WOODHOUSE

For months, I scoured the internet looking for a home – ideally bigger, and brighter. Finally, I landed on Woodhouse, on a random Craigslist encounter. I was immediately enthralled by its architecture, rustic spirit, and cabin feel. The home is located in the Oakland Hills and is full of character. My mind wandered as I stood in an empty living room, admiring the floor to ceiling windows, drawn into all the possibilities that could be. This was my chance to start from scratch as I had always dreamed of. It quickly became my creative outlet outside of my 12 hour shifts as a nurse, and now it has become even more.

Choosing furniture is personal to every home. It can take up space and make itself known. I’ve decided to share my own process designing my work-in-progress home, what I’ve learned from various sources of inspiration, and ultimately use this platform to share a fully curated edit that reflects my personal style with affordability in mind. I put in serious scroll time deciding what to save and what to splurge on. I embraced making slow changes. I held out for the right purchases while also finding pieces that could be incorporated in another home if I were to move. I loved the idea of mixing old and new. I knew that I wanted to source vintage items for sustainability and for its history.

While I won’t go into the details of every item in my home, I will dive a little deeper for one specific piece. The most treasured item in the living room is the 70’s Vintage Italian Travertine Coffee Table that I found on Facebook Marketplace. Without a designer budget, I relied on estate sales, local Vintage sellers, and good old Craigslist. I remember setting a notification for “marble” on MP and on December 23rd 2020 I found my dream table for $200. I reached out to the seller within minutes of the post being listed and told him I was interested. He said this table has been in his family for decades. It was one of those emotional, have to have it, experiences. I had to work at the hospital on Christmas eve so my partner, Zak, drove to Martinez to check it out. Let’s just say Zak was not initially stoked about the logistical nightmare that this giant table presented. It was incredibly heavy and we had to hire two additional people from Lugg to transport a table down three narrow flights of stairs. Could I have found a lighter and smaller coffee table elsewhere? Probably, but I didn’t. I needed this table. It even has a crack down the base and I fully embraced all its imperfections. When I look at this table I see the love and work that it took to get here. As I watched the security footage of three strong men carrying down this table, I couldn’t help but think "shoot… should I mention to Zak that the table will need to be moved again when our rug comes?" *Cue nervous laughter*

While I can't link our exact coffee table, I linked a similar one below along with all of the items in our living room. We love our Sixpenny Neva Sectional and it really is the most comfortable couch we've sat on and the covers are also washable. The floor lamp was gifted by Schoolhouse. Our handmade Moroccan Beni Ourain rug was custom and I'll share more about that in a future post. For now, I hope you enjoy all the things that make our home a home.

The Woodhouse and our coasters have been featured on Sixpenny, Schoolhouse, and P.F. Candle Co.