Minimal Scandi-Inspired House Tour
Minimal Scandi-Inspired House Tour-We don’t do a lot of home tours here on EHD (that aren’t our very own projects, of course), but this one is special. Years ago, I had a design assistant, Samantha Gluck, who worked on two projects with me: Joy’s studio and Joanna Goddard’s apartment.
She was a long-time reader who entered an Instagram styling contest of mine and won (5 years ago!) and when I saw her winning photo (and stalked her feed) I said, “Hey…do you want to work with me?” I LOVED her style and she did such a great job in every way (I liked her personally a lot, too). If she didn’t live in Orange County with two small kids and have a thriving career already, I would absolutely beg that she work with me again.
She recently finished designing her own home and I thought it would be fun to feature because I love it and feel some sort of pride looking at these photos (I had nothing to do with it, it just makes me so happy when former employees do such beautiful work). So…welcome to Samantha’s beautiful home. Inspired House Tour
The house, built in the 1970s, was a bit of an overhaul for Samantha and her family. “We knew that with two small kids, we really didn’t want to be living in the house while the renovation was happening, but we also couldn’t afford to float two mortgages for very long, so we needed to move pretty quickly,” she says. “I worked on the design while we were in escrow so that basically as soon as we closed, we could get started on the remodel, which took four months. I knew I wanted to take my time with the decorating, though.
Usually, when working on a client’s project, there’s pressure to get things wrapped up, because of course! No client wants to live mid-project for very long, understandably. But for my own house, I wanted to let it evolve a bit more and force myself to resist the urge to just get it done.”Emily Henderson’s Surprise Nanny Home Makeover×Inspired House Tour
Minimal Scandi-Inspired House Tour-I love love love how approachable and inviting her whole house is. It’s curated but not pretentious and has a lovely mix of pieces that are DIY, vintage, from big box stores and custom. It feels warm yet minimal and clean. “The house overlooks parkland and as such, I really wanted to go with a mostly neutral, natural California aesthetic; a bit earthy without veering boho,” says Samantha. I’d say she nailed it, don’t you think?Inspired House Tour
Okay, now that we have a bit of the backstory, let’s dive in the room by room.
LIVING ROOM
While the living room is such a breath of fresh air, that huge embroidery wall hanging is definitely an eye-catcher and SHE MADE THAT HERSELF. WHAT? I need to know the DIY on that one/become an embroidery pro ASAP because I’m crushing on that hardcore. This piece was her first attempt at something this large scale (she’s only done small pieces prior) and man is it beautiful. “When we partially opened up the wall between the kitchen and living room, we were left with the tall wall space above the sofa that I knew I’d need a cool, unique piece to fill,” says Samantha. “I’ve done embroidery for years, but on a much smaller scale. I’m not sure how I got the idea, but one day it dawned on me that rather than shopping for a piece for that wall, it would be cool to have something I made myself and that doing a really blown-up embroidery would be a fun experiment. I plan on experimenting with more pieces like this!” How cool is that? I also just love how her kitchen is so open to her family room because as a mom with two kids, too, I know how crucial that is.Inspired House Tour
Samantha’s home is a great testament that staying in a “safe” neutral colour palette doesn’t equal boring. She kept it bright and light, but with pops of blues, greens and blushes with a lot of wood to warm it up and black to keep it feeling modern. The house is a split level and most of the rooms open up to each other in some way, so she wanted to use the same wall colour for soft visual transitions.
“As a designer,” Samantha adds, “I like to have the flexibility to change things up with my accessories and I find that having a white backdrop makes it easier to do that.” I totally get that.Inspired House Tour
We don’t do a lot of home tours here on EHD (that aren’t our very own projects, of course), but this one is special. Years ago, I had a design assistant, Samantha Gluck, who worked on two projects with me: Joy’s studio and Joanna Goddard’s apartment.
She was a long-time reader who entered an Instagram styling contest of mine and won (5 years ago!) and when I saw her winning photo (and stalked her feed) I said, “Hey…do you want to work with me?” I LOVED her style and she did such a great job in every way (I liked her personally a lot, too). If she didn’t live in Orange County with two small kids and have a thriving career already, I would absolutely beg that she work with me again.Inspired House Tour
She recently finished designing her own home and I thought it would be fun to feature because I love it and feel some sort of pride looking at these photos (I had nothing to do with it, it just makes me so happy when former employees do such beautiful work). So…welcome to Samantha’s beautiful home.Inspired House Tour
I love love love how approachable and inviting her whole house is. It’s curated but not pretentious and has a lovely mix of pieces that are DIY, vintage, from big box stores and custom. It feels warm yet minimal and clean. “The house overlooks parkland and as such, I really wanted to go with a mostly neutral, natural California aesthetic; a bit earthy without veering boho,” says Samantha. I’d say she nailed it, don’t you think?Inspired House Tour
Okay, now that we have a bit of the backstory, let’s dive in the room by room.
LIVING ROOM
While the living room is such a breath of fresh air, that huge embroidery wall hanging is definitely an eye-catcher and SHE MADE THAT HERSELF. WHAT? I need to know the DIY on that one/become an embroidery pro ASAP because I’m crushing on that hardcore. This piece was her first attempt at something this large scale (she’s only done small pieces prior) and man is it beautiful. “When we partially opened up the wall between the kitchen and living room, we were left with the tall wall space above the sofa that I knew I’d need a cool, unique piece to fill,” says Samantha. “I’ve done embroidery for years, but on a much smaller scale.
I’m not sure how I got the idea, but one day it dawned on me that rather than shopping for a piece for that wall, it would be cool to have something I made myself and that doing a really blown-up embroidery would be a fun experiment. I plan on experimenting with more pieces like this!” How cool is that? I also just love how her kitchen is so open to her family room because as a mom with two kids, too, I know how crucial that is.Inspired House Tour
Samantha’s home is a great testament that staying in a “safe” neutral colour palette doesn’t equal boring. She kept it bright and light, but with pops of blues, greens and blushes with a lot of wood to warm it up and black to keep it feeling modern. The house is a split level and most of the rooms open up to each other in some way, so she wanted to use the same wall colour for soft visual transitions. “As a designer,” Samantha adds, “I like to have the flexibility to change things up with my accessories and I find that having a white backdrop makes it easier to do that.” I totally get that.Inspired House Tour
It’s California Casual, in a more young and fun way (apparently she also collects wooden hands and feet…I’ve got competition).