suzie mckig of twig & fig describes her home in north berkeley, california as “euro-village style.” really, i think she’s spot on with that description. you feel like you’re off gallivanting in europe, rather than in the hills of berkley. it probably helps too that her place is a 2-story spanish style home, built in 1926, and all the stones were laid by italian masons who did most of the stone work in the bay area. and of course, i’m always drawn to all the great pieces inspired by their travels. {thanks suzie and serge! click here to check out twig & fig on facebook} -anne
Local artist/legend David Lance Goines gave us these beautiful posters from the chez panisse commemorative. The walls through the downstairs were painted by suzie with lime wash (lime powder mixed with pure pigment); saffron then mango. unlike doing faux finishes (which are trying to simulate lime wash), natural lime wash is so much more lovely to use than toxic paint and ages with amazing character.
Iin the foyer, we made the coat rack from an old plank of railroad tie & hooks from anthro. the light we made from a candle shade. serge pimped a modern carbon fiber bike to be more my euro-village style.
Kim Austin (Austin Press) gifted us with these beautiful art photographs from her collection.
CLICK HERE for the rest of Twig & Fig’s sneak peek after the jump!
We have arched openings throughout the downstairs–it’s so graceful. Our dining room was painted with distemper, a more reactive variation on lime powder painting. The magic happens when you add the 2nd coat. you have to wait ‘til it dries to see what effect will happen–kind of mysterious!
The colorful hand-painted cabinet is from Tibet, from the 40s. I picked it up at an antique fair.
the dining table is from Indonesia.
I love this chest of drawers. We found this in a local vintage shop called “mixed pickles.”
The vaulted ceilings in 2 (of three) bedrooms made us fall in love. We placed the desk at the west-facing window so our guests (and we!) would have a view of SF and the golden gate bridge.
On a trip a few years ago to disneyland we had our silhouette portraits cut by hand. The artist was lightening fast with those scissors
We love the eastern morning light that pours into our upstairs bathroom in the morning!
This is our bedroom…simple and cozy. the 1920s sconces are so pretty. We covered the shades with yuzen paper for some color.
We built this monster 16ft deck last year for entertaining California style. The center is a fire pit with ipe wood and antique gold rock it’s fun to dangle your feet when sitting at the hand-poured and acid-etched cement table
