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| Welcome to Karen and Trevor's new home! |
For the first time ever, I walked into a home and felt breathless. Not only was my heart pounding at first site of my neighbor's newly remodeled home, but I was drooling. I've never seen such a remarkable living space.
This 1923 Edwardian was re-built from the studs, spanning three floors and 5,000+ square feet. What's as impressive as the home itself is the fact that the home owners drove the design process themselves.
Karen, mother of four, collected hundreds of images online of concepts and ideas she wanted to bring into her home and shared those with her architect and builder.
Floor to ceiling windows... a gas fireplace surrounded by glass set in the middle of the room... spacious living areas with enormous fluffy sofas and amazing lighting... lofts for each of the kid's bedrooms... a ceiling light so gorgeous and unexpected I kept waiting for a fountain to spew out of it...
And I was there during the night. I can only imagine how amazing it is during the day.
I hope you enjoy this wonderful night time tour of Karen and Trevor's one-of-kind home...
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| The Entry |
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| When you walk past the foyer, you are greeted by the amazing dining room, gorgeous fireplace with the family room on the other side and kitchen straight ahead to your left. Immediately to your left is a staircase and behind you to the left is the living room. |
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| This chandelier is so beautiful I kept staring at it during dinner. |
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| This is the living room. Karen had the Buddah side table made. It's a stool with a piece of glass on top. Love the glass lamp too. I think that's Pottery Barn! I always see her fluffy, fur ball pillows in the windows when I'm walking down the street. |
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| The staircase, which obviously was not left out of the imaginative design process, sits inbetween the living room and dining room. It's painted a beautiful gray/green color. The white walls with yellow accents give it just a little something extra. |
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| Karen picked all the colors herself. I wonder how many cans of orange she tried before settling on this warm and inviting one. |
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| The children's art rests museum style here. |
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| An old Tansu chest purchased long ago from Hong Kong takes on a modern twist by serving as doors to a closet. |
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| Can you believe this kitchen? Great bar stools but how about the marble spilling over the sides of the island and backsplash tile on back of the island! What a stunning vignette! Are we inside Dwell Magazine? |
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| There's Karen...This month's lovely hostess of our bi-monthly dinner with the moms on our street. Who's going to want to follow in Karen's footsteps to host the next mom's dinner?! |
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| How pretty is this vignette! I absolutely love the subtle pops of green behind the glass cabinet doors. |
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| The pantry |
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| This custom table has tiles with the children's handprints cemented in the center. |
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| The other side of the living room. Stunning fireplace...gorgeous lighting. I can't believe this home is on my street! |
We're on our way upstairs...
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| Even the hallway has a strong design element. Similar to the staircase paint selections, one side is yellow and the other white. |
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| The children's rooms are all loft-style with these interesting modular shapes. Karen's contractor suggested these block steps instead of ladders for safer midnight runs to the bathroom. |
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| I have to show my daughter the fairies hanging from the ceiling. |
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| Two full, identical bathrooms for four kids. |
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| Is it me, or is the laundry room stylish too? |
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| This house fulfills many big dreams! |
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| The master bedroom-- simple and elegant. |
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| Imagine the light that pours in through this wall of windows. |
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| Am I inside the deYoung Museum or Karen's master bath? |
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| Stunning |
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| We were joking around about why husbands don't like to put things away, even when there is such a FABULOUS cabinet to put them away in! Ruthie ponders her life with these ridiculous medicine cabinets! Sigh... |
Next we follow the yellow walled staircase down to the ground floor to find...
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| The ground level rec room |
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| The kid's art table is nicer than my dining room table! And of course there is a sewing machine nook around the corner too! |
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| Calling all Superbowl Sunday fans! |
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| I wonder how many sleep over requests Karen receives each week? |
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| I love that the lighting is placed on the side |
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| Guest quarters |
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| The downstairs "mud room" |
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| I know it's a mud room but I just can't picture any mud getting in here. It's too pretty! |
I do have to say that although Karen and Trevor's home is amazingly beautiful, comfortable, and fun for a large family, they didn't just move here to live inside of a Dwell Magazine. They actually returned to the city from the suburbs to find community! It's true...
We have a wonderful community on our street in San Francisco and we celebrate it with block parties, informal Sunday night dinners, holiday parties, get-togethers every other month with the moms on the street (we're inviting the dads to the next one)... Our kids play outside together... We borrow sugar, wheel barrows, and even share babysitters. The parents go on group bike rides together... It's modern Maybury.
Karen and Trevor clearly love design but the real beauty of their space shows through in the way they welcomed the neighborhood into their home right from the start. Post construction, they invited every single neighbor on their block to a "thank you for putting up with our remodel" party. What a thoughtful and friendly way to move in and a true reflection of them. This is not just a house to look at, it's a home to live in.
Thank you, Karen and Trevor, for inviting us into your inspirational home! Welcome to the neighborhood!
