I have updated my page dedicated to the set design of Modern Family and I figured I should publish the page here as well to make sure no one misses out. If you click the Modern Family tab above you will see the info I have collected here and any other updates I have in the future will also be added to it. Enjoy!
I have yet to meet a single person who doesn’t like the Emmy award winning show “Modern Family” and I am no exception to this rule. Along with being hysterical, the stylish homes featured in the show have everyone in a dizzy. Over the course of writing this blog I have done several posts on the decor of each home and have gotten amazing feedback. I decided to condense all the posts into one main page and make it that much easier to answer your questions and give you the info you seek. It seems all you beautiful readers are in agreement and have your own favorites. Whether your style runs homey traditional, sleek contemporary, or hip modern, the show has it all. Three very different styles of design being showcased in each home and all three have their own merits. If you don’t know which is your favorite you will by the end of reading this page.
The Dunphy’s Home
First off let’s just take a leisurely picturesque tour through the traditional warm family home.
Exterior:
I would take a shack if it was all my own but this simple family home would be so wonderful to start a family in.
Foyer:
A shot of the Dunphy staircase with the soft blue colour everyone seems to mutually love.
I included this shot to showcase some of the art work the Dunphy’s have in their home.
Living/Family Room:
You can see the entrance and a bit of the living room here. I really like the fresh colours and beachy feel the room has. The basket full of throw pillows beside the couch is a fresh take on the typical side table or lamp. The staircase actually reminds me a lot of the staircase in the 2009 PNE Prize Home which I posted pictures of , you can it find here.
This is the best view I could find of the bay window in the front of the house. I am Christmas obsessed so the fact that there is a Christmas tree in the bay window makes it that much better to me!
Here is a shot of the family room which is open to the kitchen and dining room. The couch colour is almost an exact match to the kitchen cupboard paint colour. I’m a big fan of the cute pillows on the couch.
These two shots above and below are from set designer Richard Berg who is a visionary when it comes to interior design. I aspire to be a designer of this man’s caliber. Modern Family is a drop in the barrel in comparison to some of the amazing work he has done. If you haven’t looked him up, I highly suggest it.
Kitchen/Dining Room:
The random hodge podge of plates and pictures on the wall makes you really feel like a family has lived there for years rather than a fake decorated set.
The dining room chairs have changed from the ones you see above to the rounded back ones you see below. I’m not sure when this happened but I will be keeping my eye out now to see if they change back.
Standing in the dining room looking into the family room. I love the basket beside the couch in place of the side table. The glass cabinet is an awesome way to display vases and blankets etc.
The table is a classic farmhouse looking wooden dining table that seats six. Also seen here are some of the deep red drapes I will talk about a little later.
Love the double wall ovens.
“That was hardly porn. It was a topless woman on a tractor. You know what they call that in Europe? A cereal commercial.” –Phil
This is the kitchen area in the Dunphy home. They have a fridge that is made to look like the cabinets. I really love the little desk and chair nook on the right. It would be so convenient to have that space for your recipes, cookbooks, lap top etc.
Master Bedroom:
All the furniture is wood grained with neutral walls and carpet. It's nice but a little bit dull compared to the rest of the home. I would love to see them have a comfy chair or a big pretty mirror somewhere in the room. It looks like they have two dressers, so maybe if they lost one piece of excess furniture and incorporated something a little more cozy it would look even better.
I really like the duvet set on the bed, it looks so comfy and cute to slip into at the end of the day. However, it bugs me when people block out their window and put their bed in front of it. I understand it if you have no other options layout wise but it blocks out the natural light so it’s best to be avoided. The bed would work on any other wall in this room but maybe they had to put it there for the camera angles or something, who knows! The bed frame is really interesting, it would fit in really well in a cabin with some rustic bedding too. I have zero luck in finding this particular bed frame by the way. I will update immediately if I ever do.
This is a better shot of those illusive curtains I will discuss later.
The curtains are a dark brown with a bright paisley and floral pattern.
Girl’s Room:
A rarely seen shot of one of the girls Haley and Alex’s bedroom. Both girls are teenagers with a room to match.
You have all been asking me so many questions on where to find the furnishings throughout Phil and Claire Dunphy's traditional home. I’ve read them all and I’m going to attempt to answer them the best I can. After some major hunting I think I can provide some viable options that are from stores we all know for the most part. Most are just some similar options I found to try to recreate the look and not the actual items from the set. So here’s what I came up with done from room to room:
People Magazine did an awesome spread on the Modern Family houses which included the set designer Richard Berg letting us in on some of the items and colors used to create the different looks of each family.
