USA Houzz: Creative Renters Make a Home in LA
By employing some craftiness and a little elbow grease, this American couple turned their rental apartment into uniquely styled home
Corynne Pless
7 March 2016
Houzz Contributor. Los Angeles, California.
Cori and Lamont Magee designed their cosy Los Angeles apartment in budget-friendly ways by repainting furniture, cleverly covering rental eyesores and envisioning DIY versions of high-cost design pieces. The home now boasts creative solutions to everyday home problems in modern Scandinavian-inspired style. “I’m most proud of executing the exact look that I wanted while still making the place 100% functional for our daily lifestyle, which includes pets, movie watching and working from home,” says Cori, a graphic designer.
Houzz at a Glance
Who lives here: Lamont and Cori Magee, their cat, Jolie and dog, Bishop
Location: Los Angeles, USA
Size: Approximately 70 square metres; 1 bedroom, 1 bathroom
Cori Magee describes her design aesthetic as ‘playful Scandinavian,’ a style that’s evident in the living room of the rental she shares with husband Lamont. It’s dressed in graphic prints, textiles and pops of colour. “Thanks to the internet, I have so many great design sources, in addition to my own design friends and print magazines,” she says.
The woven ottoman is from Cori’s parents’ garage.
White task lamp: Ranarp, Ikea; white coffee table: Crate and Barrel; pillows: Hem, Ikea, Etsy, Marimekko; rug: Urban Outfitters
Who lives here: Lamont and Cori Magee, their cat, Jolie and dog, Bishop
Location: Los Angeles, USA
Size: Approximately 70 square metres; 1 bedroom, 1 bathroom
Cori Magee describes her design aesthetic as ‘playful Scandinavian,’ a style that’s evident in the living room of the rental she shares with husband Lamont. It’s dressed in graphic prints, textiles and pops of colour. “Thanks to the internet, I have so many great design sources, in addition to my own design friends and print magazines,” she says.
The woven ottoman is from Cori’s parents’ garage.
White task lamp: Ranarp, Ikea; white coffee table: Crate and Barrel; pillows: Hem, Ikea, Etsy, Marimekko; rug: Urban Outfitters
“Once you know the look you want, whether it’s an entire room or a specific piece of lighting, you can try to figure out a way around buying the expensive option,” Cori says. For example, she had trouble locating black cafe-style lights at a low price. “Everything I was finding was at least $100. I decided to buy the $12 green string lights from Target and spray-paint them black. I’ve had them up for a couple years and I still love them,” she says.
Ektorp sectional sofa: Ikea; Los Angeles typography art: ORK Posters; ‘Small Talk’ art: One Must Dash
Ektorp sectional sofa: Ikea; Los Angeles typography art: ORK Posters; ‘Small Talk’ art: One Must Dash
Cori’s mother gave her the chest by the entryway as a gift for her eighth-grade graduation. The Day of the Dead pillow is also a gift from her mum.
Eames coat rack: Design Within Reach; Eames lounge chair: BD Talmadge
Eames coat rack: Design Within Reach; Eames lounge chair: BD Talmadge
“Whether we have the money or not, I refuse to spend $4,000 on a console, so the design challenge is finding a cheaper solution,” Cori says. For their own media console, she put two smaller floating cabinets from Ikea together and had a piece of wood cut to fit the top.
The living room opens up to what was once the dining room, now the couple’s shared home office. Cori is a graphic designer and blogger and Lamont is a writer. They made a work surface by turning two leaves from a dining table found at a garage sale into a shared desk and painting it white.
The office fan was originally brown. Their rental-friendly solution was to replace it with a white one, which visually disappears into the ceiling.
Stendig wall calendar: Need Supply; Pia Wallen blanket: Story North; art: Edu Barba
The office fan was originally brown. Their rental-friendly solution was to replace it with a white one, which visually disappears into the ceiling.
Stendig wall calendar: Need Supply; Pia Wallen blanket: Story North; art: Edu Barba
The air conditioner units were one of Cori’s biggest design dilemmas. “We had a white box with a hinged door commissioned to cover [the ugliness]”, she says. The unit floats above the desktop and the door can be opened in summer when the unit is running.
