Name: Ms. Justin Lieb & Mr. Joshua Simpson
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Size: 1100 sq. ft.
Years lived in: One
We've always held onto the dream of calling a loft space home sweet home. The high ceilings, the open floor space plans, the industrial details and often unique indoor/outdoor elements that define loft living as a blank canvas for ideas. The premise has always remained a temptation for someone who likes to rearrange and redecorate at a whim like ourselves. Justin and Joshua are living that dream. Their LA loft a perfect example of customizing a space with colour and creativity, all with budget resources from the likes of Craigslist, the "oops" section at Home Depot, and thrift stores. Most notable is their solution for living within a space without windows with an outdoor view; a hand painted mural playfully fills in from floor up, giving the couple a place to enjoy the "outdoors" on their own couch...a space we'd imagine from the mind of someone like Michel Gondry! Take a peek below...
>> AT Survey:
My/Our style: Vintage/DIY/Storybook whimsical? If you shook all of those adjectives up I think that would be our style. How about Whimtage? That seems more succinct.
Inspiration: The graffiti removal around our industrial neighborhood, compensating for the lack of actual windows in our home, our wonderfully high ceilings and the incredible light we get from our skylights. Playing with size relationships.
Favorite Element: I love the high vaulted ceilings, the industrial quality of the loft, and the open floor plan.
Biggest Challenge: Making it feel cozy and reconciling the lack of windows. Finding a way to stow all of the crap that comes with our respective hobbies/professions while keeping them accessible.
What Friends Say: Usually “wow.” We have unfair capital in the wow department however because the approach to our home is deceptive, we live in what appears to be an alley and then you pull up to our gate and find a little oasis with blooming wisteria, cacti, and a fig tree. Then we open our steel door and reveal all that color-its an unfair advantage.
Biggest Embarrassment: I’d say the bathroom (really haven’t touched it since we moved in) and our appliances. I would really like to upgrade our washer/dryer to something more energy efficient and our oven is ancient (but not in a cute way).
Proudest DIY: Well I guess I’d have to say the wall mural! It was something I had wanted to try for a while in a film but had never had the right script/opportunity. When we decided to move in here it was the perfect canvas. I’m lucky that Josh agreed to go along with it! I must admit there was a moment, I believe shortly after I had washed the brushes, that I looked up and thought, “what have I done? Is this going to be livable?” but my doubts quickly faded when I saw the look on Josh’s face when he came home.
Biggest Indulgence: Hmm…we are pretty frugal and most of our big pieces are recycled pieces from sets or craigslist finds…I guess the bookshelf? Josh pretty much let me do anything as long as he was able to stake a claim for his art and photography books. But it is an Ikea product, not a huge investment. Maybe the biggest indulgence is the amount of time I spend on the Internet finding pieces of furniture I like.
Best advice: Don’t buy cheap sh**. Not advice I am always able to follow, but sound advice none the same.
Dream source: Ohhhhhh, man! Anything at Twentieth, Jonathan Alder lamps, Curiosity Shoppe and Anthropologie for knick knacks, DWR, Denmark 50, Modernica, Room Service, Living Room, Cantoni sofas, Thomas Paul rugs,Tom Dixon, Moooi Boutique…I better stop…
Resources:
Furniture: Couch is from Out of the Box (or something like that) but I wouldn’t recommend. Putting it together made us want to drill holes in our heads – or each other’s. And it isn’t terribly comfortable! But it does have storage and folds into a bed. Pretty much everything else is from Craigslist, vintage stores, the alley or Ikea (pretty much in that order).
Accessories: The mushroom shelves above the stove are from Curiosity Shoppe. The doll house was a thrift store find. Throws from Anichini.
Lighting: The charteuse pendant is by Mio and called Bendant – it comes flat and you bend it, you see. A gift from a friend who is also a production designer. The black and clear acrylic lamp by the bed was from a vintage store in Chicago, the orange lamp from a bargain shop near our house, the lamp shade is from Anthropologie.
Rugs and Carpets: On my wish list!
