Name:Mark Bunge and Tanja Hester (and two Chihuahuas, Bella and Chelsea)
Location: West LA — Los Angeles, CA
Size: 990 Square Feet- 2BR/2BR
Years lived in: 2 — own
Tanja and her husband Mark have embraced their Westside condo and given it a major facelift. First seen in the recent Small Cool Contest, their two bedroom home is warm and colorful. With a major kitchen renovation and a small patio garden both complete, this home also doubles as a home office for both of them.
Tanja and Mark have chosen a modern contemporary approach to their decor, while keeping the textiles rich and the color palette cool. I loved how each room was white, teal blue, pale green and hints of metallic or grey. Even the dress that Tanja had on that day matched (sadly I forgot to take a photo!). Their home gets gorgeous afternoon light and they even have a front and back deck to sit outside to enjoy it. For me one of the most charming elements in their home were their thermo controlled wine fridge and their makeshift herb garden off the bedroom deck. As a couple who both work from home, they've found their shared home office both a privilege but also a challenge, so their successful efforts to make spots to "get away from it all" right at home are key.
Apartment Therapy Survey:
Our Style: Nature-inspired modern with hints of partisanship.
Inspiration: We get tons of ideas from blogs, magazines and Pinterest. Our biggest inspiration comes from the beach and the Sierras, where we'd spend every moment if we could, so we love balancing the sleeker lines and glossy white pieces with natural elements like plants, branches, sand and stones. That's also why we tend not to use many prints or patterns, and our overall color palette reflects nature tones. And we always strive for our place to exude a relaxing vibe.
Favorite Element: The master suite. We love the bedroom, which we wanted to feel light and breezy in the morning, but cozy and snuggly at night. And we turned the master bath from a cramped, single-sink room into a much more open, functional, double-sink room that feels bright and cheerful. We're also totally nuts over the kitchen, which was our last big project.
Biggest Challenge: Keeping the place looking uncluttered, when we have tons of stuff. Skiing, backpacking and home improvement all require a lot of large gear. And we have way too many books, cookbooks especially. Thank goodness this isn't called a Closet Tour.
What Friends Say: That we've made our place cool, but not cold. It feels welcoming and warm
Biggest Embarrassment: What a big role liquor and wine bottles play in our décor. Or not having a single party for over a year while we renovated. These two things are undoubtedly related.
Proudest DIY: Designing and building the fireplace surround around the tiny fireplace box that was already there. Unfortunately, the layout of the room makes it impractical to turn the couch to face the fireplace, but it's still a huge improvement.
Biggest Indulgence: None of our furnishings or fixtures were very expensive, so our biggest indulgences are about space. Taking up such a big footprint for our bed even though our place is small, just because we love it. Or giving so much storage space to wine. We have a hard time saying no to wine.
Best Advice: Creating a space in which you can relax is vastly more important than making it look perfect. How many of us grew up in a home with a "formal living room" which no one ever used, because it was the fancy room? A home should feel inviting and lived in, so that you look forward to coming home to it, and you can relax and put your feet up in any room.
Dream Sources: HD Buttercup and Room Service in LA. The Conran Shop at ABC Home in NYC.
