Favorites

Artist Christopher Florentino’s Ghost Loft is a delightful mix of midcentury treasures, Pop art, and Japanese design.

A purposeful nook for storing coats and taking off shoes is lined with vertical subway tile. The brick floor elegantly meets the pistachio green tile floor, which helps to define the alcove from the main space.

A shelving system in the living room displays books, decor, and the couple’s vinyl collection.

The lattice-like bookcase separating the living room and family room is part of a design approach that Cristián says “blurs the line between building and furniture.” The walls and floors are concrete in all of the units.

A collaboration between YUN Architecture and interior designer Penelope August, a renovated, 19th-century townhouse with landmark status used to be an egg and poultry distributor. Now virtually unrecognizable, the parlor floor is the home's open-plan living area. A formerly defunct fireplace was reactivated and clad with a custom-made, limestone mantle.

A dramatic black-painted wall is a backdrop for the home office. The renovation has compelled the couple to move into the home full-time and rent their Seattle townhome.

Crawford taught himself how to reface the brick fireplace façade, using a creamy-colored, thin set brick. “It was his first time using a tile saw or laying brick, but his meticulous precision paid off,” says Devlin.

The first phase of the project involved opening up the kitchen to the living spaces, and connecting the rooms.

The wood slat wall was a great solution for spreading light throughout the split-level and looks right for the era of the house. At $2700, it was also much more cost effective than Devlin’s original design of a metal staircase.

A sliding door opens up the kitchen.

The handrail continues onto the mezzanine as a slanted balustrade that follows the upper level’s triangulated plan. "It looks like a complicated system, but on closer look, most of the surfaces are planar," says Amanda. "We did this to ensure that the project could be constructed as accurately as possible."

The sculptural new staircase, fronted with a faceted, Baltic birch handrail, features storage underneath that reduces clutter.

Architect Amanda Gunawan’s 1,620-square-foot Biscuit Loft in Downtown L.A. is awash in gentle light. Designed by French-born, Missouri-based architect E.J. Eckel in 1925, the building had been converted by Aleks Istanbullu Architect in 2006 into a live/work complex. Amanda introduced Japanese-inspired touches to soften the industrial language. The harmonious living room features a CB2 sofa, white Eames Lounge Chair and Ottoman, Knoll Wassily Chair, and a rug and timber bench from Zara Home.

Amanda Gunawan of OWIU Design turns a cookie-cutter space into an Asian-inflected haven with an industrial edge.