Creative Couple Andrew Bird and Katherine Tsina at Home
Andrew Bird and Katherine Tsina are both artistically inclined in their own individual areas, and together, their creativity has resulted in a beautiful 1920’s-era home that boasts all the dreamy design touches you would expect from a very creative and talented couple. Tsina is a fashion designer who once trained as a dancer. Her husband, Andrew Bird, is a singer and song writer, and when the pair moved from New York City to the L.A. area with their five year old son, Sam in order to gain better access to avenues for both of their careers, they came upon the old 1920’s home and had similar ideas for what they could do with the home. Continue reading and scrolling through the following pics to see the creative couple, Andrew Bird and Katherine Tsina at home.
Bird talks about the vision he and his wife both had for the place when they first saw it. They both had vision for the home, and that included bringing it out of its Goth look and brightening the place. He discussed the heaviness of the wood ceilings and other Goth-like features that needed renovating and updating, and to look at the home today, you’d never know there was ever anything dark, dreary, or dated in the place.
Creating a new space from a clean slate
Bird says that the pair have similar tastes, but they still had to work together to match their likes and ideas. They both have always liked the look of midcentury furniture, which they have used in the home, but have incorporated rustic vintage pieces to give it a more modern, and classic old design idea. Bird says that they decided to work with a lot of the home’s old characteristics as opposed to renovating them. The home’s Mediterranean archways and early 20th-century moldings throughout the home were left intact and from there, they began adding their own design details to give it their own personal style touches, like a full kitchen gut-job, and giving the walls a fresh coat of white paint (Pointing by Farrow & Ball). They had Moroccan tile laid in the bathrooms and used minimal graphite-and-brass fixtures from Waterworks and Liz’s Antique Hardware, to compliment it.
One space that was totally transformed was the dining room. The room was designated as Tsina’s studio to design her fashion wear. In order to separate the space from the other parts of the home, a barn door was installed. The door was given an ebonized wash in order for it to flow with the ceiling in the adjoining great room. Inside her studio you will find a full rack of all her latest designs, a drafting table, as well as a unique, Brooklyn-based Workstead multiarm chandelier that gives the room an added bit of charm and design flair.
Art is carefully chosen for the home
Both Bird and Tsina agree that artwork is a very personal element to designing a home. Bird feels strongly that you should never just hang any old piece of art, instead, each piece should have meaning and there should be a personal connection to it. Their belief is that artwork should be carefully thought out; putting as much thought into each piece as you would if choosing a roommate. After all, you will be living with it on a day-to-day basis.
Not only do each of their artwork pieces have meaning and purpose, their furnishings do to. The couple chose a long John Derian sofa for the kitchen, that took them months to decide on. They wanted it to be comfortable, yet long-lasting and sturdy. They chose an indigo denim sofa from John Derian, and in front of a window sits a beautifully designed biomorphic wood coffee table that was designed and sculpted by Alma Allen. It’s not only meant to be functional, but works as a piece of art that is hard to pass by without giving it a second glance.
Tsina and Bird both have not only made incredible changes to an older home to bring it into modern times and breathed the breath of life back into it, but their careers are also both taking off since relocating out west. Tsina has developed a line of unisex shirtings that will be completed for, and featured with FW 15/16, and Bird is always working on his music and creating new material, including an album that was released back in the winter of 2016.