Author: Orblogdo

Dear Sleep Lovers, I recently teamed up with Cocoon by Sealy to spruce up my guest bedroom as part of their “My Happy Place” campaign. The timing was perfect, because I’m getting ready to (finally) do the full reveal of the Orcondo renovation and the guest bedroom was the one room that still felt lacking in polish. As a reminder, this is what the glamorous (and super comfy) mattresses that sparked the whole makeover look like: The master bedroom at my condo is pretty dark and romantic (that’s a designer way of saying it get’s like no natural light). The guest…

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Photographs by Tessa Neustadt Courtesy Homepolish Dear EVERYONE! My One Room Challenge treehouse is finally finished! (As of yesterday when Tessa Neustadt took these beautiful shots). Here’s a little peek of what it looks like inside: Wanna see more pics? The full tour is up on Homepolish, so head on over to see the whole thing! Love, Orlando FULL STORY THIS WAY >>> And check out the other One Room Challenge participants here: • Claire Brody • The Curated House • Design Manifest • Driven by Decor • Honey We’re Home• Hunted Interior • The Makerista • Making it Lovely • My Sweet Savannah • Pencil and Paper Co.• The Pink Clutch • Savvy Home • Simplified Bee • Sketch 42 • Jill Sorensen • Orlando Soria• Thou Swell • The Vault Files • Waiting on Martha • The Zhush • Media Partner House Beautiful• TM by CIH

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Photography By Orlando Soria, Brooke Spreckman, and Bethany Nauert Dear Construction Diary, With one week to go in the One Room Challenge, I’ve still got lots to do. Luckily, the interior walls are all painted and all we have left is the fun part. FURNITURE. At one point in my life I really wanted to start a line of furniture and call it FUN-ITURE. But Then I realized that was stupid and someone probably did it already. Anyway, I love choosing colors and doing construction-oriented design stuff, but my true love is plopping furniture into a space and finally making…

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Photograph by Tessa Neustadt Courtesy Homepolish Dear Bikini Body, Just kidding, I don’t have a bikini body. I’ve been traveling a lot for work, which means my current body resembles a piece of Hawaiian pizza someone threw in the garbage because it was disgusting, which has been sitting there for two weeks and is now covered in toxic mold. BUT! Hark! My work travel ends for at least a month next week and I will have time to be home in Los Angeles, partaking in the LA pastime that brings us together as a community: eating tons of salads and working…

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Dear Lighting Lovers, GATHER ‘ROUND FOLKS! It’s time for me to tell a tale of wonder, whimsy, and warmth. Today’s extra-special Orlando’s Obsession, my ongoing series for Homepolish, is all about sculptural lighting and how it can make your life way more enjoyable, rid your face of that pesky acne, and help you lose weight until you look like a dancing skeleton. So head on over to Homepolish Magazine and check it out! Love, Orlando FULL STORY HERE >>>

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Photographs by Tessa Neustadt Dear Sleepyhead, Ask my boyfriend, I am pretty bad at falling asleep. Bedtime normally involves me wiggling around for hours and hours thinking about all the things I did wrong today, all the stuff I forgot to do, and being filled with dread about all the ways I’ve ruined my life over the course of the day. My neuroses are amplified by laying down to go to sleep. So I was excited when Cocoon by Sealy invited me to create a Happy Place to sleep in honor of the release of their new Cocoon by Sealy line…

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Dear Construction Diary, Things are moving pretty quickly on my One Room Challenge Treehouse project. The biggest change is that we’ve added plywood walls everywhere, boxing in the formerly-exposed posts and making the whole interior look a lot more finished. The reason we didn’t do drywall in here is that it’s not completely safe from the elements (there is a small bit of leakage around the tree trunk which we are tying to fix with a sealant but we’ll get to that later). We’ve also finished the railing on the loft and even added trim around the windows. And by “we”…

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Photograph by Claire Esparros Courtesy Homepolish Dear Chair Lovers, I’ve written a tantalizing post for Homepolish about accent chairs and how they affect my emotional, spiritual, and erotic life. So, whether you’re sitting in a chair, standing on the subway, or swimming in the ocean you should head on over to Homepolish Magazine and check it out. Harry! Love, Orlando FULL POST THIS WAY >>>

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Header Photo by Bethany Nauert Courtesy Homepolish Dear Reader, One time I went to summer camp. My mother had this idea that it would be super fun for my sister and I to go to art camp. She’d always wanted to go to camp as a kid but never had the chance. In the grand tradition of mothers trying to do nice things for their kids, of course summer camp was the worst experience of our young lives. Unbeknownst to us, the camp was run by religious zealots and all the campers were rabidly insane. A few memories are kids…

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Photographs by Tessa Neustadt Dear Readers, PUT ON YOUR EATIN’ DRESS AND GET READY TO CHOW DOWN. Because the Homepolish project I just wrapped up with Whitney Port is finally online for you to peruse. No longer will you be forced to wonder how I transformed her screening room from sad to glad in just seven minutes (jk it was a bit longer). Here’s a few preview pics of the space: And here’s Whitney being totally cute and being being a gross weirdo: To see all the pics and get all the resources, check out my write up in Homepolish Magazine….

