A Renter Built Her Own Couch for This 533-Square-Foot Los Angeles Studio
In an all-white, 533-square-foot Los Angeles studio apartment, comics writer and illustrator Julia Mata didn’t just decorate — she figured out how to make one room function like many. Using bold color and ceiling-mounted curtains, she carved out distinct zones for living, sleeping, and working, transforming what she describes as an “empty slate” into a vibrant, highly personal home.
“Each area has a different color scheme. My living room/bedroom is purple, the bathroom is green, and the kitchen is pink,” begins Julia, who’s been sharing this rental with her 10-year-old chiweenie, Melón, for two and a half years.
She also delineated the “bedroom” area from the rest of her home by “installing ceiling track curtains to wrap around the bed for a cozy feel.” Along with the colorful walls (and cheetah print bedsheets), the space is vibrant and exciting. It also reflects Julia and her background.
“I’m a mixed Salvadoran queer woman, and the artwork on the walls of my house reflect facets of that identity, with pieces by queer and women of color artists, by friends, and handmade and artesania items from Central America,” she writes of her home, which also features rich textiles like embroidered pillows, tapestries, and handwoven linens.
Julia has also completed a number of DIY projects that have impacted the space, perhaps most impressively, she built her own couch. “As a reference I used instructions from a DIY book from the ’70s called ‘Bright Ideas for Your Home,'” she explains. “It’s a fabulous book and has really eccentric decorating ideas. Some of them are very of their time, and some are impractical but it’s a fun reference.”
“I went to upholstery stores and purchased high-density upholstery foam and cut this to the size and shape of the couch blocks,” she describes of the sofa, which is made up of three modular sections that can be rearranged as needed. “I sewed the pillows and upholstery out of pink velvet. For pillow filling, I took the insides out of old pillows and used that to stuff the new ones.”
With color, pattern, curtains, and even a custom couch, Julia’s totally transformed what was a very plain new-build space. “It’s important that my house feels like it’s for me,” she admits. “[I]n the landscape of constantly rising rents and housing insecurity we face in LA. In a way it’s an act of defiance to make a space your own, and say that this place is going to reflect my taste, and my needs, and I’m going to hold onto it for as long as I can because we all deserve a home and we all deserve beauty in our lives.”
Resources
LIVING ROOM
- Purple wall paint color — Best Look – Mezmerize
- Ceiling curtains — IKEA
- Pillows — Sewn and embroidered by myself
- Kitchen table and chairs — Facebook Marketplace
- Artwork — Editorial shoot from a magazine called “Maroon World” that featured POC designers
- Pendant lamp — IKEA
- Desk — Facebook Marketplace
- Chair — Found in my building’s garage
- Lamp — Thrift store
- Beaded Pompompurin Artwork — Eva Minh @eva.minh
- Couch — I made this myself using a book from the ’70s called Bright Ideas for Your Home.
- The poster — by Samantha Morales Johnson @native.illustrator in commemoration of the historic land back that happened last year to the Gabrieleno Tongva tribe from the San Gabriel Presbytery.
- The photo — When I attended Short Run Trailer Blaze Comics Residency, for women and nonbinary comics artists.
- Artwork — Karina Ramirez @bientrankis
- Artwork — Yasmeen Abedifard @yasmeen.abedi
KITCHEN
- Kitchen wall paint color — Best Look “Tempting pink”
- Bag — My aunt’s closet
- Apron — Kims Home in Koreatown
- Plate — Thrift store
Thanks, Julia!
This tour’s responses and photos were edited for length/size and clarity.
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