Resources of Note:
PAINT & COLORS
- •Ceilings: Sherwin Williams Ceiling Bright White
•Living room, bedrooms: Sherwin Williams Heron Plume
•Fireplace wall: Sherwin Williams Peppercorn
•Dining room: Sherwin Williams Perfect Greige
•Kitchen cabinets: Sherwin Williams High Reflective White
•Kitchen: Sherwin Williams Sandbar
•Hall bathroom: Sherwin Williams Techno Grey
•Master bathroom: Sherwin Williams Fleur de Sel
ENTRY
- • Dresser: Ikea
• Mirrors: LA Mart Sample Sale
• Lamp: CB2
LIVING ROOM
- • Mirror over fireplace: LA Mart sample sale
• Coffee table and side tables: Boom Designs, from Room Service
• Sofa: Crate and Barrel Petrie sofa
• Blue cubes: HD Buttercup
• Blue chair: Lamps Plus
• Rug: Target
• Lamps: HomeGoods
• TV stand: Ikea Besta
• Flooring: Sambuca bamboo from Lumber Liquidators
• Blue paper collage by Jon Bunge, Mark's cousin - www.jonbunge.com
• Donkey photos by Sharon Montrose - www.theanimalprintshop.com
DINING ROOM
- • Table and chairs: CB2
• Light fixture: Lamps Plus
• White planter: Chiasso
KITCHEN
- • Appliances: AJ Madison
• Wine fridge: Wine Enthusiast
• Counters: Ikea Numerar
• Floor: Athena Sorrel Cork from Home Depot
• Faucets: Overstock.com
• Sink: Elkay Signature from Home Depot
• Subway tile: Lowe's
• Cabinet hardware: Ikea
• Shelves and sideboard: Ikea Lack and Expedit
• Café table set: Winsome Kallie set from Amazon
HALL BATHROOM
- • Vanity and medicine cabinet: Home Depot
• Lights: Lamps Plus
• Mirror: Lowe's
• Toilet: Toto Eco Supreme 1.3 gal
• Towel shelf: West Elm
• Wall hardware: Ikea
OFFICE/GUEST BEDROOM
- • Daybed: CB2 Lubi daybed
• Wall shelves: Container Store Elfa
• Metal desk: Staples
• Desk with drawers: Ikea
• Bookcases: Ikea Billy
• Desk accessories: Levenger, Anthropologie and Container Store
MASTER BEDROOM
- • Bed: Room Service
• Bedside tables: HomeGoods and lots of paint
• Vanity table: West Elm Parsons mini desk
• Vanity chair: CB2
• Mirror: Crate and Barrel
• Chair and ottoman: Ikea Poang
• Console table: HomeGoods
• Bedside lamps: Crate and Barrel
• White lamps: CB2
• Meditation chair: Whole Foods Living
MASTER BATHROOM
- • Vanity and sink: Ikea Gormorgon
• Mirror: Ikea
• Medicine cabinet: Lowe's
• Faucets: Price Pfister Vega
• Wall hardware: Umbra Zen
• Wall cabinet: Ikea
• Toilet: Toto Eco Supreme 1.3 gal
• Bathmat: CB2
Thanks, Tanja and Mark!
Images: Bethany Nauert
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Nicely done! I would feel right at home. We bought our house 2 years ago and are still working on making it "ours." I bookmarked your house tour for inspiration since this is the look/feel we are working towards.
Great work with decorating, I especially like the use of photography and art work around the house.
Great office space! We're looking to redo ours, and your office provides some good inspiration.
Great use of various 'storage' pieces throughout the home! I especially love the idea of using the Ikea cubby shelves w/ wicker baskets to store and display alcohol and wine. Lots of great items from 'box' stores (ie Lowes, Ikea) that anyone can do w/ a little inspiration and thought!
Where did the blue glass vessels on the tv stand come from? I am looking for something just like them.
First time ever I'm asking: "when can I move in ?". Stylish yet livable, beautifully put together. I really love your color palette, I guess I'm craving for calm and coolness right now.
This house tour was so lovely I sent it to myself as inspiration for my first place!
@Angela -- The blue vases are just inexpensive ones from Ikea.
Thanks, everyone, for all the nice comments!
looks awesome Tanja!!
Looks crisp, clean and refreshing! I love the touches of blue in the living room; your decor style is similar to mine (white/grey with bright pops of color). I also LOVE how you incorporated plants into virtually every room. That's something that I find very important! Plants bring so much life into a room. I do have a question about the plant you have in the bathroom: what kind of plant is it and how often do you have to bring it out into the light? I have been trying to find plants that friendly to little or no light. My bathrooms do not have windows and neither does my basement!
@darkheart -- Thanks! The bathrooms both have skylights, actually, so the problem is the opposite. Plants in there get TONS of light, which has killed a few orchids. The plant that you see now is aloe vera, and it loves the light. Low light is tough, but I've had decent luck with some types of ferns (which also like humidity) and Chinese evergreens. But they'll still need some light. Good luck!
totally gorgeous and fun!
Lovely!
These people speak my language! I love everything. In fact, I'm buying Sherwin Williams Perfect Greige this weekend now!! :o)
I love the bedroom, it's super cluttered yet somehow look awesome. I struggle with this in our master, I feel like we have a wall of continuous furniture, and it bothers me. But her, I LOVED it. Brilliant.
