Inside a French-Inspired Apartment Filled With Antiques

After raising three children in the suburbs, Laurie Furber decided it was time for a change. She traded her longtime family home for a loft-style apartment in Oakland, California, where she could create a space entirely around the way she lives now.

Laurie is the founder of Elsie Green, a family-run business specializing in French vintage furniture and objects, and her home reflects that same love of collecting. Vintage French pieces sit alongside mid-century icons, contemporary art, travel finds, and objects she has gathered over decades. Nearly everything has meaning, from a French mirror discovered on a road trip through the countryside to her mother-in-law’s textbook and a collection of hotel stationery tucked behind her bedroom door.

Rather than relying on a lot of color, Laurie creates warmth through linen, wood, aged finishes, art, books, and layers of texture against a neutral backdrop. The result is a highly personal apartment that feels collected over time and designed around the things Laurie genuinely loves.