{"id":100610,"date":"2025-07-28T23:36:16","date_gmt":"2025-07-28T23:36:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/100610\/"},"modified":"2025-07-28T23:36:16","modified_gmt":"2025-07-28T23:36:16","slug":"their-tiny-l-a-apartment-is-an-absolute-explosion-of-color","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/100610\/","title":{"rendered":"Their tiny L.A. apartment is an absolute explosion of color"},"content":{"rendered":"

p]:text-cms-story-body-color-text clearfix”> <\/p>\n

Isa Beniston and Scotty Zaletel are romantics. Not just in their love for one another, which they are as vocal about three years in as budding high school crushes, but also in the way they describe the contents of their 412-square-foot one-bedroom apartment. They can recall the season they discovered each treasure \u2014 from fruit-shaped throw pillows to more than 30 animal portraits \u2014 and the cross streets of the flea markets from which they bought them. They gush about the time they\u2019ve spent together in fabric stores and flooring supply shops as if they were dimly lit restaurants primed for date night.<\/p>\n

Beniston, 32, moved into the apartment in 2014 following a stint in West Hollywood after graduating from UCLA. When she saw a wall of large vintage windows during her first visit to the stucco building in Eagle Rock, she knew she had to take the Craigslist find, for which she now pays $1,461 monthly. It wasn\u2019t until she signed the lease that she discovered it was rent-controlled, increasing annually by 3%, a perk that has kept her there for more than a decade. When the landlord approached her to have a contractor assess the work needed to replace the windows with smaller, modern ones that wouldn\u2019t leak, she declined. To her, the natural light is worth the occasional indoor rainfall.<\/p>\n

\"Isa <\/p>\n

Isa Beniston adjusts curtains made from quilts in the eclectic kitchen with dog Goose nearby. Scotty Zaletel helped cover the kitchen tile with blue and red checkerboard linoleum on one of their first dates.<\/p>\n

(Jason Armond \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

\"Not <\/a> <\/p>\n

In this series, we spotlight L.A. rentals with style. From perfect gallery walls to temporary decor hacks, these renters get creative, even in small spaces. And Angelenos need the inspiration: Most are renters.<\/p>\n

Beniston, who works as an artist running Gentle Thrills<\/a>, her brand of paper goods and quirky gifts, met her match in Zaletel, a prop fabricator. For the crafty couple, home renovations are their love language. So much so that covering the kitchen tile with blue and red checkerboard linoleum was one of their first dates in 2022, two years before Zaletel, 32, moved in. \u201cShe was cooking dinner, and I didn\u2019t know what to do with my hands,\u201d said Zaletel. The flooring came from Linoleum City in East Hollywood, which Beniston called \u201cthe most fun historic shop in L.A.\u201d<\/p>\n

Before meeting Zaletel, Beniston discovered that her style wasn\u2019t for everyone.<\/p>\n

\"Red <\/p>\n

The apartment\u2019s one bedroom is as full of character as the rest of the space.<\/p>\n

(Jason Armond \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s such an important litmus test for me. People would come over and be like, \u2018uhh,\u2019\u201d she said of previous dates. For Zaletel, her style was inviting rather than intimidating.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe both just love stuff,\u201d the two said in near-unison.<\/p>\n

They merged their art collections, focused on \u201cnot too good, not too bad\u201d animal paintings, mostly found secondhand, with a few pieces by Zaletel of a crocodile and of their actual dogs, mutt Pippen and chihuahua mix Goose. Beniston doesn\u2019t like to display her own illustrations at home.<\/p>\n

When asked about a time when they didn\u2019t agree on a thrift find or potential home project, after a few minutes of consideration, Zaletel suggested an Anna Nicole Smith bobblehead, which is out of sight on a high shelf.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, I love her,\u201d Beniston retorted. Their eyes lit up as they gave a final \u2014 nearly unbelievable, if you haven\u2019t witnessed their dynamic \u2014 answer: never.<\/p>\n

