today i’m thrilled to share a sneak peek into the home of photographer janet moran and her husband john (who is a fantastic furniture maker). based in chicago, janet runs oijoy photo, specializing in children, baby and family photography. janet and john call their style “toddlerism” and elaborated by saying, “we really feel that utility is the first tenant of good design and with rambunctious little-boy-hands over every square inch of our home – we decided not to simply hide away the ‘good stuff’ but to surround ourselves with things we all could enjoy; which means a lot of durable wood items that are naturally beautiful and provide texture and color throughout our home. we want a home that is driven by family, utility, comfort, and actually living with modern design.” and they’ve created just that. below are a selection of photos from john and janet’s home, along with descriptions in their own words. as always, you can click here for full sized (and many extra) photos of janet and john’s home. thanks to john and janet for sharing their home with us!
[image above: This hutch is one of our favorite pieces; it belonged to John’s grandparents (who knew Broyhill furniture was so cool in the late 1950’s?). Nearly every piece on the shelves is either Ebay or antiqued. The pram was given to us as a baby gift and having every intention of using it once little Hank was born – but we soon realized it was extremely inconvenient and weighs as much as a Cadillac. The deer antlers were a gift from my dad - growing up they hung in our house.]
[image above: “The cherry media cabinet was built by john. The stool is vintage as well as the plant stand, which we use for holding magazines and books. The little collection of wooden Japanese dolls come from a local Japanese mercantile store. John buys one each year as a Christmas gift for me.”]
[image above, left to right: Our eat-in kitchen overlooks our tiny backyard. The Saarinen table was a thrift store find for $35 and still has the Knoll sticker underneath! The small rug on the floor is a handmade gift from our talented friend over at Seymour Cornelius. Right: These are large prints I made of tiny ‘photo-booth’ size images. They are all family photos.]
[image above: We bought the Womb chair at an auction for a steal. It was the only ‘modern’ lot selling that day so we hadn’t any competition.]
[image above: The dressers, found at the same antique market in Indianapolis, are by Russell Wright. The painting above is by John]
[image above, left to right: John used left over scraps to make the wooden barn blocks for Henry’s train set and farm animals. Right: We bought the gate-leg Heywood Wakefield dining table and chairs for a song at a great antique market in Indianapolis. This room doubles as my photo studio and office so we are always rearranging the space to accommodate backdrops so having a dining table that can fold down to 12″ wide is a must. The oak desk was used by my grandfather in his office and the hanging light was purchased while visiting Denmark.]
[image above: John built the bookshelf on the sun porch. The chairs are vintage Danish and are badly in need of recovering.]
