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THE GREAT INDOORS: Turning the tables
Reporter Meg Augustin takes you inside some of Philly's most fab dwellings to showcase our city's unique grasp on design and architecture. This week, instead of browsing through someone else's home, she turns the cameras on her own living space in Fairmount.
THE GREAT INDOORS: Turning the tables
Reporter Meg Augustin takes you inside some of Philly's most fab dwellings to showcase our city's unique grasp on design and architecture. This week, instead of browsing through someone else's abode, she turns the cameras on her own one-bedroom flat in Fairmount.
Moving in with your significant other is difficult. You both have to get used to sharing a sink while you practice your nightly dental hygiene routine, they have to witness you through a fit when your crepes don’t turn out perfectly golden, and you have to get used to them leaving a trail of shoes throughout the house. However, for the design-inclined, one of the hardest compromises is mixing your style with your partner’s. Perhaps you’re style is shabby chic and your partner’s is minimalist modern. Surely, the modernist will scorn any whimsical shudders or antique mirrors and the shabbyist will find a hostile world in clean-lined sofas and glass table-tops. So how do couples pull it off?
When my partner and I moved into our Fairmount Victorian, we faced this same problem. My style leans toward more eclectic prints, patterns and decorations while my partner tends to me happier in clean, uncluttered spaces. As clutter tends to be a signature of my design tastes, I knew this wasn’t going to be easy. However, the new space with its white walls and solid wood floors offered a clean slate to reinvent myself. After limitless Apartment Therapy and Elle Décor pursuing, I began to be drawn to tailored, masculine silhouettes in feminine fabrics and patterns. The living room, kitchen and bar area echo that mentality while the bedroom takes on feminine shapes and patterns with a few masculine influences.
The living room was ground zero for the experiment. I had found an Ib Kofod Larsen mid-century chair in my neighbor’s garbage that I proudly refinished. The piece was beautiful and well-suited to the space. It also controlled the look of the room to a mid-century arena. The Ikea media credenza mirrors this look while the moveable coffee tables from Chiasso glam the room up a little. Neutral fabrics keep the room calm and clean, like my partner likes, while hints of color in the pillows and books keep the room from feeling uninhabited.
The bar area is an extension of the glamorous and modern coffee tables. Black glass and chrome reflects light which helps the room feel larger than it really is. The table is finished off with glasses and bourbons that make the area feel like a Mad Men lounge. This area is my favorite, and not simply because of the alcohol content. I was able to pull together a very glamorous, but masculine feel that I only have to feminize with a bouquet of flowers. I regret this is one of the last areas to be added to our home, as it has taught me a lot about the power of feminine additions and the beauty of more masculine designs.
The kitchen and bathroom use grays and black and white bold patterns that act as a neutral. A relatively small room, I knew I had to open the kitchen cabinets to open it up. The black and white stripes seemed whimsical without bold colors, which keeps my clean-lined partner happy. The bathroom seems like a study in black and white of Morocco. Truly, with my 1940s Hollywood starlets I have framed around the space (not pictured), the room has begun to feel like an ode to Casablanca.
The bedroom is still a work in progress. Originally a nautical-inspired room, my love of eclectic, girly accoutrements have slightly spoiled that vision. The room is now amplified with candy-colored mid-century pieces along with bold prints. While decidedly more feminine and girly than the rest of the house, the room still feels clean and orderly, so my partner still feels comfortable in the space.
Moving in with someone requires a lot of editing. Of course you have to edit your kitchen utensils and your closets, but you also have to edit your style. Checking in with my partner every step of the way, I have had to add pieces that were new for both of us and edit out the girly, white porcelain of mine and the over-sized black and white photos that were his to keep us both happy. The process has required a lot of growing up, both in myself and in my style. Now when I shop I look for tailored, neutral items instead of the candy-colored trinkets that used to catch my eye. While hard, in the end, the process is worth it. You start out with a bunch of stuff but in the end, you make a home.
If you'd like to see your home or business featured in The Great Indoors, drop Meg an email at megan.augustin@citypaper.net.
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