With heavy hearts, we bid adieu and good luck to Becca, our graphic designer/blog assistant/office manager, as she moves back home to Austin. And while she'll still be part of the team remotely, it means we've got an open desk at the EHD studio we need to fill ASAP, like 2 weeks ago, actually.
We're looking to hire a full-time graphic designer/office manager (it's one job, although mostly graphic design) as soon as possible. We're looking for someone with Photoshop know-how (Illustrator and InDesign skills don't hurt either), graphic design experience, and excellent administrative skills. Knowledge of WordPress and other social media platforms are a big plus. Must be a Los Angeles local, able to work full time in-studio, with a car.
Tasks include: Prepping blog posts, editing photos, creating graphics, responding to the general email, assisting with shoots, office management, and helping with anything and everything.
We are also looking for an e-commerce person – someone with experience buying and managing an online store. I haven't been able to keep up with The Flea and I want to blow it out and make it a more curated store with maker collaborations and a lot of unique new pieces – think Food52 for interiors. So if you know anyone that has experience in this, please let them know and email.
Email your resume, website or portfolio, and social media links to jobs@emilyhendersondesign.com by next Friday. We'll conduct interviews the week after that!
p.s. And as ever, we're always looking to collaborate with local fashion stylists, carpenters, and photographers too, so don't be shy.
Our deck, the only real outdoor space we have is finally, completely done. I know you thought it was done last year, but I'd like to remind you of my “constantly-changing-perfectly-good-projects' syndrome; a problem that has plagued this house (but created a lot of content). Seriously, this deck still could use some improvements and I wasn't 100% satisfied with neither the design nor the finish of the wood. When the exterior was finally done (stay tuned) we realized that the decking, which I previously hadn't minded, needed a refresh, too. With the help of Wood Naturally, we brought it back to life and now, it's absolutely, completely, 100% finished (til I decide to put in a full outdoor kitchen…maybe …)
In case you are newer to the blog, let's give you the full deck-bio. When we first moved in, 2 years ago, it looked like this:
The wrought iron was black, the brick was old and beige (and broken in places), and the pergola was painted brown. The wood was in good condition considering it was 50 years old, and while I knew it could use a freshen up, I didn't quite know what to do with it.
Right after we moved in Domino shot our house (remember that?) and they wanted to shoot the deck despite the fact that it was definitely not done, nor was I totally happy with it. But with some styling help it looked pretty lively in the photo:
While I love that shot because it has so much energy and life, it was mostly styled for a shot and totally impractical. Almost all those pillows/throws were for indoor use only, the rugs were vintage and some of my favorites which would have gotten destroyed out there and the side table situation was fairly impractical. It looked cool, but not a way we could really live.
A year later I finally had it looking really good (above, see full post here) and I really loved it. I chose at the time not to refinish the deck because I liked how the redwood looked well enough. It had pretty grain, and was a nice grayed out shade of wood. There were times when I wanted it to be more finished, but not enough to take the time to refinish it. I started pinning some of my ideas for not only the exterior, but the deck refresh HERE to give myself a jumping off point and see what it could potentially be.
As we were finishing up the exterior though, everything was so moved around outside with the old vinyl siding covering the deck, equipment everywhere, etc, so we couldn't really use the deck anyway. Once the debris was all gone and the exterior was looking so pulled together, we finally decided to invest the 2 days and $600 to refinish it. We figured if/when we sell we would want the wood to look as beautiful as the new siding, with same elevated level of design.
Here you can kinda see how it looked post exterior, pre-refinish:
It was pretty, for sure, and I had no intentions of painting it or replacing it because I loved that it was warm wood but the good thing about real wood is that you can refinish multiple times throughout its life, making it essentially new again.
As you look closer you can tell, though, that it was time for a clean, sand and stain to bring out its natural color.
I had Remi to pull a bunch of stain options and she grabbed both transparent and semi-transparent. Exterior deck stains are not like interior or furniture stains because once applied it has to withstand so many more elements. So while I was used to having all these normal options (like teak) there are way less for decking. I personally love the transparent stain as opposed to the semi – which is the top row. Remi sampled all of those up there before the deck was sanded, which we thought didn't give us the most accurate color. So I had it sanded so I could see what it really looked like:
Crazy, right? I don't think that the deck had been refinished in decades. They had to use a hand-sander because the boards were slightly unlevel. The sanding took 4-6 hours by two guys.
