City Life

You may have noticed the lack of blog posts recently. We recently purchased a condo in downtown Los Angeles (AKA DTLA) and we have been BUSY. Carl is on a lightrail project for the LA Metro Transit District for the next eight years and his residential choices were a lengthy commute, hotel life, or purchase/rent a property. Since DTLA is in a huge growth surge right now, we opted to buy.

So for the last few months we've been "feathering the nest" as my friend, Christi, calls it. It's a very modern space so we've decided to follow suit and decorate in a more minimal style than our current home in Redlands.  820 square feet doesn't seem like a lot of space until you start buying furniture.

It's been a fun project working with Carl on the decor. This is really the first time he's shown an interest in this sort of thing so I was happy he was on board. And speaking of board, our first stop was Room&Board where we found our sofa, side chair and bed. I was really impressed with the professionalism of this company. They're more like designers than salespeople and very knowledgeable about their products. The other spots we shopped and made purchases were Crate and Barrel, Mathis Bros., Modani, Ikea and West Coast Modern. Our final furniture purchase was from an Etsy seller, Hearthside Home, who specializes in mid century modern design. Other than Ikea, where Carl said he never wants to set foot in again, all of the transactions were excellent. This is not to say that the Ikea shopping was bad, it's just that Carl hates crowds and was miserable the whole time we were there.

We're waiting on the final furniture delivery and in the meantime, we've set up the cable, wifi and music.You know, all that technology crap.

The empty space

Partially furnished

Daytime view (Carl's favorite)

Night time view (My favorite)

One of my favorite things about living downtown is that we walk everywhere. Just like we do when we travel to other big cities around the world. Once our cars are parked, they stay that way. We're probably a half mile from a great selection of restaurants and decent shopping (there's even a Target!) and mere blocks from the Metro station. 

I've done some walking around and exploring, venturing out about 1.5 miles to Grand Central Market in the historic core. It's a big warehouse type building full of food vendors and produce sellers.  There's a place called Eggslut that's really popular but the line was too long so I got some pork ramen and was very happy with my choice.

Grand Central Market near Broadway and 4th

Inside Grand Central Market

 

 

 

 

Bentoya Japanese Cuisine

We're excited about our new place and look forward to many adventures in the years to come. I'll keep you posted as I make new discoveries.