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My Favorite Room: Travis Wall learns new moves for harmonious home decor

The room "feels like home; it feels comfortable," Wall says.
(Ivan Kashinsky / For The Times)
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There’s a chalkboard scrawled with ideas for dance routines and a gleaming Emmy statuette in choreographer Travis Wall’s living room, but otherwise, his work life remains separate from his personal life.

“When I come home, I want to feel home,” Wall, 28, said of his West Hollywood pad. “I want to feel like I have a life outside of the crazy schedule and this crazy world where we’re being pulled in a thousand directions.”

Dancing since he was 3, Wall gained attention for his 2006 performances on “So You Think You Can Dance.”

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In addition to providing choreography and performances for “SYTYCD,” Wall has contributed to “Dancing With the Stars,” the MTV Video Music Awards and the 82nd Academy Awards. His dance company, Shaping Sound, begins its fourth international tour this month.

The dancer's living room in his West Hollywood apartment is his refuge.
The dancer’s living room in his West Hollywood apartment is his refuge.
(Ivan Kashinsky / For The Times )

Why is the living room your favorite room?

This feels like home; it feels comfortable. I’ve got my fiancé, my dog, everything that allows me to escape from my work schedule.

What has it been like for you and your fiancé, Dom Palange, to combine your personal styles?

It has not been easy. In my early 20s I was single, and I would paint every wall a different, bright color. I was into pop art, and sometimes it looked like a Care Bear threw up in my apartment.

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But my life changed, and now we’ve found our style together — because he never decorated at all, and I decorated way too much. We kind of came together in the middle.

What was the decorating process like?

At first, it was very, very, very hard. We could not agree on anything, and we would get so frustrated … we just wouldn’t put anything up.

About a year-and-a-half ago we sat down and said, let’s do this. We started to compromise. Now people say, “I love what you did with the place,” and we’re like, “Finally, right?”

What’s your favorite thing about the room?

The sofa table — it’s like a shadow box. We just did a three-week tour of Italy, Barcelona and London, and we put all of our favorite memorabilia in there: the maps, hotel keys, all the corks from the wine, all the collectibles. It’s a piece of furniture I love.

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You have some cool vintage stuff. What do you collect?

We collect old film reels and have a couple of vintage cameras. I’ll go to random thrift shops and antique stores, and if I find a piece I really love, we bring it home.

Any spontaneous dance sessions?

There’s a little moving around, but it’s not like I’m doing flips off the couch or anything.

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