He turned his one-bedroom West Hollywood apartment into an entertainer's paradise - BERITAJA

When Julio Miranda-Martin began his flat search, he had 1 nonnegotiable: He wanted a dedicated eating room to entertain his friends. He was scouring Zillow successful 2025 erstwhile a listing for a railroad-style, one-bedroom connected the separator of West Hollywood came up that included the requisite eating room. It was besides stepping region to his part-time occupation arsenic a trading coordinator astatine furnishings shop Lawson-Fenning. More importantly, astatine $2,500 a period it was wrong his budget.

Miranda-Martin met pinch his landlord the aforesaid time he recovered the listing, who told him he looks for illustration his son. Feeling for illustration uncovering this 950-square-foot flat was kismet, Miranda-Martin signed the lease and group about creating a blase and color-saturated sanctuary. Miranda-Martin decided he needed to make 2 awesome investments earlier moving in: coating the walls and changing the lighting. “I was yet capable to move into a spot that I really like, not conscionable retired of necessity. I was like, let’s make it consciousness for illustration my own,” says Miranda-Martin, who refers to the abstraction arsenic his “living canvas.”

In this series, we spotlight L.A. rentals pinch style. From cleanable assemblage walls to impermanent decor hacks, these renters get creative, moreover successful mini spaces. And Angelenos request the inspiration: Most are renters.

The flat is connected the 2nd level of a fourplex, up a windowless staircase. Miranda-Martin embraced the deficiency of ray and painted it a high-gloss crimson. Without earthy light, he hard-wired sconces recovered connected Facebook Marketplace that callback ornamental 18th period candlesticks. They formed a dim but moody ray passim the staircase, ending pinch an ornate reflector astatine the top. The reflector shows a glimpse of the apartment’s interior successful its reflection erstwhile Miranda-Martin opens the door. “Every clip group locomotion in, particularly astatine night, it’s specified a melodramatic entry,” he explains. “It’s very cinematic,” agrees friend and co-worker Kristin Reeder, who is often a impermanent astatine his soirees, “like thing from ‘Eyes Wide Shut.’ ”

In contrast, the surviving room offers a calmer palette of entity blues and earthy browns. Miranda-Martin tends to take overgarment colors based connected the light. The surviving room, pinch abundant west-facing windows brings successful soft, agleam light. Miranda-Martin painted it pinch Benjamin Moore’s Navajo, a level white, arsenic a backdrop to the softer hues of the furnishings he designed astatine his furnishings and lighting company, Studio MM. “It adds a stillness,” he says.

The room is anchored by a ample velvet sofa successful a rich | brown. The modular sofa is anchored connected each broadside pinch Art-Deco influenced broadside tables, lamps and ray bluish slipper chairs he designed, mounting up a cozy tableau for hosting his friends. Pale pinkish cushioned ottomans supply further seating that could easy beryllium moved about the room to accommodate further guests.

A velvet sofa acts arsenic a connection portion successful the flat surviving room.

(Etienne Laurent/For the Times)

French doors abstracted the surviving room from the eating room. The chartreuse-infused eating room returns to a much melodramatic colorway. With little earthy light, Miranda-Martin wanted to play up the thought of dining-room-as-treehouse, reflecting the second-floor foliage visible from the mini windows. Rather than trying to brighten the room, he leaned into the moodiness by buying inexpensive, USB battery-powered spotlights that are mounted connected the ceiling pinch magnets. Taking an intoxicant marker, he tinted the lights a soft amber, allowing him to item the creation successful the room without adding harsh overhead lighting.

The eating room is meant to bespeak the foliage conscionable extracurricular the window.

(Etienne Laurent/For the Times)

A shell-adorned reflector anchors the wall facing the windows and built-in shelving, making the room consciousness larger. Miranda-Martin originated 2 shell-shaped sconces that flank the reflector astatine an property waste successful San Francisco. Most of the creation and location decor comes from Facebook Marketplace and Craigslist, aliases is thrifted from section stores. Estate income are besides a source, though Miranda-Martin feels the rising fame of these income successful Los Angeles has led to an summation successful pricing. “They’ve gotten truthful complete the apical now successful L.A. [They’re] ace expensive. You’re not really gonna find a deal,” he laments, citing the equipped information checking bags precocious astatine immoderate of the hottest property sales.

In summation to changing the lighting and coating the walls, Miranda-Martin prioritized the model treatments, pinch pinch pleat curtains from Ikea. “Drapery could conscionable make a abstraction consciousness ace elevated,” he advises. He prefers a operation of caller and vintage decor, balancing some for an eclectic but profoundly individual look to his home. He tries not to overthink his artistic choices. “I deliberation it’s very instinctual. I’m not really thinking, ‘Is this successful bully sensation aliases is this going to beryllium weird?,’ ” he says.

Down the hall, the bedroom’s mostly achromatic creation taxable returns to a much serene composition, providing a quiet sanctuary. Miranda-Martin removed the headboard from his bed, making it look for illustration it’s floating betwixt the nighttime tables he designed. “Everything feels benignant of streamlined and smooth,” says Miranda-Martin. Like the surviving room, the chamber is painted the aforesaid level achromatic but the value of the eastbound ray filtering into the chamber casts a buttery glow.

The mini room retains its midcentury charm, but unfastened shelving supra the antagonistic provides an airier, much modern cupboard to show disconnected Miranda-Martin’s crockery and glassware collection. The easier entree comes successful useful erstwhile he’s entertaining. His flat is the cleanable pre-game abstraction for him and his friends earlier a nighttime connected the town. He tries to make judge he pre-batches cocktails earlier his guests arrive.

He besides likes to big much elaborate meal parties and crippled nights. He attributes his emotion of entertaining to his upbringing arsenic an only kid successful Downey. “I for illustration hosting because I bask being about much group than erstwhile I was increasing up,” explains Miranda-Martin. His goal, ultimately, is to bring together disparate groups of group from different spheres successful a abstraction everyone will consciousness comfortable in. Dinner parties astatine Miranda-Martin’s “feel for illustration an event,” says Reeder. “It’s thing you’re excited for and you want to get dressed up for.”

“I’m benignant of going done a shape correct now wherever I request to beryllium about people,” admits Miranda-Martin. “I deliberation I conscionable dislike being alone.”