We re-sampled, nixing the transparent paints. I toyed with the idea of giving it a gray wash, but ultimately decided that since the house was gray that it would be too cold and potentially look new and contemporary instead of mid-century.
We chose the one on the far right, which was Natural by Behr, although I liked the the lighter one next to it, too. My advice would be to buy a bunch of sample pots and stain them on your wood so that you can really tell what they look like with your wood as every wood and color will be slightly different per application. For mine, I knew that the stain would lighten over time so we went with the darker tone, but I asked the guys to not do two crazy thick coats.
Right after it was stained it was a tiny bit darker as it dried, but it already looked so fresh and the stain really pulled out the color of the grain. I actually really loved how the wood looked naturally and was super tempted to keep it, but it would need to be sealed and sealing it would change the color anyway. Plus again, our house is midcentury and I wanted to keep it that way.
Now it's done, and looking awesome, making me never, ever, ever want to sell this house.
When Wood Naturally reached out to have me talk about wood I said, Wood? With pleasure. There are some wood alternatives out there or even some wood wannabes that are tempting all the previously wood-loving folk. And while they might have a certain function, I'm officially stating that I love the look/feel and warmth of the real thing. So much so that we actually clad our entire house in Douglas Fir, and had to fight the city to not have to use hardy-board (which is a fake-wood composite that is rather expensive and lacks the warmth of wood, although fire proof material).
Let's talk about the changes over here. While I liked the overall design of the deck last year, I wanted to add more contrast to help it pop more and yet I didn't really want to add more color. Enter our deepest neutral – black. By adding it to the scheme it tied in better with the exterior as our sconces are black, and also just gave it more depth and texture.
The rug that we had was great but got ruined during the demo of the exterior so we had to throw it away. I put down this new one from Dash and Albert that I love – just enough texture and the perfect shade of denim-y blue that can hide dirt, but isn't too dark.
I replaced last year's excellent outdoor Target chairs with this year's favorites and handed those bad boys down. Everybody who sees or sits in these chairs wants them and they can't believe it's Target. They are excellent in every way and if you have a modern house could even definitely work inside (and they are both for $239 – crazy).
I really tried to style this for everyday, not for a shoot but the stylist inside of me broke free and put a few indoor pillows (the black graphic and the stripe) and that striped throw out there. So this is how I would style it for guests, but technically I should keep those inside. Every other pillows, however, is from Target and is made for the outside.
The wood, gray, blue white and black combo is my new jam both inside and out. And I picked up that adorable little side table from Potted in Atwater Village.
In my quest to keep the deck a more usable space for the kids we moved the planted pots (that were mostly dead anyway) to another location. I just wanted more space and less things to take care of.
I never really loved that wicker round table, functionally because you couldn't put drinks directly on it, it was just what I had on hand last year. So when I saw the new outdoor teak midcentury line from DWR I knew what had to be done. Rarely, if ever do you find exterior teak that doesn't have the slats in it and with that beautiful mid-century shape? Please. Also note the black bars on it, too. They are so amazing.
Ok, lets see what is happening on the other side of the deck:
We used to have a dining table with chairs, but we found that we rarely used it and we wanted more space for Charlie to scoot around on his tricycle or kick around a ball. So I stacked those chairs and we were going to buy a folding table that would be easily stowed away after we did eat out there. We typically don't have the umbrella hanging half way off the roof, but Brady lent a hand so that we could get some more shade for the final shots that Zeke took.
So this side of the deck is a lot more empty now. I found that amazing bamboo chair and bench from Potted and borrowed them for the shoot. I would have bought them, as I loved them so much them, but they are on the splurgier side (they are still there for sale).
The BBQ is stored in the back now and we wheel it out when we use it. Charlie's play area is basically the same so we didn't shoot it. I added that outdoor barcart because we had no where to set the bbq tools when we are cooking out there.
