And the Color of the Year Is....

Benjamin Moore has announced its choice for "color of the year" and it is surprisingly a color that has no color. Yes, you read that right. What color is that you may ask? 

White, glorious white.  

I love white walls and when it comes to picking the right white paint, I always go with a can of Benjamin Moore . I think their color choice of the year is an awesome one. Simply White OC-117 is the closest you can get to actual white without being stark and it doesn't have any undertones. Always a great option. My go to white is Cloud White 967, which can have a slightly grey cast to it at times. I love what it does with light with its warmth and neutral undertones. White Dove is a great choice as well and is a little richer and creamer than the other two. 

Do you have a fave?

Check out this link to learn more. Thank you to Elle Decor for giving us the skinny. 
http://www.elledecor.com/design-decorate/color/a7818/benjamin-moore-paint-color-of-the-year-2016/

More To Love In Mar Vista: Changes coming to Venice Blvd.

Venice Blvd, one of LA’s main arteries, has never gotten much love. It has always been a throughway and not a destination. So hearing about Mayor Garcetti and Councilmember Mike Bonin announcement that Venice Boulevard would be the Great Street selection for the hood is pretty exciting stuff.  

What does this mean? Mar Vistans want Venice Blvd. to be more like a “Main Street” than a freeway. Neighbors want a safer, more calm area that can act as a central gathering place for the community. Proposed designs have been submitted that include more mid-block pedestrian crossings, sidewalk seating, small parks (affectionately called parklets...awwww), more trash bins, safer bikeways, drought tolerant landscaping and some murals and community art to top it off. In order to execute this, part of the street space will need to be utilized. These are all changes that the neighborhood has been waiting for.

Since the Mar Vista’s Farmers Market has increased in popularity (thank you, Diana...you rock), so has this stretch of Venice Blvd. This is good news for me, as I live spitting distance from here. I love living in this neighborhood. The neighbors are friendly and it feels like a real community. We look out for each other, bring in mail, feed pets, water plants, etc. It is common for many of us to be outside in the early evenings chatting with each other. It’s the westside version of Wisteria Lane, though I don’t think many of us are particular desperate.

On Venice Blvd, one can find some cool business establishments. Sam Johnson’s bookshop with its selection of new and used books, Mitsuwa Marketplace(all things japanese, plus a great food court with some tasty Ramen selections), Council Thrift Shop (my mom loves this place and so will your wallet), the newly refurbished Bowlero Bowling alley, Surfing Cowboys with its awesome selection of mid-century modern furniture and cool tees, Bikerowave and Vintage on Venice (Check out their Instagram for what they've got) and Robinson’s Beautilities that meets all one’s costume, wig and theatre make up needs. Throw in Venice Grind Coffee Shop and Earl’s Gourmet Grub, who share a large outdoor patio space and offer delicious food and drink options, Sweet Lucie’s Ice Cream (haven’t tried yet), Status Kuo with its ridiculously good friend chicken and rotisserie meats, Louie’s with its crazy moonshine and you’ve got the makings of a kick ass little enclave.

The plans presented by our mayor and councilman can really make this micro-hood a fantastic area to amble around, window shop and, of course, eat and drink.

If you or yours are interested in moving to the area, please don’t hesitate to contact me. I have 

nothing but great things to say about my community and I know the neighborhoods well. It would be my pleasure to help you figure out where suits you best and find a place that meets your needs.

A break in the hot weather made for a much more pleasant adventure out and about. I had 8 properties on my list and only made it to 6 because I got stuck at 2 places. One was due to an awesome star sighting that left me totally star struck and the other was because the property was so damn beautiful I didnt want to leave. Theme of the day? I’d have to say wonder-full.

The first two places I hit had the most god awful wallpaper that really had me scratching my head. What was amazing about it was how they had just about the exact same cheesy floral 80’s wallpaper. Nothing remotely kitchy or cool about it. Just down right bad in its pink and purple glory. One place was super run down, while the other was all tricked out with a white leathery daybed with black and white herringbone details and purple bedspread. If the room had had a Go-Gos poster, it totally would have worked. It was like a set, and this I know because I was a set decorator. The houses themselves were nothing notable. Priced on the higher side for what they were, I thought.

