Name: Mark and Marissa
Location: Hancock Park
Size: 1,000 square feet
Years lived in: 5 months
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You may remember Mark and Marissa from their House Tour we did just five short months ago. Only a pro could move across town and start fresh with furniture scored from thrift stores and Craigslist and create an entirely new landscape. In order to show off their new digs to Apartment Therapy readers, Marissa invited us to an afternoon garden party (complete with custom stationery). And while we all lusted over their previous eclectic inspired home, this space has its own individual style and feel...
>> Enter Slideshow We characterize the space as buttery and warm, open and airy but manages to give off a cozy vibe. We love how they incorporate mid century modern and boho chic with a few stately furniture pieces thrown into the mix. Their home is even more of a gem once you're shown the enclosed courtyard just outside. Sitting right off the living room, the outdoor oasis is complete with pebble ground cover and a wall of shrubbery. To us, the atmosphere is less So Cal and more East Coast (making it all the more charming). And even though the garden party is over, the good times live on in these pics.
AT Survey:
Why We Moved: We were looking for a brighter place with a nice outdoor area because we really enjoy being outdoors as much as possible. Our new living room is very spacious and enabled us to combine our living and dining space into a "party ready" area. In doing that, we were able to convert our actual dining room into the perfect office space for both of us.
How Our Style Changed: I think we were looking to be more minimalist in this home. Because this is such a large open space, we wanted the look to be more sparse and organic. There is so much more light than our last place, so we made it a point to incorporate more plants inside. We also wanted to showcase the beautiful Spanish architecture as much as possible, without totally changing our own taste.
Our Style: Eclectic
Favorite Element: In the winter it's the fireplace, and in summertime it's the patio. Year round, we love the natural light. Also, Mark built raised beds in the backyard, so we now have an organic garden. Mark has always been an avid gardener, and I'm just learning, but I've quickly fallen in love with gardening and all the tasty meals I can make with ingredients in our own backyard!
Biggest Challenge: We moved from a place that had tons of closets and a second bedroom to having neither.
What Friends Say: Love your place, it's so open and airy! Great place to entertain--do I need a parking pass and can I come and sunbathe on your patio?
Biggest Embarrassment: The massive amounts of dog hair Vivienne sheds--I mean, a gal can only vacuum so much.
Proudest DIY: The Burlap Drapes. I bought a roll from JoAnn's Fabric and sewed all the drapes by hand. Time consuming, yes - but window treatments in the living & dining room for $70... can't beat that! I will warn you though, burlap has a strong odor and it took a few weeks for the smell to air out. Also, the terrarium on the dining room table, was so much fun to make and quite easy to care of.
Biggest Indulgence: The dining room table and chairs.
Best Advice: We sold a ton of stuff on Craigslist from our old apartment, so anything we purchased for our new place was like decorating for free--love that!
Dream Source: 1stDibs, Lawson Fenning, LA & Calypso Home Store, NYC
Inspiration: My new blog, This Must Be The Place which will showcase all the things I love to do, The Parker Hotel, A Cup of Jo, Life According to Celia, Hotel Figueroa, Creature Comforts, Moroccan Beni Ouarain rugs & wedding blankets, Lovely Morning, Rouxbe, Stan Bitters pottery, flea markets, Cecconi & Bottega Louie's interiors and food, The roof at Hotel La Petite, Paradise Cove, Villas Carrizalillo in Puerto Escondido, MX, local farmer's markets, Sheswai - natural nail care and polish, Margaret Keane, Rolling Greens Nursery, and of course all of our wonderful friends and family.
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Resources:
Furniture: Dining Room; table and chairs from Pepe's Thrift Store, rug from West Elm, matching chairs found at Santa Monica flea market and reupholstered with F & S fabric, small dresser from J.I. Gallery
Living Room; couch from Estate sale and reupholstered with fabric from Diamond Foam and Fabric, pottery on mantel found at Rose Bowl flea market, coffee table from thrift store and had it lacquered
Platform/Office Area; Bookshelf from Target, Large table found on Craigslist which was our old dining room table--I put the leaf in it and now we use it as a great big desk, dresser and chair from St. Vincent De Paul Thrift Store, framed music posters from Poster Cabaret
Bedroom; bedding from Anthropologie, lamp from Target
Patio; couch from Craigslist, matching red tables from Estate Sale and repainted, couch found on Craigslist
Stationary; custom made for Garden Party
(Thanks, Mark and Marissa!)
