All Posts By

Karolina

eichler

eichler spotting: ginkgo glen eichlers, san jose

February 4, 2014

Nearby our Eichler subdivision is a small pocket of Eichler homes which I love to walk around.  I found myself there last weekend with the fortunate combination of both daylight and my iPhone, so I thought I’d snap a few pictures.  We are thinking of changing our landscaping and exterior colours, so I’m keeping tabs on what other Eichler owners are up to.

These Eichlers have been dubbed ‘Ginkgo Glen’ due to the ginkgo trees that line the streets.  They were built in the late 1950s and there are about thirty houses altogether.  The models range from flat roofs, to huge A-frame garages, to side-entrance models with neat mid-century concrete brick fronts.

This black house has a little zen garden in the front, in a sort of half-atrium:

 

And the classic garage-door-only facade abounds, which I find quite amusing about Eichlers.  They’re not exactly the friendliest of houses.

 

 

And my top pick:


This last one is, in my opinion, one of the best houses in the tract.  The tongue-and-groove ceilings have been stripped and refinished, and the trim colours are understated but totally sharp.  The front lawn is planted with clumps of ornamental grass.  All in all, I am this close from knocking on their door and asking them to give me a tour.

If you’re in San Jose, these houses are on Adele Place and Margot Place, just north of Curtner Ave.  I’ll have to come back for more pictures next fall when the ginkgo trees are in their full, golden glory.

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interiors projects

design gig

January 27, 2014
A short while after starting this blog, I was presented with very tempting opportunity:  a friend of a friend needed help designing and furnishing their house.  As in, my first interior design gig!  For clients who aren’t also my employer!  Of course I decided to dive in and after a few months of work last year I am happy to finally share a peek at what I’ve been up to.
My first task in the project (which is still ongoing) was to help my clients with their living room.  Both working professionals, they’ve been living in their house, along with their adorable pug, for about two years and had some great pieces of furniture and art to start with.  They like to entertain and hang out in this room, so lots of seating was a must.  Their home is a Marina-style house in San Francisco, with tonnes of character and a really interesting layout.  I feel honoured to work in this space.  It’s so full of history and has its own unique style.


A little ‘before’ action first:

The space needed to be pulled together and livened up.  We went with a fresh colour palette that worked well with the existing neutrals in their space and added some pop.

The brown rug was switched out to a more neutral tone, fitting with the new colour scheme.  A pair of cute mid-century inspired chairs upholstered in a sunny yellow create a conversation area by the fireplace.  I brought in more texture in the form of the flokati rug and a variety of textiles for the throw pillows.  A new bookshelf came in to provide more display space.  There was lots of styling, planting, fluffing, arranging and re-arranging all around.

Here’s what I managed to capture in the short-lived winter sunlight:


The rug really changed the look of this area.  The grey is much quieter and plays well with the cooler tones of the pillows and art.  Plus, it’s felted wool, so it’s both cozy AND indestructible.


Yep.  I can’t help but to indulge a bit.  I love how adding texture made for these interesting little moments throughout the room.

Sources:  Remi bookshelf from Crate and Barrel; Littlebox grey wool rug from Peace Industry; art by Heidimatic; teal throw and cushions from CB2 and West Elm; Thrive Eisenhower chairs in Klein Citrus fabric; adorable teeny mid-century tripod table from Lunartics on Etsy; sheepskin and woven planter from IKEA; Jonathan Adler Ohai floor lamp; coffee table is the clients’ own; sectional from Room&Board



Sources: snake plant and fiddle leaf fig from Green Design (I love this place – South Bay friends, check them out!); mid-century ceramic planter from Modernica; teal California pottery planter (pictured here on top of the tripod table) from a local antique mall

The huge fiddle leaf fig, snake plant, cacti and succulents added some movement and life throughout.  Lush and leafy green textures make for a happy room.

Of course, things would not be right without an air plant in here somewhere.  I found this huge one at a garden shop in Berkeley, and love this vista from the coffee table to the fireplace:

Sources: aqua vases from IKEA and CB2; Kaleido trays at DWR 

I’ll have to leave you with that for now.  More things are still to be added, including a very exciting order we’re waiting on from Knoll.  I’ll be updating after our next phase.  I can’t wait to share!


