My San Francisco Home Tour

01-01-18

Welcome to our cozy San Francisco home! Though it’s already been seen in California Home + Design and Rue, I wanted to give you the full scoop on all the details and resources for the very first time directly from me.

The apartment began as my husband Andrew’s bachelor pad, where he lived alone when we were dating. We didn’t live together until after marriage so when it came time to find our first home, we looked but couldn’t find anything we loved as much as his place, even though we knew space would be tight. Not only is it charming, the location couldn’t be better. We love that it’s walking distance to so many great restaurants, shops, wine bars, parks, and even the Golden Gate Bridge and water. We decided we didn’t want to give that up, so I said goodbye to my bachelorette pad and moved into his place to start our married life together.

Crystal Palecek Home Tour Crystal Palecek Design

Since I was moving into his place, our agreement was that I would totally redecorate everything to make it feel like our home, not just his. But the process of combining our things and designing a home together for the first time was not without its painful moments. Especially since we both work in the design industry (he’s a furniture designer) and have a strong aesthetic point of view. But I will say, the advantage of this is that Andrew totally understands investing in good design.

I love a blank slate and change. Andrew, on the other hand, has a much harder time with that. Though he loved my design plan and was supportive of the process, every new piece of furniture I brought in, meant taking one of his out, which was hard on him. I was sensitive to that and felt like I had to do it slowly, which really dragged the process out – it took me two years to get it to the place I wanted. Looking back, we’ve both decided that in the long run it would have been much easier on us both to prioritize decorating our home with a swift pace rather than living in that half-finished stage for so long.

(Side Note: A month before our wedding, I snuck my friend Emily Johnston, who’s an amazing interiors photographer based in New York City, into Andrew’s place to photograph it while he was at work. I knew that it would be changing after I moved in and wanted to honor his home by documenting it the way it was. I printed Emily’s beautiful photos in an album and surprised him with it as one of his gifts on our wedding day. He absolutely loved it!)

Once I moved in, I had the entire apartment repainted in Benjamin Moore’s Simply White (my go-to white) and installed white Hunter Douglas roman shades throughout. From there, I had the perfect bight and airy backdrop to build off from.

So, let’s start with the dining nook. Previously, Andrew had a square table and dark leather chairs here. I knew I wanted to lighten things up and bring something circular into the mix to break up all the right angles of the nook. Having loved the classic Saarinen round dining table for years, I instantly knew it was the perfect opportunity to finally use it. I ordered the 42 inch one in Arabescato marble from Design Within Reach. It’s so beautiful and a piece we know will travel with us from home to home over the years. I paired the table with two dining chairs from Palecek in “cashew leather”. The modern silhouette of the chairs works beautifully with the table and the color of the leather picks up the hues of the marble veins perfectly. Once our son Benjamin was born, we added the Stokke “steps chair” to the mix (which I love and highly recommend).

To finish off the dining nook, I hung a gold Tom Dixon pendant over the table (after seeing how good it looked in Julie’s space), laid down a Loloi rug, and hung an oversized photo print by my friend, Nicole Cohen. The cantaloupe print on the other wall is also one of Nicole’s. I really love how the dark gray matting and black frame turned out on that one and will definitely be experimenting with that combo again soon. I framed both prints through Frame Destination, one of my go-to sources for easy online custom framing.

Just off from the dining nook is our living room. Originally, Andrew had his TV and console in front of the window wall and his sofa on the opposite wall. I always knew that I wanted to switch that around and so I started there. Because the window wall is the first thing you see from the front door, it’s a lot more inviting as a focal point than the TV. We got this slipcovered sofa from Serena & Lily and I paired it with various pillows from Susan Connor, Indie Bungalow, and Pottery Barn.

Over the years, we’ve had a few different coffee tables here (first this one, then this one) but finally found our perfect match with the “Brockton” coffee table from Palecek in “whale cover gray”, which is part of their line designed by Jeffrey Alan Marks. The design and finish are beautiful and the size is generous, making it perfect for holding all my design books.

The muted rug is a Ben Soleimani from RH and has the prettiest hues. In fact, it’s what set the color palette for the entire space. I remember what a drastic difference it made in the room as soon as it arrived – I absolutely loved. For lighting, I wanted a statement chandelier and went with the Harding chandelier from Arteriors. I carried the black from that over to the two wall sconces above the sofa to help break up the length of the windows and all that white. The chair is a campaign inspired design from Palecek.

Opposite the window wall is where we have our TV (not pictured) and a gallery wall. Beyond wanting a spot to showcase beautiful art, I also designed the gallery wall to help camouflage the TV and to hide an unused door into a closet. The framed photography is a mix from some of my photographer friends like Jose Villa, Emily Johnston, and Nicole Cohen, as well as a few pieces Andrew already owned.

