

15 Interior Design Feeds to Follow on Instagram By: Grace Bonney

BuzzFeed and HomePolish were nice enough to include us in a post on their favorite interior design Instagram accounts, so it got me thinking about the accounts that we all love and follow here at D*S. I’ve been tracking down and following a wide range of designers, from more established high-end interior designers to up and coming DIY-based interior designers, and have found more inspiration than I can possibly handle. It feels like every other day I’m sending myself another batch of screengrabs I’ve taken on my phone of designers to check out, interview or work with in some way. There’s something about that little square window into someone else’s world that feels so fascinating. I love getting to see how designers put together a home from start to finish and so many of these feeds do just that. Whether they share paint samples and fabric swatches or inspiring travel photos, these are 15 of my favorite interior design-based feeds right now. If you need a little bit more decor inspiration in your life, these are the people to be checking out. xo, grace

Click through for the full post after the jump!

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via Design*Sponge http://ift.tt/1n1CHid From Grace Bonney

Small contemporary desk with clear top By: Kathy K

Materials: 2 Faktum wall cabinets (30 x 70), 2 Rubrik glass doors, 2 sets of 2 Integral hinges, Rationell glass shelves (30 x 35)

This desk is designed to take up as little actual space and as little visual space as possible.

I used 2 Faktum wall cabinets to create a small desk with interior storage. I assembled the cabinets according to the directions, and added Rubrik glass doors, placing hinges on the exterior side of each door.

The smallest possible desktop that accommodated our chair (a replica Philippe Starck Ghost armchair) was 40 x 118 cm. We added inexpensive stick-on cabinet lighting, Rationell glass shelves and the chair to complete the look.

Note on desk top materials:

For a clear top you can use either glass or lucite (lexan). While glass is less expensive than lexan, it is heavy and breakable. The disadvantage to lexan are cost and its tendency to scratch. If you do choose a lexan top, I would suggest you use the thickest top you can afford to add visual weight to the top of the desk.

via IKEA Hackers http://ift.tt/1pyoeP6 From Kathy K