AT HOME WITH A FRIEND Vol.3at home in the curious city

MONICA
If there is anyone who gets a bigger rush from bargain hunting than me in this world it's probably Krista. We used to go shopping together at Ross after school. She once told me that after having baby Clive, she doesn't buy anything over one digit. I really admire her ability to see the potential in things and to be able to make those things work. She and her family recently moved into a new apartment in El Segundo filled with great vintage finds and furniture they built themselves. As Krista puts it, "I sense a theme, things we make and the things we find."

"The Laney's" made from Scrabble pieces was a creative and memorable wedding gift.

The front door. We have a fantastic view of the south runway of LAX. Lamp and hook from CB2.

The main feature of our living room is the giant 8 ft white board we got at a garage sale. Anthony framed it in pine and mounted track lighting to the top of it. The switch for the lighting is mounted inside an old model base from architecture school that we are now using as a shelf for knick knacks. Since I am awake Saturday mornings now due to Clive, it has become a ritual of mine to check out the garage sales in our neighborhood and take Clive.

We use our 8 ft desk (another one of Anthony's plywood projects) to create a more intimate space in our living room. Our couch is from the HD Buttercup outlet.

My favorite piece of furniture is our airport chairs. We found them disassembled in a corner of a warehouse moving sale. The warehouse sale was in our neighborhood, El Segundo, and was advertised on Craigslist. It was truly the most epic garage sale we have ever been to. The guy had an eBay business and was moving to NYC hence he was selling all his stuff. I find it a fitting piece due to our close proximity to LAX (it's literally across the street).

Our dining room table is from Craigslist, chairs are Eames reproductions from Overstock.com, lamp is from HD Buttercup outlet. When we changed the light fixture there was an ugly ring from the previous fixture so I placed a black vinyl applique over it to make it look more intentional.

Our mid century coffee table is a Goodwill find. We didn't have space for it in our old apartment and I am happy to see it in use again!

The shelving in our dining room is made out of birch Ekby Valter brackets from Ikea and pine wood from Home Depot.

The left photo is of our bedroom. The green mid century mega lamp, I got at the St. Luther Thrift Store in Redondo Beach. The shade is made out of rods of wood and chenille woven together. Sitting next to the lamp is a model Anthony made in architecture school. I made the drawings in the black frame for our first wedding anniversary--paper. Anthony made the cabinet out of plywood when he was in college. Knobs are Ikea. Do you like my baby proofing? A hair tie! The right photo is our bathroom, the chicken was a gift from a friend and is made of plastic bags. The shower curtain is from Urban Outfitters.

Clive's crib is from Ikea, and his gradmother crocheted his blanket. She also hand made his baby bumpers and the rest of his bedding.

Clive's room is inspired by the drawings of Charlie Harper. I made felt versions of his drawings for a skit we did at church and repurposed them here. The red chair is from CB2 and the lamp is Ikea. The shelf is made out of plywood and is another one of Anthony's college projects.

We don't have a television, but for my birthday last year Anthony got me a projector! We now can watch Netflix on our "big screen" aka white board.

JUNETTE
You met Cindy and Archie just a short while ago, and she bravely agreed to take us on a tour of her house at the edge of Koreatown sans any cleaning or prepping for the photo shoot. This is real life, yo. 

Cindy protests that she has no artistic or creative sense, but you can tell she has a particular aesthetic the moment you see the bright green walls in her bedroom. I've lived in apartments for most of my life and never really customized my own space. When I bought my house, I knew I wanted to paint it something different from the standard eggshell white neutral. My favorite color is green (closer to avocado/lime than emerald) so I just went with it. I thought it could potentially look garish, but I'm so happy with the way it turned out.

Cindy also claims that she's not very girly, but she always has a ring on her finger and a fun color on her nails. 

I find it fascinating to see what people collect. 

Cindy also has a vast collection of jewelry. 

I found my jewelry organizer/mirror during the many times I've channel surfed HSN/QVC. Most people aren't familiar with the two networks since they're not middle-aged housewives, but I've watched both home shopping networks enough times to be familiar with the hosts and own more than a  handful of items presented on shows. I love everything I purchased, especially this mirror. I have a clutter problem and this helps me hide my problem. You can purchase one here. My favorite piece of jewelry of the moment is a recent purchase from Japan. It's a gold necklace with a small crescent moon pendant. My parents named me Cindy, which is associated with the goddess of the moon, because my face as a baby was so round that it reminded them of a full moon...true story. I still have the same round face , and I just love that my two Korean parents picked that name for me because of that. 

Real life means real clutter. Cindy's giant bed is the center of her room around which everything happens - tv, nail painting, work, reading, snacking... no wonder her bedside tables are overflowing.

The tour ends at her living room, because the back of the house is the Parentals Zone, and we don't want to intrude. Before we moved into the house, I started scouring Craigslist for a winged arm chair to put in my room. I always wanted one and didn't want to pay the steep price, so Craigslist was my go-to option. I finally found a pink one in great condition and made the purchase. My mom went to pick it up for me and ended up coming back with the seller's entire living room set...lesson learned - do not send your mom alone to pick up furniture.

Wise words from homeowner, Cindy. It will be fun to see Cindy's interior design style evolve as she one day eventually redecorates the rest of her house.