The week after we shot this, I threw a sponsored party out there so I borrowed a dining table and chairs to properly entertain. The problem is that now it looks soooooo good that I'm tempted to keep them after all (you'll see that on the blog next week). So while the intent was to open this space up, Brian and I are seriously reconsidering this table and these chairs (that fold) because they looked so good. I snapped a few photos of them the day after the party to give you an idea:
Stay tuned on our decision.
Meanwhile the entrance to the guest room/Brian's office downstairs got a little makeover as well.
We put this entrance in last year and had that deck quickly built. The door + the deck cost $2000, by the way, including labor and materials. Here is what it looked like after the the door and exterior were finished.
Now it looks pretty darn great, it just needed some furnishing to help it feel more inviting.
It took everything inside of me not to put an outdoor rug there for the shot (besides, we are here to talk about wood) but man, my heart wants a rug there. We moved that spiky plant down from upstairs because every other adult in the world thought it was going to poke their child's eyes out when their kids were over on play dates.
I love love love the combination of materials here – the white wood paneling with the black sconces, the white glass pendant, and the warm wood. I even love that it's built into the stone hillside. I don't think I have photos of this area before because it didn't really exist (it was just weeds without the deck or an entrance), so the value that we added by putting in this deck is huge.
We added the chairs down there, too because we loved them so much. I didn't think Brian would go for them, I thought that he would want just a bench or something simple as no one is really going to sit down there, but after I put them there he said that he would definitely pop out of his office and take calls out there. That table and the rug are both from Potted as well, the amazing-super-hard-to-find mid-century-inspired pendant is from Hip Haven, the pot is from West Elm, and the sconces are from Rejuvenation.
When I had that deck and door put in I was out of town and I told my carpenter I wanted affordable decking (so he chose redwood to match the upstairs) and I didn't specify the door. It's actually a clear glass door that we put Gila film on for privacy and light (the frosted still lets in light which is what we wanted). I kinda wish I had done something really custom and midcentury, but this was a such a simple, cheap, and fast option.
So that, folks, is how I refreshed my deck and made it great again. It's 60 years old but it looks as new as my baby. For those of you about to embark on a building project, whether it's building a house, re-siding one, or adding a deck – I strongly urge you to consider using real wood like pine, redwood, or cedar as opposed to a composite. I'm sure the composites can look good, but wood will ALWAYS look good. In a lot of ways I wish that I had not painted my exterior wood paneling of the house and just used wood, but by the time I wished I had done that the siding had already been prepped for paint instead of stain – there was some patching that would have looked messy if stained and thousands of nail holes from it being clad to the house. But the look/feel and quality is there of wood that would have been totally absent if we had done hardy board or one of the other composite materials. What we used on the deck and exterior of the house is more affordable, available, classic, warm, and will never be dated whereas the alternative would have. And while I understand that vinyl siding is a very inexpensive option and can be really transformative, I'd warn you against it as ultimately it's not the look that you probably want.
Real wood, folks. You never tire of it, it never goes out of fashion, it's always warm and easy to transform into different colors and finishes or stay totally natural if that's your jam. This refresh took 2 days and all of it could have been DIY'd if we had the time. It's not really a highly skilled situation, just man hours. So while it cost us $900, I seriously think that you could do it yourself or, if you got multiple quotes, you could have it done for cheaper. I, for one, will always be on the real wood always side of the life.
And for your viewing pleasure, we broke down step by step how to put together your patio for the summer:
If we get to pick our homes in heaven, this is what I'll be living in. Simple timber frame, simple interior design, wood so rich you can smell it right through your screen, surrounded with low-lying live oaks under a big sky. Hard to beat.
Hey Everyone! I'm back with my very last Orcondo post. And I have to say, I'm so sad about it. There's nothing more fun than looking at ugly pictures of what this place used to look like and reminding my boyfriend that if it weren't for me, he'd still be living in the depths of this 80'z despair. Today, we're going to take a peek into some of my favorite spaces in the condo: the bedrooms, where I sleep every night, dreaming of staring at before and after pictures forever and the TV loft, where I force Edouard to watch stupid comedy shows every night even though he wants to watch serious documentaries or tv shows where everyone is murdering each other and it's so scary.