Nolan Gould (who plays Luke) shares a house secret: "The food sitting around is real - so when we get hungry, we'll just open a bag of chips."
Bowen divulges that the cast hides stuff - like Burrell's lunch box or Bowen's apple cores - in cubby holes on-set. "It's disgusting," says Bowen.
Dunphy Living Room:
1) Branch Out: Abstract florals give a "modern traditional" vibe, says the shows production designer Richard Berg.
Inhabit Ailanthus pillow, $60 2modern.com
2) On The Bright Side: "Not everything has to match," says Berg, who added a splash of sunny yellow to the room's more sedate color palette. "My personal rule is: break one rule per room."
Soleil serving trays, $35-$41; bambeco.com
"Comfortable is definitely the look we were after," says Berg. "And this room is as comfortable as it looks."
3) Warm and Fuzzy: "Everyone has a memory of snuggling up under a blanket in the living room," says Berg. "I wanted a broad demographic to relate to this room."
Bellora microchenille throw, $21.43 amazon.com
4) Blue walls repeat throughout the house. But "it doesn't feel overdone," says Berg. "It just feels lovely."
Labrador Blue Paint, $56.99 per gallon; Benjaminmoore.com
A wall features snaps from the stars. "Seeing actors when they're younger, without makeup-suddenly they're real people," says Berg.
I found A LOT of striped decorative couch pillows during my searching that came pretty close to the light beachy striped pillows on the Dunphy sofa. I got a tip that the original pillows are discontinued from Pottery Barn but you can find similarities from
Ebay. This is also another situation where you can go the DIY route and make your own pillow covers in which case the pattern shown above would be an excellent way to go. I found this fabric at
Designs By Bethann. But here are some other great options:
The glass storage unit in the Dunphy living room has proven tricky to locate but I have a sneaking suspicion it probably costs a pretty penny too so I think why not go for a less expensive alternative that achieves the same style and feel? For that I suggest the
Hemnes glass door cabinet from
Ikea which is available in a few different colors.
The style of couch the Dunphy's have in their living room is called a "bridgewater sofa" which is defined by it's low set-back arms. This particular sofa from the set is from the store
Sofa U Love called “Vincent.”
Dunphy Kitchen:
This Pottery Barn “Harvest Dining Table” in French White seats up to six and had very similar detail in the legs. It could be matched even closer by sanding and staining the top of the table in a wood tone to match the Dunphy version. The important aspects of recreating this popular dining set is the farmhouse look of the table which is achieved with the distressed look.
In recent episodes they have the gray/ivory padded chairs which are a close match to Vintage French Round Side Chair chairs found at
Restoration Hardware.
If you are interested in some of the items hanging on the Dunphy Kitchen wall I found some interesting options. The pomegranate painting in the dining room is done by the artist
Amy Runyen who coincidentally is also married to an artist featured in Jay and Gloria's home, Nathan Rohlander. You can find a close replica to the pomegranate painting by a great artist named
Abbey Ryan. As for the plates, they are fairly random array so your best bet is to look on sites like
Ebay,
Etsy,
Craigslist and maybe hit up some local garage sales to find plates that perk your interests.
I get a lot of questions about what color the cabinets are in the Dunphy kitchen so with a little paint matching wizardry I came up with a couple close matches. One in the lighter tones and the other in the darker. They are both
Benjamin Moore, first is called Timothy Straw and the second is Castleton Mist. Keep in mind these are both educated guesses and may not turn out exactly the same.
The type of fridge the Dunphy kitchen has is a custom (aka pricey) panelled refrigerator. Lots of companies offer this option which entails trying to match your current or new cabinets with a panel over your fridge doors to blend it all in seamlessly. Some companies offering this service are Kitchen Aid, GE, Whirpool etc. It’s not difficult to find these options which is the good news!
These drapes from Pottery Barn called Harrison Stripes, matched so well to the Dunphy window dressing that I was pretty excited to find them however, it looks as though PB is not currently carrying the specific pattern (at least not online so maybe check your local PB just in case!). If you are willing to take the DIY route, I think it would be fairly easy to find this or a similar vertical striped pattern at a fabric store and whip up some curtains at a bargain price (there’s always Ebay too).
As for the shades found around the house, this simple cordless red version works well despite it not having the same striped pattern. They are from
Bed Bath and Beyond called
Red Chatham. But if you find you can’t part with the stripes then a great option is to go with the orange and red toned tiers and valance also from BB&B called
Red Summer Stripe Window Tiers and Valance. These are such an awesome alternative and would go swimmingly next to the other colors in the Dunphy kitchen.
