This Warm, Relaxed California Home Has Some of the Most Beautiful Furniture Choices

Name: Michelle Arnold, my husband, and our 5 year old pug Ozzy
Location: Oakland, California
Type of home: House
Size: 2107 square feet
Years lived in: 10 months, renting but currently but in the process of buying

Tell us a little (or a lot) about your home and the people who live there: We moved into this house a little less than a year ago and fell in love! I was a fashion designer for 10 years (most recently working for Gap Inc. in San Francisco) and left my job in 2018—a little over a year after being diagnosed and treated for colorectal cancer. Having cancer made me realize I wanted to do more with my life so my husband and I both quit our jobs and traveled around Europe for three and a half months (he was previously working for Elon Musk at Tesla and has since gotten a new job at Facebook doing comms for Mark Zuckerberg). Since returning and finding this amazing rental (which we are in the process of buying), I launched a home goods and interior styling business with my friend and fellow co-worker (from Gap) who also left the craziness of the apparel industry to focus on her family (she just had her first baby back in April).

We launched with a line of pillows (during Covid no less) using vintage and designer fabrics and are hoping to expand into other small home good items. We also specialize in interior styling and are hoping to make this more accessible to people who can’t spend a lot of money but still want to elevate their space. All of the photos on our website and Instagram page were either shot here at our house in Oakland or in Palm Springs at our Airbnb that we purchased in 2018 (another post-cancer decision that I convinced my husband on haha). We would love the opportunity to share our space with others and spread the word about Hidalgo Home!

Describe your home’s style in 5 words or less: Modern, California cool, warm, relaxed

What is your favorite room and why? I love the living room because of all the windows and natural light and because there’s no TV so it’s really meant for hanging out and talking to each other and listening to records.

What’s the last thing you bought (or found!) for your home? Other than new records to add to our collection (my husband likes to go to the local record store and pick up a few every weekend) it was probably a vintage kilim rug that I found on Etsy for the seating area upstairs (link has since expired). I think Etsy has some of the best finds and I could spend hours on there just looking at rugs alone!

Any advice for creating a home you love? Don’t rush to buy pieces just to fill the space! Make sure everything you purchase is something you absolutely love.