Lisa Congdon: Favorite Things
A few of my favorite things: Lisa Congdon
Hello! My name is Lisa Congdon. I am an artist who lives and works in San Francisco. I also co-own a design shop in San Francisco called Rare Device. I write a little blog with my puppy Wilfredo called The Adventures of Lisa and Wilfredo. I'm super excited to chat with you today about my apartment while Holly is moving as part of her guest series, "A few of my favorite things." Without further ado, here are a few of my favorite things in my apartment!
I collect vintage Japanese and Scandinavian kitchenware. I love how colorful it is. This shelf sits next to a window in my kitchen, and I love the way the light makes everything on the shelf so bright. It cheers me up every time I walk into my kitchen!
Recently my partner and I redecorated the apartment, and we decided to put shelves in the kitchen to store bulk food in jars. It's a really great system, because now many of the items we use on a regular basis are labeled and we can see how much of everything we have on hand at a glance. The shelves sit under my plate wall, which is another really bold and cheerful spot in my kitchen.
One of the rooms we changed completely was the bedroom. We painted it blue (it was most recently dark brown!) and have created a really defined color scheme of blue, orange, green, white and black. We really love the light blue background with the bursts of color. It's bright but also very calming. I think the bedroom is our new favorite room!
I love this little vignette in the bedroom. It features work by some of my favorite artists: Caitlin Keegan, Something's Hiding in Here and Lorena Siminovich.
This is the top of my dresser in the bedroom. It is an assemblage of some of my favorite things by more of my favorite artists: Something's Hiding in Here (again!), Diana Fayt, Sara Paloma, Marina Luz, Chris Bettig and my sister Stephanie Congdon Barnes. It also includes my favorite photo of my partner and me, taken on my birthday this past January. I think it's important to have peaceful things by your bedside.
I draw most of my inspiration for decorating from observing and working with color. My artwork is also very colorful, so it's obviously an element that captivates me. Our apartment has very little natural light, since we are on the first floor of the building and are sandwiched between two other apartment buildings. As a result, I've had to create the illusion of a light, airy space with color choices. It's been a really fantastic challenge.
I really enjoy creating vignettes in my apartment with objects and art. I think I have been doing this since I was a kid (I remember arranging and rearranging my room almost monthly as a little girl). I remember reading somewhere years ago that it is important to cluster like objects together when creating vignettes on shelves or other surfaces so that they look cohesive. For example, you choose one likeness: like in form, like in color(s), like in concept, etc, and then make your arrangement, varying items by height.
Thank you for joining me in my kitchen and bedroom! I hope you have enjoyed your visit. - Lisa
(images: Lisa Congdon)