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Ready to open your mind to color’s potential in your home? Come get inspired…
Though designing future listings is slightly different from designing for specific homeowners, the approach is the same: pairing thoughtful strategy with creativity. Whether you’re already a color fanatic (like we are) or thinking of dipping your toes into more vibrant design, these 3 projects are sure to inspire…
If you’ve been following me for any amount of time, you already know I live to eat, drink and travel. But let me clarify further: I love to do all of these things in luxury. (I’ve earned it.) My most recent mother-daughter trip to Europe did not disappoint. This month, I'm sharing where we went, what we saw, and most importantly, what we brought to elevate our travel experience…
Showhouses are the ultimate catwalks of the interior design world — an opportunity for designers (like us) to unleash big ideas, break free from the ordinary, and of course, push creative boundaries. This month, I thought I’d walk you through an up-close and personal look at 3 of our favorite showhouses.
This lively young family purchased their Bay Area home with one big goal in mind: to expand their space by adding a second floor and a rooftop terrace. They had the plans from their architect, but as the decision-making process began, they felt stuck. Fortunately, they stumbled upon our feature in HGTV Magazine and called us up. Grab a glass (a full one) and walk with me...
Prepare to say goodbye to lumpy mattresses and scratchy sheets and say hello to the finer details, like plush bedding, luxurious linens, ultimate comfort, and everything a vacation should feel like. And the project I’m sharing with you this month is the perfect example…
A young family of four called us to elevate the style of the main living areas of their home and create a functional floor plan that would maximize space and simplify life. I have to say, this was one of those “big changes” projects that resulted in a whole new lifestyle for this family. As always, it all began with thoughtful and creative space planning…
This month, I thought it would be fun to share progress shots of some personal design projects I’m currently in the middle of: two JSD offices in Oakland and Atlanta and my own Georgia home. Come take a look...
This month, I’m taking you inside this international event, around these ancient cities, and giving you a sneak peek of something we have been working on for YEARS and will be launching in 2023…
As the strong, ambitious leaders of a family law practice, the clients wanted their Walnut Creek office to feel bright and enjoyable for the team while feeling welcoming and safe for their clients.
When this active Bay Area family of 4 purchased a second home in NYC, they couldn’t resist bringing us along for the ride. We renovated and furnished their entire condo from afar — with only 2 in-person meetings. Yep, two. Truth. Our amazing team reworked the floor plan to maximize their skyline views, add in personality, and nod to their Bay Area roots.
A fun furnishing and personalization update to Oakland’s Lakeshore neighborhood!
While we wait for our current projects to be photographed, we thought we’d take you on a jaunt down Memory Lane…to Kelly’s first TV appearance. With JSD in tow, she embarked on a multi-generational family’s major home renovation alongside the show’s famous hosts. (Spoiler: They’re twins just like Kelly.) Come see what we created…
Joy Street Design is looking to expand our growing, thriving team with: 1. Senior Interior Designer (CA) 2. Operations Manager (CA) 3. Executive Assistant (GA)
A look at the plans and inspiration for our lake house remodel in Georgia!
Kelly recently took a “lifestyle” trip (not a design trip) to Singapore, Koh Samui, and Bangkok — where she was inspired to eat, drink, spa (if Kelly says it’s a verb, it’s a verb), and visit with local friends.
Oakland duplex remodeled from a dated disaster to amazing family compound.
Recapping Spring High Point Market 2022
Our latest interior design project (the Kips Bay Decorator Show House in Palm Beach) tapped into the emerging field of NFTs to invite inhabitants to redefine and broaden their concept of art. Today we're discussing what NFTs are and why they are such a game-changer in the industry.
The Living by Design Virtual Showhouse is now live! We take a dive into the concept of the space and how we made it come to life.
The Kips Bay Show House is officially open and we're revealing our "In Real Life" Guest Suite!
How is Covid-19 impacting renovation timelines in 2022? What timelines can you expect this year for full home renos, bathrooms, kitchens, and home furnishing projects? Are there any options to make it go faster? Come take a look...
The home I’m sharing with you today is the one that started it all…the house on Joy Street. Come hear the story behind Joy Street Design and see how we renovated the kitchen and bathroom of our Bernal Heights namesake.
Here are the strangest encounters we’ve had during design consultations inside clients' homes. Some have been one-time things. Some have been recurring. Some are likely to happen again...
Joy Street Initiative's final reveal of the emergency youth shelter, House of Hope, for Ruby's Place.
Trials and tribulations of rushing to the finish line for the ORC!
