Jeffrey Hamilton got here to dwell in an empty condominium, as many do, after a painful breakup.
“It was a traumatic time although it was an amicable breakup,” says the 38-year-old anesthesiologist. “I had two weeks to maneuver and was determined to seek out one thing.”
On this sequence, we highlight L.A. leases with fashion. From excellent gallery partitions to short-term decor hacks, these renters get artistic, even in small areas. And Angelenos want the inspiration: Most are renters.
Hamilton, who’s drawn to “gallery-esque white containers,” finally settled in a two-bedroom, two-bathroom Lorcan O’Herlihy Architects-designed condominium 4 blocks away in West Hollywood. With few possessions apart from his cats, he proceeded to furnish the unit with secondhand objects he discovered totally on Fb Market.
Throughout the course of, he says, he discovered himself.
“It was the primary time I had lived alone in a very long time and it was good to hearken to my very own instincts,” says Hamilton, sitting in the lounge of his elegant condominium, which he now shares together with his boyfriend David Poli, his cats Romulus and Remus and Poli’s Husky combine, Janeway (named for Kathryn Janeway, the primary feminine captain on the tv sequence “Star Trek: Voyager”). All of the pets are rescues.
Black CB2 cabinets Hamilton discovered on Fb Market retailer artfully organized ceramics, books and his and his boyfriend’s sneakers.
“Jeffrey likes to say that every part in his condo is a rescue, together with me,” says Poli jokingly.
When Hamilton adopted his cats six years in the past throughout his medical residency in San Diego, they have been kittens; now, as adults, he says, the noticed Bengal cats haven’t simply grown however have influenced his design selections in his new house.
The den options extra pet-friendly selections together with a Rove Ideas modular couch that Hamilton purchased on clearance. “It’s a bit of small for 2 grown males and three pets,” he says.
“My authentic inspiration was to match the furnishings to the kitties so I don’t see their cat hair,” he says. “The cats very a lot knowledgeable the colour scheme. I discover them so good-looking; it felt like having matching furnishings was sensible.”
In the lounge, as an illustration, Hamilton selected a camel-colored Curvo couch in velvet by Goop for CB2, which he discovered on Fb Market. Equally, the accompanying swivel chairs from HD Buttercup and the barstool seats within the kitchen are upholstered in Bengal and Husky-durable textiles that camouflage pet hair.
Actor Equipment Williamson, a Hollywood pal who has tackled lots of his personal inside design tasks, says Hamilton and Poli’s house is greater than only a secure place to land. “I really like that Jeffrey’s design for the condo was impressed by his cats — and that David’s canine not solely will get together with the cats, however enhances the colour palette,” he says. “It’s not simply cohesive, it’s kismet.”
A second-hand desk from Fb Market within the bed room supplies a spot for distant work.
No want for lint rollers as Janeway blends in with the furnishings.
Hamilton grew up within the Bay Space however has moved across the nation for his training and medical coaching, together with stints in New York Metropolis, San Francisco, San Diego and Seattle. So when he moved to Los Angeles for good in 2022, he discovered looking for furnishings on Craigslist and Fb Market to be an effective way to get to know town.
“It was good initially as a result of I used to be new to L.A., and it helped me get a greater sense of Los Angeles,” he says. “I ventured to Woodland Hills and Calabasas — I received quite a lot of classic stuff in Woodland Hills.”
Dwelling alone, Hamilton says, is what allowed him to “discover area and time to honor” his personal pursuits a bit of extra.
Hamilton’s condominium in West Hollywood, which was designed by Lorcan O’Herlihy Architects, consists of an out of doors patio and a rooftop deck with views of the Hollywood Hills.
“I believe with medical college, residency and fellowship coaching, I didn’t have a lot time and area or sources to self-examine, as a lot of my time was occupied working and occupied with the wellness of others,” he says.
For him, a part of his course of for making a welcoming house was specializing in “sustainable items — issues that have been used, classic or native,” he says.
That accounts for a few of Hamilton’s house decor alternatives: The CB2 bookshelves from Fb Market, which retailer artfully organized ceramics, books and the couple’s neatly stacked sneakers and a travertine eating room desk, additionally from Fb Market.
Down the corridor, of their bed room, is a second-hand desk from Fb Market the place Poli can do business from home a number of days per week. “It’s a bit of beat-up, which I like,” Hamilton says. “I like issues which can be shiny and good but additionally beat-up across the edges. Nothing too excellent. “
Romulus reclines on the camel-colored velvet couch in the lounge.
After which there may be the artwork. “It was essential to me to have items from both native artisans or artists who’re L.A.-based,” he says, noting the tall, plaster lamp in the lounge by Kate O’Connor and a graphic stoneware bowl by Chad Callaghan atop his marble espresso desk.
In the lounge, Hamilton hung a large-scale art work by Texas-based painter Jason Adkins for Common Public, an organization developed by Portia de Rossi that licenses and 3D-prints artworks. Within the den, one other Adkins piece for Common Public hangs alongside a classic print by Cy Twombly. “They really feel like actual work,” he says of the Synographs. “You possibly can’t inform the distinction. “
Elegant, clutter-free and homey, the condominium is a relaxed place to come back house to after working lengthy shifts, together with overnights, at Kids’s Hospital. “A way of calm and serenity was most likely an important implicit precedence,” Hamilton says. “My work might be very traumatic at instances, so having a spot of refuge got here naturally.”
Fortunately, balancing consolation and pets is one other factor that got here naturally to the couple after they moved in collectively.
The open-concept kitchen is fashionable and streamlined.
“We’ve a pleasant synergy,” Hamilton says of Poli. “We are inclined to agree with regards to inside design.”
“I’m extra of a minimalist,” Poli says. “Jeffrey likes pillows an excessive amount of. It’s getting a bit of busy in right here,” he provides, teasing his accomplice.
“I do like pillows,” Hamilton says, noting that he not too long ago purchased a stitching machine so he could make his personal comfortable furnishings. “I’ve discovered that the most effective out of doors pillows for pets are from Arhaus. They don’t stain, and they’re actually sturdy.”
Like many millennials his age, Hamilton usually thinks about shopping for a house however finds actual property costs, mixed with the housing scarcity in Los Angeles, daunting. “It’s so costly,” he says. “I hold doing the mathematics, get permitted for a mortgage, then see the rates of interest and the way a lot you must put down — and I simply can’t do it. My hire is ridiculous, however it’s extra economical than any mortgage I’ve seen in West Hollywood.”
For now, Hamilton enjoys residing in a 30-unit constructing in a pedestrian-friendly neighborhood with a rooftop deck overlooking the Sundown Strip. “I don’t want a ton of area,” he says. “Possibly a condominium in West Hollywood could be a pleasant place to begin sometime.”
In spite of everything, he’s discovered he’s good at beginning over.
