Five decades before, proprietor of AMG Construction John Paul Coffey bought a house in the Mission district of San Francisco and went to work on a comprehensive remodel. Four decades after, Coffey’s girlfriend, designer Megan Nordin, proceeded in and added her experience. “We love living in the Mission and consider it as home,” Nordin says. “We all know our neighbors, we have relationships with the local merchants, and our lives and stories go back more than a decade. The area is filled with life, art and people who really make it a neighborhood.”
at a Glance
Who resides: John Paul Coffey and Megan Nordin
Location: San Francisco
Size: 1,200 square feet; 2 bedrooms, 1 bathroom
Alex Amend Photography
“I find that too many pieces of art can divert from one another and lose their individual presence,” Nordin says. “In contrast, I discover that lots of bits together can create its own look as a collection. With something like family photographs, as in our workplace, I just enjoy them as a big collection and would never scatter them around individually. I like the feel of these. It’s like a family.”
Alex Amend Photography
A lot of the furniture used is made from laminated wood or refurbished parts out of vintage pieces. This slat coffee table is made from a refinished vintage shirt and new legs.
Coffee table: produced by proprietor; sofa: Room & Board; lamp: vintage; artwork: Danny Purtill
Alex Amend Photography
Nordin made the custom shelving at the workplace using salvaged wood and vintage parts. She reupholstered the midcentury Danish bench below.
Alex Amend Photography
Nordin layouts for practicality in lived-in spaces. “I think it’s necessary to have the things you need available at a kitchen,” she says. “I need to wash bags, so I need to take a little counter space to avoid getting wet bags draped all over the place. I also need oils and spices easily available, since I cook a lot. I find that if something has a location on the countertop, it is simpler to just set it there once you’re done instead of having to place it off”
Alex Amend Photography
This dining table was likewise made by Nordin from sterile materials. “I just adore the way Engineered timber seems, but if it is real, not made to look weathered,” she says. “Most of my bits do not have a whole lot of work to the wood. I will oil if it requires it, make necessary repairs, but mainly I just like to find interesting wood and use other salvage materials to create the wood to furniture, such as a coatrack, coffee table, or even a handbag drier.”
Table: produced by proprietor; chairs: vintage
Alex Amend Photography
Vintage outdoor chairs have been refinished and used at the table. “I really like using outdoor furniture indoors,” Nordin says. “I am a huge fan of metal, weathered wood and furniture which has a linear layout of some sort — pliers, straps, ropes. I discover there are so many beautifully designed pieces meant for outside that work wonderfully indoors and add immediate visual interest.”
Chairs: vintage; bench, mirrored-shelf coatrack and table: made by proprietor
Alex Amend Photography
Nordin commonly uses vintage Japanese chests (tansu) in her spaces. “Everyone has clutter, as well as the tansu I use most frequently, that the choba-dansu (merchant torso) has many different pockets of different shapes and sizes. I find these bits very usefull in office or living spaces to store everything from pens and scissors to mail and files,” Nordin says.
Tansu: vintage
Alex Amend Photography
“I feel that layout should reflect one’s taste and lifestyle,” Nordin says. I really don’t believe in form versus function or the contrary. I believe good design incorporates both form and function.”
Choba-dansu: vintage
Alex Amend Photography
For practicality in a little bathroom, Nordin suggests having a coatrack for towels.
Alex Amend Photography
“I do not always use colour on the walls. White rooms may be an excellent background for different bits to stand out. I also tend to remain very neutral or white,” says Nordin.
Bed: Scandinavian Designs; tansu: vintage; table: made by proprietor
Alex Amend Photography
John Paul Coffey and Megan Nordin.
Art: Danny Purtill
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