Home + Design
Enter to win: The Mission's Aldea Home Celebrates Earth Day
Aldea Home invites you to their new location on the Valencia Street corridor during Earth Day weekend to meet British-born San Francisco writer Billee Sharp! Her new book, Lemons and Lavender: The Eco Guide to Better Homekeeping, is an invaluable resource for anyone looking to shift their lives to a more planet-honoring paradigm with "tools to reclaim a purer, tastier, healthier and less expensive way of life."
Say Hello to The Millworks Shop-in-Shop at HD Buttercup
There are many quick mood fixers in San Francisco: Biking, Golden Gate sunsets, a day at the de Young, a sweet treat from Tartine Bakery, the Polish martini at Blondie's. Likewise, a trip to SOMA's HD Buttercup always revives the spirit. If you need a lift, peruse HD Buttercup's new addition: the Millworks shop-in-shop, inspired by happy-go-lucky LA-based textile designer Andrea Bernstein.
Local Design Files: Seesaw Children's Workshop & Café
More often than not, people tapping away on their laptops and ipads in the San Francisco coffee scene won't look over to see kids at play. Well here's a change. Hayes Valley's Seesaw is a café and children's workshop in one. Sabrina Gabel, a child psychologist, and her husband opened Seesaw with plans to provide kids a learning studio as well as a lounge for their accompanying parents and neighborhood coffee enthusiasts. The clean design pulls from both the Danish and Korean aesthetic, a husband-and-wife collaboration, and insists that being around good design is beneficial even at a young age.
SF Library Renovations from Concept to Constructed
This year, several San Francisco libraries have been remodeled to bring these community centers into the digital age. The Bureau of Architecture completed the Merced branch last month and collaborated with architects from Field Paoli and Joseph Chow to complete the Presidio branch that re-opened in March. With updates to technology, foundation, and LEED certification, our neighborhoods are now sporting some shiny new libraries.
The Merced branch is a mid-century modern gem. The noticeable changes include an expansion of the front entrance and children's reading room.
Sonoma Estate Sale Has Something for Everyone This Weekend
When Susan Gardner called me about this estate sale she couldn't stop gushing about it. It has all the things you like to see in estate sale clients: the couple liked to entertain, they enjoyed traveling and one of them worked as an interior designer. For people who go to these events, that's another way of saying "good stuff found here."
Real Estate Report: Family-Sized Condo For Grown-up Hipsters in Bernal Heights, $895K
In San Francisco, well-designed new construction can be hard to come by, but this family-sized condo in the Bernal Heights neighborhood is one that succeeds fairly well. Plus it's in a part of Bernal Heights that's getting "interesting".
The Basics: a 3-bed/2.5bath condominium at the bottom of Bernal Heights. One of a similar pair of condo units, it comes with one parking space, has been on the market five days, asking $895K.
7 Reasons to Visit the SF Decorator Showcase
The 2011 San Francisco Decorator Showcase proves that you can squeeze a lot of style into a 6,244-square-foot mansion. There are 31 designers who worked on the house at 2950 Vallejo St., and the ideas and products they display provide many compelling reasons to visit the mansion. Here are just seven...
Estate Sale Report: Castro Residents Move On
This sale in the Castro district is described as a moving sale. I don't know where the residents are going, but it must be to a furnished home, because it appears they are selling all of their worldly goods.
It happens in this sweet cottage, located at 311 Cumberland St., just a block up from the intersection of 20th and Church Streets.
The stagers of the event, The YES Co., say you may come for the sale, but you'll want to stay for the amazing view.
A Collector's Estate Sale in El Cerrito This Weekend
To some of you El Cerrito might seem like a long haul. Get over it, because El Cer is only 30 minutes from SF and it's the scene of a good estate sale this weekend. Nice tansus for $300, need I say more?
Now, let's be clear: these are not tansus that will end up in a museum; their owner cleaned them up, removing the patina and original finish. Anyone who has ever watched Antiques Roadshow knows that this is a big no-no value wise (and causes poor James Callahan, resident Asian art expert, to sadly shake his head).
Estate Sale Report: Oakland Warehouse Sale Perfect for Hippie Art Collectors
When John Favors was a little boy in San Francisco, he started messing around with his grandmother's decorative items and playing in her jewelry box. Later, as a self-described hippie, he became fascinated with everything from rusty cans to antiques while under the influence of mind-altering drugs. I don't know what kind of substance gave him his aesthetic eye, but if it could help me put together a collection like his, I'll have what he's having. He's staging a warehouse sale in Oakland this weekend, and it's the kind of thing scavenging dreams are made of. Read more. . . .
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