Warehouse Homes

My friend is moving into her art studio, a warehouse-type of place... No, not a warehouse-type of place, it is a warehouse, but with separate rooms here and there.  She writes to tell me it's a bit tricky making it home as it truly is a warehouse.  Granted there are some limitations to transforming this new abode into her comfortable home since it is not zoned for living quarters but I still believe the possibilities are endless.

To think that you can only have a modern or minimalist interior decor theme because your living in an outright urban space such as a loft or a warehouse-styled abode is completely wrong.  Quite often a charming country decor in an urban space results in a unique and beautiful look. There are no rules, and above all there is nothing to stop you, except you, of course.

Below is a warehouse-styled loft space where "work" seems to be the focus.  Minimal space is left for those personal belongings one loves so much:  the line of books in the hall to the right, an armoire off to the corner on the left.  The long wooden work table at center, I absolutely love, and with the minimal-style vase of flowers the area exudes just the right amount of touch of home.

Large spaces like those you see in warehouse abodes can be transformed greatly by the use of area rugs, which can give the space a feeling of warmth.

If you have plenty of wall space try a blown-up wall-sized photograph, print or painting.  If a specific theme is in the making for your over-all decor a wall-sized picture suitable to the theme can really give it the boost it needs.

San Francisco Charms With It's Structures

I was lucky enough to see the city during it's Gay Pride week, and the streets were full of colorful, fun-loving people!
Truly one of the aspects that makes San Francisco such a beautiful place to be

This past weekend I found myself visiting a good friend in the City Of Love, San Francisco.  I was lucky to have such spectacular weather during my visit there and am sure this helped on my over-all view of San Francisco.  To say the least, I was much charmed by this city full of beautiful buildings, architecture and people.

I will always consider Los Angeles my home and love it for that reason but I cannot tell a lie, San Francisco is by far infinite times more beautiful.  The building structures themselves whether they be houses or public buildings were beautiful with their detailed moldings and San Francisco style that exudes culture and history, all of which I felt very inspired by.  Same as the building structures the places visited: shops, streets and restaurants were all vibrant with it's own character and of course so were the people.  Towards the end of the trip I found my mind wandering to a dreamland where I kept envisioning myself living in this city.

I wanted to take the time to post some personal pictures of my visit to share what I saw with you during my visit.  I hope you enjoy the pictures!

In the out-skirts of China Town, I'm always drawn to the tall buildings of the city and found
this view so interesting I needed to capture it.

Cutting across through a random alley in the out-skirts of China Town

China Town

A block of China Town, the line of stores topped with small apartments above with clothes hung out to dry was a very
common scene, so I decided to take a picture of it

Berkley campus, absolutely fascinating!  So far the most beautiful campus I've visited.

Berkley campus, clock tower

A random building along Geary.  Thought it was a great example of San Francisco buildings.

I was especially in love with the way the housing looked in San Francsico.  All in tight rows and built upwards rather than wide for obvious reasons.  Most of them looked to have1920's style architecture, whether this is actually true I'm uncertain.  I probably should have taken many more pictures of the housing but I suppose I was a bit preoccupied.  Here's what I do have though.

This is definitely a lot bigger than the average homes I saw, but I thought it so beautiful I took a picture of it.
I especially love the corner windows!

Here is another home that I saw, not sure if it contains multiple units or if it's just one big house but I was taken with the layout of the structure and found myself wishing there weren't so many large hedges covering the beautiful house.

There's a corner window!  It seems that homes in SF often have corner windows, I just love them!

The columns of the front door and the balcony above was most charming I thought.

Rooftop Gardens

Fiancee and I are looking for a place to buy, we want to settle down, we want to have a baby, we want to be self-employed, sounds very much like what everyone else wants... Anywho, with a marriage slowly coming these are the things that come to our minds.

A repeated discussion about buying a home goes something like this:

Me:  Can't we just buy a place where it's quiet, where there's not so many people... how about Carmel?  Or even Monterey?

Him:  Well, my job is here and I don't think it would be very responsible to just move to a city where I don't have a job lined up.

Me:  Well I don't want to buy a house, lets do condo?

Him:  Well lets just look and see what's out there, yes?

Me:  Okay, but I want a condo with rooftop access, period.

It's pretty amazing how one can have the same conversation over and over.  It seems we'll be living in the city for a while more and the only thing that can make that bearable is a condo loft with rooftop access.  So far I've only taken a look at one condo with rooftop access- apparently this is really hard to come by in LA, go figure.  My fiancee may not understand why I want rooftop access so badly, I'm hoping these pictures will explain it to him.

Saving Money & Eating Organic, Growing Veg On The Window Sill

I was stuck with the idea that if you wanted to grow your own vegetables you needed land, you needed a yard no matter small or big just as long as you had ground space to dig.  I had the impression for a very long time that if you wanted to grow your own vegetables you needed space.  I would drool in envy as I saw my friends grow their own organic vegetables in their yards and was sad that I had no small yard space of my own to nurture my cravings of growing organic vegetables that I would be able to pick and eat straight away.

One day sitting at the computer surfing the web as usual I came across a book whose title caught my immediate attention, Grow Great Grub: Organic Food from Small Spaces, the book practically had my name written all over it, 'this book was made for me!' was my very first thought.

The book doesn't have all the answers (208 pgs long)
It deals with basics & upon first reading it
is very comforting and supportive.

I bought the book, and as dramatic as this may sound please know it to be true, it changed things for me drastically.  Living in a one bedroom 900 sqft. apartment in the middle of Los Angeles near one of it's many busy streets with only one side of the apartment that gets sunlight, I am now growing my own veg.

I often thought growing things in cans and toilet rolls would look

ugly and embarrassing.  To my pleasant surprise it actually looks

 cute & gives my living-room a very homey feel (this pic does not

do it justice).

The middle container:  A recent re-pot of a chili pepper

that was getting too large for it's starting container.  To

the left of it in the white tray I just started some sprouts

which supposedly is the easiest thing you can grow,

we'll see about that!

Thyme, basil and tomatoes were all pretty easy to grow.  Resist the urge to plant as

many seeds as you can in a container, I couldn't resist this urge & now I've got one

too many tomato plants in a single container, which I'm sure which will just make

it harder come time to replant them.

A tip in the book: using toilet paper rolls.  An awesome & much easier way to

plant especially if you need to replant them in bigger pots, replanting is not one

of the better things I can do I've found.

I planted 3 kinds of Chili: Ancho, New Mexican Joe Parker & Jalapenos.  I found all three

were much slower to sprout but they're all coming a long beautifully now.

Now I've got a window sill full of trays, cans, pots and toilet rolls growing thyme, chili peppers, basil, dill, french beans, sprouts and tomatoes.  It's become a new hobby of mine that I absolutely can't get enough of, and though the progress is slow I find it worth-while just watching the babies grow.

Start with one or two to see if you like growing your own vegetables in your small apartment space, the materials needed are priced wonderfully so that you can get an ample sized bag of organic soil at Home Depot or Osh for only $8 and an envelope of seeds from $2-$4.  If you save cans, plastic bottles even toilet rolls (which I do), these are all easily transformed into pots with draining holes for you to plant in.

Here a couple of apartment/small space dwellers who were quite successful with their growing...

Happy planting!

A Home In The Mountains VS A Loft In The City

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Now that I'm getting older and newly engaged I often think about where I would like to settle down.  I'm a city girl inside and have always seen myself living in a loft in the city, I get excited over floor-plans and the things I can do with them.  But a part of me would love to live near the mountains or at least in a more rural area the city can't provide for me, I just think of fresh air and quiet... and of course a proper vegetable garden.

V . S .