Home Design

I’m a big fan of FX’s American Horror Story (I mean who isn’t unless scary isn’t your bag). This years session ‘Cult’ did not disappoint – although if I was being completely honest I still think Murder House and Hotel are my favourites, however this post isn’t about American Horror Story! I was stopped dead by the amazing interior design of Alison’s home (as played by Sarah Paulson). So much so I had to freeze frame a few episodes to take it all in. The perfect mix of modern and heritage with a touch of mid century and deco thrown in for good measure. The house did look familiar and apparently the exterior shots are from the same house used to film 1978’s Halloween. Much of the interior was a set so hats off to some incredibly talented set designers for stringing together such a dream home. I’ve compiled a few of my favourite designed scenes to source for anyone else out there who is loving this house for the design and not the creepy clowns!

The lighting in this series is quite dark for the storyline so most of the shots are dark and moody.

Entryway 1. Glorious brass globe branch light | 2. Open beam ceiling | 3. Unique arched doorways | 4. Wood flooring inset pattern

I’ve found Etsy to be a great source for unique lighting at a lower price point like this one which is similar to the Lindsey Adelman looking one above.

Upper Hallway 5. Curved wood stairways | 6. Gorgeous wall tapestries | 7. Intricate oriental floor runners

Pro tip: Target sells some excellent overdyed oriental rugs at an exceptional price point that are quite unique and really add some texture to your space without worrying what happens when your kids spill glue all over it (true story!).

Kitchen 8. THAT STOVE | 9. Gorgeous dramatic tile (very Emily Henderson like) 10. That tile again, similar tile can be found here. | 11. Modern take on the sliding barn door for the pantry entry | 12. Clear bottom glass kitchen cabinets (perhaps a dusting nightmare but still cool to imagine) | 13. More statement backsplash tile | 14. Farm Sink (of course!) | 15. Stone counters (maybe marble, it’s hard to tell in the lighting) | 16. Dark blue painted lower cabinets (I keep pinning this combo and it’s always gorgeous) | 17. Open shelving for plates for that farmhouse feel

Below is an even better shot of those glass bottomed cabinets.

Master bathroom 24. That tub in the middle of the room with the fireplace (need I say more)

Den 25. Those custom amazing bookshelves!

26. The Psychiatrists Office isn’t complete without a Wegner Papa Bear Chair

This season was dark and a little too close to our current politic climate for me (I’m sure that was the point), but I always enjoy a good scare and a good chair – so this was a really entertaining way to hit two birds with one stone.

***All screen grabs sourced from American Horror Story Cult on FX and are copy-write of that show and its creators.

Part One, The Sofa.

I have worked long and hard at selecting furniture that is beautiful but will absolutely stand up to my two boys (and three LARGE dogs). I’ve put together personal favourites that I have found to be really durable yet functional and still stylistic. Momma can absolutely have nice things and messy boys at the same time.

Leather
My top recommendation is to go with a thick and distressed leather. We had a Restoration Hardware Lancaster sofa for years and it held up to anything. Scratches happened (and are easily buffed out with leather conditioner available from RH), spills, many moves … you name it. We only eventually had to sell it as it was too large for our current house. We did buy this sofa second hand which saved as a ton of money and it was already well worked in for us.

Urban Barn sells a more reasonably priced sofa that has a similar thick distressed option that we did have at one point (again bought used) called the Preston. I don’t have a lot of great photos as I was mostly in the daze of parenting very young kids at that time we owned it.

Any leathers that are higher end (think soft and buttery) are a nightmare to maintain and best left for those single folks without kids or pets who have dinner parties and spend Sunday mornings sleeping in sipping coffee until noon. We are not those people.

We are these people.
Fabric
Alternatively you can go the fabric route but you want to pick durable fabric (high rub count), and patterns that will conceal spills and stains because it’s not IF it’s WHEN bad things happen. I will often take a sample of the fabric home and spill juice, crunch goldfish crackers and coffee into it to see how well the fabric stands up. It’s not pretty but it really helps determine if this fabric is going to hold up to my real life. I’d rather find out on the front end that crunched in goldfish crackers turns the sofa orange than after I have spent a bunch of money. We have had a lot of success with fabric sofas from GUS Modern as their fabric seems quite commercial grade it in it’s ability to stand-up to children and exhausted parents with unsteady coffee mugs.

We have recently purchased a Montauk sofa for our smaller open concept living room. It’s is gorgeous and we customized the pillows so there were more solid larger pillows and not a lot of throw pillows as they tend to become projectiles in my house. The fabric on this one went through my strict Goldfish Cracker test and passed; however, it is linen. We have only had it a few months now so the jury is out on how well it will hold up to our full life.

I have a sneaking suspicion living as close to the sea as we do, a leather sofa will be in our future with wet dogs constantly sneaking on the couch for their post-swim snoozing.

He’s too adorable to be mad at for long.

Next up: Dining Room table and chair options that will stand up to mass forking and other disasters at the hands of toddlers!

Category: Home Design

American Horror Story Cult was terrifying but the interior design was amazingly distracting.

***All screen grabs sourced from American Horror Story Cult on FX and are copy-write of that show and its creators.

Yes, you can have nice things and kids too!