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Title: Ben Cuevas, and my pet tarantula is called Thierry Spoodler (after famed designer Thierry Mugler).
Location: Silver Lake — Los Angeles, California
Dimension: 850 sq. foot
Sort of House: One-bedroom residence, with workspace
Years lived in: 2.5 years, renting
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“I discovered my dwelling at a wild time. It was the peak of the pandemic, in April of 2020. My outdated constructing offered to a developer, and I used to be going by way of a nasty breakup, proper when it felt like the entire world was falling aside as a result of COVID,” begins artist Ben Cuevas. “This place turned my protected haven. I used to be very intentional about creating an area that could possibly be a spot for therapeutic, the place I may nurture all of the elements of myself I wished to offer area to flourish.”
“This residence had nice bones, together with a big work space with beamed ceilings, picture-rail moldings, and excessive base-boards — uncommon issues to seek out in an residence! It was in-built 1968, which is an ideal match for the form of mid-century model I’ve all the time been drawn to,” they clarify. “The ground plan is open, however with clearly outlined separations between work, dwelling, consuming, and sleeping areas. I favored how the bed room and toilet are form of in their very own little wing, separate from the dwelling/working/eating areas. It’s the best mixture of open idea with clearly outlined area.” However although Ben appreciated the residence’s structure, in addition they wished to place their very own spin on the area. Impressed by Amy Sedaris’ design recommendation, Ben added a tile backsplash within the kitchen, put in bookshelves in the lounge, gave the entire lavatory an replace, and extra.
Condominium Remedy Survey:
My Model: My model is an eclectic mixture of mid-century trendy, Artwork deco, Bohemian, and luxe influences. I like the concept of lived-in luxurious, utilizing supplies that really feel wealthy however inviting, like worn-in leather-based, or plush velvet. I’m actually drawn to geometric shapes, and like to attract connections between completely different design actions and cultures. As an example, in my eating room, I’ve a customized Artwork Deco mirror handcrafted by native stained-glass artist Harpal Sodhi, paired with a Scandinavian-designed Turkish flatweave rug from IKEA. Whereas they arrive from completely completely different eras and elements of the world, they’ve angles and contours that reference one another, whereas enjoying with completely different scales of sample. The geometric references carry all through my residence, from the hexagonal tile backsplash in my kitchen, to the trendy summary jacquard weaving on my quilt, and extra.
I’m positively not a minimalist, however I’m not fairly a maximalist both. I reside and design by a philosophy of simply sufficient, all the time striving for stability between visible curiosity and ease. I discover the transition from Artwork Deco to mid-century modernism particularly fascinating, and I like mixing these two types collectively. I like mixing metals too, particularly brushed brass, powder-coated black, and chrome. Discovering methods to combine metals that also feels cohesive can actually add a bespoke feeling to your area.
Inspiration: My foremost affect for my dwelling got here from the earth (I’m a Taurus Solar), particularly the colours of malachite and azurite. I like wealthy gem tones, and inexperienced being the colour for the guts chakra, I wished to place emerald entrance and heart to make this an area of heart-centered therapeutic. I’m a little bit of a witch and am delicate to the ways in which energies circulation, so I labored with Mark Ainley of Sense of Area Up to date Feng Shui to superb tune the stability of the weather. Mark’s perception through our Zoom classes was such a priceless supply of inspiration, and made every little thing come collectively superbly and harmoniously.
Favourite Factor: My favourite component in my house is my bookcase. I designed it myself and had it constructed by California Closets. I like curling up within the nook of the sofa by my bookcase on the finish of the day, surrounded by so many issues that I like. Being close to all my books, vegetation, artwork, and zines makes me really feel like I’m dwelling in my very own little library nook of all my favourite issues.
