It's an Atwater Kind of Feeling

We’ll always jump at the opportunity to work with one of our favorite LA designers, Leslie Paugh. And with this project we were doubly excited because the home is in Atwater, just a stone’s throw away from our headquarters. Atwater may feel a million miles from the busy center of Los Angeles, but it’s just minutes away from downtown. Its tree-lined streets are filled with Spanish style and bungalow homes of style and character. Popular with young families for all these reasons, Atwater also boasts a super-cute village with restaurants, coffee shops, boutiques and bakeries. In other words, it’s pretty much real estate nirvana. And if this completely re-imagined bungalow home wasn’t perfect enough, it also has an accessory dwelling unit (ADU) in the backyard for multi-generational living — or to rent out for additional income.

Let’s start our tour in the ADU because, well, it’s just so flippin’ cute. For all of you who follow the popular interior designer Emily Henderson, we don’t need to sing the virtues of a blue kitchen. But this blue kitchen has the absolute best version of blue cabinets we’ve seen in some time. It’s a warm blue (if that can be a thing) with just enough green in it to feel a bit coastal. It’s just perfect, that’s all. We wanted to accentuate that hue so we came in with rattan and light wood furniture for contrast, a white sofa for freshness — and plenty of cozy blue pillows, a sheepskin throw and a cowhide rug for an organic free-form shape on the floor. The chair and coffee table are both from Urban Outfitters. Crisp white Tolix style counter height stools mean guests can chat with the cook — or kids can get some homework in before dinner. Yes, it’s a compact living room, but remember, this is just the ADU. In the backyard. Of a big house.

A seaglass-color vase wears a string of beads while art in soft blue tones hangs on the wall. Styling a kitchen counter top or island is sometimes just a matter of a few cookbooks atop a large cutting board, topped with an interesting bowl or basket, and in the background, a wooden rolling pin with more cookbooks, a round basket tray and a ceramic container holding a set of wooden utensils. If you use color, use it sparingly and keep it to one central hue, making neutrals your star.

On the opposite side of the ADU living room is a Jonathan Adler Now House Josef console table with really interesting Post-Modern lines. We found this line on Amazon and knew we had to own this piece. A quick check of the website shows that nearly every single Now House furniture item is currently unavailable (container ships offshore and supply chain issues). Literally, all that’s available now is one rug, one chair and some bedding. Yikes! We’re so glad we got in there and nabbed one of these consoles. A lidded African basket, some large tomes and a potted plant adorn this simple piece.

If you’re ready to jump on the wooden bead string bandwagon, you’re not alone. A string of large wooden beads is rapidly becoming one of the most popular decor trends of 2021. But don’t despair if they seem expensive. A quick check of online sources turned up an Amazon seller with many options for DIY beading.

Living Spaces’ Aquarius sofa in light gray is compact, stylish and has the light coastal feel we were after in this room. And paired with some of H&M’s graphic-print pillow covers, it’s a winning combination. We hung a large B&W print of cacti to bring in the natural world and remind buyers that this home is squarely in Los Angeles (a desert!). We chose a brass floor lamp because blue and brass just gravitate toward each other.

We’re ready to show you the main house now. A simple plaster fireplace is the absolute best. So fresh and chameleon-like. You could go full-on modern in here if you wanted to, or you could try out cottage core. Really, you can’t go wrong with such a clean palette. We went in a transitional direction because staging often dictates that a transitional feel will pull in the greatest number of potential buyers — and that is, after all, the goal of staging. But transitional does not have to be boring. Quite the opposite. Transitional style pulls in the best of Mid Mod, Trad and Global for an irresistible mix of materials that span decades and tastes. Coffee table books with evocative titles like “Travel Home” share tabletop space with a hand-woven basket and more of those fab wooden beads. A square-pattern rug pulls in the Trad feels while the plain lines of a white sofa lean toward Mod. A style-shifting woven round mirror and simple floor lamp add texture and interest.

We scored a pair of Pottery Barn armchairs from a local seller and here they shine. Somewhat petite in scale, side by side they fill one half of the living room. A tall fiddle leaf fig in the corner adds height and all the nature feels. Simple framed B&W art and a West Elm brass table with a marble top finish off the space.

An open-concept family room situated near the back of the house affords a work from home space to inspire envy. Plenty of room to work and play in this room which features two seating areas and a fireplace. We put two striped chairs in front of the fireplace hearth. To the right is a large white sofa (the Utopia sofa from Living Spaces). More and more clients are asking us to include a work-from-home area — even in the tiniest of bedrooms. It’s amazing what you can squeeze in if you have just 48” - 60” of wall space in literally any room of your home.

Texture. Texture. Texture. We can’t say it enough. If a staging doesn’t feel “I-could-just-sink-into-that-sofa” cozy, it doesn’t pass muster with us. That’s why our warehouse has two huge pillow and bedding aisles stuffed with coziness of all sizes and colors. Soft goods are among the most important features of a stager’s inventory and must be sourced with an eye for natural materials, softness and durability. We think these comfy pillows pass the test.

This guest bedroom in the ADU features a vintage rattan headboard, blush and black bedding and a tribal pattern rug from Ellen DeGeneres’ ED line. A soft blue fringed throw is casually tossed at the foot of the bed. Our secret to that easy casual look is to quite literally throw the throw and then don’t touch it (or if you’re like some of us, each time you throw it, somehow the tag always shows). So it may take a few throws to get it right, but when you do, just leave it alone!

What a dream kitchen this house has! Complete with open shelving in reclaimed wood and soft gray cabinets. Marble-look quartz counter tops and backsplash contrast nicely. Of course we know that most people can’t have just a few cookbooks and fab decor on their open shelves. But it is possible to pare down your kitchen must-haves and display only your neutral dishes, glassware, glass containers of food and cookbooks. It would be a good challenge to see if you could live that way. Wait, who are we kidding? It’s staging. It’s just supposed to get you thinking about how absolutely Martha Stewart you’re gonna be when you buy this house. So just go with us here.