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dining room interiors projects

dining room update: colour detour

January 21, 2014

We finally painted the dining room + kitchen this weekend!  You may recall my big plans to paint things a dark, deep blue.  After trying out a patchwork of colours on top of the recent dark green, things took a dramatic turn … for the brighter.

Yep, it’s WHITE.

I decided to go for white after some very, very deep reflection, a.k.a., browsing my pins.  I have to admit I’ve been having some bright white envy after seeing the homes of Emily Henderson and fellow Eichler owner Traci Yau of 45wall design.  And I rather enjoy treating my home as a sort of lab for design experiments!  I’m starting to scheme about painting out all of our dark brown beams and brightening the ceilings, which are currently really off-white.

Anyway, back to the space itself:  To keep things light, I flipped the Nate Berkus rug to its reverse side.  The credenza is now off to the side, just to mix things up a bit, and the art is obviously a bit scattered for now.  I’m pretty keen on getting a huge art piece for the white wall.  I’m in love with the work of Samantha French – her large-scale underwater portraits are stunning, but I might let my eye wander a bit first.  Suggestions for big, abstract-ish art are welcomed!

I’ll update on the kitchen and breakfast nook once I’ve had some time to style them a bit more.  In the meantime, I’d love to hear what you all think.

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eichler

happy new year!

January 17, 2014

Hello friends!

A very happy 2014 to you all.  After what seems like a 300 year holiday hiatus, I’m ready to kick around more ideas on this here blog and share them with you.  It’s been too long.

And I have ideas.  Involving paint, furniture, and maybe even some landscaping.  This is going to be a big year for my dear house.

So, as we head into the weekend, I raise my glass to you from sunny San Jose!  Here’s to new adventures.

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projects

holiday time, at last.

December 19, 2013

Where have I been?

Limping towards the finish line, friends.  As I feel the year’s adrenaline draining from my body, I am so ready for the holidays to start.  One more day of work, and I’m DONE.

How are you?  Ready for the onslaught of eating, gifting, catching up with family, and perhaps more eating?

I’m taking some deep breaths before it all starts, and enjoying our growing Christmas light collection.  One of the joys of having an atrium model Eichler is that I get to see this…

… from my living room sofa, and my kitchen, and the hobby room.  That’s our bench in the atrium.

Anyway, I thought I’d say hello and wish you all the best for the holidays.  I’ll do my best to catch up a bit, as I have quite a backlog of posts and photos to share.  Until then!

p.s.  Yes, we did make the JOY sign ourselves.  I made a little how-to on my tumblr last year.  It involved blowtorches and solder and dubious safety measures.  The best kind of project, right?  Enjoy!

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food and drink

rice with plums

November 4, 2013

My mother has been making this recipe for years.  It comes from my family, from Poland, and tastes like home.  It is so comforting and simple.  The best way I can explain it, is by giving you the recipe:  it’s rice cooked in lightly sweetened milk, layered with fruit, and baked in an oven for an hour.  What it turns into is something akin to rice pudding, but not exactly.

I make it at all times of the year, whenever some kind of stone fruit is available.  And when it isn’t I reach for my stores of frozen fruit – and I always make sure to hoard and freeze when the season is here.  Traditionally, my mother has used prune plums and apples.   I’ve used all kinds of stone fruit here in California (pluots, red plums) and lately I’ve been adding strawberries.

I made this dish last weekend, after we came home from a hike in the blustery Santa Cruz mountains and needed something to warm up.  Since this was an early dinner for us, I finally got out my camera and documented the process, so I could share with you.  And yes, dinner that is topped with sugar and sour cream is totally legit in my books.  I love my people.

Recipe after the indulgent foodie shots.

Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

Polish Rice with Plums

Fruit (traditional filling):
About 12 small plums (I like to use prune plums: dark purple, with golden flesh), around 2 lbs
2 apples (Golden Delicious)

Edit:  After a few years of making this recipe, more fruit is definitely better:  I am now using 4-6 cups of fruit total, so go for whatever will fit in your baking dish!

Split plums in half, remove pits. Peel and cube apple roughly. If desired, sprinkle some cinnamon on the fruit.