\u201cI trust Isa\u2019s taste implicitly,\u201d Zaletel said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like it\u2019s an indicator of the happiness and health of our relationship, how nice we are to each other about our stuff,\u201d Beniston replied.<\/p>\n

Optimizing storage while maintaining character has been their priority. The result? A breakfast nook in a previously unused kitchen corner, a hanging pot holder on the kitchen ceiling, a retro pullout ironing board converted into a spice rack, and a handmade purse rack and sweater shelf in the bedroom. They still make time for novelty projects like the scale model of the grandfather clock that Zaletel inherited from his family that sits atop the actual grandfather clock in the living room.<\/p>\n

\"A \"A \"A <\/p>\n

A grandfather clock is topped with a miniature version in the living room, clockwise from left. Meanwhile, space-saving measures include a hanging pot holder in the kitchen and a handmade purse rack in the bedroom. (Jason Armond \/ Los Angeles Times) <\/p>\n

Strategic or silly, the projects bring the two closer.<\/p>\n

Zaletel handles works that require cutting, drilling and installing, while Beniston focuses on painting and sewing. Amid the COVID-19 stay-at-home orders, she painted a mural on a hallway wall that extends into a fabric panel full of flowers and kooky animal motifs reminiscent of her work for Gentle Thrills. The kitchen windows are adorned with curtains made from quilts found at the Pasadena City College flea market and fabric from Remainders, a Pasadena craft store.<\/p>\n

\"Blue <\/p>\n

Isa Beniston painted this hallway mural, which extends into a fabric panel covering the closet.<\/p>\n

(Jason Armond \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

While the couple continually emphasized their gratitude for the closet space they do have (one in the hallway and one in the bedroom), they admitted they keep from stepping on each other\u2019s toes in such a small space by renting a studio work space a few blocks away. They store additional clothing and art pieces there and have a washing machine and dryer set up. The couple has a shared goal of home ownership but want to avoid leaving their rent-controlled apartment until it\u2019s time to buy, even if it means tolerating an aging stairway to enter the apartment.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we moved in together we were like, OK, we\u2019ll just put aside what we would have been paying for our separate spaces, and we kind of did the spreadsheet and made a plan. Still gonna be five-plus years, but we have a plan,\u201d Zaletel said.<\/p>\n

\u201cMore like five to 10 years,\u201d Beniston corrected.<\/p>\n

\"Art, <\/p>\n

Art and knickknacks abound in the bedroom, but don\u2019t feel like too much for the couple. <\/p>\n

(Jason Armond \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

Their optimism and enthusiasm wane only slightly when they address the possibility that by then, they may be entirely priced out. Eagle Rock homes, after all, have a median list price of $1.3 million, according to Zillow.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cNo matter what, we\u2019ll have that money saved, whether we\u2019re gonna rent a house or buy,\u201d Zalatel said. \u201cWe\u2019ll cross that bridge when we get to it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"p]:text-cms-story-body-color-text clearfix”> Isa Beniston and Scotty Zaletel are romantics. Not just in their love for one another, which…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":100611,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5123],"tags":[65568,1582,276,9243,65563,65565,65566,65569,316,65562,2961,224,5337,65567,65564,65561,6620,45000,8066,1628],"class_list":{"0":"post-100610","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles","8":"tag-animal-painting","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-california","11":"tag-color","12":"tag-crafty-couple","13":"tag-fabric-panel","14":"tag-grandfather-clock","15":"tag-hallway-wall","16":"tag-home","17":"tag-isa-beniston","18":"tag-la","19":"tag-los-angeles","20":"tag-losangeles","21":"tag-novelty-project","22":"tag-one-bedroom-apartment","23":"tag-scotty-zaletel","24":"tag-time","25":"tag-window","26":"tag-work","27":"tag-year"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114933490360510030","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100610","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=100610"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100610\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/100611"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=100610"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=100610"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=100610"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}