Exciting updates on the ORC Ruby's Place project.
Come see how we transformed a new build home from blank, white walls into spaces filled with color, functionality, and the fresh traditional character these clients love.
There is a surprise renovation added to this project!
Design of bedrooms for the youth shelter, House of Hope.
Details on how the nonprofit project is funded and the design details for the living room and room fundamentals.
The plan for the teen youth shelter for the ORC created by Joy Street Initiative
Introduction of House of Hope - JSD's next nonprofit project!
When we got the call, the family behind this 1920s Craftsman in the Trestle Glen neighborhood of Oakland was bursting at the seams. As an older home, the rooms were small and not at all functional for the demands of modern-day life. They were desperate to add more space, but they weren’t sure how to do it. You'll never believe our solution...
We transformed this 9,000 square foot blank canvas into a state-of-the-art coworking hub that is energizing the creative community and revitalizing downtown Richmond. Come meet CoBiz...
Last month, we toured the first half of the Finley residence, our 1940s Oakland home that we completely gutted and remodeled over 10 painful yet glorious months. Today, we're heading downstairs to our personal spaces: the principal bedroom, ensuite bathroom, Zoe’s bedroom and bathroom, our private family room, and a home gym that will knock your socks off.
You may have already browsed our HGTV Magazine feature, but what wasn’t included in the feature? Hideous, jaw-dropping, cringe-worthy “before” photos! YUP. That's what we're doing today. If you’re looking for ugly photos that will make you feel better about your own home and inspire your full confidence that there IS hope for your space, come take a look...
Joy Street Design is looking for a social media guru to join our growing team.
If you live in the Bay Area, you’re no stranger to technology. Whether you understand its intricate workings or not... well, that’s a different question, but simply knowing how to use these gadgets is good enough for me! Here are 29 smart devices to consider for your home...
Review of KBIS 2021 and Signature Kitchen Suite
Joy Street Design is hiring a senior interior designer with strong project management skills.
If Spa Day and joyful design had a baby, this bedroom and bathroom renovation in Piedmont would be it. If you're looking for fresh start this year (one that doesn’t just begin at your home bar), this could be your sign...
Home renovations are booming right now. Many SF and Oakland designers are up to their ears in projects, and it’s easy to see why — most people are working from home, have kids who are schooling from home, and want home to be their safe place. If you’ve been waiting to make some changes in your home, 2021 is the time to do it. Here's what you need to know first...
It may surprise you that not every home we work on needs to be renovated. Some just need some new and exciting furnishings, paint, and personality to feel fresh and joyful. This Walnut Creek home I’m sharing with you today is a perfect example...
Every year, my friends and I plan a trip to get away from the city, explore somewhere new, and spoil ourselves with delicious food and luxurious lodgings. We were lucky enough to see THIS destination before borders closed earlier this year: India.
Our non-profit organization, Joy Street Initiative, recently hosted a design giveaway for frontline workers. We transformed the principal bedroom of our grand prize winner, a deserving nurse and mother of two. Come see this joyful and deeply restful space!
Though we’ve been wrapping up several projects recently, today’s story is one that is long overdue – a 1920s Tudor transformation in the Oakland Hills. Yes, we completed it around the end of the summer last year, but this home is anything but old news. Lively colors and natural materials pair with traditional architecture in a way that is both fresh and timeless. Come take a look...
Today, we're introducing a new limited service called Joyful Homes that will elevate your bedroom and bathroom with a designer refresh that will give you a comfortable and luxurious place to sleep.
Ways to bring luxury travel amenities to your personal bedroom and bathroom.
Joy Street Design is offering two new virtual design services. Virtual consultation and virtual hourly packages.
How is your home making you feel during these times? Do you feel sheltered? Supported? Maybe even inspired to get creative with your new working style or spare time? (Virtual happy hours over here!)This kind of space is exactly what we want for our clients and for our community.
Interior design of a girl's nursery. Use of Cole & Sons stars wallpaper, white furniture and coral accents.
Have you ever walked into a room and instantly connected with it in some way? Maybe the texture of the throw pillows reminded you of a blanket your family loves. Maybe the style of the bistro table and chairs made you feel like you were once again sitting in a cafe on the Champs Elysées. This is exactly why we start every project with an inspiration piece.
My 40th birthday felt like the perfect excuse to treat myself to an excursion in a new-to-me part of the world — Morocco. The colorful city of Marrakech, to be specific. One word: Incredible. Come take a look...
