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My Houzz: Clever Design Choices Create a Scandi Look on a Budget
Classic furniture, clever makes and fun accessories bring style and energy to a compact rented apartment
Cori and Lamont Magee designed their cosy Los Angeles apartment in budget-friendly ways by repainting furniture, cleverly covering rental eyesores and envisioning DIY versions of high-cost design pieces. The home now has creative solutions to everyday home problems in modern, Scandinavian-inspired style. ‘I’m most proud of executing the exact look I wanted while still making the place 100% functional for our daily lifestyle, which includes pets, movie watching and working from home,’ says Cori, a graphic designer.
‘Once you know the look you want, whether it’s an entire room or a specific piece of lighting, you can try to figure out a way around buying the expensive option,’ Cori says. For example, she had trouble locating black, café-style lights at a low price. ‘Everything I was finding was at least $100. I decided to buy the $12 green string lights from Target and spray-paint them black. I’ve had them up for a couple years and I still love them,’ she says.
Ektorp sofa, Ikea. Los Angeles typography art, ORK Posters. ‘Small Talk’ art, One Must Dash.
Ektorp sofa, Ikea. Los Angeles typography art, ORK Posters. ‘Small Talk’ art, One Must Dash.
Cori’s mother gave her the chest by the hallway as a gift for her eighth-grade graduation. The Day of the Dead pillow is also a gift from her mum.
Eames coat rack, Design Within Reach. Eames lounge chair, BD Talmadge.
Eames coat rack, Design Within Reach. Eames lounge chair, BD Talmadge.
‘Whether we have the money or not, I refuse to spend $4,000 on a console, so the design challenge is finding a cheaper solution,’ Cori says. For their own media console, she put two smaller floating cabinets from Ikea together and had a piece of wood cut to fit the top.
The living room opens up to what was once the dining room, now the couple’s shared home office. Cori is a graphic designer and blogger and Lamont is a writer. They made a work surface by turning two leaves from a dining table found at a garage sale into a shared desk and painting it white.
The office fan was originally brown. Their rental-friendly solution was to replace it with a white one, which visually disappears into the ceiling.
Stendig wall calendar, Need Supply. Pia Wallen blanket, Story North.
The office fan was originally brown. Their rental-friendly solution was to replace it with a white one, which visually disappears into the ceiling.
Stendig wall calendar, Need Supply. Pia Wallen blanket, Story North.
The air conditioner units were one of Cori’s biggest design dilemmas. ‘We had a white box with a hinged door commissioned to cover the ugliness,’ she says. The unit floats above the desktop and the door can be opened in summer when the unit is running.
For the shelf above the box, Cori looked for houseplants with a low profile, so they wouldn’t hit the ceiling. String of pearls, ivy and a small succulent fit the space perfectly.
For the shelf above the box, Cori looked for houseplants with a low profile, so they wouldn’t hit the ceiling. String of pearls, ivy and a small succulent fit the space perfectly.
A styled bookshelf holds design books and keepsakes. Cori replanted an indoor cactus in a woven basket.
Shelving, Kallax, Ikea.
Check out these interesting ways to store books
Shelving, Kallax, Ikea.
Check out these interesting ways to store books
Jolie the cat sleeps on her favourite spot in the home, the cable box.
A graphic print hangs above a neon stool in the hallway next to the kitchen. ‘I love the black-and-white graphic style, and I also like colour and bring it in little places,’ Cori says.
The glass boxes repurposed as side tables are from Cori’s great-great-grandmother and once held family bouquets.
The bedroom ceiling originally had a dark brown fan. Cori discovered an easy and cost-friendly solution for hiding the unwanted fixture without interfering with electrical wires. ‘I took the fan apart, but left the small white base and bulb in the ceiling,’ she says. ‘I bought the cloud light from Ikea and formed the paper layers in such a way to hide the base of the fan, and the rest of the layers float over the bed like a cloud.’ If the couple move, they can put the fan back in place.
Krusning pendant, Ikea. Malm bed, Ikea. Sheets, Target.
Krusning pendant, Ikea. Malm bed, Ikea. Sheets, Target.
Cori’s favourite design palette is white, black and wood. It’s played up to full advantage in their bedroom, with black sconces, white bedding and wooden bedside tables.
Malm bedside tables, Ikea. Sconces, TripleSevenHome.
Malm bedside tables, Ikea. Sconces, TripleSevenHome.
A small banner found on Etsy swings from the mirror next to the couple’s dresser. The bedroom is Cori’s favourite place because ‘that’s where our dark accent wall is. I love the way it turned out with the white drawers in front of it.’
Malm chest of drawers, Ikea.
Malm chest of drawers, Ikea.
An illustration by artist Garance Doré is displayed next to a pendant light and framed postcard. Cori finds framing postcards a cost-friendly way to include more art in their home.
Shades Poster art by Garance Doré, Society. Pendant light, West Elm.
Shades Poster art by Garance Doré, Society. Pendant light, West Elm.
The bedroom door cleverly holds and hides the couple’s shoes. Cori says one of their storage secrets was buying a bed with drawers. ‘Also, just don’t keep everything; learn to throw stuff out or give it away,’ she adds as advice to other renters.
See some smart shoe storage ideas
See some smart shoe storage ideas
A hallway gallery wall includes illustrations and prints from the couple’s favourite artists and design companies, such as Anna Dorfman, Pop Chart Lab and Wasted Rita.
Other framed art pieces (in no particular order) are Relativism, Genis Carreras. Die Hard, Wharton. Django Unchained, Aron Jones. Just One in a Thousand, Agnes-Cecile. Grand Taxonomy of Rap Names, Pop Chart Lab. Never, Wasted Rita. Sum Total, Shari Margolin. Vile, Kisforblack. Dope, Matthew Taylor Wilson.
Other framed art pieces (in no particular order) are Relativism, Genis Carreras. Die Hard, Wharton. Django Unchained, Aron Jones. Just One in a Thousand, Agnes-Cecile. Grand Taxonomy of Rap Names, Pop Chart Lab. Never, Wasted Rita. Sum Total, Shari Margolin. Vile, Kisforblack. Dope, Matthew Taylor Wilson.
Cori painted a large glass mirror with blackboard paint and secured it to the wall in the kitchen. Her father made the hanging planter.
Cori and her dad also built the hanging rack to keep the couple’s pots and pans organised, rather than adding shelves.
Beyond the kitchen is the home office.
Beyond the kitchen is the home office.
Cori, pictured, is wearing a Cotton Bureau shirt by one of her favourite designers, James Victore.
TELL US…
Do you live in a rented home? Share your tips and photos for making it your own in the Comments below.
TELL US…
Do you live in a rented home? Share your tips and photos for making it your own in the Comments below.
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Who lives here Lamont and Cori Magee, their cat, Jolie, and Shih Tzu-poodle mix, Bishop
Location Los Angeles
Size 1 bedroom, 1 bathroom
Cori Magee describes her design aesthetic as ‘playful Scandinavian’, a style that’s evident in the living room of the rented flat she shares with her husband, Lamont. It’s dressed in graphic prints, textiles and shots of colour. ‘Thanks to the internet, I have so many great design sources, in addition to my own design friends and print magazines,’ she says.
The woven ottoman is from Cori’s parents’ garage.
Ranarp white task lamp, Ikea. White coffee table, Crate and Barrel. Cushions, Hem, Ikea, Etsy, Marimekko. Rug, Urban Outfitters.