The TV sits on a beautiful console from Calvin Klein Home (which is sadly no longer making furniture) and the “Santiago” lounge chair by Palecek sits in the corner. I had the chair covered in this Colefax and Fowler fabric after spotting it in a design shop in Sonoma County. The three etageres are also from Palecek, which I love for their clean lines and sophisticated look.

A Palecek bar cart to the left of the sofa holds one of our favorite art pieces, more design books, sage smudge sticks from Hudson Grace, a white vase for greenery, and Andrew’s ever evolving wine collection on the bottle shelf. To the right of the sofa, I hung my wooden prayer beads, also from Hudson Grace, which add unexpected texture and depth to the wall. Below that is a reproduction of Picasso’s “La Femme en Bleu” that I found on the sidewalk for free when an art shop in my neighborhood went out of business. I just love the colors and something about her gaze captivates me. But I still need to get it framed.

I keep fresh greenery from our neighborhood flower shop in this white ceramic jug vase on the bar cart and love rotating whatever is in season. The taxidermy is one of the only things that remains from Andrew’s bachelor days and though it wouldn’t be my first choice, it does work well in the space.

In the hallway leading into the bathroom, I placed a framed black and white abstract textile by Paule Marrot from Natural Curiosities. I love the simple statement it makes. The rug (no longer available) is from Nate Berkus’ Target line and the wood bench is an antique I picked up at Summer House in Marin County.

This is the view from the living room looking into our bedroom. To give the white walls a nice contrast and to visually create more of a separation between the two rooms, I painted the trim and doors black. The pillow on the chair is a Walter G. cushion, which is a gorgeous textile line based out of Australia. The wood mirror with brass interior trim is one of my favorite pieces I own, which I purchased from Jessie Black’s boutique (but I also found it online here). Under that is a framed textile from St. Frank, which I’ve since nailed to the wall once our son became mobile. I love the way all these shapes and colors work together, giving this wall a very graphic look.

By the way, if you’re wondering where all of Benjamin’s toys are, we have this woven basket in the living room (not pictured) that holds all of them. Every night, they go back into the basket and Andrew and I get to enjoy the same sophisticated space we’ve always had. We also don’t go overboard on toys. Benjamin much prefers to get creative with what’s already in our home or go outside and play.

For the bedroom, I had wanted a four poster bed for a while so I had my heart set on this style. After a long search, I found exactly what I was looking for in this bed from Tritter Feefer. I love the drama the black posters bring but how the slim profile also doesn’t overwhelm our small space. Our bedding is Ralph Lauren and I added the monogram for a customized touch. We were newlyweds after all and it was fun getting to use my new initial. The bed is topped off with a Susan Conner pillow, another one of my favorite sources for beautiful fabrics.

The framed photograph above our bed is a print from Emily. Andrew has a similar shelf that looks exactly like this filled with notebooks of his furniture sketches and notes. When we saw this photo it was such a coincidence and felt too right not to get.

Our Ralph Lauren table lamps sit atop our Palecek nightstands and were the perfect choice for the space (Andrew picked them out). The Arteriors mirror with leather strap helps conceal another unused door to a closet and bounces light around the room.

And at the time of this shoot, Benjamin was still sleeping next to me at night in his white Stokke Sleepi Mini bassinet. I remember being so sad when he out grew it and we had to put it into storage…but here we are again, about to pull it back out in preparation for our next son’s arrival next month.

And lastly, here’s a look at Benjamin mini nursery. I’ll be sharing a before and after post on this room with all the details later this week, but basically I converted my walk-in closet into his space when I was pregnant (Andrew and I now share the other walk-in closet we have). I’m so happy with how it turned out – it has everything both of us could ever need.

I hope you enjoyed the tour! Below is a complete list of all the resources I mentioned for your convenience. If I forgot anything, please feel free to ask about it in the comments and I’ll do my best to source it for you.

Sources: Dining Space: 1. Saarinen Marble Dining Table | 2. Palecek Atlantic Dining Arm Chairs in Cashew Leather | 3. Stokke Steps High Chair | 4. Tom Dixon Mirror Ball Pendant 25 in Gold | 5. Loloi Barkley Rug in Ivory | 6. Nicole Cohen Black & White Photo Print | 7. Nicole Cohen Cantaloupe Print

If you enjoyed this post, you might also like my San Francisco bachelorette pad and Chicago apartment home tours, too.

Photography: Emily Johnston & Belathee

Interior Design: Crystal Palecek
Photography: Emily Johnston & Belathee