Transformation of Oakland First Floor Remodel
Berkeley Kitchen Receives a Classic Renovation
Joy Street Initiative - MLK Service Day, January 21, 2019 at Ruby's Place
We're back with the final installation of the Gower Renovation: The Master Bathroom, Living Room, and Laundry Room.
Detailing the changes to the plan that have been made because of budget and time.
Finally - a description of the fitness items going into the gym.
3D rendering of potential gym space and progress up until this point.
A look at the inspiration images and design details for the home gym.
This edition of Before & After features the Gower Street Renovation. The whole house received a lot of TLC, so this time we're breaking the renovation down room by room, starting with the kitchen. Come back to the blog to see the rest of this Before & After series!
Renovation process for home gym with hi-tech equipment and lots of style and color.
A family gets a chance to revive their childhood home with the help of Joy Street Design! Kitchen and bathroom before and after pictures and process.
Updated and colorful bathroom renovation - before and after.
I just realized that I've never revealed another great project. There is an organization called by Philanthropy by Design which helps nonprofit organizations improve their spaces with the assistance of interior designers. It's a fantastic organization and I was lucky to be able to volunteer my services. My project was one of the SRO community rooms in San Francisco
Last year, I had the pleasure of helping a church update their bathrooms. I shared the plans and renderings here. Just for a recap, this was the plan.
So we're at the end of the house tour - the last room I'll be showing is the office. I've shared the thought process on planning the space previously here. The office has a great view towards the Hollywood Hills and gets great light during the day. Here is the bedroom before:
So we're nearing the end of the house reveal and the pickings are getting pretty slim :D. The room that we use the most is the family room. There wasn't much going on in this room for months until the sofa finally arrived. Now it's at least comfortable even if Zoe has officially taken over the space. Here are the before pictures:
As promised, here is a full view of the dining room. The dining room is open to the living room, kitchen, and den. There is a 2-sided fireplace that separates the dining room from the living room. When we first moved in, the fireplace had a large overhang/seating area that wrapped around it and protruded into the dining room area.
The remaining areas of the house - the communal spaces - have been pretty much neglected. We're basically working with what we have except that there is an additional living space - the den - and we did not have furniture for that space. Here are a few other things that we've added to the house that I didn't get to discuss when they arrived.
I spent the three-day weekend relaxing with the fam so we'll take this short week off from the reveal of the final rooms in the house. But I wanted to share a few of the random projects that I never got a chance to discuss. Last year, I decided I wanted to finally replace our dining room chairs that we've had since we bought our first table in the San Francisco house.
Let's celebrate another wonderful Friday by revealing the best part of the house...the bar closet :). The closet was originally the location for the furnace. After we upgraded the HVAC system, we moved the entire unit to the garage and had this empty closet in the main family room. The closet was skim-coated and painted the same gray as the rest of the main living areas of the house.
The only other full bathroom in the house is attached to the nursery. When we bought the house, the bathroom contained yellow and black tiles/sinks/tubs/etc. It actually wasn't horrible and I would have been content with spraying it all white but the tiles contained lead and had to be professionally removed. Here are before pics:
Let's kick off this week with a peek into the master bedroom. The room looked like this when we started. The bulk of the work in this room was simple decorations. We added a door for the closet, new flooring and a few electrical outlets for sconces/chandelier but the rest is just paint, fabric, and furniture.
Let's finish this week with a before and after of the master bathroom. Here it is in all it's initial pink glory. We didn't do that much to reconfigure the space. We added all new plumbing and leveled the floor from the sunken tub to make one massive shower. Next we added a lot of marble and black tile, heated floor mats
On to the next room...the kitchen! I've talked extensively about the changes to the kitchen layout and the progress here and here. This is the room when we started:
I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season. We had a great Thanksgiving with friends, scored some great finds on Black Friday, and had a low-key first Christmas for Zoe. The best is that we were able to focus on those last finishing touches for the house and finally had them photographed. So to get this year started, let's spend a few days doing a house reveal.
This is happening today... I'm using the Normandy pattern from Granada Tile.
I have a thing for organization. I think everything should have a place and, ideally, always be in that place. This is a little tough to implement when you live in a half-finished house but every once in a while this need for organization kicks in and I go all OCD on a space. Such is the case with our pantry. One day, I woke up to be greeted by ants in our pantry
I have a new guest post over at Courtney Out Loud for my "monthly" column about space planning. I'm discussing how to create seating groups for long living rooms which, like everything else, is at the forefront of my mind because of my house renovations. :)