MASTER BEDROOM
The master bedroom is by far the darkest room in the otherwise bright and airy condo. Previously, it was a simple, nondescript box. The bedrooms were carpeted in the same dark industrial carpet that was in the living room, which defied the purpose of carpeting by being neither soft nor inviting. We did the same wood flooring in here as we did around the rest of the apartment and sourced a beautiful rug from Rugs USA to add some lusciousness.
I wanted a nice cushy upholstered place to sleep, so I worked with the wonderful people at Empiric Studio to design my own dream bed. I wanted a bed that was both comfy and modern, so we decided to go with super simple lines and a warm oatmeal fabric. Is it just me or is “warm oatmeal” kind of a disgusting way to describe fabric? It makes me think of that feeling you have when you eat oatmeal and you're both too full and still hungry and also it's burning your mouth because it's too hot. WHY DID I HAVE TO SAY OATMEAL???
I'm obsessed with secret surprises, so I hung this amazing Anna Ullman graphic painting behind the door. Now, every time I close the door I squeal with delight at the surprise painting. Apparently I have a goldfish brain, because I forget it's there every time and am constantly shocked by its presence.
I found these wonderful side tables at Wertz Brothers and repainted them myself (previously, they had been a yellow, speckled mid-century finish). Emily and I found this seascape at a flea market a few years back and it still captures my heart on a daily basis. Those crazy sconces are from Empiric Studio.
This framed print of Anjelica Huston is one of my most prized possessions. A few years ago Emily organized an influencer collab where I got to design a space in conjunction with Anjelica and it was literally my favorite thing ever. I got to meet her (she has TONS of design ideas btw) and her voice sounds like an angel singing. I'm guessing that's why her name is Anjelica. I had the piece framed by Framebridge, who are basically the easiest, most convenient way to frame stuff without ever leaving your house.
If you're in the market for a delicious smelling candle you'll want to stick your entire face into, I highly recommend my friend's candle company, Scenthouse (my fave scent is “Gymnasia”). The coil sculpture is by another one of my friends, Ben Medansky.
One of my favorite updates in the bedroom is the simple crown moulding. Originally, I'd wanted to do a very complicated and expensive paneling in the master bedroom. But once we'd priced it out we realized it was going to cost way too much (like $15,000) so we ended up landing on just adding a crown moulding. A lot of people think you can't do crown moulding in a space this modern, but I think it adds a nice sense of formality to the room.
The photograph that hangs over the dresser (also from Wertz Brothers) is an original by me. I grew up in Yosemite National Park and miss it a lot. So the last time I visited I took a series of photographs and had them enlarged and framed by Livestock Framing (they'll print and frame your high-quality, large scale images for you AND THEN FRAME THEM AND SEND THEM TO YOUR HOUSE). Keeping with the personal theme of this room, I used a beautiful quilt my mother made as an accent blanket.
The custom drapes from Decorview are another one of my favorite things in the room. They can be split in the middle or parted to one side, depending how much light you want to let into the room. The chandelier is by Robert Abbey and it can be styled with or without its lampshades (I left them off at first but recently added them back, because if I've learned one thing about romance it's that you gotta keep your man guessing by constantly changing things around the house).
ENTRY
Edouard had some vintage European posters lying around, and was feeling woefully underrepresented art-wise, so we had these framed and hung above a hallway bench. The bench itself is from Ikea, but they stopped making it. It's a shame, because I think it's super cute AND it has secret storage which is such a bonus. I feel like this happens to me all the time and it's so frustrating. Like I'll buy something at a store and by the time I show it to people so they can buy it the company has stopped making it. Like I get it that companies need to keep their inventory fresh, but it's sad when something you love goes away. WHY DOES ANYTHING HAVE TO CHANGE EVER!?! (Says the man who just completely changed his whole house).
The hallways were previously this parquet flooring, which I would have liked if it were A) less shiny and B) less orange. Adding the wood plank flooring in the entry made it much more peaceful. Also, a small detail you'll barely notice is that we moved the entry into the guest bedroom. Before, the hallway was part of the bedroom. We pushed the door back to the room's entry to create more common space and create a space to display art (I'm currently commissioning a piece from Anna Ullman for the space).
My mother found this amazing Japanese scroll on a recent trip to Japan. I flanked it with small scale sconces to add some warm lighting to the entry way.
