When Paleny Toros, a data analyst, first started dating her husband Hrayr he lived in Orange County, CA and she in Los Angeles. A year into seeing each other mainly on weekends, Hrayr landed his dream job as an engineer at SpaceX in Los Angeles, finally ending the couple’s weekly back-and-forth routine. Shortly after getting married in 2016, Paleny and Hrayr began looking for a home of their own. While house hunting, Paleny realized that she was drawn to older homes that had not been flipped or extensively modernized. “I felt that the older houses had more character and the ones that had been flipped were never in my aesthetic style,” she explains. “I have a strong sense of personal style and wanted the opportunity to be able to make our house our own.”
When Paleny and Hrayr first visited their 1950s ranch-style home during an open house, they immediately sensed a positive energy and felt that the house had been a happy home for its previous owners. It had character, but also showed great potential for remodeling and making it unique to them. Not long after the first glimpse, the house was theirs.
Before buying new pieces for the couple’s home, Paleny spent a long time researching different styles to figure out what would make the house feel like home for her and Hrayr. While browsing the web for inspiration, Paleny faced the challenge of distinguishing between liking something because it was her aesthetic, or because it simply was something so well done. “At one point, I decided that I wouldn’t constrict myself to a single style,” Paleny says. “I decided I would let each room take on its own personality and trust that the process would result in a cohesive look since at the end of the day, they all had my touch in common. And so I let loose with my creativity and allowed each room to have its own style.” Paleny let her design decisions develop in an organic way, resulting in spaces inspired by everything from Scandinavian “hygge” to rustic elements and a playful twist on boho chic. She also played around with modern trends, adding blossoming wallpaper and traditional Portuguese cement tiles in the bathrooms.
While each space has been carefully considered from a visual standpoint, each decision that Paleny has made has met two criteria: style and functionality. “My husband and I both have engineering backgrounds and so we share ‘being functional’ in common,” Paleny explains. “Also, we have a large group of amazingly supportive family and friends that we love being with, and hosting a large number of people definitely played a factor in styling decisions,” she adds. When asked what she’s most thankful for about her home, Paleny’s answer in all its simplicity is: Hrayr. “I feel very fortunate for having an incredibly supportive husband who believed in my ability to transform our home into what it is today. It has made the process be an incredibly cathartic experience for me, allowing my creative side to be challenged, exercised, and explored.” —Sofia
Photography by Ani Ishkhanian / @shotbyani
Image above: View of the living room and entrance of Paleny and Hrayr’s two-bedroom ranch-style home. The painting in the entryway is one of three paintings by Armenian artist Ani Hovak, which were gifted to the couple by family on their wedding day.
from Design*Sponge https://www.designsponge.com/2018/08/a-los-angeles-home-becomes-a-creative-outlet-for-two-techies.html
from Home Improvment http://notelocreesnitu.tumblr.com/post/177203995679
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