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Photographs by Orlando Soria Dear El Niño, We here in California have had a thirsty few years. Everyone has been freaking out, ripping out their lawns, and waiting anxiously for El Niño rains to come save us from this misery. But then, NOTHING. We waited for months and we’ve had a few rainstorms, but nothing to write home about. What we’ve had in place of rain and actual winter is a 90 degree February in which all of us have looked up to the sky, cursing our lives, screaming about how hot it is. Something to note about me is that…

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Photography by William Waldron Courtesy Ike Kligerman Barkley Dear Reader, There’s a common misconception that modern design is all about blank white walls, poured concrete, stone, and other cold materials. We think of warm wood, bespoke details, and shingles as something reserved for older homes. Cape Cod, Colonial, Cottage, basically any architectural style that begins with a “C” is something where you’d expect to find those types of details. But, HARK! Don’t give up! There’s a new book out called The New Shingled House that shatters all your preconceived notions of how materials are used in modern design. A lot of people think…

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Photography by Daniel Collopy YOU GUYS! IMPORTANT: Okay, so this post is actually part of a really fun collaboration I did with Loloi and to promote their gorgeous Anastasia Collection. Before you do ANYTHING, I need you to to to the Contest Site and vote for my submission to this blogger challenge (which I explain at the end of the post). If I don’t win I’m coming to each and every one of your houses to blame you personally.  Dear Orcondoers, The last six months have been a whirlwind of home renovation in which every day has brought new adventures…

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Photography by Bethany Nauert, Tessa Neustadt, and Zeke Ruelas, Courtesy Homepolish Dear Aspiring Designers, People are constantly asking me what my relationship to Homepolish is. “Did you start that company?” “Do you work there full-time?” “Do you take on non-Homepolish clients?” (The answers are “No, I wish!” ” yes,” and “no.”). Most people in my life, including my closest friends, have no idea what I do. They see me playing with throw blankets and fluffing pillows online and assume that’s what I’m up to every day. Since my relationship to Homepolish is shrouded in mystery, I thought I’d write a bit…

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Photography by Tessa Neustadt and Erika Berg Dear Orcondoners, Edouard and I have reached a very exciting moment in our condo remodel: window treatments. But it’s not always easy to figure out what type of window coverings to use in such a modern space. Curious to find out how we’re going to maintain privacy without losing our dignity? Check out Emily Henderson’s blog today to find out what what type of window treatments we chose for each room, and who this beautiful woman is: FULL STORY HERE >>> Love, Orlando

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 Photography by Tessa Neustadt courtesy Homepolish Dear Shame Diary, I have to tell you a terrible secret about myself that I’ve never told anyone, not even myself until now. I hate showering. I hate it a lot. It involves so much wetness, and that part where you get out and you’re all cold and clammy and your mom is all ARE YOU DONE YET IT’S TIME FOR SCHOOL. And you’re like MOM LEAVE ME ALONE NO ONE UNDERSTANDS ME. And then you wake up from that nightmare where you’re still in high school (Sidenote: I have a game I play…

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  Dear Person With Naked Art, My mother went to Japan six months ago and brought me back a glamorous Japanese screen. It’s a beautiful, mysterious scene painted delicately on paper. When I got it it was mounted on this silk scroll, which is a traditional way of displaying this type of painting. It looked like this: Turns out I’m not a big scroll guy. I don’t know why, I’m just more a fan of art that’s in a simple frame. Especially as I’m getting ready to move into Orcondo, which is very minimal and very modern. I’ve always been…

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Dear Renovation Diary, Curious what’s happening at Orcondo? ME TOO! Well, quench your lil thirst with a visit to Emily Henderson’s site today, where you’ll find my latest guest post about the condo I’m renovating with my boyfriend. You can see dramatic construction shots like these: And these: And these:   To see the full story, head on over to Emily Henderson’s blog and get ready for your eyeballs to explode. Love, Orlando FULL STORY THIS WAY >>>>>

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Photograph by Tessa Neustadt Courtesy Homepolish Dear Lil Kitties Thirsty for DesignMilk, Did you know I did a totally exciting bedroom makeover for Jaime Derringer? The founder of DesignMilk? And that it’s featured today on Emily Henderson? And Homepolish? And the full list of resources are on DesignMilk? Well now you do! Hurry your lil body and read all them posts! Love, Orlando FULL STORY: EMILY HENDERSON, HOMEPOLISH, DESIGNMILK

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Dear World, The time has come! It’s time to say goodbye to my little mid-century West Hollywood apartment and life as I know it. I’m moving in with my boyfriend in Silver Lake. BUT FIRST: MEGA RENOVATION. He lives in an 80s building and his apartment is just begging for a makeover. I’m introducing the project today over on my lady Emily Henderson’s site. Right now, Orcondo looks like this: I know right. Eek. But don’t be afraid. Here’s my inspo for the update: Curious? Head on over to Emily’s Site to see the rest. TRUST ME YOU WON’T REGRET IT. Thanky,…

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