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Get to Know: Kalli

My BFF Kalli, a talented artist and jewlery designer based out of Los Angeles, has an interesting take on adding color to your rentals. While visiting her during our whirlwind trip of the California coast, we were so lucky to snooze in her bed (love ya, Kalli!) and enjoy the soft aquas and blues of her room. Here’s her take on a unique way to splash color in your home – without breaking the bank while making it easier when the lease runs out:

I rent an apartment in Los Angeles, and have a small, square bedroom with one window and a sliding-door closet. At first I planned to paint all four walls sky blue to bring life to the room, but realized that much aqua might be slightly oppressive in that small of a space. It also could have cast a cold light on everything, which I didn’t want because my favorite thing about LA is its abundance of warm sunlight. In keeping the walls a neutral pale beige, I felt more free to contribute color to the room through a chartreuse rug, pale aqua bed linens and art on the walls. I painted only the inside of my closet blue…

… and illuminated it by tacking up a string of white Christmas lights just inside the frame of the closet doors. Most of the time I leave the door open to see the color, and when I plug in the lights at night, the closet glows.

Painting just my closet satisfied my need for some vivid color and will save us time in repainting when we move out. I would definitely recommend going bold in the closet if you’re hesitant committing to an entire room flooded in color.

Kalli also suggests painting the closet’s ceiling to complete the whole colorbox effect, and don’t forget to take down any shelving units before painting  – or at least seal off any edges with blue painter’s tape. And just for fun, we’re loving her living room, also white washed but layered with punches of color, texture, and (of course) a gnome.

Thank you, Kalli! xoxo.

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  • Jill1.20.11 - 11:20 AM

    besides the pretty dresses (and necklaces of course) which i commented about on fb, i LOVE the beautiful simplicity of the velvety green couch (i’m guessing craigs find?) and yellow lamp pairing. did that lamp come with the matching shade too? awesome!ReplyCancel

  • Kim1.20.11 - 11:39 AM

    Jill, we fell in love with the green and yellow combo, too! From what I remember, the couch was actually Ikea and the lamp was inherited from Kalli’s roommate – a hand me down, I think. But maybe Kalli will chime in and let us know for sure?ReplyCancel

  • RocketGirl1.20.11 - 1:26 PM

    1) I LOVE Christmas lights.

    2) Painting the inside of the closet is GENIUS! I might try this in the baby’s room!ReplyCancel

  • Meghan1.20.11 - 2:32 PM

    I LOVE this idea and actually did this when I moved into my condo. My only regret is I didn’t choose a color that “popped”. I am having a new floor installed in a few weeks and have cleaned everything out of my closets. Now would be a great time to tackle this project with a better color! Thanks so much for the inspiration!ReplyCancel

  • Jill1.20.11 - 4:39 PM

    an IKEA FIND?!?!?! i have yet to see a couch that cool from IKEA!ReplyCancel

  • Jill1.20.11 - 4:39 PM

    and Kalli, please do, chime in!ReplyCancel

  • Kalli1.21.11 - 12:40 AM

    thanks Kim! You guys can crash with me any time!

    The gnome and lamp are my roommate’s, the rug is FLOR, the side table, coffee table and couch are all IKEA from a few years back (Kim and Scott actually helped me lug the used coffee table back to my apartment from a church sale the first time they visited me, ha.)

    I think the lampshade was as old as the lamp, and my roommate asked if we should get a white shade and I said “NO!” because the monochromatic sunny yellow makes it one of my favorite things in the house.ReplyCancel

  • Jill1.21.11 - 9:55 AM

    good call, Kalli, that matching lampshade is so cool. you hardly see that nowadays. and i’m super jeal of that ikea couch. please ikea, bring back the velvet green!ReplyCancel

  • Cait @ Hernando House1.21.11 - 3:54 PM

    Loving that closet!ReplyCancel

  • Daniel1.30.11 - 9:46 PM

    The living looks pretty cozy. It brings up so much relaxing feel that I want to sleep on the couch all day. Her bedroom looks good and the closet is ok.. =)ReplyCancel

  • marsha bushman6.8.11 - 1:37 PM

    I did this in an apartment I was renting about 10 years ago and my landlord *freaked* out. I loved it, but… seriously.ReplyCancel

  • Kim6.8.11 - 1:43 PM

    Marsha, wow, a bit of an overreaction from the landlord, no? Ah, well. Of course we recommend that you always check with them first! When we were renting, we would negotiate with our landlords and how much we could paint. For example, we would maintain the hallways if they would allow us to paint the living room pink! Hah, but really… I had a pink living room (and still love it just thinking about it!).ReplyCancel

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