*here, not her.
This looks like a work in progress.
Some of this house looks wonderful and some looks like kind of bland and generic.
nice
Where did the wine rack on the wall come from?
Your house is lovely!
Very nice use of space! Where did you get that fantastic knife holder?
I love Pinterest! Also love that the shoe organizer was repurposed for gardening!
Beautiful Job! Your home feels breezy and serene. I loved the various mirrors you used throughout the house!
Hi I wanted to ask what the egg crate shaped jewelry tray on your dressing table is and where I could get one? Thanks.
I have the very same vertical garden you do :) http://pinterest.com/phlora/vertical-gardening/
Very nicely done. I really think you nailed your goal. I had to laugh, however, because I looked at the photos before reading the survey and thought "Wow! What a ton of booze!" Throw in some ice cream and this would be my idea of Heaven.
I have that same Homer and Bart in my kitchen!! :)
this reminded me of the house that i lived in, in monterey, ca... i wished it looked as good as yours. nicely done, i love it (and the sweet memories it brought).
oh i absolutely love your home! esp. the bedroom and vanity. are you a Libra? i wonder... i am. thanks for opening your home to us. oh and thanks for not showing your dogs... i dont like when all the focus goes on the pets. bravo!
OMG that is hideous! Lol! Sorry, no actually it's very nice but it just wouldn't be A.T. if someone didn't make some pointless degrading comment. Congratulations. Oh.... and I'm definitely going out to buy a lambswool rug (for next to my bed) ASAP. :)
Hi all --
Thanks for all the wonderful feedback! You've all made it worth the hours of clean-up. :-)
A couple of answers on sources:
Wine rack on kitchen wall: Vintage View from here.
Knife holder: Bodum from here.
White egg crate: Anthropologie
@queenyellowsun: Virgo, and Mark is Sagittarius. :-)
tanja
Lovely space! I know it's strange but I was hoping the dogs would be in some of the photos. I always enjoy seeing pets in the home.
Your home is a model of "how to" showing so many examples of good organization, storage, interesting decor and an overall attractive and relaxing environment. A+ except it's "parsley" not "parsely". ;-)
I like this space a lot. The colors make me think of beach glass. I also like the photos of the space - I got a great sense of what your place is like. Love the herbs in the shoe organizer. Great idea :)
This space is fantastic---somehow you managed to make it feel both bright and airy and cozy at the same time. I love it--I particularly love the color scheme.
2 questions: What paint color did you use in the master bedroom? And where did you find the wall-mounted white cabinet above the toilet in the master bath?
Thanks!
Bland and generic..........are you kidding me? This home is beautiful, I love all of it, the green chairs are a favorite as are the touches of blues. You did a fantastic job, one of my favorites!!!!
Two words. Just gorgeous. Light and airy. Cool and calm. That's six words. Adore your colour choices. Happy days!.
Love it!
For everyone who's curious, there's a full list of sources on my blog, specifically on this page.
@tcbb -- the bedroom is SW Heron Plume, just like the living room and most of the office, and we used "Harmony," which is their great no VOC product.
Thanks again for all the lovely notes! :-)
T.
Love the home, paint colors, and furniture but what I am really drawn to is your hardwood floors. Please share your process on how you obtain that shine. I have tried some of everything and it is not working :-(
I love that this house is incredibly stylish and also incredibly livable. It's all too often that the House Tours displayed are one or another, and this is simply gorgeous and functional. Lovely.
Absolutely gorgeous...with each picture my eyes popped open a little wider and my mouth a little wider. I would have never thought of using that Ikea dresser as a bar and it looks just perfect - fabulous idea and I may have to copy it! LOL! I also love what you did with the bedroom especially the dressing table. You guys must love being home! (:
I am imagining and planning to have the same color pallet but with a nod on the French Modern or Hollywood Regency Design. It is serene, elegant, luxurious and just so enveloping with style and appeal...and yours is a good inspiration for this.
Nice. Very "model apartment" like.
The shoe organizer planter is genius. I'm definitely going to copy that.
living area is very stylish - nice
So many well-thought out touches here. This is my color palette to a T. Love seeing the way you've executed it. Three cheers for your poster collection, too!