Orcondo: Bedrooms & Common Areas

Hey Everyone! I’m back with my very last Orcondo post. And I have to say, I’m so sad about it. There’s nothing more fun than looking at ugly pictures of what this place used to look like and reminding my boyfriend that if it weren’t for me, he’d still be living in the depths of this 80’z despair. Today, we’re going to take a peek into some of my favorite spaces in the condo: the bedrooms, where I sleep every night, dreaming of staring at before and after pictures forever and the TV loft, where I force Edouard to watch stupid comedy shows every night even though he wants to watch serious documentaries or tv shows where everyone is murdering each other and it’s so scary.

MASTER BEDROOM

The master bedroom is by far the darkest room in the otherwise bright and airy condo. Previously, it was a simple, nondescript box. The bedrooms were carpeted in the same dark industrial carpet that was in the living room, which defied the purpose of carpeting by being neither soft nor inviting. We did the same wood flooring in here as we did around the rest of the apartment and sourced a beautiful rug from Rugs USA to add some lusciousness.

I wanted a nice cushy upholstered place to sleep, so I worked with the wonderful people at Empiric Studio to design my own dream bed. I wanted a bed that was both comfy and modern, so we decided to go with super simple lines and a warm oatmeal fabric. Is it just me or is “warm oatmeal” kind of a disgusting way to describe fabric? It makes me think of that feeling you have when you eat oatmeal and you’re both too full and still hungry and also it’s burning your mouth because it’s too hot. WHY DID I HAVE TO SAY OATMEAL???

I’m obsessed with secret surprises, so I hung this amazing Anna Ullman graphic painting behind the door. Now, every time I close the door I squeal with delight at the surprise painting. Apparently I have a goldfish brain, because I forget it’s there every time and am constantly shocked by its presence.

I found these wonderful side tables at Wertz Brothers and repainted them myself (previously, they had been a yellow, speckled mid-century finish). Emily and I found this seascape at a flea market a few years back and it still captures my heart on a daily basis. Those crazy sconces are from Empiric Studio.

This framed print of Anjelica Huston is one of my most prized possessions. A few years ago Emily organized an influencer collab where I got to design a space in conjunction with Anjelica and it was literally my favorite thing ever. I got to meet her (she has TONS of design ideas btw) and her voice sounds like an angel singing. I’m guessing that’s why her name is Anjelica. I had the piece framed by Framebridge, who are basically the easiest, most convenient way to frame stuff without ever leaving your house.

If you’re in the market for a delicious smelling candle you’ll want to stick your entire face into, I highly recommend my friend’s candle company, Scenthouse (my fave scent is “Gymnasia”). The coil sculpture is by another one of my friends, Ben Medansky.

One of my favorite updates in the bedroom is the simple crown moulding. Originally, I’d wanted to do a very complicated and expensive paneling in the master bedroom. But once we’d priced it out we realized it was going to cost way too much (like $15, 000) so we ended up landing on just adding a crown moulding. A lot of people think you can’t do crown moulding in a space this modern, but I think it adds a nice sense of formality to the room.

The photograph that hangs over the dresser (also from Wertz Brothers) is an original by me. I grew up in Yosemite National Park and miss it a lot. So the last time I visited I took a series of photographs and had them enlarged and framed by Livestock Framing (they’ll print and frame your high-quality, large scale images for you AND THEN FRAME THEM AND SEND THEM TO YOUR HOUSE). Keeping with the personal theme of this room, I used a beautiful quilt my mother made as an accent blanket.

The custom drapes from Decorview are another one of my favorite things in the room. They can be split in the middle or parted to one side, depending how much light you want to let into the room. The chandelier is by Robert Abbey and it can be styled with or without its lampshades (I left them off at first but recently added them back, because if I’ve learned one thing about romance it’s that you gotta keep your man guessing by constantly changing things around the house).

ENTRY

Edouard had some vintage European posters lying around, and was feeling woefully underrepresented art-wise, so we had these framed and hung above a hallway bench. The bench itself is from Ikea, but they stopped making it. It’s a shame, because I think it’s super cute AND it has secret storage which is such a bonus. I feel like this happens to me all the time and it’s so frustrating. Like I’ll buy something at a store and by the time I show it to people so they can buy it the company has stopped making it. Like I get it that companies need to keep their inventory fresh, but it’s sad when something you love goes away. WHY DOES ANYTHING HAVE TO CHANGE EVER!?! (Says the man who just completely changed his whole house).

The hallways were previously this parquet flooring, which I would have liked if it were A) less shiny and B) less orange. Adding the wood plank flooring in the entry made it much more peaceful. Also, a small detail you’ll barely notice is that we moved the entry into the guest bedroom. Before, the hallway was part of the bedroom. We pushed the door back to the room’s entry to create more common space and create a space to display art (I’m currently commissioning a piece from Anna Ullman for the space).