Rice:
3 cups milk
1 cup water
2 cups rice (Calrose or sushi rice)
2 tablespoons sugar

Boil milk, water, and sugar in a large saucepan.  Add rice and continue to boil, stirring frequently and scraping the bottom of the pot to prevent rice from sticking.  Boil gently until liquid has thickened somewhat but is still quite runny.  Rice should still have plenty of tooth, as it will continue to cook in the oven.

In a deep casserole dish, cover the bottom of the dish with (less than) half of the rice.  Add fruit.  Sprinkle with a bit of sugar and optional cinnamon.  Top off with the remaining rice and a sprinkle of sugar.

Cover and bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit, for one hour.  You should see the juice from the fruit bubbling up through the rice towards the end of cooking.  This is a good sign that you’ve used enough fruit.  Remove the cover for the last 15 minutes of baking.

Let stand for a few minutes to set and cool slightly before serving.  Rice is very hot straight from the oven.  Serve topped with sour cream and sugar.

All photos by Karolina Buchner

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dining room interiors

i did a thing.

October 28, 2013

Hey guys.  I realize I haven’t been a very entertaining blogger, pinner, or instagram-er lately.  I got sucked into a sort of alternate universe on tumblr, in addition to the usual life things.  Alas, for those who follow me on Instagram, I thought I’d do a little reveal of my latest experiment at home:  repainting our dining room.

Hint:  It’s very green.  Why did I do this?  Boredom, I suppose.  I wanted to change something, and I’ve been inspired by all of these greens lately:

Photo sources:  1 | 2 | 3

I love the way that white, wood, and gold play off of the greens above.

Here’s the result.  (More or less, because it’s impossible for this green to look the same in any two pictures!)

I thought I’d share this as I feel it’s not a very successful experiment, and I am quite likely to repaint.  But you, dear blog follower, get the inside scoop before this disappears!

The problem is two-fold.

One:  the green doesn’t exactly play nice with our wood paneling.  As my mother warned me not to “make it look too much like a forest”, I managed exactly that.  It’s intensely woodsy.  Maybe this is good, I’m not convinced yet.  The worst part is the mahogany trim that runs along the bottom of the wall.  I feel like this makes things look dated.

Two:  it is hella dark at night.  And I can say that because I live in California.  The person who I happen to co-own the house with does not approve.  The mahogany paneling is dark enough, with the green it is now (his words) “cave-like”.

Still, I am enjoying how the white chairs (now adorned with sheepskins) and the bubble lamp stand out against the green.  It might grow on me.  Stay tuned.

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love

love: woolen blankets

October 11, 2013

After returning from Canada, I am in the mood for some cooler weather.  The Bay Area is not quite obliging however.  What was that last weekend? shorts weather?  Hmph.

On our trip, I got the chance to do a bit of browsing at various shops in the North which are transitioning their goods to decidedly wintery ones.  Wool blankets are everywhere.

And so, here are a couple of quality Canadian blankets which I spotted on my travels.  Their designs are simple and classic.  I find they fit quite nicely in more modern contexts, if you’re not after the woodsy, log cabin vibe (although that can be a lot of fun too!)

For your consideration:

1.  MacAusland’s Woolen Mills tweed blanket — These blankets are soft and lovely.  The pattern makes for a nice, muted Scandinavian look.

photo sources: 1 | 2 | 3 (mine)

I really like the navy/white and grey/white combinations, and the price point too.  They come from Prince Edward Island, on the Canadian east coast.  I found them at a shop specializing in cottage decor.  David’s mom, Sharon, also pointed out that these are the same blankets used by Suzanne Dimma in her modern cottage which I alerted you to earlier.  If you haven’t seen the pictures yet, go do it. 

2.  Hudson’s Bay Point Blanket — I love that these iconic blankets have made such a comeback recently.  They are incredibly thick (more so than MacAusland blankets) and very warm.  And they fit right in with modern furniture, as demonstrated by Daniel Kanter’s Manhattan Nest bedroom and by the blanket-upholstered mid-century chair at Sit And Read:

photo sources: 1 | 2 | 3

Made in England, these blankets have been around since the days of fur trading in North America (so, something like 300 years!), with the striped version being in continual production since 1800.  I am now the proud owner of a Bay blanket, thanks to my wonderful parents.  I promise I’ll show it off sometime, but I might try to do something more ambitious with our bedroom before that.

