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Name: Alexandra Lambrinidis & Christian Kinnard (Madchen the dog & Dexter the cat)
Location: Downtown — Los Angeles, California
Size: 900 Square Feet
Years lived in: 9 months — Rent

Alexandra and Christian have filled their downtown Los Angeles loft with vintage, antique and family heirloom pieces. Yet, to bring out their love of the urban environment where their building is located (Downtown LA) they are now starting to lean in a more "edgy" direction design wise.

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"The vintage rustic is still our base but we're slowly starting to try and update and bring in some more modern pieces - for example, the couch we're planning to purchase in the next 6 months will be modern and dark grey and will replace a very 'Pottery Barn' green couch." explains Alexandra. While walking through their spacious loft, the most charming elements contribute to the well loved and lived in "feeling" they've created for themselves. Roomy enough to house a cat and a dog, this loft offers a wide open floor plan and wonderful views of the historic buildings all around them.

"Function and form combined" Alexandra says are the most essential parts of designing a home. While they have an assortment of seating and places to lay about, they also have a well stocked modern kitchen to prepare a hearty dinner. My favorite personal touches were the all the family hand me downs of gorgeous old furniture. These are the touches that hold the most significance to them; "The pieces with family history - the rocker my mom breast fed me in, the dining room table my husband's grandfather built and the day bed my husband slept in as a child."

Apartment Therapy Survey:

Our Style: Rustic vintage

Inspiration: Vintage anything. The older, more worn, more history the better. I looove finding furniture & décor on the side of the road, lugging it home and fixing it up.

Favorite Element: Furniture that has been built by family members. Our dining room table and living room day bed where built by my husband's grandpa and the coffee table was built by his father (unfortunately my husband didn't inhert the carpentry gene ☺). Not only are these pieces gorgeous but they are a source of pride for my husband and me.

Biggest Challenge: Keeping clutter contained in a small but open space.

What Friends Say: My best friend has always loved the mood that I create in rooms using lighting. Lighting is crucial. I've never met an overhead that I like and blinds turned in the downward position is one of my biggest pet peeves.

Biggest Embarrassment: The couch...let's just say that we probably won't let the dog on our next one...

Proudest DIY: Dark gray office nook

Biggest Indulgence: Bi weekly cleaning service

Best Advice: In a small space where you don't have any walls to hide one room from another things get super cluttered super fast. Try to keep surfaces as clear as possible. I'm constantly pairing down on surface décor and then every few weeks I swap out objects for ones that I've put away so that I get a chance to enjoy all of my things ☺. Also pretty patterned paper in frames makes for wonderful, beautiful and most importantly, cheap, art!

Dream Sources: The Living Room in Silverlake LA. Antiques from French flea markets.

Resources of Note:

PAINT & COLORS

    • Martha Stewart- Slate Grey

LIVING ROOM

    • Day Bed- Family antique
    • Tv drop leaf table- Family antique
    • Rug- Ikea

DINING ROOM

    • Rug- CB2
    • Table- Family Antique
    • Dresser- Antique
    • Lamps- Ikea
    • Mirror- Found in SF on the side of the road

KITCHEN

    • Antique seltzer bottles- Found out Out of the Closet ($3 a piece!!)

BEDROOM

    • Bed- Ikea
    • Linens- Pottery Barn
    • Chest- Antique
    • Dresser- Ikea (repainted in Martha Stewart's "Cornbread") and new hardware.
    • Rocker- Family antique
    • Artwork- Peter Lik photographs (one of which is in a corrugated iron frame purchased from a Peter Lik gallery when it was going out of business for $50)

BATHROOM

    • Shower curtain- CB2

Thanks, Alexandra and Christian!

Images: Bethany Nauert

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