I went to a place that was really well located with such high hopes thinking this could be THE place for a client I have been struggling to locate a place for. (It happens)  I have the ability to see the possibilities in places but this one had me thinking “Damn, just tear that thing down” I am always perplexed by really bad additions that have no rhyme or reason. I am even more perplexed by multiple additions on the same place that really have no relationship with the rest of the house. Who designs these things? When adding on to a place, one should always consider flow and its relation to the adjacent spaces. Also, consider the backyard and access to the backyard. Why would you have no access? Living in California is all about that indoor outdoor experience. Put in windows, sliders, anything to let in natural light. It was so bizarre. It always makes me feel slightly depressed. I know there are people who like to live in caves but really…Priced at $995K, this was possibly a decent deal but you’d really have to commit to a do over.

And then...and then...There was that place on Palms Blvd, just off Abbot Kinney. When I say just off Abbot Kinney, I mean really just off Abbot Kinney, like a block away from the Brig, 2 blocks from Gjelina. In the middle of “it all”. Like you could spit on the food trucks that congregate at the parking lot over there. An incredible location and an incredible property on 2 lots. Upon entering the property, I was suddenly transported to a retreat in Bali or Thailand or maybe India, surrounded by lush gardens and statues of hindu deities. Split between 2 highly upgraded vintage homes, this 5 bedroom, 3.5 bath compound is an irreplaceable, well-known and coveted gem in Venice Beach. The larger of the two properties has a orange and white stripped dome adorning its roof and balinese details all over the facade (an inside). The property has various places to sit and enjoy the gardens, places to do such things as yoga, meditate, take a nap, read a book, contemplate why you aren’t at work and are somehow stuck in the beautiful garden. Every room looked out onto something beautiful. The style of it all wasn’t “my” style but I could be very happy there. It really was an escape. Priced at $6.1million, it isn’t a terrible deal for around here. I sold a property not too far away for $6.25m earlier this year. Totally different but also a double lot. The values around here seem to continue to ascend.   

And that star sighting? On the westside, I have seen many stars but this one really had me giggling and gleeful. I was checking out a property on Grandview Ave just across the street from that empty lot that Frank Gehry owns and has owned for at least 15 years and there he was. A single cloud in the sky above him perfected the image. All the way from Radiator Springs, trusted and true, in all his wonderful and delapitated glory, Mater the Towtruck. I was more excited than I probably should have been. I have a “thing” for vintage trucks and this one was fantastic. I was wondering how my kids would feel about being dropped off at school in a 1955ish Chevy Towtruck with a Holmes Wrecker tow package on it. When I told them about my sighting they looked at me cockeyed and said “Mommy, that’s not a star, it’s a truck” Whatever. I was excited, nonetheless.

Wonder full.

               

Living near Trader Joe's is better than you think.

Who would have guessed that Trader Joe's would have more of an impact on the value of your home than Whole Foods?  And it has nothing to do with the variety of organic produce or which place has cheaper edamame hummus. A study done by RealtyTrac, proved just this! 

The study shows that homeowners who live near a Trader Joe’s have seen an average 40% increase in home value since they purchased, compared with 34% appreciation for homeowners near a Whole Foods.

Realtytrac based its analysis on home values and property taxes for approximately 1.7 million homes, condos and co-ops with at least one Whole Foods store nearby but no Trader Joe’s, and 2.3 million homes, condos and co-ops with at least one Trader Joe’s in the area but no Whole Foods.

Average current home values were compared with average home values at the time the home was last purchased.

The study also shows that homes near a Trader Joe’s have a higher value on average — $592,339, or 5 percent more, than the $561,840 average value for homes near a Whole Foods. Crazy, right?

RealtyTrac’s figures also show that homeowners near a Trader Joe’s pay an average of $8,536 in property taxes each year compared with the $5,382 average for homeowners near a Whole Foods. The upside to this? Cheap wine. 

Who woulda thunk?