Beds: I think it was originally an Ethan Allen bed. We bought it from Craigslist and it had already been painted so I went at it again painting the wood a very soft pale pink and the wrought iron red. The sheets are from Anthropologie and that bedspread is Urban Outfitters (keepin’ it in the family)
Artwork: From friends or made by Josh or me. The previous tenant left behind the big yellow wooden piece, my friend Ryan Berg (who is also a Production Designer). He also left the crow in the bedroom, which was creepy at first but now is comforting.
Paint: Leftovers from sets mostly, or from the oops shelf at Home Depot, mixed to suit my needs. Most of it is Behr.
(Thanks, Justin and Joshua!)
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My Staple Summer Cocktail Recipe: Campari & IPA Spritzer
lord, that couple is so uber-cute i can't even concentrate on their home
With names like Justin and Joshua I can see why they felt it necessary to include the Mr. and Ms. but really, would be soooo awful for the world to think they're a gay couple?
So fun. Where are all these lofts in LA that i never seem to find when I'm house hunting?
I really, really like this apartment.
Also, Ms. Justin is hot.
If I ever come to LA can I visit? This is just lovely and adorable.
I always try to decorate my place in a "serious and grown-up" manner but end up skewing toward whimsy. I love how great it looks fully embraced.
I love it! I've just painted my new home similar colours. I love the mural.
To each their own.
This is completely different from anything I would ever want to live in. I imagine I would be exhausted from all the visual clutter after less than a day and be redecorating within three.
Love the loft, like the couple...the walls though...really? Painted over graffiti looks tacky indoors or outdoors. Either way it looks like a lack of effort.
Not tacky at all. I think the sitting area is fantastic, and I love the paint effects. Also love the little framed tableaux. Am besotted with everything about this place, really, including the ur-adorable Justin and Joshua.
A tiny bit haphazard garage sale look, that doesn't look well thought out. That said, it would be fun to live in LA!
Well, my first thought was the same like ChrisToronto, would it be soooo awful for the world to think they're a gay couple?
But I like their place a lot.
Is it just me or is there an unusual amount of phallic action on that bedroom ceiling?
I've gone back to that mural a few times. At first I thought there were picture wires hanging down the wall. It is smart and the mirrors on the other side work as windows.
What is interesting is that they've packed so much into the space without it becoming a storage barn. The dining and desk area have a ton of things, but they don't seem obtrusive.
Warmer weather has brought out a lot of mega-bass vehicles in my village. The thought of no windows is appealing right now.
If I was named Justin or John or Pete... I wouldn't want to be mistaken for a guy! So I don't think it's homophobic to have the Ms. I like the colors... but honestly to me it looks like a old atari game. Like the one with the little planes that shoot each other...
I'm itching to hide some of their library behind a door or curtain or something.
BUT, I absolutely love the style, colors and even the crazy drippy mural. :)
wow, amazing home! the grass is wonderful.
That's a really cute loft and I **love** the paint palette! I will admit it took me multiple viewings to "get" the wall mural (it is beautiful from the angles in 2nd and 3rd pics in gallery view); I thought you were testing paint samples (it really looked that way in the picture above-the one after the couple shot!=)
All I saw in the mural was trees and clouds on a rainy day-- it wouldn't have occurred to me that there was painted-over graffiti unless it were pointed out. I love it: it seems to fit them and it sets the tone for the loft.
(Adding 'Ms' to Justin's name also lets us know which person is which in the article, and is probably how they address themselves in life.)
It's a good thing Justin isn't dating my husband, Elie. He's always trying to figure out how to let people he deals with online know he's a guy.
Love the loft. bright and cheerful.
I think the mural works in this loft. I didn't even notice the lack of windows till I read your comments. Well done!
That drippy-tester paint job has to be one of the best uses paint on a huge wall EVER!! That's AMAZING and VERY ORIGINAL!! Well done!!
I did something similar once....not as good as yours, and that look does NOT work well with 8ft ceilings!!
On your wall... it looks like something at MOCA!!
Although I was momentarily distracted by the bedroom ceiling, I too think the wall mural is brilliant, creative, and visually fun. In the thumbnails, at first I thought it was a bucolic cloud mural, then when I saw it closer and it looks urban and modern, I was surprised and intrigued. It's fun to look at and so original.
My god people are sensitive. If I saw it was Justin and Joshua, followed by a pictures of a man and woman, I'd wonder where Justin (or Joshua) was!