For the shelf above the box, Cori looked for houseplants with a low profile so they wouldn’t hit the ceiling. String of pearls, ivy and a small succulent fit the space perfectly.
For the shelf above the box, Cori looked for houseplants with a low profile so they wouldn’t hit the ceiling. String of pearls, ivy and a small succulent fit the space perfectly.
A styled bookshelf holds design books and keepsakes. Cori replanted an indoor cactus in a woven basket.
Kallax shelving: Ikea
Kallax shelving: Ikea
Jolie the cat sleeps on her favourite spot in the home, the cable TV box.
A graphic print hangs above a neon stool in the hallway next to the kitchen. “I love the black-and-white graphic style, and I also like colour and bring it in little places,” Cori says.
The glass boxes repurposed as side tables are from Cori’s great-great-grandmother and once held family bouquets.
The bedroom ceiling originally had a dark brown fan. Cori discovered an easy and cost-friendly solution for hiding the unwanted fixture without interfering with electrical wires. “I took the fan apart but left the small white base and bulb in the ceiling,” she says. “I bought the cloud light from Ikea and formed the paper layers in such a way to hide the base of the fan, and the rest of the layers float over the bed like a cloud.” If the couple move, they can put the fan back in place.
Krusning pendant: Ikea; Malm bed: Ikea
Krusning pendant: Ikea; Malm bed: Ikea
Cori’s favourite design palette is white, black and wood. It’s played up to full advantage in their bedroom, with black sconces, white bedding and wood Bedside tables.
Bedside tables: Malm, Ikea; sconces: TripleSevenHome
Bedside tables: Malm, Ikea; sconces: TripleSevenHome
A small banner found on Etsy swings from the mirror next to their dresser. The bedroom is Cori’s favourite place because “that’s where our dark accent wall is and I love the way it turned out with the white console in front of it.”
Dresser: Malm, Ikea
Dresser: Malm, Ikea
An illustration by artist Garance Doré is displayed next to a pendant light and framed postcard.
Cori finds framing postcards a cost-friendly way to include more art in their home.
‘Shades Poster‘ artwork by Garance Doré: Society6; pendant light: West Elm
Cori finds framing postcards a cost-friendly way to include more art in their home.
‘Shades Poster‘ artwork by Garance Doré: Society6; pendant light: West Elm
The bedroom door cleverly holds and hides the couple’s shoes. Cori says one of their storage secrets was buying a bed with drawers. “Also, just don’t keep everything; learn to throw stuff out or give it away,” she adds as advice to other renters.
A hallway gallery wall includes illustrations and prints from the couple’s favourite artists and design companies like Anna Dorfman, Pop Chart Lab and Wasted Rita.
Other framed art pieces (in no particular order) are ‘Relativism’: Genis Carreras; ‘Die Hard’: Wharton; ‘Django Unchained’: Aron Jones; ‘Just One in a Thousand’: Agnes-Cecile; ‘Grand Taxonomy of Rap Names’: Pop Chart Lab; ‘Never’: Wasted Rita; ‘Sum Total’: Shari Margolin; ‘Vile’: Kisforblack; ‘Dope’: Matthew Taylor Wilson
Other framed art pieces (in no particular order) are ‘Relativism’: Genis Carreras; ‘Die Hard’: Wharton; ‘Django Unchained’: Aron Jones; ‘Just One in a Thousand’: Agnes-Cecile; ‘Grand Taxonomy of Rap Names’: Pop Chart Lab; ‘Never’: Wasted Rita; ‘Sum Total’: Shari Margolin; ‘Vile’: Kisforblack; ‘Dope’: Matthew Taylor Wilson
Cori painted a large glass mirror with chalkboard paint and secured it to the wall in the kitchen. Her father made the hanging planter.
Cori and her dad also built the hanging rack to keep the couple’s pots and pans organised, rather than adding shelves.
Beyond the kitchen is the home office.
Beyond the kitchen is the home office.
Cori, pictured, is wearing a Cotton Bureau shirt by one of her favourite designers, James Victore.
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Love this. We share a love of Ikea. Most of my home is a mix of Ikea, kijiji, yard sales and thrift stores and each thing gave me a thrill and sense of joy when I found it. You have made a wonderful home.
ooh, love this style. But you have an Eames chair - not exactly furnishing on a budget!!