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Images: Images Beth Zeigler and Marissa Zajack
We've had amazing response to our Apartment Therapy House Tour Submission Form. While we will work with homeowners of our favorite homes to feature full tours, we will also share the best as House Calls — short, quick tours of readers' homes. Submit your home here.
Nice place, but aren't there other places where you can post your personal photos? I really don't want to see AT become another forum for bragging about one's social life. Stick to decorating, please. I had to slog through a lot of irrelevant stuff to see the home.
view colibri's profile
Lovely home and wonderful pics of awesome food and backyard! Thanks for sharing.
view oklagirl's profile
Beauty!
I love the bookshelf. The table full of food & wine looks so yummyyyyyy too.
view plumeria's profile
Hey - Who ate all the Cheezy-Poofs!
view bepsf's profile
I actually enjoyed seeing the home as it was being enjoyed by people. I can look at stuffy "decorated" empty places anytime. Nice to see your place!
view labchick's profile
Burlap is getting quite the write up today, from the curtains in this post to Rita Konig's sofa... makes me want to take another look at that fabric and maybe try to incorporate it into my decor!
http://www.tangiedecor.blogspot.com
view LTangie's profile
P.S. I am totally digging that terrarium too. Time for some DIY projects...
view LTangie's profile
The same person who ate the cheezy poofs must have eaten the "be" off the invite. Still, looks like a lovely party and the dogs are adorable.
view fuzzypicklepie's profile
Wonderful, inexpensive finds and a cozy feeling home. The Beni Ourain rug in the living room must have set you back a few bucks, though?
view jacasi's profile
is that a typo on the invitation? bummer.
view madfish's profile
To me this looks very L.A. Makes me miss it, although I never lived on the lovely west side. What kind of bedspread is that? I love it.
view Lesley's profile
Where are the oval serving dishes from?
view Kathryn's profile
Typos on invitations always make me so sad... I had a major typo on my wedding invites (the city was omitted, if you can believe it), and there's nothing you can do about it.
Lovely home, and I love your garden!
view Cashew's profile
I think it's "hors d'oeuvre"... without the "s". Yes?
view sunan's profile
@colibri
Actually, it's refreshing to see people in their houses! It says the house is actually being "lived" in as opposed to the majority of "staged" or staged-look photos of the houses here.
view BruinToo's profile
Missing "be" on the invitation.
view BruinToo's profile
Super cute place! And such attractive friends! I like the idea of going with less stuff. I am trying to do the same.
I find the smoke on the mantle of the fireplace disconcerting. Please get a chimney sweep to do some maintenance and figure out why the airflow is not working there. I don't want you do die of CO poisoning!
view slobound's profile
The typo is beyond irritating. Everything else about the party seemed so perfect!
From Wikipedia:
The French (singular and plural) is hors d'œuvre; in English, the œ ligature is usually replaced by the 2-letter sequence "oe" with the plural often written as "hors d'oeuvres"
And I for one love seeing real people enjoying a space. When rooms or gardens are just staged for the photo shoot it's hard to tell how they really "live."
view sally305's profile
Egad - this is GORGEOUS! The indoor to outdoor quality is great. Looks like it was a super party.
view kristinm100's profile
yet another post today of decor that isn't my personal style... and once again, I must say it's gorgeous, warm, and inviting... the pile of yummy food is just the cherry on top of that lovely party:-P
what a wonderful home!
view modern on long island's profile
Hi All-
Thanks for all the lovely comments. It was so much fun putting this together!
To answer some comments:
The duvet cover is from Anthropologie
The oval plates are from Ikea
The invitation, big oops! I can't believe I didn't caught that....I know that will never happen again!
Cheers-
Marissa
www.thismustbetheplaceblog.com
view Thismustbetheplaceblog.com's profile
I haven't had dinner yet. I'll be right over.
view Charlotte's profile
Talented but it feels vacant. Very West Elm. Nice technique and use of color but it's got no soul.
