(Photography by Sothear Nuon)
Inside the Instagram-Worthy One-Bedroom Apartment of the Yummertime Fashionistos
19 December 2017
If you can't get enough of today's ever-flourishing crop of Instagram influencers, then you'll love cozying up on the couch in the San Francisco home of Yummertime founders Brock Williams and Chris Lin.
(If you've had enough of the dreamy "influencer" life—you know, pretty young people jetting about in fabulous wardrobes doing their cooler-than-yours jobs—then you can secretly devour the pics of Lin and Williams at home, where they epitomize the advent of the Instagram star—we won't tell.)
Back in 2014 when the couple, together six years now, was looking for a creative outlet to distract from their unfulfilling nine-to-fives in digital marketing and mobile start-ups, the gift of a Canon Rebel T3i camera from Lin's grandpa changed everything. They started taking photos of their lives (and outfits) together, posting the pics to their Instagram feed. The more they posted, the faster their audience grew, and the guys soon dumped their day jobs to focus fully on Yummertime.
They emerged from the hoards of influencers with a fresh, personal take on life and a markedly fun demeanor—and brands took notice; today, you can shop the couple's impeccably curated (and monetized) IG feed for everything from Korean cooking sauces to a Coach shearling jacket and jeans from Nordstrom. But while Williams and Lin are literally all over the place—gallivanting around the world as well as online (catch their Monday #MaskChats on Instagram Live and binge watch their videos on YouTube), their #goals life is perhaps nowhere more apparent than inside their Upper Markethome—an airy residence that more than makes most of its small stature.
Described by the guys as "minimally maximal and eclectic," the one-bedroom apartment is haven of pastel glamour, infused with the feeling of Palm Springs in the '80s. It combines a dizzying collection of trinkets and art—"We're not afraid to display it all in a randomly assorted manner," says Williams—with constantly edited restraint for a relatably high-low look that resonates with modern design lovers.
This past summer, the couple teamed with West Elm stylists to design their living and dining rooms. With their signature sweet color palette, oodles of texture and carefully chosen furnishings, the apartment is as bright as the boys who live there.
"We're especially proud of our dining room," says Williams. "It's an odd layout, so we felt the challenge of making a space that seemed definable as its own room, while still open and seamless to the rest of the apartment. Using wallpaper completely changed it."
▲Because the self-employed pair's life and work are so deeply interwined, it was important that the apartment double as home and office. "Everything has a form and function," Lin says. It's "built to be extremely transformable from an office space into a studio at a moment's notice."
▲Editing is key when pulling a petite residence together. "It's super easy to make a small space feel even smaller, so being thoughtful about what you include is so important," says Williams. "Mirrors are incredibly vital in making a small space feel larger and brighter."
▲"One of my favorite pieces is a framed matchbook iOn the gallery wall in our living room," Williams says. "It's from the night we officially became boyfriends. I don't even know why I kept it at the time, but it's something incredibly special to me and I love that we've been able to incorporate it into our space."
"For me, it's all of the Slim Aarons photographs we've collected over the years and have sprinkled all around the apartment," Lin says. "Slim Aarons represents such a significant portion of our own design and style aesthetic—sun-drenched, leisure, and jet-setting."
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While Lin tends toward maximalism, Williams is more minimal, so finding balance is key and, they admit, an ongoing process.
▲"Our goal was to find a great balance between form and function," says Lin. "While having a beautiful, inspiring home is important to us, we ultimately want it to feel welcoming and comfortable as well."
▲"We've found a ton of unique items in San Francisco that accentuate our eclectic taste," says Lin. "Some of our local favorites are Black & Gold, Stuff, and S16."
▲A pair of plaster faces belonging to the gods Hermes and Apollo were picked up during the couple's travels in Greece, their first trip abroad together. "For us, it comes down to sentiment and purpose," says Williams. "If the piece is serving a function or has a sentimental value it stays. If not it, it gets decluttered."
▲The couple's different design preferences are at play in the living room, where muted foundational pieces are accented with a hodgepodge of accessories including textured throw pillows, ceramic urns and mismatched picture frames on their beloved gallery wall.
▲Black and white pieces juxtapose for a modern aesthetic in the bright window nook.
▲The couple breezily avoided that too-perfect catalogue-house look by mixing contemporary pieces with items that have humor and character.
▲Rose gold urns lend shine to the dining table.
▲"We're constantly in search of inspiration," says Lin. "From flipping through magazines—yes, we still buy magazines—to endlessly scrolling through Instagram Explore, we're constantly inundating ourselves with the content of the world."
▲No party in retro Palm Springs would be complete without a turntable, palm trees and plenty of gilded accents.
▲As if the couple's smiling faces weren't welcoming enough, a friendly neon sign greets visitors to the Market Street apartment.
▲Williams and Lin admit they love candy and keep sweets in the kitchen year-round.
▲Humor is everything. In the kitchen, cat magnets crawl up the fridge.
▲Pops of color, in the form of personal tchotchkes and Slim Aarons art, liven up the gray-and-white palette and clean lines of the bedroom.
▲Men at work.
▲Because no stylish home is complete without a very cuddly fur baby.
▲The guest bathroom exudes 80s glamour—rawr!
▲What's a desert-inspired home without a skull?
▲Here are a few Yummertime tips for putting together a chic, small space.
1. "Don't be afraid of wallpaper! It's hugely impactful, even in small room or on a statement wall, and creates a great background for photos," says Lin.
2. "Incorporating mirrors help spaces feel both larger and brighter," Williams adds.
3. "We love lighting scented candles to create ambiance and to add another element of design that a lot of people don't think about," says Lin. "We want our home to look and smell good."
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