Link to full article on Design Sponge. // Feb 2016
The things we love find their way into our homes. My own home is filled with stacks of interior design magazines. For acclaimed fine artist and designer Bari Ziperstein, it’s handmade ceramic pieces that bring personality and life to her space. Her award-winning work isn’t just for the gallery — it is beautifully and playfully displayed in her home.
Bari and David Eaves, an electrical engineer for an aerospace company, picked their apartment four years ago for the age-old priority — location, location, location. Their Mid-City West neighborhood in Los Angeles, CA fits their work lives and family lives almost perfectly. “Our apartment is halfway between both of our jobs; we needed a place where we both reverse commute against Los Angeles traffic,” Bari says. “David commutes to the west side by the airport and I commute to my east side ceramic studio in Glassel Park. Almost every weekend we walk three blocks to LACMA (Los Angeles County Museum of Art). Not having a large backyard is fine, as LACMA is where our son Lawrence learned to walk and it’s his own giant county park.” Ideal location aside, the pieces in the family’s home have been collected, curated and considered over the last four years. There is art in almost every corner of the house and it brings a lively spirit to the space.
Creating their home was a learning experience for Bari and David. “Our current home was our first fresh place together as a couple,” Bari says. “Combining our tastes and sentimental objects was challenging. The artist and the engineer, it’s just as you imagine — lots of ceramic objects, art books, sci-fi figurines, and video games. You really get to know someone when you spend hours packing up their junk drawer, seeing the shelves deep in their closets, and the reality of how many shoes I have. We wanted to create a welcoming space that was relaxed, colorful, and a child-friendly home that still has a nod to our design and quirky interests.” That is exactly what they have achieved, and it is abundantly apparent that the sweet people and objects in this home are treasured. –Lauren
Photography by Bari Ziperstein
-
- Bari and David’s Spanish-style apartment is the perfect backdrop for Bari’s artwork and their old and new furniture
-
- “I’m most thankful for our western-facing family room windows – [they] bring in the most gorgeous afternoon light and evening sunsets – our tangerine tree out back, and for extremely good neighbors,” Bari says.
-
- “Our home is a combination of sturdy vintage pieces (dining room table, credenza, bedroom set, lamps, chairs) [and] practical IKEA upholstery, bookshelves and children’s furniture. It’s important for both of use to have meaningful objects in the home – David’s mother’s pottery, my late father’s hat above our doorway, and rocks from our travels,” Bari says.
-
- Bari’s wedding bouquet is dried and on display in the living room along with the mask she created of their late cat, Kitty, of 18 years.
-
- “Our house was built in the 20s. My husband and I like to consider all of the past families that lived here – their stories and how LA grew up around them,” Bari shares.
-
- The photography is by Brett Cody Rogers and the lamp was thrifted from the Rose Bowl Flea Market.
-
- Bari and David share a desk in the living room. David’s office was in the second bedroom before their son was born. They have learned to utilize space as much as possible since the arrival of their 18-month-old, Lawrence.
-
- Bari’s parents were design collectors and architectural enthusiasts who took her across the country looking for the perfect pieces for their home. Bari has that same spirit — finding places for the pieces she collects along the way and creating lovely displays with them in her home.
-
- “David’s desk [was] found at the Fairfax Flea Market, [and] displays a Japanese vessel we bought in Japan at Beams, BZIPPY & CO’s large diamond table lamp and [a] small terra-cotta planter,” Bari says
-
- “Our apartment has its own front door and private stairwell; it feels like a luxury for apartment living. We have so many doors in our home, almost dividing up the house into sections. It’s perfect when having a free-roaming toddler, finding a quiet place to read before bed, or for a night owl up late working to music. I think that’s key to having a functional and cohesive home where we all have our private nooks but have spaces to come together and celebrate,” Bari says.
-
- “Space, in general, can be a challenge with an 18-month-old toddler who wants to run around a clutter-free apartment without any obstacles,” Bari admits. “As we rearrange ceramic knick-knacks at every developmental stage from infant, crawling, walking (every few months) – it’s a constant shuffle game of moving fragile knick-knacks out of reach and eventually into storage for a while.”
-
- The dining room credenza features several sentimental and collected pieces for Bari and David. The cat-eye bowl is by Karin Gulbran, the wood-fired sake cups were given to Bari by the kiln master at Anderson Ranch after her three-month ceramic residency in Snowmass, CO
-
- “My editions of slab-built ceramic floral vases, planters, and lamps are inspired by the rich ceramic history of Southern California, Brutalist / Cold War Architecture, Finnish patterns, and the California deserts,” Bari says.
-
- “As [renters], we are limited by the owner’s lack of appliance upgrades and love of carpet. When my husband brews beer on our 90s stove, it’s extremely challenging for the pots to reach temperature. We are both dreaming of a new stove upon homeownership,” Bari says.
-
- “The bedroom at the back of the home has beautiful morning light and overlooks our tangerine tree outside,” Bari shares. “I have a love for Marimekko and all Finnish patterns – having grown up with stretched textile patterns in my childhood home.”
-
- “I had some family furniture pieces that we built our bedroom around – a Haywood Wakefield bedroom set that my father bought for me at 12 and my love of Marimekko textiles. From there, we spent a few weekends starting in the Mid-City area visiting vintage furniture stores – as we traveled east the prices dropped significantly” Bari says. “A favorite pastime of my childhood was visiting thrift and antique stores of Chicago, as my father was a local vintage and antique collector.”
-
- Bari’s necklaces, scarves and accessories are displayed over her dresser. On top of the dresser, sentimental and handmade pieces are kept. The ceramic octopi were made by Bari for the cake topper at their wedding.
-
- The back porch is filled with Bari and David’s succulent collection. “A pregnant lady pot was a gift and made by Isaac of GroupPartner when I was pregnant, and to the right is a sweet little inlay planter by my LA pottery colleague Heidi Anderson,” Bari says.
-
- Bari’s own SCRATCH terra-cotta pot and small planter are part of the family’s collection.
-
- David, Bari and Lawerence Bobby Tecopa outside their Los Angeles home.
-
- My favorite thing about our home is…
-
- Bari and David’s floor plan.
