Two Travel-Loving, Bargain-Hunters Make a Home in LA
Name: Amber & Joe
Location: Toluca Lake — Los Angeles, California
The basics: Just over 2 years, owned — 1,200 square feet
Amber and Joe are big travelers and bargain hunters so their space is a fun eclectic mix of treasures. Keeping things neutral and peaceful through paint choices and lighting, they’ve also filled the house with one of a kind items.
Tell us a little (or a lot) about your home and the people who live there: The condo is a 1,200-square-foot, two-bedroom, two-bath, three-story building, including a 600-square-foot rooftop deck with a view. We renovated the floors, kitchen, handrails and replaced all light fixtures. We created a livable roof top deck.
We draw inspiration for our home from all our travels. Joe has traveled to almost every state in the US and I (Amber) have gone to over 25 countries. Hence our “Gypset,” gypsy and jetsetter, style. In fact, as we write this we are preparing to hit the road for another adventure in Mexico with our black labrador puppy named Jet.
Joe produces Rick Dees Weekly Top 40 radio countdown played on over 1000 radio stations worldwide, as well as runs the recording studio. While working is a noisy business, home is his sanctuary, with candles burning in lanterns all around the home to add that touch of ambiance. It is such a joy for Joe to come home to such a beautiful home that not only represents who we are, but now is full of memories of the journey creating it.
I teach dance and meditation to toddlers and kids at a premier kids yoga studio with bright murals on the walls, so coming home to an earthy vibe keeps me grounded. I exercise my passion for play by frequently hosting dinner dates and themed parties. We are a great team for these events, I set up decorations and Joe grills on the patio.
Jet’s favorite resting spot is in a Churchill chair we got on eBay local pick up for $150 (retail $5000). We call it his “old man chair”.
What is your favorite room and why? The living room is our favorite because we found it is so much fun to curate. Everything has a story because it came from hunting things down on Craiglist, eBay Local Pick Up and our Kentucky antique store shopping, so it is the room with the most stories. Our favorite story was getting this Restoration Hardware coffee table trunk for $300 a couple days after we got engaged. A year later, Joe found the actual vintage trunk that it was inspired by for $35 at a thrift store in Burbank and we put that on display right near it.
If you could magically change something about your home, what would it be? The two bathrooms. We remodeled the things we could not live with. But even though the bathrooms were not what we wanted, the finishes were high quality and in such great shape we could not bring ourselves to spend the money to change it. But if magic were involved we would do a total cosmetic upgrade!
What’s the last thing you bought (or found!) for your home? We’d been looking for the right bookshelves since we moved in, and just a couple months ago, Joe found this statement piece on Craigslist. They are a pair of custom sized Blake Avenue book cases and they could have been built for our space because they fit perfectly down to the millimeter. The reclaimed materials are two inch barn wood and steel.
Which fictional character would be most at home in your place? Indiana Jones
Amber & Joe’s Words of Wisdom: Livability factor is something we value. We love that we can put our feet on the furniture, and the more scratches, dents and rust the more comfortable we are.
And…
We took our time and looked for treasures that called to us. Then when we went to pick things up from Craigslist, we would always ask, “what else you got?” Sometimes we ended up finding other pieces we loved as well since we liked their taste to begin with. For bigger items, we hired a one item mover to eliminate the hassle.
Thanks, Amber & Joe!
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