A “Muppets Go to Burning Man” Style Loft in Oakland

Name: Bob and Heather
Location: Melrose — Oakland, California
Size: 2,500 square feet
Years lived in: Rented 2 years

Bob and Heather define their style as “eclectic weirdo”—something the couple takes pride in. It’s a space filled with odd decor, including a plush, faux-fur-covered chair in the living room, and stair handrails covered in LED lights—and there are plenty of other unconventional decor elements (this is their current living room projection). When a couple’s inspirations are Pee Wee Herman, Banksy, and Lady Gaga (to name a few), things are obviously bound to get weird.

As regular attendees of the annual Burning Man festival, it was important to Bob and Heather that they have a space big enough to accommodate their large-scale projects. Bob has created huge LED sculptures and installations for the festival, many of which have ended up in their 2,500 square foot loft.

The couple calls their home “Glam Central Station”—a true delight to see in person. Bob says the best time to see the space is on a bright, sunny day in the afternoon because it’s covered in rainbows. However, it’s at sundown when the space really comes to life, as it is slowly taken over by his LED light sculptures. Luckily, Bob provided some photos of his space at night, so Apartment Therapy readers can see all of the creative elements that define their home.

Our Style: Eclectic Weirdo

Inspiration: Pee Wee Herman, Banksy, LEGO, Lady Gaga, Pippi Longstocking

Favorite Element: It was important to us both that we could have creative space mixed into our living space. We have work tables for sewing, 3D printing, crafts, and electronics projects.

Biggest Challenge: We have huge factory windows around three sides of our living space, so the sun is a real challenge. We sucked it up and hand cut and installed Gila UV Window Film on 600+ window panes. The film bonds to the window without adhesive, blocks 90% of UV radiation, lets in plenty of light and is silvered on the outside for privacy.

What Friends Say: “It looks like The Muppets go to Burning Man” or “Oooh, look! rainbows.”

Biggest Embarrassment: We both came into the space with couches that we are not in love with. We covered mine in faux fur and will eventually get around to the other.

Proudest DIY: I am almost certain that I am the only person in the world using acrylic table scatters as an architectural element. We have 2 LED railings, a 16ft LED waterfall and several lamps all made from individual elements of the exact same shape cold welded to acrylic panels with holographic vinyl backing.

Biggest Indulgence: We have a 10ft x 10ft 3200 RGB LED pixel array on our living room wall. It takes up a lot of space, and it’s ugly when it’s not in use… but it’s the easiest way to learn how to use LED pixels in a large scale.

Best Advice: Less stuff is better, but if you have a lot of stuff…put as much of it as you can on wheels. It makes everything a lot easier.

Dream Sources: NASA garage sale, airplane graveyard, anything in the Transmaterial series of books

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