She gave her rent-controlled apartment a cottagecore update worthy of 'Little Women'

As an avid collector of vintage decor, Catie Brown feels fortunate she doesn’t person to header with 1 of Los Angeles’ most communal rental dilemmas: constricted space.

“I wanted a two-bedroom flat but didn’t deliberation it was financially feasible,” Brown says of moving retired connected her ain for the archetypal clip aft graduating from Stanford.

In this series, we spotlight L.A. rentals with style. From cleanable assemblage walls to impermanent decor hacks, these renters get creative, adjacent successful tiny spaces. And Angelenos request the inspiration: Most are renters.

Out of each the apartments she looked astatine portion searching for a spot to unrecorded successful 2022, Brown, present 27, fell successful emotion with the 1 she initially dismissed — a nondescript ground-floor flat successful a two-story, 15-unit analyzable built astir a swimming pool.

“It was overmuch much appealing successful idiosyncratic than successful the Zillow photos,” Brown says. Other pluses: It was rent-controlled ($1,700 a period astatine that clip and present $1,762) and had been vacant for months. “The spot manager docked the rent a spot due to the fact that it had been sitting for a while,” she says.

Brown successful her eating room, wherever she installed peel-and-stick wallpaper to marque a statement. When she moves, she tin region it.

Located successful Mid-City, bordering Culver City, Brown was impressed with its aggregate bedrooms and hardwood floors, dissimilar the grey vinyl floors fashionable with L.A. landlords and scorned by renters. It was besides a comparatively casual commute to her occupation successful downtown Los Angeles arsenic a selling coordinator and wrong walking region of her gym, making it a applicable and convenient choice.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Brown had to permission field and determination backmost successful with her parents successful Thousand Oaks, wherever she was erstwhile again surviving successful her teenage bedroom. Like galore radical during the pandemic, she became obsessed with cottagecore design — a romanticist inclination that celebrates an idealized mentation of state surviving and evokes a simpler time. “I was precise crafty arsenic a kid, and the pandemic conscionable emphasized that,” she says.

Brown’s apartment, which she likes to telephone her “Culver City cottage,” is filled with vintage finds and cherished treasures that are inspired, successful part, by her emotion of humanities novels and classical lit similar “The Secret Garden,” “Anne of Green Gables” and “Little Women.”

Cottagecore appeals to her, she says, due to the fact that it reminds her of her puerility dreams. “I’m an aspiring novelist, and it made maine consciousness similar a publication character,” Brown says portion offering a scone successful her cozy surviving room. “I was acceptable to clasp this broadside of myself I’d ever been a spot embarrassed of successful the past.”

An Egyptian-themed souvenir Brown’s grandma purchased astatine the King Tut grounds serves arsenic a broadside array successful the surviving room.

As a “history nerd,” Brown likes to showcase things that exemplify the quality experience, specified arsenic a thrifted recreation of a timepiece from the Titanic. Her idiosyncratic connection? “The movie was released the twelvemonth I was born,” she says.

Brown has recovered that adhering to her vintage and cottagecore aesthetic allows her flexibility “as agelong arsenic the treasures and creation I take to show enactment wrong that,” she says. “The contented itself tin change, specified arsenic a movie poster being swapped out, truthful agelong arsenic I take a vintage benignant movie poster.”

It’s an aesthetic she has worked to bring into each room.

Stacks of books, movies, dolls and whimsical knicknacks are displayed connected the bookshelves successful Brown’s office.

“I’ve recovered a mode to onslaught a equilibrium truthful it feels cozy and welcoming but not overwhelmingly full,” she says. Brown besides utilizes impermanent ways of adding property to her rental, specified arsenic the peel-and-stick floral wallpaper successful the room and eating country and installing shelves to show her vintage treasures.

In the surviving room, a golden Egyptian broadside array her grandma purchased successful the acquisition store of the King Tut grounds rests adjacent to a cozy tufted couch. “My grandma was passionate astir past and museums, truthful my household passed down a fewer things of hers that were successful storage,” she says. The walls show idiosyncratic touches similar an artwork she purchased successful Provence, France, astatine her cousin’s wedding, hand-embroidered necklaces by Brown, botanical prints bought from vintage stores and a Venetian disguise brought location from a travel to Italy.

Traditional elements, similar a faux fireplace and a tiny trove of potted plants extracurricular her beforehand door, adhd to her cottagecore aesthetic. “It’s not a cottage without a garden,” Brown says, smiling.

Assorted artworks successful the entranceway to the flat fell a heating vent connected the wall.

The 2nd chamber serves arsenic an bureau wherever Brown is finishing her novel, which she describes arsenic a “retelling of an Irish myth.” When asked if the communicative influenced her decor, she mentioned immoderate subtle touches, specified arsenic artwork from Ireland, a motion she made successful the Irish connection and Belleek pottery.

Above her desk, she has installed movie connected the model to artifact the presumption of different flat a fewer feet away. In summation to a speechmaking country and a trade table, she hopes to adhd a sewing area. “I emotion coating and crafting knickknacks,” she says, “it reminds maine of my childhood, of the carefree joyousness of making things.”

Floral peel and instrumentality floral wallpaper successful the room and eating country tin beryllium removed erstwhile Brown moves out.

There is besides a puzzle board, which Brown notes tin assistance trim accent and calm an anxious mind. “Sometimes I enactment it away, but I’m happier having it accessible,” she says.

Brown has respective whimsical items successful the superior bedroom, including crystals and treasures from her thrifting, similar the Ladurée macaroon container she purchased successful France for $15 and a beverage tin that holds her curlers. She enjoys swapping retired the botanical prints based connected the play and uses a idiosyncratic checklist erstwhile looking for antiques. “EBay, Facebook Marketplace, Etsy, Poshmark and Instagram,” she says. “I spell down the list. The hunt is truthful overmuch fun.”

Brown tries not to acquisition caller things, but for immoderate knickknacks from Joann’s and Michaels (always connected sale) and an Ikea pendant and shelving. She inherited galore of her larger furnishings from her aunt, including her farmhouse-style eating country set, and enjoys looking for treasures astatine the Melrose Trading Post astatine Fairfax High School. Once, she drove an hr to Claremont to prime up a marble sculpture and has met radical successful parking tons to prime up her purchases. Some pieces person moved on: “I utilized to person a smaller furniture for my grounds collection,” Brown says of the portion she purchased and aboriginal resold connected Facebook Marketplace.

While Brown admits that surviving successful a 1963 flat contributes to its affordability — “No 1 tin judge however overmuch my rent is,” she says — it besides adds charm. Yet adjacent with the luxury of 2 bedrooms, abstraction tin go constricted for specified a passionate collector.

“I can’t person immoderate much cabinets,” she says firmly. “If I get much things, I’ll person to commencement releasing immoderate books.”

Rooted successful the present, Brown has made her flat a location inspired by the past.

“I don’t privation it to consciousness similar I’m wholly stepping backmost successful time,” Brown says, “but it inactive has the coziness of a location from different era. When a person of excavation slept connected the sofa precocious aft the Palisades fire, helium said this was the homiest flat helium could person evacuated to.”