As I mentioned before the living room is very small. It is essentially a small seating area. I discovered the magic of having books on the coffee table a few years ago and I haven’t gone back. Our goal when we think about our living room is to make it feel like a really great bookstore. We want to sit down and have lots of interesting new books and ideas right in front of us. Good design and art books can be expensive. Since the beginning of our marriage we’ve made it a priority to buy one every month or two. It’s one of those things that seems overwhelming and unreachable if you want to buy them all at once, but totally doable every month or so. Jamie from Furbish should get all the credit for this room. When she got here it felt totally unfinished. We moved our coffee table out last year because the chairs we had were too big for the space. When we replaced them with smaller chairs we just never brought the table back in. Jamie came in and created an official sitting space. She also made me buy plants, hang up the boob artwork on either side of the sofa and she brought a ton of pillows from her store. When she was done the space felt so much better!

Sources: Samtid Floor Lamp – Ikea, Boob Artwork – Udon Folded Zine from Gravel and Gold, Fiddle Fig Plant – Flower Market, Gold Urchin –Furbish, Blue Pillows – Furbish, Black+Beige Pillows – Furbish, Vintage Suzani Pillows – Furbish, Purple Pillows – In Bed, Tisdag White Lamp – Ikea, Rug – Vintage (we picked it up for cheap in Morocco.) LOVE figurine – Furbish

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We had the black light fixture sitting in storage and Jamie had us go dig it out and install it. It makes such a difference and we love it. Paul has been doing a lot of these giant beach paintings and last year I took one home from the studio and hung it next to the sofa before he could sell it. I love it!

Vintage Thonet Bentwood Chairs -Purchased from a friend, Vintage Suzani Pillow – Furbish, Big Beach Artwork –Paul Ferney, White skinny side table – Room and Board, Marble Box – Furbish, Purple Vase – Furbish, Black Light fixture – Ebay

The first few months we tried to make our old bookshelves work. But they just felt weird in the space and we couldn’t really figure out why. One day I bought this shelving unit and tried it instead and it completely changed the room and made it feel much bigger. The tchotchkes on the shelf are little things we’ve collected on our travels or things we love.

Sources: Bookshelf – World Market, Swimmers Artwork – Art.com

These sketches I picked up at the Alameda Flea last year with Victoria. They are some of my favorite pieces in the apartment. The little garland I bought in France.

The hallway is long and in a way is a lot of wasted space. But I am actually glad we have it because the boys can run back and forth down the hall. We put up a coat rack for us and one for them. With a small apartment you have to have a place for everything. It helps corral all the stuff that people bring home and the kids can put away their things themselves even though they are little.

Floral Print- Bella Foster, Coatracks -Paris Flea Market, Capiz Lamp -Alameda Flea Market (similar here), Jute Rug – Custom from Abbey Carpet, Carnaval Artwork – Paris Flea Market (it has a funny story), Abstract Artwork –Michelle Armas

photos by Heather Zweig for Oh Happy Day
assisted by Jessica Heywood