At Home With Jennifer Bewerse

We are happy to welcome Jennifer Bewerse to the blog today to share her lovely home with us!"My husband Tim and I live with our chubby cat, Maggie, in our San Diego rental.  It’s a beautiful two-story detached house full of light and is just a short bike ride from the ocean. We have a wonderful landlord (that even lets us paint!) so we count ourselves as super lucky ducks. We spend most of our time in the main living space on the first floor, which includes the living room, dining nook, kitchen, and a half-bathroom. A few of the features that sold us on this rental were the wood floors, nice kitchen (especially for a rental!), and tons of natural light." "Our best projects have come from working together, like the Scrabble tiles hanging in our kitchen. For a while I was obsessed with decorative letters, but Tim thought it was strange and random. As a compromise, he suggested we make an art piece based on Scrabble, one of his favorite board games. I get to enjoy my letters and he gets to enjoy the nostalgia of one of his favorite games—we both love it!" "I would have to say my favorite find in our space is our 1930s Philco Radio. When Tim found it in an antique store on Cape Cod, it was in really bad shape with missing knobs, a ripped grill, and completely ruined electronics. We made it our goal to help the old guy sing again. Tim ordered reproduction knobs online, I replaced the grill with some burlap, and we replaced the speakers together. The best part? We were able to install Bluetooth, so now it can stream music from laptops or iPhones. It’s an especially fun feature for parties – we love surprising our friends when we turn on our vintage radio with our phones ;)" "As a freelancer, I work from home a lot. Several days of the week you’ll find me nested on our couch typing away on the computer. I also have a little space in the living room where I practice—our living room has nice acoustics and (thankfully) our neighbors love the cello!  Once Tim comes home from work, we spend most evenings together in whatever room fits our mood, whether it’s the living room for a movie night or to listen to records, or the kitchen for a cocktail. 

For us, if something isn’t easy to use, it will probably collect dust or create a mess. In fact, if there’s a consistent mess in our home, trying to be neater doesn’t usually make a difference. For a long time jackets and shoes were a constant mess—they didn’t have a designated place, so we tended to throw them wherever. When we finally got a coat rack and a little crate for our shoes it was easy to keep things clean. I guess it’s an obvious solution, but we spent a lot of time trying to be 'more clean' before it dawned on us!" "For us, decorating our home has been about balancing style, function, time and money. I’m so grateful Tim has a strong opinion about how we live in our space and that we’ve been able to communicate and find solutions neither of us would have thought of on our own. I can’t begin to describe how happy it makes me when Tim comes home, sinks into our couch and says, 'I love our space…'” "When we moved into our rental about a year and a half ago it was big, bright, clean and exciting, but also basically a plain beige box without any personality. Initially, I was anxious to 'finish' all the rooms right away, but with a busy life as a freelance cellist that just wasn’t realistic. Instead, we’ve slowly made changes that have worked with our schedules and budget. Patience is paying off with a space that is totally 'us', filled with treasures we'll be able to enjoy for years to come. Slowly bringing in beautiful plants, paint colors, and vintage or second-hand furniture allows us to savor every little improvement."

Thank you so much for sharing your home with us, Jennifer! You can find more of Jennifer over at her blog Insideways or on Instagram! xo.