Am I the only person who doesn't like to have to chop up cheese at crowded parties? I get it with brie but cheddar? Just a thought.
view Stylerist's profile
Okay I know this is silly - what kind of dog is that little one at the table in the last picture? I have adopted one just like that and her breed is unknown. She looks exactly like that dog! Help!?
view Vhision's profile
The dog kind of looks like a wire haired jack russell terrior.
view Laura's profile
looking at these makes me realize how over "formal" anything I am. looks uncomfy and staged. nice place. at some point there will be a nifty app that will read minds and catch missed words, right?
view gvollrath's profile
I like seeing how others entertain. The all white dishes make such a beautiful display. I would love to see another full house tour now that they are in new digs. Their decorating style is one I like.
view DawnMarie04's profile
It seems a strange time of day for this kind of meal. If tea and sandwiches and cakes were served I'd call that a garden party. This is more like a late lunch. The house is nice but 'the party' all looks a bit too well behaved.
view hrhprincessfiona's profile
I liked this slideshow for all the humans in it.
view Henrietta the Terrible's profile
Dang I sure would hate to have you people as guest at my parties. I think you house is lovely and can't believe that bookshelf is from Target and am annoyed they don't carry it anymore. As for the party, it is lovely. I don't know I guess you could be less formal and throw slop at your guests on paperplates and let them wipe their hands on their own clothes.
view alexis's profile
I liked the general feel of the home.
But didn't like seeing all the people because I thought it took away from the point of house calls, which is to see the house. I'm worried that it will get out of control and all house posts in the future will be an opportunity for people to showcase their fabulous events. AT can create a spot for people to post pictures of their events, that way we can keep house calls pure...focused on the house.
view orchidday's profile
Lovely home. You have a talent for arranging and accessorizing table and credenza tops that I envy.
As for the people/no people debate, I like it when AT includes a picture or two of those who live in the featured space, but I have to agree that all the party pics in this set were a bit much.
view J's profile
I thought it looked lovely. My only concern was using a glass to scoop out the ice. This is a bad idea. If the glass breaks, it can't be distinguished from ice. If the glass was plastic, my apologies.
view aaakid's profile
So fabulous I can't stand it! Gorgeous home, food and people. I understand some posters' concern about AT becoming a forum for people to display their personal photos and to "show off" their social lives, but add me to the list of those who find it refreshing to see real people featured alongside their home "stuff". Our homes are mere shells for the more important aspects of our lives, including family, friends and celebrations. Yes, we who frequent this site do so for the decor, but in my view, decor for decor's sake in itself isn't the goal (or at least isn't the chief goal). I think it's wonderful to see people enjoying the beauty of life against the beautiful backdrop of their home. Oh, and P.S. - no one seems to have a problem when pets are featured in house tours. Why the double standard with respect to humans?
view brusselsprout's profile
This is wonderful. I love the red door and the window in the bathroom that opens to vines. Makes me miss California.
view universal mod's profile
Wow! There seems to be an epidemic of crankiness on AT these days. The house looks amazing and cozy and inviting. And the party looks like it was lots of fun. Way to go Mark and Marissa!
view PhillyLass's profile
Hi Mark and Marissa!
Lauren here from Rudy's Barbershop, the cutter of Marks hair.
Your home is beautiful! I love the new dinner table, the teal vases, the fish bowl plants ( i forget the proper name for them) but they look awesome and the mid-century eames era rocking chair... it's all so pretty.
I liked the glam of your old place but love the simple chic of the new. very nice.
I disagree, I believe it has a lot of warmth and Soul.
I will now head over to Marissa's new blog!
-Cheers
view Call_her_a_plum's profile
now, that's the kind of party i'd like to go to!
what a gorgeous place. i like the people shots, it's nice seeing a house being enjoyed - i'm over looking at 'over-styled, straight out of a magazine' shots.
ps.. marissa's dog vivienne looks exactly like my dog, poppy!
pps. marissa - your blog looks fab, but google reader won't let me subscribe to it :(
view ladyt's profile
Very chic party, fresh elements & colors, i love to see livable houses !
view JennF's profile
The new house looks GREAT. (Much better than the last one, so that's good.)
Personally, I think it's fun to see entertainment occassionally. I accept that it would be very boring if AT became someone else's diary or Who's Who blog but there is no harm that I can see putting in a variety of methods of showing as there are many styles of apartments.
Good job owners AND AT!!!
view EAM's profile