Greatest Problem: My largest problem was the pandemic. Transferring proper within the midst of lockdown meant that every little thing took a lot longer than anticipated — I waited a complete yr for my velvet knot pillow to reach! My sofa was backordered for six months, and it took virtually twice as lengthy to get my eating room chairs delivered. Endurance paid off although, and I used to be in a position to make use of all my downtime in the course of the pandemic to actually concentrate on making my imaginative and prescient for my dwelling come true.
Proudest DIY: My proudest DIY is a toss-up between the credenza in my work space, and the kitchen backsplash. I put in that complete backsplash on my own in simply two days, and I even purchased a enjoyable new little desk noticed for the undertaking, so as to add to my device assortment.
The credenza although, might be my true fave, as I like an excellent upcycled IKEA hack. It’s two of IKEA’s BESTÅ cupboards, which I connected collectively and added walnut/brass mid-century tapered legs from PrettyPegs, and handcrafted leather-based/brass drawer pulls from Rowzec, a German leather-based artisan on Etsy.
Is there one thing distinctive about your own home or the way in which you employ it? Utilizing my dwelling as my artwork studio, it will get activated in some fairly distinctive methods. My workspace may be very modular and my pc desk is on noticed horses, so it may simply flip into extra of a workshop kind of area, with room to make use of my knitting machine, or mount textiles on massive canvases. I do lots of hand knitting on my sofa, or at my eating room desk, so the entire great-room space is my atelier as a lot because it’s additionally my dwelling area. I actually love the liberty that comes from having the ability to work on my artwork any time inspiration strikes, with out the necessity to go someplace far to do what I’m captivated with.
Please describe any useful, inspiring, good, or simply plain helpful small area maximizing and/or organizing suggestions you’ve: For me, Feng Shui is important to getting probably the most out of a smaller area. There are such a lot of pragmatic ideas that assist maximize circulation and delight of your area. Mark Ainley’s Feng Shui consulting was such an unimaginable useful resource and font of inspiration.
Considering of scale when mixing patterns is one among my favourite design methods. You all the time need to pair patterns at completely different scales in the identical space. As an example, in my bed room the rug is a really large-scale summary sample, paired with the quilt that has a mid-scale woven sample, and a smaller scale sample within the texture of the knit blanket on prime of that. Mixing sample sizes creates visible curiosity and ensures that two patterns on the similar scale aren’t competing for consideration.
The thought of repetition, rhythm, and rhyme is one other idea I discover extraordinarily useful when designing an area. Round my residence, you’ll discover emerald inexperienced repeated at numerous intervals that create a form of visible rhythm. In the lounge, the inexperienced velvet has a beat with the vegetation on the bookshelves and the inexperienced lamps on the top tables, permitting the attention to maneuver from one second to the following in a delightful means. The velvety really feel is carried by way of to the lounge flooring with layered rugs echoing softness from the pillows and fabric. The thought of rhyming and rhythm continues with different colours and textures too, just like the alternating white/brown leather-based furnishings items all through the area.
Additionally, take into account swapping out any/all your lighting. It’s not that onerous to put in a brand new a lightweight fixture and it makes such an enormous distinction to improve from the usual fixtures most residences include.
Lastly, what’s your best possible dwelling secret or adorning recommendation? The perfect adorning recommendation I ever acquired got here from Amy Sedaris in her dwelling tour video for The Minimize. In that YouTube video, she says that she seen her rental deposit as her design charge — which I feel is simply good. For those who’re renting, however plan to remain put for some time and need to actually make your area your individual, take into account your deposit the charge you pay for having the ability to reside in an area you really love and might name your individual.
And lastly, my finest dwelling secret is the place I disguise my trashcans! There was nowhere to place a trash and recycle bin within the kitchen or below the cupboards, so I needed to discover a method to disguise them in plain sight. It seems that IKEA’s KNODD trash cans match completely inside West Elm’s woven seagrass baskets. It was an exquisite coincidence that not solely solved a design drawback, however added to the general aesthetic of my dwelling.
Supply: Condominium Remedy
