Donovan Byrn lives in a downtown loft he filled with antique-store finds and local art. With less space, his design philosophy was simple: “Make it fit.”
Home Invasion
Famous goes downtown (OK, we’re already there) to invade this split-level apartment loft.
by Famous Whitewater
January 9, 2008
January 9, 2008
I’m not a Peeping Tom, I’m not. But the neighbors sometimes leave the curtains cracked and it’s hard to resist catching that glimpse, wondering where they got that awesome lamp (probably Target), or why anyone would buy a faux suede couch (not that there’s anything wrong with that).
Here, Famous barges in for a closer look at our (and your) neighbors with a new feature, “Home Invasions.” We forego the ski masks and guns.
Donovan Byrn, 41, Creative Fresno member
Stats: Split level loft apartment, 686 square feet
Moved in: September 2006
The essentials: Couch from Interior Illusions, $1,600; Samsung flat screen HD TV, $1,400; bed frame, $70 from an antique store on Belmont and Fulton avenues circa 1996 (the mattress and box spring were free).
Design philosophy: “Make it fit. With the small space, I had to get rid of things that were no longer necessary. Then I just pushed everything else in.”
Favorite place to shop: “Target, CB2, Crate and Barrel, Hive Modern. Interior Illusions, when it was in the Tower, was really cool. It’s still really cool, but it’s not in the Tower, so I don’t get a chance to go there as often.”
Favorite design element: “Architecturally, I like the openness of it. I just like the feeling when I come in the door. Although the stairs are a bitch when you’re drunk.”
Favorite piece of furniture: “The dresser upstairs. It took me a while to find it. It was at the Salvation Army on Blackstone.”
Favorite design blog or Web site: “Design sponge.”
How much would you spend on a couch?:“Five or six thousand.”
Disclosures:Donovan is my neighbor.
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Comments
Hey Donnovan,
Wow its been a long time, YES I really do miss the TOWER, it was and always will be a great place, your Loft looks GREAT the sofa still looking good, I am in West Hollywood, Palm Springs and Santa Monica now...Come down and say high if you are in So Cal. Thanks for the credits....Cheers
Take care
Mike
interior illusions
Cool digs. It's amazing how some good things like tasteful design in decorating pretty much stays the same from one decade to the next.
Aging gracefully...
LOL! Yeah, the gray is coming in nicely I think and I owe the weight loss to the wonderful photographer Shannon!
Time flies...
Donovan looks so much older since I last saw him...but also like he's lost weight. Cool crib, kid!
also...
One more thing that is neat about Donavan's place is that alot (if not all) of the art you see is from local artists. Which is cool in my book!
what I really want to know is...
-how much would you pay for a set of tires...?
(ups, wait, wrong regime.... ;)
VERY COOL NEW SERIES... THIS IS GONNA BE GREAT...
(I didn't realize that the stairs/portraits shot was going sideways... I thought he HAD hung them all sideways, and I'm thinking... well, when you're drunk and sprawled out on the stairs, at least there's something to look at...)
This is a swanky place, excellent use of a tight space.
-another great source for furniture?
CraigsList
(I bagged a GT Ricochet (Mt. Bk) with a ton of extra goodies, for like, 30.00 -and it came with a free couch...)
-half the time folks are like: 'Just get it out of here.'
You're next Mr. Oz?
Once you move into your new house, I mean.
great new feature!
good work, Mr. Whitewater...
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