Phil and Claire’s Master Bedroom:
Although I could not seem to find a bed matching the wood frame in the Dunphy master I did find a couple options that had the same style but in a metal frame which could always be painted in a brown or black to have a closer match. These two sweet little beds are from Pottery Barn called:
Claudia Bed and
Savannah Bed and Headboard. The picture above with the blue bedding is done with the Claudia frame so you can get a good indication of how well they pair together.
I tried like nuts to find a match to Phil and Claire’s dark paisley curtains in the master bedroom to no avail. I couldn’t find anything that had the same chocolate tone with the large blue and yellow paisley pattern. An alternative could be going a little lighter with the “
Simone Drape” from Pottery Barn found in the first picture. It would still look fabulous against a wood bed frame like Phil and Claire’s bed (or the metal option). Another way to go is using the
Cabana Window Panels seen above from
Bed Bath and Beyond. It’s a fun take on the original colorful drapes in their master bedroom. It has a lively pattern like the originals just in different shades and you can always lose the valance if it’s not your thing because it’s sold separately which makes the decision easy.
Haley and Alex’s Room:
For those of you interested in Haley and Alex’s bedroom curtains, I did find where they are actually from. The decorators made the curtains from a fabric they found at
F&S Fabrics called Eco Captiva #197. However, if you don’t live in LA or want to take your own approach to the curtains, I found some interesting options. This first picture above is a tablecloth from
Target that has the same young and fresh feel as the original. The second is from Ikea called
Majken. Lastly, from
Bed Bath and Beyond I found a shower curtain called “
Reflections” I think looks pretty darn close and who says you can’t hang a fabric shower curtain in a bedroom, it is after all made of cotton and polyester not hideous plastic. Gotta get creative with design!
These two beautiful works of art are the actual pictures on Haley’s wall that you see a glimpse of in the Earthquake episode. They are from the Etsy store
Yellena and are called
Fling and
Flit (best part is they are reasonably priced at $20. Score!)
Color Scheme:
I put together an alternate paint colour scheme for everyone who is looking to do a similar version of the various styles in their own home but not totally replicate it. These are some of the key traditional (and somewhat beach themed) colors found in the home. The blue is of course Labrador Blue which can be found on the entry way walls but you could also try another warm blue like Benjamin Moore’s Soft Chinchilla. The punches of red throughout the house can be found mostly on the window treatments so to correspond with that color I went with Merlot Red. The light beige found in the living room is a similar match to the third color Rainforest Dew. Lastly, the hits of green show up as an accessory color on objects like the plates in the kitchen, apples on the kitchen table and various flowers. This color is best brought out in a fun green like Spring Moss.
Cameron and Mitchell’s Home
Cam and Mitchell’s home is the perfect level of chic without verging on fussy so you still get to come home to a intimate and pleasant home. First the tour of this fabulous contemporary abode.
Exterior:
Love, love, love the interesting architectural features on this Mediterranean home.
Entrance/Living Room:
I’m nuts for the wispy neutral curtains and padded bench on the muted green walls.
I think this home falls somewhere between Claire and Phil's relaxed traditional home and Jay and Gloria's sleek modern home. It mixes the touches of trendy style but still stays true to the family home feel.
In this shot you get a good look at the exquisite fireplace. From what I can tell, Cam and Mitchell do not own a television.
This room has really simple straight lined pieces but doesn’t lose any plush comfort in the process.
The color scheme used for decorating this house is very sophisticated and calming.
A small wall cutout looking into Cameron and Mitchell’s kitchen from the living room.
Kitchen:
The green is broken up nicely with this happy yellow color in the kitchen.
Dining Room:
Another Berg shot, I can completely picture laughing and drinking wine with friends at that table. The bench seating is a nice touch to add some interest to the room and avoid being too matchy-matchy.
"I got Luke a video game, but it's about math. So, I guess we're those kind of uncles." –Mitchell
Lily’s Nursery:
This Berg shot shows the pretty in pink room Lily calls home. Cam surprised Mitchell with the mural on the wall so they could always “watch over Lily.” Other than the oddity of the mural I would say any little girl would be overjoyed to get such a sweet looking room. My favorite part is the look the retro green chair in the corner which is perfectly in line with the smart style of Cam and Mitchell.
Now here’s a little breakdown of what I could dig up on where to find to items in Cam and Mitchell’s home:
The couple's nursery mural (inspired by the Sistine Chapel) is "one of the funniest things I've ever seen," says Stonestreet (who plays Cam).
