This Hillside Hollywood Home Is a Minimalist Design Haven

Rip & Tan: How would you describe the overarching design ethos of Lou Home?

Emily Valdez: Our objective in every project is to create a neutral, beautifully subtle backdrop for our clients to live their wonderful lives. Waking up in a bright, clean, timeless space allows the mind to focus on what’s important instead of fixating on clutter and mismanaged layouts and finishes.

We are a huge proponent of simplicity wherever possible (hiding appliances, using neutral tones, etc.) and are big believers that if a space isn’t jumping out at you when you walk in the door, you are probably doing it right.

Rip & Tan: What do you love most about working as a husband and wife team? What do you bring out in one another that other partnerships perhaps would not?

Emily Valdez: First are foremost, we are best friends. Having such a strong foundation allows us to take chances and look to each other for guidance and support without feeling shy or like our ideas may be too big. We each have distinct tastes that intersect in certain places and stray at others, so being there as a sounding board to help meet in the middle for each other has proven priceless.

Mike has an incredible way of seeing solutions in spaces that didn’t exist before and reimagining layouts. I love the challenge of marrying materials and adding timeless details that will stand the test of time.  We are better together and knowing that gives us confidence that takes years and years to grow.

Rip & Tan: How do you strike a balance between functional and elevated interiors? Do you have any design tenets that help you stay true to this?

Emily Valdez: It’s cliche, but “less is more” is something we stick pretty strictly to. At the end of a project, we aren’t the ones sleeping there. It isn’t our stuff that going in the home. The best thing we can do for our clients is creating a beautiful backdrop for their lives to integrate into. Details in fabrication and materials, lighting, and storage are our focus so that our clients can have a clean, beautiful slate to work their personality into.

If we are tasked with furnishing a project, our first step is realizing the goals of the space with our client, and then finding the cleanest way to implement them successfully through furnishings, art, and so forth. Designing the space is our canvas for the homeowners to paint their personalities on without the two ever competing.

Rip & Tan: Tell us about this space. What was the original vision and how did you work to bring it to life?

Emily Valdez: This home is 700 square feet—a beautiful stand-alone bungalow of sorts, built into a hill in Laurel Canyon with sweeping views all the way to Downtown LA. Like a lot of Los Angeles, it was built many, many years ago and the charm of its finishes and layout needed some updating.

There were elements of the traditional Spanish architecture so well documented in LA that we wanted to keep and build upon so that was where we started. The space had beautiful arched plaster ceilings, so we brought that detail through the hallway and added an additional cabinet with a plaster arch above.

We closed in the kitchen from the single bathroom, creating more cabinet space as well as more space in the bathroom which is now accessed solely from the primary bedroom. Larger windows throughout brought in a ton more light and sophistication, while custom oak cabinetry simplified and elevated the line of sight through the kitchen.  

One of the client’s requests was to find a dining solution without forcing a cluttered dining table in the corner. Initially, there was no storage in the little nook off the kitchen, so we brought the cabinetry at 12” across the whole space, added custom glass and iron shelving, and a bistro set-up for 2 that looks like it had been there since the house was built.

Rip & Tan: What are a few of your favorite design details from this space?

Emily Valdez: We love the hallway arched cabinet, the custom shelving in the dining nook, and pretty much everything else in the space. The custom, monolithic stone sink in the bathroom is incredible but with such a small space, didn’t photograph the way we had hoped!

All of the details came together really well, flooring, windows, oak cabinetry, and counters. The homeowner couldn’t be happier and neither could we.

Rip & Tan: From vintage and textiles to furnishing and finishes, what are some of your go-to sources for interesting home pieces in Los Angeles?

Emily Valdez: We always have an eye out, but a few of our go-tos are Berbere Imports in El Segundo, The Tropics in Hollywood for everything our hearts could ever desire, Croft House LA for beautiful, unique custom furniture, and our good friends Olive Ateliers for incredible pottery, vessels, and stone basins.

Rip & Tan: What does living well mean to you?

Emily Valdez: Living well means taking care of your body, mind, and self and loving those around you the way you want to be loved. It just so happens that having a beautiful space to do that in makes it all that much easier and more enjoyable.