You'll want to be friends with this couple after seeing their quirky, fun apartment

A consciousness of amusive permeates the rooms of Cecilia and Abraham Beltran’s colorful one-bedroom flat successful Long Beach.

The adventurous mates enjoys crisscrossing Los Angeles to research its treasures, from the peaceful gardens of the Huntington Library, Art Museum and Botanical Gardens wherever they are members, to the delicious dim sum palaces of the San Gabriel Valley. On Sundays, they similar to instrumentality aboveground streets specified arsenic Paramount oregon Atlantic Boulevard backmost to Long Beach “to acquisition things we’ve ne'er seen before,” Abraham says, offering Mexican pastries from Long Beach’s James Beard Award–nominated Gusto Bread. “We emotion Los Angeles. To us, driving is simply a portion of surviving successful California.”

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“We some person a heavy passionateness for Midcentury plan and color,” Cecilia shares, reminiscing astir the clip the mates toured the Stahl location successful the Hollywood Hills and took their ain representation successful homage to Julius Shulman’s iconic photograph of 2 women reclining successful the surviving country of Case Study House #22. Someday, she said, they anticipation to re-create a country from the 1998 Coen brothers movie “The Big Lebowski,” successful which Jackie Treehorn (Ben Gazzara) makes a White Russian for the Dude (Jeff Bridges) due to the fact that it was filmed astatine different 1 of L.A.’s legendary Midcentury homes — John Lautner’s Sheats–Goldstein Residence supra Beverly Hills.

The Beltran’s flat encapsulates their plan sensibility and “above all, the radical we love.” There’s bold, Midcentury Modern-inspired furnishings the mates recovered connected Craigslist, tongue-in-cheek smiling pillows and the “Hole to Another Universe” partition decal by Blik, which tin beryllium removed erstwhile they move. Peppered passim the abstraction are mementos from their travels, specified arsenic the limited-edition creation people “La Famille” purchased connected a travel to London successful 2023.

Their nicknames for each different — Pikachu and Hamster — are displayed connected a plaque successful the surviving country alongside Pez dispensers successful vibrant hues, the customized woody barroom topper successful their likeness purchased connected Etsy for their 2012 wedding and an full assemblage partition of photographs of household members. In the bedroom, charming woody Kokeshi dolls from Japan instrumentality up 2 shelves not acold from a bid of photos of Abraham, 41, and Cecilia, 48, taken connected their archetypal day successful 2006.

Their astir prized possession? A enactment drafting of the couple, created successful 1 instrumentality by their 10-year-old nephew. “He’s a genius,” Abraham says proudly. “I teared up erstwhile I saw it,” adds Cecilia.

Set successful a 1941-built analyzable of 4 units, their flat was initially designed for Boeing employees successful managerial positions. That explains the 800-square-foot rental’s full-size room and eating room, which suit Cecilia and Abraham’s emotion for hosting household gatherings, holidays and the day celebrations they notation to arsenic “Adventure Days,” wherever the day idiosyncratic picks an escapade for the household to spell connected from “sundown to sunset.”

In summation to a eating room, the flat incudes a spacious kitchen, featuring a partition decal from Blik, and a pantry and laundry room.

The eating country features orangish Ikea chairs the mates recovered connected Facebook Marketplace and drove to Altadena to prime up. “Since the fires, I’ve been reasoning of the household and hoping they’re OK,” says Cecilia.

“It feels similar a house,” Cecilia says, noting the built-in ironing committee successful the kitchen, 1 of galore play details she enjoys. They besides consciousness fortunate to unrecorded determination that has capable country for a washer and dryer and pantry, which tin beryllium elusive for galore Los Angeles flat dwellers.

They’ve resided successful this Long Beach flat successful the Village since 2010. Their archetypal aft moving retired of their parents’ homes, it has go a cardinal hub for their family, including their 5 nieces and nephews, who are regular visitors.

Family is astatine the halfway of their lives, and arsenic such, the flat is arranged astir making household members consciousness welcome. “I privation the kids to consciousness similar they tin relax,” says Cecilia, a room technician.

As Cecilia’s youngest brother, Peter Jurado, notes, “Cecilia and Abraham are the glue of the family. They are immoderate of the astir caring, compassionate, lukewarm and comic people I know. Humor is ever-present erstwhile they’re around, and they support the temper airy and happy. When I’m astatine their house, the photograph postulation of household and friends connected the partition ever reminds maine of what is important successful life.”

Thanks to the surplus of earthy light, the flat has the consciousness of a histrion house, emphasized by the bounty of lush houseplants Cecilia collected during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We telephone that the portal,” Abraham says of the Blik “Hole to Another Universe” partition decal.

“The plants marque maine consciousness cozy,” she says. “I speech to them during my watering mornings erstwhile I play a peculiar tropical playlist connected our Sonos. They’re similar my kids — the lone surviving things I person to beryllium liable for.”

Occasionally, erstwhile it gets blistery successful the summertime and they privation they had aerial conditioning, Abraham imagines moving to a brand-new place.

But 1 of the benefits of surviving successful their $1,800-a-month flat for truthful agelong — they gag that they don’t cognize anyone who has lived successful an flat arsenic agelong arsenic they person — is their quality to prevention money.

Houseplants thrive successful the sunny bedroom.

In the look of precocious owe rates and Southern California’s rising location prices, Cecilia, who besides does taxation preparation, says, “One of the astir communal questions I get from my taxation clients is, ‘Should I bargain a house?’ I archer them to crunch the numbers and inquire themselves if they tin truly spend everything that comes with a house. If Abraham and I owned a house, we’d beryllium surviving paycheck to paycheck.” Instead, the mates precocious returned from a travel to Hawaii and are sending Cecilia’s parent to Japan this month. “It’s bully to beryllium capable to assistance our families if we request to,” Cecilia says.

The mates are large fans of Midcentury Modern architecture and bask touring L.A. landmarks, specified arsenic the famed Stahl House successful West Hollywood. (Courtesy of Cecilia Beltran)

The mates besides enjoys the benefits of surviving adjacent to their neighbors. “I support an oculus retired for everyone,” says Abraham, a income recruiter who works from their surviving room, which overlooks the street.

They picture their next-door neighbour arsenic an uncle. “He makes america chili each mates of months,” Cecilia says. “If thing is off, we each speech to each different and resoluteness the issue.” Other neighbors precocious invited Cecilia implicit for Mahjong.

A “Hello Sunshine” ablution curtain adds further colour to the Beltrans’ bathroom.

For a agelong time, the mates followed a strict “one in, 1 out” rule. “It was hard to bring my tchotchkes into the flat astatine first,” Cecilia says, “especially for Abraham, who comes from a hoarder upbringing. His fractional of the closet is color-coded; excavation is conscionable thrown successful there.” The cardinal to surviving successful a tiny space, she says, is communication.

Ultimately, Cecilia says, she wants the flat “to consciousness similar us. I deliberation we pulled it off.”

Abraham agrees. “I grew up successful Montebello successful a location wherever it was hard to unbend due to the fact that it was afloat of stuff. Having this abstraction makes maine consciousness overjoyed. Our flat is simply a beauteous mode to recharge our batteries each night.”