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The offbeat occupant: Ellen (Cartoonist) and Jake (Artist/Designer, creator of iPhone games about kittens, puppies, and rainbows)
Approximate square footage: 1000-2000 sq. feet
How many bedrooms? 3
Lives in: Capitol Hill, Seattle
When did you move into this home? June, 2010
Let’s start with the neighborhood. What’s it like where you live? Capitol Hill is the funky, artsy, cool part of Seattle. Capitol Hill residents may accidentally not leave the Hill for months without realizing it.
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What makes your home offbeat? It’s full of art, much by us and our friends. We both have our art studios here. It’s a cool old building built in 1929. The old in-cabinet refrigerator is still installed in the hallway.
What’s the most challenging about this space? How do you deal with the challenge? There’s no recycling in our building — it’s such a pain. There’s a loophole for old buildings and the landlord doesn’t need to have recycling here, so we have to store our recycling in bags and drive it to the transfer station ourselves.
What’s your favorite feature of your home? The big windows — we’re on the second floor corner and we have a view of the Olympics to the west. Our place is bright! And the sunsets in the summer are amazing.
Also, the spaciousness is new to both of us, and it’s amazing to have so much room and high ceilings. Coming from a small 1-bedroom (Ellen), being able to have guests stay over has been wonderful.
What’s the most important lesson you’ve learned from this home? Having come from two separate apartments to live together here, we both theorize that the large common space AND having enough room for both of us to have separate studios has been extremely beneficial to our happiness and sanity.
What’s your grandest plan for the space? E: I would love a bidet. I hear there are fancy ones that attach to the toilet, and I would entertain that possibility.
J: I ponder the possibilities of doing an art installation in our long hallway.
What advice do you have for other offbeat homies? These go a long way: large pieces of art, easy-to-take-care-of plants, fresh flowers, walls painted a bright color, and keeping common areas relatively clean, or at least tidy.
Any stuff or services you want to recommend?
- The throw that’s on our bed: “Sleep With Ellen Forney,” limited edition blankets made of sustainable ECO2cotton, available from NuBe Green, Seattle
- Window cleaning: Crystal Green Window Cleaning. This guy ROCKS, we loved him and his prices were great.
- Awesome sheets and shower curtains: Sin in Linen
Show me the decor porn!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/48889089289@N01/sets/72157626098876047/show
That chair! That chair! That wonderful chair!
I simply must know where that peacock-plume-y-backed chair came from. Sweet Jesus…NEEEEED…
Here’s what I know about the chair. We found it at Kasala Furniture in Seattle. It’s called Fiori, and it’s a kids (though super comfortable for this 6′ tall adult) chair. It was Ellen’s birthday gift to herself. 😉
I love the stuff in the fireplace, especially the contrast between the white stone and all the colours. I’d love to do something like that one day. Except I’d be torn between that and a real fire.
I’m also intrigued by the bed in the relatively small space. I’ve seen a few pictures like that recently and it’s making me re-think our bed taking up most of the space in a fairly big room.
Yeah, I love the contrast of the spacious living room full of art and stuff, and then this tiny, sparse little room with a bed.
It is a narrow bedroom with a long walk-in closet. We were originally going to paint the room a different colors; however, we’ve come to really appreciate the spareness of this small room.
Please tell me there’s a magical Etsy shop where I can find the Eat Lightning Crap Thunder sign ?
It’s not only a painted sign, it is a relief carved into wood. You can see it better in this photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jakefennell/5528363896/
The artist is Shawn Wolfe (shawnwolfe.com). No Etsy, but contact him!
But I DO have an Etsy shop!
http://www.etsy.com/shop/GrossNational
😀
I love that built in fridge. I mean, everything is AWESOME (especially the art!!) but the fridge is bangin’.
See, I was sold on the place itself when I saw the built in refridgerator (the steampunk in me loves it). But I fell in love with your artwork, especially when I saw Kimba in one of your paintings. The artwork and furniture are fun and the space seems perfect for you guys.
Thank you! We are still growing into the space. Ellen lived on Capitol Hill for some time, and I came from Portland, OR. It is really great for us to have a home together.
Oh, and the fridge is our liquor cabinet. 😉
As a history nerd I love the 1920’s fridge. But what stands out the most is the ART! I aspire to have that much art on our walls! I’m most fond of the wood sign in your collection. 😀
Could you tell me if I can buy the shelf thingy that goes over the radiator somewhere or if that came with the house?
I recently moved to a 1925 house and we also have radiators under pretty much every window. It’s nice to see a house of a similar vintage personalized so nicely. 🙂
The radiator covers were in the apartment when we arrived. Unfortunately, the classic radiators don’t provide the heat anymore. That means we can have plants and books on top of them year-round.
I have seen some made from wood. Though, if the radiators are working, they can get very hot.
Oh well, I will have to keep my eyes peeled. Actually a heated shelf would be fine with me- cat heaven! Thanks for the reply 🙂
Ellen and Jake, wonderful art work, design and wall coverings. Mazel government for the good works and well recignize
big fan of ellen’s work, what a surprise to get a little apartment tour this afternoon! beautiful space, love all the art.