MEET ERIN & JEANNE
ERIN Hiemstra, Creative director
Erin discovered a passion for design in her earliest days of building lego dream homes and meticulously arranging her childhood bedroom. She began channeling her passion for a life well-lived into the nascent world of design blogging in 2008 - what we call the OG era.
Her blog, Apartment 34, was created to chronicle the renovation of Erin’s first home purchase in Seattle. For more than a decade, Erin immersed herself in the design world, developing an elevated aesthetic and intentional approach to modern living, as her award-winning website developed a following of the style-savvy from around the globe.
When not blogging, Erin built a practice as an interior stylist, applying her signature refined, curated, yet approachable style - honed by time spent living in Europe, the East Coast and California - to multitudes of editorial, residential and commercial projects. It was through her styling work that Erin really fell in love with the treasure hunt. She strongly believes that the objects with which we surround ourselves personify our story. When we can attach higher value and deeper meaning to them, they cut through the noise and cease to become mere possessions - they are our connections with other people, places or time - punctuating the monotony of everyday life and enhancing our humanity.
Erin was a featured designer of the 2013 Sunset Magazine Showhouse. In 2014, Erin became intimately acquainted with the concept of slow design when she began the restoration of her 150-year-old Victorian home in San Francisco, the completion of which was published in Domino Magazine in 2020. Most recently, Erin completed the transformation of a 90s spec home into an idyllic, Nordic-inspired luxury vacation rental on the shores of Puget Sound.
JEANNE CHAN, managing director
Jeanne’s love for interiors began at a young age when she started collecting international design magazines and constantly obsessing over design shops. While she grew up modestly in Hong Kong and San Francisco, she wasn’t bound by her humble beginnings, but rather used it to fuel her creativity and a quest for intentional living.
Jeanne established a keen eye for elevated designs by working at a top interior design firm that focuses on luxury residential interiors. She was influenced in an environment that held strong business practices and in-depth knowledge in classical architecture and design. She then took her passion towards entrepreneurship when she felt a strong urge to start her own business and was inspired to bring beautiful aesthetics into people’s everyday lives. She launched a modern lifestyle brand that manufactured a line of well-designed paper goods that was sold across U.S. and Europe. She grew the business over the course of eight years and continues to thrive with an entrepreneurial mindset.
While she takes pride in running a product business, her recent home renovation led her back into her passion for creating beautiful spaces and a venture in interior design. She believes that good design can nourish the mind and soul, and a home should be an extension and a reflection of you. Her approach is calm and collected, purposeful and refined. While her aesthetic is contemporary and timeless, she is a firm believer in layering different period designs and styles, mixing the affordable with the one-of-a-kind, paying attention to quality and craftsmanship, and incorporating sustainable practices by sourcing products made with honest process and quality materials.