These Studio Dwellers Got Creative to Carve Out Separate Spaces

Name: Jose Aparicio, husband Jonathan, and cat Lucia
Location: Los Angeles, California
Size: 650 square feet
Years lived in: 3 years, renting

I work in cancer prevention at a local university and am a part-time ceramist. I share the apartment with my filmmaker husband Jonathan Wysocki and our cat Lucia. The apartment is a first floor commercial space with a wall of windows on one side, painted bright white with 12-foot ceilings.

Describe your home’s style in 5 words or less: Bright modern playful

What is your favorite room and why? The whole apartment is mostly one big space, but the space that we’ve carved out as the living room is our favorite space. We’ve filled it with plants, art, books, and mementos from our lives and travels.

If you could magically change something about your home, what would it be? The layout and lack of built-in storage. Because the space was originally planned around a more commercial use, the layout is a bit wonky as an apartment. I would love to make the giant bathroom smaller, or swap the location of the kitchen and bedroom, and use more of the vertical space for storage.

What’s the last thing you bought (or found!) for your home? The most recent purchase for the apartment was the vintage wool rug we have by the front door we got on eBay.

Any advice for creating a home you love? This is the third time I’ve answered this question on AT (see a past house call here), but I still feel like my best advice to people is to make your home a showcase of you and the things that make you happy. Homes should be as unique as their owners. Fill your house with your moments, your joys, your creativity, your life, or if you’re a minimalist, don’t fill it at all! Whatever is going to make you happy. Do that.