A Life-Changing Design Refresh Off Sacramento Street
Happy New Year, everyone! To start us off on a positive note (we need it, right?), I am beyond excited to share this design project with you. It took us a few months to complete, and the final look was — is — so pretty. So stick with me as I walk you through our room-by-room process of prettying up this San Francisco home. When I say this design was life-changing, I mean it… be sure to read to the end to find out why!
P.S. This project was featured in Architectural Digest Spain!
Come meet the clients…
Jenna and John are a lovely couple who were looking to furnish their new San Francisco home. Jenna is from Southern California, and John is from Ohio. They have a fun sense of style and they trusted us bring it all to life!
The house is located in the Laurel District in San Francisco right off famous Sacramento Street. If you are familiar with that location you’ll understand my excitement — that part of San Francisco is known for its Spanish style influences. It’s filled with gorgeous arched windows and Spanish tiles in entryways. I simply love it!
Design Goals
photo by SEN CREATIVE
The home’s architecture created huge potential for its interiors. We aimed to highlight original details, like arched windows and doorways. However, The goal was to fuse it with a cleaner, more modern vibe for a fresh mix of styles.
Jenna envisioned her home as a modern, coastal space, with a neutral palette of whites and greys. John on the other hand had one special request: Add something zaney.
We decided to create a coastal design with a fresh approach, clean lines, and somewhat urban. Jenna and John entertain a lot (most years, haha), so we wanted to incorporate some cozy rugs, dramatic lights, and make it a space worthy of some cocktails! (And you know I love Modern Comfort!)
Design Reveal: Entryway
photo by SEN CREATIVE
Don’t you just love a big dramatic entryway mirror? Grand scale makes a big impact. It’s things like that that make you go - oh yeah!
Entryways are such an important part of the design. They set the tone of the space and announce what you should expect as you walk through the home. With the use of natural wood, soft lights, and a neutral color palette, we created this fresh, coastal entryway with a modern vibe.
photo by SEN CREATIVE
One of the fun things about this project — is that we designed and styled the entry first while working on the other rooms. Since Jenna and John were still living in the home during the redesign, I wanted them to be greeted by the newly designed entryway first, to get them excited for what would come next!
Design Reveal: Living Room
photo by SEN CREATIVE
Hello, beautiful...
When creating your living room space, it’s important to use furniture configurations and design strategies to help define the boundaries and flow. The goal is to create a unique yet cohesive space with the rest of the home.
Modern lighting and furniture, cozy textiles (the rug, the pillows, the velvet swivel chair), and fresh greenery breathe elegance, comfort, and life into this space. Airy whites and warm grays are balanced with just a few touches of black.
It’s elegant but it’s not trying too hard. It’s sophisticated, but it’s comfortable.
photo by SEN CREATIVE
Would you look at those beautiful arched doorways?? Stunning. Admittedly, it’s always tricky when you’re venturing from the style of the architecture and juxtaposing styles with different furniture. To balance the large arched doorways and windows, we brought in curves and a lot of angles. With the neutral and consistent color palette, we really achieved a streamlined feel where both styles play off each other nicely.
photo by SEN CREATIVE
During the design process, the sweetest thing happened... John gifted this Grey Malin photograph to Jenna. It’s her favorite artist, and John knew how happy she would be incorporating this unique piece into the design of her new living room. It now sits above the sofa for all to see! How sweet is that? :)
Design Reveal: Dining Room
photo by SEN CREATIVE
The dining room had so much potential. The space had big arched windows that let natural light in throughout the day, with a lovely view of the Laurel District. It was a room that Jenna and John hoped to use often since they LOVE to entertain. (Maybe in 2022??)
The ultimate conversation piece and showstopper: this mesmerizing shot of the Amalfi Coast. (Can we get on a plane yet??!) We added a rug for a bit of texture and a lively pattern, and this fun branched light fixture.
photo by SEN CREATIVE
Because everyone needs a dedicated home bar, we added this reverse diamond match credenza in dark stained wood and stocked it with essentials — some of John’s favorite whiskeys. And to carry on with the liveliness of the room, we hung another art piece with a splash of color and a coastal vibe.
Design Reveal: Home Office
The home office design was meant to be John’s space. John is the CEO of his company and does a great deal of his work from home (don’t we all, these days?). However, he wanted his space to reflect his one and true passion: music.
We arranged one side of the room to be his desk area. We made it simple, clean, and modern to feel peaceful for him to focus on work. But with his office design, we followed the rule of business upfront, party in the back!
You’ll see what I mean...
photo by SEN CREATIVE
We mounted some of his favorite record covers and displayed their oversized Eddie Veder photograph.
I love how it all turned out. It was such a cool way to show off his personal taste and passion. We also added a couch for practicing guitar or entertaining a private audience. ;)
So remember when I said this design was life-changing? Well, the cherry on top was that Carrie found out that she was awaiting a little one DURING the design process! Now that we’ve finished, they have a cutie little baby girl, and my heart is so full for them!
What do you think? Isn’t it fabulous how transforming your space can have such an impact on your life? We’re basically changing lives here. ;)
So, how about you? Are you ready to transform your space? Let’s talk, my friend.
Till next time, have a wonderful start to the new year!
Susie