My Houzz: Vintage Style for a Musician's Cottage

Musician Mark Pickerel knows all about collecting. He’s been doing it since he was a kid. Raised in the rural town of Ellensburg, Washington, Pickerel developed a love for Western, Southwestern and music-related vintage that has grown and evolved over the years. The rented home he shares in Seattle with girlfriend Keely Murphy, a poet, and his daughter, Hazel, is a place to showcase his finds and incorporate them as practical, functional pieces.

“I’ve grown to understand that instruments themselves have inherent value as artistic decorative objects,” says Pickerel, who is also a manager for Sub Pop records. “And that I can use things I’ve collected over the years as shelves or storage. It helps me have easy access to what I need, and it also lets the things I’ve found be out in the open.”

Houzz at a Glance
Who lives here: Mark Pickerel, Keely Murphy and Pickerel’s daughter, Hazel (age 5)
Location: South Park neighborhood of Seattle
Size: About 1,250 square feet (116 square meters); 2 bedrooms, 1 bathroom
Year built: 1931

The original fireplace and its decorative tile surround set the vintage tone for the living room. The sconces and niche are original; Pickerel filled the latter with a vintage green ceramic cougar and a gong. “I’ve used gongs and cymbals throughout the house,” he says. “I used to just put them away, but now I see that they have their own artistic merit as objects: They change color in the light, they reflect it, and their shape can work with other items in the room.”


Pickerel uses vintage suitcases as functional yet decorative side tables. “They store the merchandise for my shows and help me move efficiently from one world to another,” he says.

The hutch, which the home’s owner left behind, is topped with a vintage Southwest-inspired bowl and vases from Pickerel’s former work as an art director’s assistant. The reproduction matador art is faux Spanish — one of many such works ubiquitous in the 1960s. “I don’t care at all that it was mass produced and isn’t authentically Spanish,” he says. “When I find something like this, I see it as part of our past. I consider it a gold mine.”

Bowl: Yesterday’s Village in Yakima, Washington; guitar: Prairie Song (late 1960s), Emerald City Guitars; cowboy boots: Nocona (1950s); sofa: Macy’s


A painting by Pickerel’s mother, Cheryl Roberts, hangs above the sofa and has personal meaning. “I used my mom’s painting as the cover for my first self-titled record, Dark Fantastic,” he says.

An antique sewing machine cabinet stands in as a side table.


A lamp found at a yard sale shines a mellow light on an antique photo discovered in Austin, Texas. A Brown & Haley chocolate box is filled with matchbooks from venues where Pickerel has played. He purchased the neckties from a vintage dealer in Spokane. “You used to get these ties at Native American tourist stands in the 1940s, ’50s and ’60s,” Pickerel says. “I started using clothing as decoration recently. I wanted to showcase their artistic content — they have a great look.”


In this living room corner, cowboy boots found on eBay stand next to an Oahu record player and a guitar from Emerald City Guitars. “I really love vintage guitar stores which have guitars and equipment that are both usable and work well on their own in the house,” Pickerel says. “You can leave them out, and they look terrific.” The lamp and cabinet are antique mall finds.


A combination of vintage speakers, a built-in display case, a wooden cabinet and crates built by DJ Cy “Cyrus” help contain Pickerel’s extensive record collection, record player and vintage finds.

Cabinet: Antique Liquidators; print: Mort’s Cabin


The family room is devoted to music. The two vivid paintings are by Pickerel’s mother. The poster is vintage, and vintage Pepsi crates are used to store CDs and records.


Vintage guitars from Thunder Road Guitars are on the other side of the family room, along with a vintage side table with issues of Nest, a design magazine Pickerel describes as “close to my aesthetic and inspirational.”


The second-floor master bedroom is paneled in wood. The built-in nooks are perfect for showcasing memorabilia, including a Sony tabletop radio. “I understand that it’s Sony’s longest-running item in their arsenal of electronics,” says Pickerel. “I like its generic, square yet fashionable presence.”

The antique chair, made of wood and leather, was discovered at an estate sale. It originally came from the Traveler’s Hotel in Cle Elum, Washington.


Every horizontal surface is an opportunity to display beloved vintage objects, such as ties, a guitar strap, a bolo tie, antique wood boxes and ceramics.


In the corner is a vintage guitar, cowboy boots, a fire extinguisher–turned–lamp, and a didgeridoo that Pickerel’s brother made from a yucca trunk.


Cymbals make another appearance here, adding a bit of metallic shine to the room’s longest wall. A secondhand ottoman, a Bradington Young leather chair topped with a 1920s burlap potato sack, and a vintage saloon print round out this corner.


The dining room is a bright, cheerful space with a great built-in glass-front hutch. The hutch’s interior lighting spotlights carefully curated vintage items like a Devo doll from Easy Street Records, a Vogue Pic Disc, vintage lunch boxes, trays and more. There’s also a photo of Pickerel’s mother and her sisters, who were a 1950s and ’60s singing group, The Hughes Sisters.


A vintage Western throw is used as a tablecloth; a horse-and-cart-shaped platter for chips and dip carries the home’s theme through to the dining room. “It’s great to be able to throw something down you’ve collected and have it work so well,” says Pickerel.


A reclaimed fireplace mantel and vintage mirror surround a fireplace screen, forming a faux fireplace.


“I don’t want to give the impression that I have everything organized and in its place,” says Pickerel, shown here with daughter Hazel and girlfriend Keely Murphy. “I have two storage areas full of things! But I’ve definitely learned that I can use great-looking vintage items for both function and for fashion. They can make my life easier, and they can also be out in the open, on display, instead of hidden away.”

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