He turned his West Hollywood condominium into an entertainer’s dream

When Julio Miranda-Martin started his condominium search, he had one nonnegotiable: He needed a devoted eating room to entertain his buddies. He was scouring Zillow in 2025 when an inventory for a railroad-style, one-bedroom on the sting of West Hollywood got here up that included the requisite eating room. It was additionally strolling distance to his part-time job as a advertising and marketing coordinator at furnishings retailer Lawson-Fenning. More importantly, at $2,500 a month it was inside his price range.

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Miranda-Martin met along with his landlord the identical day he discovered the itemizing, who advised him he seems to be like his son. Feeling like discovering this 950-square-foot condominium was kismet, Miranda-Martin signed the lease and set about creating a classy and color-saturated sanctuary. Miranda-Martin determined he wanted to make two main investments earlier than transferring in: portray the partitions and altering the lighting. “I was finally able to move into a place that I actually like, not just out of necessity. I was like, let’s make it feel like my own,” says Miranda-Martin, who refers back to the area as his “living canvas.”

In this sequence, we highlight L.A. leases with fashion. From good gallery partitions to short-term decor hacks, these renters get inventive, even in small areas. And Angelenos want the inspiration: Most are renters.

The condominium is on the second ground of a fourplex, up a windowless staircase. Miranda-Martin embraced the shortage of sunshine and painted it a high-gloss crimson. Without pure gentle, he hard-wired sconces discovered on Facebook Marketplace that recall decorative 18th century candlesticks. They solid a dim however moody gentle all through the staircase, ending with an ornate mirror on the prime. The mirror reveals a glimpse of the condominium’s inside in its reflection when Miranda-Martin opens the door. “Every time people walk in, especially at night, it’s such a dramatic entry,” he explains. “It’s very cinematic,” agrees pal and co-worker Kristin Reeder, who is usually a visitor at his soirees, “like something from ‘Eyes Wide Shut.’ ”

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1. Julio Miranda-Martin’s apartment decor starts in the bold staircase that leads to his door. 2. A mirror at the top of the staircase offers extra depth. 3. Julio Miranda-Martin fills the bookshelf in his dining room with books and treasures.

In contrast, the living room offers a calmer palette of sky blues and earthy browns. Miranda-Martin tends to choose paint colors based on the light. The living room, with abundant west-facing windows brings in soft, bright light. Miranda-Martin painted it with Benjamin Moore’s Navajo, a flat white, as a backdrop to the softer hues of the furniture he designed at his furniture and lighting company, Studio MM. “It adds a stillness,” he says.

The room is anchored by a large velvet couch in a rich brown. The modular couch is anchored on each side with Art-Deco influenced side tables, lamps and light blue slipper chairs he designed, setting up a cozy tableau for hosting his friends. Pale pink cushioned ottomans provide additional seating that can easily be moved around the room to accommodate additional guests.

A velvet couch acts as a statement piece in the apartment living room.

(Etienne Laurent/For the Times)

French doors separate the living room from the dining room. The chartreuse-infused dining room returns to a more dramatic colorway. With less natural light, Miranda-Martin wanted to play up the idea of dining-room-as-treehouse, reflecting the second-floor foliage visible from the small windows. Rather than trying to brighten the room, he leaned into the moodiness by buying inexpensive, USB battery-powered spotlights that are mounted on the ceiling with magnets. Taking an alcohol marker, he tinted the lights a soft amber, allowing him to highlight the art in the room without adding harsh overhead lighting.

The dining room is meant to reflect the foliage just outside the window.

(Etienne Laurent/For the Times)

A shell-adorned mirror anchors the wall facing the windows and built-in shelving, making the room feel larger. Miranda-Martin sourced two shell-shaped sconces that flank the mirror at an estate sale in San Francisco. Most of the art and home decor comes from Facebook Marketplace and Craigslist, or is thrifted from local stores. Estate sales are also a source, though Miranda-Martin feels the rising popularity of these sales in Los Angeles has led to an increase in pricing. “They’ve gotten so over the top now in L.A. [They’re] tremendous costly. You’re probably not gonna discover a deal,” he laments, citing the armed safety checking baggage just lately at a few of the hottest property gross sales.

In addition to altering the lighting and portray the partitions, Miranda-Martin prioritized the window remedies, with pinch pleat curtains from Ikea. “Drapery can just make a space feel super elevated,” he advises. He prefers a mixture of new and classic decor, balancing each for an eclectic however deeply private look to his house. He tries to not overthink his aesthetic selections. “I think it’s very instinctual. I’m not really thinking, ‘Is this in good taste or is this going to be weird?,’ ” he says.

Down the corridor, the bed room’s largely white design theme returns to a extra serene composition, offering a quiet sanctuary. Miranda-Martin eliminated the headboard from his mattress, making it seem to be it’s floating between the evening tables he designed. “Everything feels sort of streamlined and smooth,” says Miranda-Martin. Like the lounge, the bed room is painted the identical flat white however the high quality of the japanese gentle filtering into the bed room casts a buttery glow.

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1. Ceramics fill inset cabinets within the kitchen. 2. A glass case within the condominium hall between the eating room and the bed room. 3. With its lighter decor, the bed room was meant to be a sanctuary.

The small kitchen retains its midcentury allure, however open shelving above the counter offers an airier, extra modern cabinet to indicate off Miranda-Martin’s dish and glassware assortment. The simpler entry is useful when he’s entertaining. His condominium is the proper pre-game area for him and his buddies earlier than an evening in town. He tries to ensure he pre-batches cocktails earlier than his visitors arrive.

He additionally likes to host extra elaborate dinner events and recreation nights. He attributes his love of entertaining to his upbringing as an solely youngster in Downey. “I like hosting because I enjoy being around more people than when I was growing up,” explains Miranda-Martin. His purpose, finally, is to carry collectively disparate teams of individuals from totally different spheres in an area everybody will really feel comfy in. Dinner events at Miranda-Martin’s “feel like an event,” says Reeder. “It’s something you’re excited for and you want to get dressed up for.”

“I’m kind of going through a phase right now where I need to be around people,” admits Miranda-Martin. “I think I just hate being alone.”