My mother found this amazing Japanese scroll on a recent trip to Japan. I flanked it with small scale sconces to add some warm lighting to the entry way.

GUEST BEDROOM

Guest bedroom? MORE LIKE DEPRESSED BEDROOM! At least it was before, when the most distinguishing feature was the miniblinds that hung above the bed. Also depressing: the grey carpet, the built-in side tables, those rugs sleeping together on that bed. I should probably win an award for most manipulatively ugly before pics, but seriously, it was bad in there.

I transformed the room with one of my go-to paint colors, Sleigh Bells by Benjamin Moore. Pops of gold come from the amazing fixture by Park Studio, a gorgeous Japanese screen I found at the flea market, and a lovely circle mirror from AllModern.

The luminous white bedding is from Parachute. I have the same bedding in my bedroom and it really makes me happy.

Sometimes when I go into the guest bedroom I get sad that it’s not my bedroom. Because it’s so bright and happy and glimmering. Meanwhile, the master bedroom is dark and moody and romantic.

One downside of the brightness of the guest bedroom is the early morning light, which will scald your little retinas the next time you stay with me. Our solution was glamorous designer roller shades from Decorview.

I found these lamps at a vintage store in North Hollywood a few years ago. They are lumpy, aged, and bloated. Which is exactly how I’m feeling today after spending the weekend in Palm Springs with some friends, drinking around a pool for days on end, allowing the desert air to suck all the moisture from my skin. MY LIPS ARE SO DRY RIGHT NOW I DON’T KNOW WHAT TO DO.

The side tables are from Wertz Brothers and I love their simple lines and open storage. Also, as a good host I always leave this carafe next to the bed, filled with fresh water. Just kidding, no one would drink that water. If my guests want water they’ll have to waddle into the kitchen and grab it themselves.

This desk belonged to Edouard’s grandfather, so it’s a legit vintage piece. The circle mirror above the desk bounces light, making the bright room even brighter and increasing my sadness that this is not, alas, my bedroom.

I like to stow extra pillows and bedding in a crate below the shelving so my guests know that they’ll be taken care of if they stay with me. Also, if anyone ever actually uses any of these things I become  enraged because that means I have to take everything out of the crate and refold and restyle the whole thing all over again. Soon I think I’ll just glue it all in place to keep resetting the guest bedroom easier.

The pinecone lamp was a previous DIY project that I still love. I’m into anything piney. Like pine tree art. Pine tree candles. I think it’s because I grew up under a giant pine tree. Like it was so tall our crazy neighbor used to wear a helmet when she raked her yard to avoid getting bonked in the head with a high-speed pinecone.

The TV loft upstairs was previously kind of a dumping ground for random furniture. It was sort of an office, sort of an entertainment space, sort of a guest bedroom. I wanted it to be fully dedicated to just hanging out and enjoying movie/cuddletimez so we added more cozy furniture and reoriented the room so that the television is on the largest wall.

A large scale print by Jaime Derringer hangs over a vintage loveseat no one ever sits on (we both like the cozy blue sofa from West Elm so we fight over that).

This space also used to serve as a guest bedroom, so it had room-darkening shades which made the space feel a lot smaller. We took those out and left the space open. We added custom drapery to soften up the sliding glass doors that lead outside and add another texture to the room.

I used these cute little zigzag side tables throughout the house because I love concrete and wanted to bring in another finish. I’d originally wanted to do poured concrete floors in the bathrooms and around the fireplace but it proved to be too expensive/non-durable so we decided to bring it in with accessories and furnishings instead. LET THIS BE A LESSON TO ALL OF US THAT IF YOU CAN’T AFFORD SOMETHING YOU WANT, YOU CAN BRING IT IN WITH ACCESSORIES AND FURNISHINGS.

This is where the magic really happens. And by “magic” I mean my boyfriend yelling “WHY DO YOU ALWAYS NEED TO FULLY LAY DOWN TO WATCH TV?” and me being like “I JUST WANT TO RELAX WHY WON’T YOU LET ME LIVE???” The cozy sofa is from West Elm, btw,  and I’ve had it for about four years and I still love it. A pro-tip for those who love cuddling/laying down while watching TV is that you can throw the back cushions on the ground for more depth.

Now that I’ve told you that magical throwing-cushions-on-the-ground-for-more-depth trick, I think my work here is done. BUT DO NOT BE AFRAID. I’ll be back soon with more posts.

Love,
Orlando

*** Photography by Tessa Neustadt

For more of Orlando’s Makeover Takeovers: Master Bedroom | Guest Bedroom Reveal | Kitchen Reveal | Kitchen & Bathrooms | Living & Dining Room | Bedroom Makeover