Small Space Big Style: Hollywood condo ‘show house’ to open
Eight Los Angeles designers have created a hip “show house” in Hollywood, but what makes the Small Space Big Style design showcase different is its size. This is no 5,000-square-foot estate with guest house and maid’s quarters. It’s a 1,400-square-foot unit inside the Hollywood Condos on Yucca Street.
Organized by California Home + Design magazine, the two-bedroom, three-bath showcase opens Friday inside architect Stephen Kanner’s 2008 building, which has a 17-foot ceiling and soaring windows. Molly Luetkemeyer, Christopher Kennedy, Brian Patrick Flynn, Christian May, Azadeh Shladovsky, Erinn Valencich, and Mary Gray and Annette Goliti Gutierrez of the garden store Potted transformed the interiors by adding loads of color and inventive small-space solutions.
One design tip: “Don’t limit yourself with color,” said Valencich, who created a subdued and sexy master bedroom by applying a blue glaze from Portola Paints & Glazes to the walls with a putty knife. She also advised small-space dwellers to break from conventional wisdom and think big when it comes to picking furniture. “People tend to go too small when furnishing a small space,” she said, gesturing to walls and noting the large white nightstands flanking the bed.
Luetkemeyer wasn’t shy about using color either, applying pink grass cloth by Élitis to the walls of a second-story mezzanine. With hypothetical residents in mind -- a costume designer and musician couple -- Luetkemeyer created a vibrant music and sewing room that she described as “Southwest on acid.” In an inexpensive move, Luetkemeyer lined the walls of an alcove with cork and pinned colorful photos and magazine clippings -- an idea teenagers and college students could copy using little more than cork squares and wallpaper glue.
Gray and Gutierrez transformed a plain concrete patio into a party space by painting walls green and gray, installing an industrial chandelier from Cleveland Art, adding colorful pillows and hanging planters on the walls. The designers said they wanted to create something that would not require much maintenance. Plants are limited to succulents and a small screen of olive trees. “That’s where the green on the walls came from,” Gray said. With views of Yamashiro, the Hollywood Hills and the Dolby (formerly Kodak) Theatre, the outdoor space -- much like the rest of the condo -- has a contemporary L.A. vibe.
Small Space Big Style is open 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Fridays, and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays, through Nov. 18, at the Hollywood Condos, 6735 Yucca St. Admission is $20.
For an easy way to follow the L.A. scene, join us on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest too.