Living Room:
1) Photo Finish: Why did Berg select an exotic frame? "Mitchell and Cam are worldly and well-traveled, and that's brought into their design sensibilities." Plus, "they had more photos to offer up than the other actors."
Roost Horn frame, $40; velocityartanddesign.com
"My mom loves going through family albums and submitting pictures-it's like her favorite thing to do," says Ferguson (who plays Mitchell) of the real-life photos placed in frames all over the set.
2) In The Limelight: Berg opted for clean classic shapes-like the West Elm couch and this mod lamp-"because they feel familiar," he says. "In design, sometimes familiar beats reinventing the wheel."
Boka table lamp, $179; crateandbarrel.com
3) "This room is all about the grey-green walls," says designer Berg.
Louisburg Green paint, $56.99 per gallon; Benjaminmoore.com
"Cameron and Mitchell's taste is refined," says Berg, who accented their living room with wood tones and pops of red.
It’s important that I mention art work because a lot of people were interested in where various pieces found throughout the homes are from. I will be honest in saying I do not know where all of them are from however, I have found a couple options that I think would work beautifully as an alternative. These two paintings from
Etsy could be something you’d find in Cam and Mitchell’s home or even Jay and Gloria’s home for that matter. They’re called
Red Landscape Horizon and
Original Abstract Painting from the lovely Etsy store
Paint All Night Studios.
The area rug in Cam and Mitchell’s living room is a gray low pile rug which is matched well to this Ikea version called
Andrea. The actual rug used on the set is from
CB2 as well as the coffee table in the living room.
Dining Room:
I love the pairing of the industrial dining table with the contemporary padded chairs. Restoration Hardware has a great version of this table called the “Flatiron Dining Table”
These are pretty spot on to the chairs Cam and Mitchell have around their dining table. They are from
FurnitureFind.com and sell in pairs of two.
Lily's Room:
Here is another interpretation on what I think a good way to add a little of Cam and Mitchell’s color scheme to your home would be without simply copying it.
It’s a very muted yet impression making color scheme throughout the home. I liked Olive Moss as the green for the primary paint color. Secondly, I found that the tweed colored furniture such as the bench and couch, stood out against the gorgeous olive walls quite nicely. For this color I choose Timothy Straw. The accent color most often found around the house is a bright punch of orange which I felt was represented well with the paint color Citrus Orange. For the bright and sunny kitchen and flowers color, a creamy and subdued yellow like American Cheese does a great job of mimicking the room. Most of these paint color names had me hankering for a sandwich!
Jay and Gloria’s Home
Jay and Gloria easily have the largest and most “hip” home with the modern influence throughout which you will see from the tour.
The Exterior:
This home reminds me a lot of the house in the Kevin Costner movie "Mr. Brooks." Coincidentally like Jay, Costner also played an architect in the film so maybe it's a common style amongst people in that career. I really like this house but it feels a little museum-esque or like an office building from the outside looking in, it's very California chic though. For fun, here is the house in Mr. Brooks to compare it to:
Pretty similar eh?
Foyer:
In this Berg shot we see the same merlot striped rug used in Phil and Claire’s dining room which I think is neat to see how the same item can work for totally different styles yet still look flawless.
I’m loving the unique door for this home. The foyer has a classic pedestal table which proves not all modern furniture has to look weird.
Living Room:
This shot shows that to the left of the foyer is the living room with a fireplace and TV. You can also see there is a mini bar off to the left in the family room as well.
The living room is full of leather tuft furniture including the walls of the bar in the corner. Lots of interesting art and patterns in this room as well. I wouldn't think to incorporate the leopard and zebra patterns but they seem to work pretty well in the space and remind us that this is the exotic Gloria’s home too.
It's a masculine room without feeling cold or sparse which some modern spaces are guilty of.
Dining Room:
These two almost identical shots show a really good example of natural light vs artificial light. There are also some subtle changes in the accessories like the lamp shade and the hanging picture.
This is clearly geared more to Jay’s tastes but in subtle ways we see touches of Gloria. For example, the vivacious painting on the otherwise muted brown walls.
The Kitchen:
I loved that Berg mingled the two incredibly different styles of Jay and Gloria so well. Jay is a traditional kind of man with a taste for design made clear by his career choice whereas Gloria is a fiery Latino with a big personality. The merging of these differences comes together beautifully in this vibrant kitchen. It’s mostly eclectic with a few shots of contemporary elegance that we see in pieces like the light fixtures and table and chairs.
“He scared the baby cheeses out of me!” –Gloria
So many choices to sit when you eat at this house what with the dining room, the stools at the counter and the table and chairs in the kitchen! Again we are seeing the two different styles working as one in pieces like the zebra print bar stools versus the sleek dining room set.