In addition to the traditional multi-stripe pattern, I’m quite partial to the red and black combination.  ‘Fun’ ‘fact’ #1:  Did you know that the ‘points’ (the dark thin lines on the side of the blanket) are there to indicate each blanket’s size?  Sadly, not the number of beaver pelts to trade for it, but perhaps a handy approximation.  That’s always been the Bay blanket lore, as told by certain antique dealers in cottage country.  Fun fact #2:  Did you know Hudson’s Bay Co., the oldest company in North America, recently bought Saks Fifth Avenue?  Oh yeah.  Must suppress overwhelming Canadian pride before it turns into smugness.  Am I succeeding?  No?  Pity.  I tried.

So, California: bring on the blanket weather.  I’m ready.

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furniture geeking out

geeking out: float table from rock paper robot

October 8, 2013

Oh my heavens.  This is quite possibly the most beautifully geeky piece of furniture I have ever seen.

The RPR Float Table is by Rock Paper Robot, a company founded by Jessica Banks, a roboticist and product designer with a MSc in Computer Science (MIT AI Lab!), and Mihae Mukaida, a Parsons design school alumna.  My kind of people.

The table is composed of wooden cubes held together by thin wires, with an arrangement of magnets embedded in them, causing the cubes to repel each other.  The execution of this as a piece of furniture is gorgeous.  Seeing the table react to being pushed and touched is almost … unnerving.

Please enjoy:
 

RPR Float Table from RockPaperRobot on Vimeo.

It’s beautiful (look at that wood grain!) and so bizarre (it looks like it’s being tickled in the video).  And you know how much I like to anthropomorphize furniture.  Yes.

Happy Monday!

Photos all from RockPaperRobot and Journal Du Design.

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travel

autumn in ontario

October 3, 2013

dear house,
if you were by a lake,
– or, better yet, on an island in the middle of a lake –
that wouldn’t be so bad, would it?
xo
karolina

Hi friends!  I just got back from a nice, quiet vacation in Ontario, Canada.  Oh my goodness, it was nice just to exhale for a while.  A lot of time was spent reading, exploring, and just taking in our surroundings.  We managed to get every type of weather:  hot days, cool days, freezing nights, warm nights, sun, gloom, downpours, morning mist, and thunderstorms (my favourite).  I love going at this time of year as the fall colours are almost at their peak.

 
We spent most of our time in the northerly part of southern Ontario known as Muskoka, or Cottage Country.

Now, I thought I’d take some time to explain what a cottage is in these parts.  It’s not exactly a cabin.  Summer house?  Lake house?  It’s some combination of these.  I believe use of the word itself must be a carry-over from Canada’s British roots, where you can find holiday cottages in the countryside, for example, in the Lake District of England.

In Muskoka, cottages are usually situated on lakes.  And there are thousands of lakes in this region.  I would say that nearly all cottage inhabitants don’t live in their cottages year round.  Instead they come up for weekends and holidays from the south, mostly from Toronto.  It is of course possible to rent a cottage, though a lot them are private and shared by families.  This situation makes for glorious quiet on the smaller lakes, especially in the off season.

One tip for any cottage-curious out there:  go in late August, September, or even early October.  Yes, it’s cooler and you probably won’t want to swim, BUT the bugs (mosquitoes and the infamous blackflies) are mostly dead.  Go in May or June and you may be eaten alive.  You’ve been warned.

We happen to be so lucky to have a cottage in the family, owned by David’s parents.  They have put an incredible amount of work into renovating it from a poorly-insulated little house to its current much more stately form.

Isn’t it adorable?  The answer is yes, and I may have had a hand in choosing those exterior lights.

I’ll be posting more from the trip over the next week or so – stay tuned!

For those in need of more entertainment in the meantime, please consider:

  1. Nuances of the phrase ‘cottage country’, according to Wikipedia; and
  2. Canadian House & Home editor Suzanne Dimma’s amazing modern cottage.

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