That being said, how can anyone live without windows!?
I've gone back and forth on this. I love the space; raw is good. But I think it cries out for an all-white treatment, and I say that as someone who doesn't generally care for that. But I think there's a case to be made here that the random wall colors just make the space smaller. And, of course, if they got rid of half their stuff, or hid it in storage with drawers, it would help. Imagine how that hanging light fixture would pop against ultra white!
The mural doesn't do it for me but kudos for trying something different.
charming
not a huge fan of the place, just because it's really not my style. and the wall mural...? i think it's kind of cute. i don't know why everyone is immediately bashing it.
kudos for living in a place with no windows at all. i don't think i could do it!
ps: anyone notice the fake bird sitting on the pipe hanging from the ceiling in the bedroom shot? LOVE IT.
If it were my space, I think I'd go for a good bit of white on the walls and bring in color other ways. I do like that this couple is really going for it, though. I appreciate the paint job more after reading about the inspiration from graffiti cleanup. (I always like to view the pictures before reading about the place.) I like the shot of the entrance with the scooter. BTW, I've known a female Justin. Not a big deal.
Elizabeth
http://emblemorstain.blogspot.com
love it, personally. but that trash can 'floating' in the middle of the room would drive me nuts.
Love the crow- so cute. It could come live in my house. Your doll house find fits perfect under the stairs- are you able to use it for storage at all ? And your little rocking chair with the old woman and the table and lamp next to her- also the velvet couch and tables on the wall- love them - so cute. I have tiny chairs too- love them. Nice job- working with what you have.
The wall painting is fantastic and nicely not too literal. Just enough to get the point across. The grass definitely had a graffiti feeling on the stroke of the blades.
As someone else mentioned, I didn't notice the lack of windows till it was brought up in the text of the article. The combination of mural/mirrors/upstairs windows from bedroom/natural light from the skylight all combines to fool the mind that there is some sort of window somewhere.
I'm a big fan of little details scattered around so I dig the items nested in picture frames and hanging out on a small shelf in the middle of a wall. Overall, it's a tad cluttered for my taste, but you've done a FANTASTIC job with what you started out with. Kudos!
I'm with Anna Europe on this one.
Guess I'm not so much into 'whimsy' - sorry, it just seems a little silly and cluttered.
Pretty inspired, though. Like, maybe a good motif for a shop but for a home, I'd never be able to relax.
Painting an Ethan Allen bed?! Wow, don't think I'd do that.
first of all, who the hell is jordan jennings? uh....creepo!
and second of all? where did you get that Eames chair? I've been looking for one and they are always over $2,000.
I always enjoy this kind of House Tours, even when it´s not my kind of place... I love this space because it´s about doing it all with no money, being able to get where you want without spending, accepting the existing conditions (high ceilings, no windows, graffitis, etc.) instead of hiding or going against the place. Definitively they have style (with no money, I insist!).
Love the miniatures on the wall... and yes, they are cute...=)
Sorry, haterz... this is a very cute place and shows lots of charm -- compared to some of the more sterile living spaces, one comes to mind from last week that still chills my bones. I'm actually curious what part of town this is in? Los Angeles means lots of different neighborhoods.
Hi hellomikey,
We live in Crenshaw, also known as West Adams.
Thanks for the nice words!
To others:
I include the Ms. out of habit as it is often necessary to help strangers determine my sex to prevent future embarrassments on their part, not keep the world from thinking Josh may be gay.
Thanks for your interest!
-Ms. Justin
It's a little busy for me, but I do like the use of space. I specially like the bedroom, I think it's very quaint. Thanks for your pics! :)
LOVED IT! I dig books!
Just too much for me. I vote for the all white treatment. Too many different materials at play here, and too much clutter.
I love the place! Does anyone know what bookcase that is from Ikea? I can't seem to find it on there.
I can't feel anything negative about any space, because it is as one chooses, and what I joy and luxury choosing is :).
I'd like to know how the photos (I think) were mounted on the mural wall. Like another poster, I thought they were hanging by some kind of monofilament, which actually turned out to be the wall paint runs.
I can't imagine how warehouse this would look without all the work and attention to detail. Bravo/a!