GUEST BEDROOM
Guest bedroom? MORE LIKE DEPRESSED BEDROOM! At least it was before, when the most distinguishing feature was the miniblinds that hung above the bed. Also depressing: the grey carpet, the built-in side tables, those rugs sleeping together on that bed. I should probably win an award for most manipulatively ugly before pics, but seriously, it was bad in there.
I transformed the room with one of my go-to paint colors, Sleigh Bells by Benjamin Moore. Pops of gold come from the amazing fixture by Park Studio, a gorgeous Japanese screen I found at the flea market, and a lovely circle mirror from AllModern.
The luminous white bedding is from Parachute. I have the same bedding in my bedroom and it really makes me happy.
Sometimes when I go into the guest bedroom I get sad that it's not my bedroom. Because it's so bright and happy and glimmering. Meanwhile, the master bedroom is dark and moody and romantic.
One downside of the brightness of the guest bedroom is the early morning light, which will scald your little retinas the next time you stay with me. Our solution was glamorous designer roller shades from Decorview.
I found these lamps at a vintage store in North Hollywood a few years ago. They are lumpy, aged, and bloated. Which is exactly how I'm feeling today after spending the weekend in Palm Springs with some friends, drinking around a pool for days on end, allowing the desert air to suck all the moisture from my skin. MY LIPS ARE SO DRY RIGHT NOW I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO.
The side tables are from Wertz Brothers and I love their simple lines and open storage. Also, as a good host I always leave this carafe next to the bed, filled with fresh water. Just kidding, no one would drink that water. If my guests want water they'll have to waddle into the kitchen and grab it themselves.
This desk belonged to Edouard's grandfather, so it's a legit vintage piece. The circle mirror above the desk bounces light, making the bright room even brighter and increasing my sadness that this is not, alas, my bedroom.
I like to stow extra pillows and bedding in a crate below the shelving so my guests know that they'll be taken care of if they stay with me. Also, if anyone ever actually uses any of these things I become enraged because that means I have to take everything out of the crate and refold and restyle the whole thing all over again. Soon I think I'll just glue it all in place to keep resetting the guest bedroom easier.
The pinecone lamp was a previous DIY project that I still love. I'm into anything piney. Like pine tree art. Pine tree candles. I think it's because I grew up under a giant pine tree. Like it was so tall our crazy neighbor used to wear a helmet when she raked her yard to avoid getting bonked in the head with a high-speed pinecone.
The TV loft upstairs was previously kind of a dumping ground for random furniture. It was sort of an office, sort of an entertainment space, sort of a guest bedroom. I wanted it to be fully dedicated to just hanging out and enjoying movie/cuddletimez so we added more cozy furniture and reoriented the room so that the television is on the largest wall.
A large scale print by Jaime Derringer hangs over a vintage loveseat no one ever sits on (we both like the cozy blue sofa from West Elm so we fight over that).
This space also used to serve as a guest bedroom, so it had room-darkening shades which made the space feel a lot smaller. We took those out and left the space open. We added custom drapery to soften up the sliding glass doors that lead outside and add another texture to the room.
I used these cute little zigzag side tables throughout the house because I love concrete and wanted to bring in another finish. I'd originally wanted to do poured concrete floors in the bathrooms and around the fireplace but it proved to be too expensive/non-durable so we decided to bring it in with accessories and furnishings instead. LET THIS BE A LESSON TO ALL OF US THAT IF YOU CAN'T AFFORD SOMETHING YOU WANT, YOU CAN BRING IT IN WITH ACCESSORIES AND FURNISHINGS.
This is where the magic really happens. And by “magic” I mean my boyfriend yelling “WHY DO YOU ALWAYS NEED TO FULLY LAY DOWN TO WATCH TV?” and me being like “I JUST WANT TO RELAX WHY WON'T YOU LET ME LIVE???” The cozy sofa is from West Elm, btw, and I've had it for about four years and I still love it. A pro-tip for those who love cuddling/laying down while watching TV is that you can throw the back cushions on the ground for more depth.
Now that I've told you that magical throwing-cushions-on-the-ground-for-more-depth trick, I think my work here is done. BUT DO NOT BE AFRAID. I'll be back soon with more posts.