Master Bedroom:
I apologize in advance for these grainy shots of Jay and Gloria’s bedroom; it was the best I could find. Rest assured if I get my hands on some better shots I will promptly replace these ones.
I saw this bedroom briefly in an episode and I was instantly gaga over it. The bed looks like it’s floating and the neutral colour of the walls looks fabulous with the contrast of orange and coral beach style pillows.
I posted this picture just to show the adorable little table with the flowers and picture frame. Imagine having a room big enough for all this furniture and then some.
Opposite corner of the bedroom where we find out Gloria keeps her underwear...
which is eventually thrown on Phil in a rage.
This shot is when you first walk into Jay and Gloria’s bedroom. You can see there is a small couch to the right and a chest of drawers.
Backyard:
Beautiful backyard with lit pool. They seem to lead quite a luxurious life.
Lastly, I’ll share the information I found on re-creating the look of this third home:
The
People Magazine article gave some great insight to the choices made in the home.
Ed O'Neill's take on his cranky character's digs? "I never think about it," he says, "I show up. That's the house. There's the door. Okay."
Living Room:
1) Getting Graphic: "Their home's modernism comes from the vivacious Gloria (Sofia Vergara)," says Berg. And the inspiration for all the zebra print? "I imagine her underwear to be just like that."
Zebra Shade, $35; pbteen.com
2) Stripe Tease: This piece refelcts the set's bold flavors. "If we were to add pastel, tutti-frutti colors, it would like like a circus," says Berg.
Merlot Stripe Rug, from $299; crateandbarrel.com
3) Why crimson walls? "Gloria reminds me of a red-hot chili pepper!" says Berg.
Currant Red paint, $56.99 per gallon, Benjaminmoore.com
I am super pleased to FINALLY be able to tell you where some of the art found throughout Jay and Gloria's home is from! I finally have the answer to the famous sandals painting question you have all been asking me about. The painting is done by an amazing artist named
Nathan Rohlander. You can actually buy prints of his art which is fabulous. Call (323-899-6563) if you are interested.
"The door to my house is a nightmare," says Vergara. "It makes a horrible noise. They finally fixed it. It had been screaming for seven months."
Dining Room:
The vibrant painting found on the dining room walls is from an amazing artist named
Gus Harper. He has a collection all done in this similar bright fruit style.
The white sideboard in Jay and Gloria’s dining room is contemporary and sleek. Ikea has a great version called
Torsby.
Finally, my last take on what color scheme I think would be fabulous together when trying to achieve the modern look of Jay and Gloria’s home:
I went with some classic neutral tones to match the feel of this earthy architectural home. The mocha color seen in the dining room came very close to a shade called Ferret Brown. The dominant color on the walls is soft stone gray I feel best matched to Horizon Gray. Throughout the house you can find several hits of an accented golden brown color that I think is very close to the color Yellow Marigold. The last color that stood out was the hits of wild red around the house (which we learned are symbolic to Gloria's fiery personality). For this color, I stuck with the Currant Red because it really did tie the space together so perfectly so changing it could be a big mistake. These four paint buddies make for a modern yet still feisty palette just like this couple.
Do you have a favorite of the three homes? Are you a mix between the three or is there one you just hate? Do tell, I love hearing from you so feel free to share your thoughts and questions! I will add to this as I feel I have worthy info to share and as usual you are all welcome to use this as a forum for your own ideas or questions. I love learning tips from you guys and sharing what I’ve found myself.
*Picture credits goes to ABC, EW, People Magazine and Richard Berg. All paint colors mentioned are Benjamin Moore. Reckless Bliss receives zero compensation for any of the products mentioned*
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Today is the day! Can you feel the excitement? Oh, I can feel it alright. Today I get to publish the winner of this amazing signed print “Junk Food” by Nathan Rohlander. Most of you know this painting from ABC’s hit show Modern Family; it hangs in Jay and Gloria’s foyer. This has been a super special giveaway for me to conduct because I was fortunate enough to get to know the artist more personally (you can join me in this by reading the interview I posted in July). 
While working on a shoot for Dave Matthews my right hand was crushed in a freight elevator. The good news is my micro skills are left handed and my macro skills are primarily right handed. The injury required two surgeries and took a long time to heal. It gave me time to do a lot of thinking. My decision was to become independent and focus on my dream as a fine artist.
So many choices to sit when you eat at this house what with the dining room, the stools at the counter and the table and chairs in the kitchen! Again we are seeing the two different styles working as one in pieces like the zebra print bar stools versus the sleek dining room set. 
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