Blog – Page 4 – Orlando Soria

Dec / 16 / 2016

Achieving Perfect Holiday Shelf Styling

Shelf styling is something clients ask me about all the time. Mainly because it can be intimidating and confusing to people who don’t spend their lives doing it professionally. But the thing is, quality styling is much more a result of experimenting and exploring options than knowing exactly what you’re doing. Whenever I put together shelves, I basically just keep playing around, moving objects and experimenting with new compositions, until I am happy and satisfied with the look of the shelfie. (Of course, if you’re still intimidated, you can always hire a Homepolish designer to play around FOR you. WINK!). Shelves tend to…

Dec / 14 / 2016

Seven Tips for Simplifying Holiday Decorating

Photography by Tessa Neustadt Courtesy Homepolish I’m the type of person that enjoys decorating for the holidays, but not all people are like me. Every time I invite a friend over to decorate with me, they get bored within minutes and start playing with their phones while I maniacally keep crafting, adorning, and festooning the house from top to bottom. Clearly, there are some people who would prefer to get their decorating done as quickly as possible. So today I’m going to share some tricks for how to simplify the holiday decorating process while still making your house as cozy…

Dec / 12 / 2016Jan / 13 / 2017

Five Fundamentals of Christmas Tree Design

There’s a first time for everything. And the first time you decorate a Christmas tree on your own is definitely a learning experience. The thing that surprises most people is the number of ornaments you need to make the tree look full and balanced. (Hint: whatever you think you’ll need, triple it.) But there are a lot of other lessons to learn about tree trimming. Today, I’ll be sharing my tips for creating a festive tree that looks balanced, considered, personal, and (most importantly of all) beautiful. This year, I opted for a giant, white tree from Wayfair. And don’t judge me for…

Dec / 6 / 2016Dec / 6 / 2016

Small Shop Highlight: Amber Interiors Shoppe

Photography by Jess Diab and Amber Interiors Dear Design Diary, If you’re a designer or a design enthusiast with an Instagram account, a computer, a phone, eyeballs, and any combination of the aforementioned, it’s literally impossible to avoid the beautiful, beachy work of Amber Lewis, founder of the Amber Interiors blog, principle of her own design firm, and businesswoman extraordinaire. When I found out she had a shop, I knew immediately it would be one of those painful stores where you go in and just want everything. And so when I sent Hommemaker Editor Jess Diab on assignment to check…

Dec / 5 / 2016

Creating a Festive Holiday Tablescape

Winter is the perfect season to invite friends over for conversation and coziness (to combat the chilly weather and moody skies). As you may know by now, I’m a big fan of holiday decorating, hosting, and fun times with friends, so go figure this is my favorite time of year. Today, we’re talking about how to create a festive tablescape to spice up your holiday home, for both everyday use and for dinner parties. One of the most frequent questions I get from clients about dining tables is how to style them for daily use. It’s not like you’re going…

Dec / 2 / 2016

Design Inspiration: A Tour of Villa Kérylos

Dear Travel Diary, My trip to Europe in August was one of the most gorgeous journeys I’ve taken in all my life, where every place we went was more incredible than the last. Of all the places we visited, Villa Kérylos was the most fruitful for interior design inspiration. The home, built in 1902 by French gajillionaire Theodore Reinach. Not sure how he got all that cash, but maybe it had something to do with how many jobs he had. He was an Archaeologist-mathematician-lawyer-papyrologist-philologist-epigrapher-historian-numismatist-musicologist-professor-politician. GOT THAT? His masterpiece home, designed by architect Emmanuel Pontremoli, is located in Beaulieu-sur-Mer, which is about fifteen minutes away from Nice,…

Nov / 22 / 2016Dec / 24 / 2016

Epic Everyday: A Simple and Sensational Friendsgiving

Dear Thankful People Who Love to Chow Down, I’ve always thought it would be fun to do a Friendsgiving dinner. But my pesky family keeps getting in the way. We do Thanksgiving together every year, making the concept of a friends-only version off the table. But this year, I said “screw it!” I WILL HAVE MY FRIENDSGIVING. So I did what any dinner-party-loving crazy person would do. I had fake Thanksgiving a month before actual Thanksgiving. Luckily, I had a little motivation, as this coincides with my collaboration with American Express to take normal everyday activities (like, say, dinner) and make…

Nov / 7 / 2016

Thanksgiving Dining Table Tips from Me and Other Super Famous Design People

Photography by Tessa Neustadt Courtesy Homepolish Dear Thanksgiving Hosts, A you FREAKING OUT about how to style your Thanksgiving table? Would you like advice from experts like Jonathan Adler, Emily Henderson, and ME? If so, you’re in luck! MyDomaine has put together a comprehensive guide to creating the perfect setting for Thanksgiving, with input from me and other design experts. Continue reading to get the inside scoop on how to decorate for everyone’s favorite harvest hootenanny. CONTINUE READING >>> Love, Orlando

Nov / 4 / 2016

Fun at Orcondo: One Bedroom Three Ways

Photographs by Amy Bartlam Courtesy Homepolish x Etsy Dear Decor Diary, When I’m not holding pillows like a psychopath, I love rearranging furniture and swapping out accessories to transform Orcondo. Accessories can totally refresh a space. And even if something is perfectly styled, after a while I find it starts to look a little stale and/or disheveled. Maybe Boyfriend put a book somewhere it wasn’t supposed to go. Or maybe Guest rearranged your shelves without asking. Regardless of what caused your styling to go awry, it’s always a good idea to refresh it every once in a while. So when…

Oct / 31 / 2016

12 Very Important House Rules That Must Never Ever Be Broken

Photography by Daniel Collopy, Tessa Neustadt, and Zeke Ruelas Dear Housekeeping Diary, It’s not a secret that I’m obsessed with life at home. I spend my days designing interiors, prepping “lifestyle” photoshoots (whatever that means), fantasizing about throwing dinner parties, and then actually throwing one every once in a while. As you can imagine, someone as obsessed with the (often failed) pursuit of home perfection as I am has concocted a lot of rules for proper living over the years. Many of these were passed down from my parents, but I’ve concocted some pretty insane ones all on my own….

Oct / 28 / 2016Oct / 28 / 2016

Shop Small: Compartés for National Chocolate Day!

Dear Cathy the Cartoon and Other Chocolate Enthusiasts, It seems like every day is designated as some sort of holiday honoring a food, group of people, cause, or fictional character. For example, did you know that February 22 is National Margarita Day? Or that June 2 is National Doughnut Day? Or that August 20 is World Mosquito Day? I can’t believe that doughnuts and margaritas only get the U.S., but mosquitos are honored worldwide. So rude. I’m personally not a huge fan of mosquitos, but I am a fan of chocolate. So when American Express invited me to choose my favorite local chocolatier…

Oct / 19 / 2016Oct / 19 / 2016

The Spine-Tingling Ghost Necessary for Every Halloween Home

Dear People Who Are Huge Nerds About Halloween Like I Am, Last year, my mother made me a little handmade ghost and sent it to me in the mail. I have no idea what inspired her to make this, but I was immediately obsessed with it and stole the idea this year and made my own. I’ve tried to elevate my Halloween decor this year but there’s always room for a bit of frivolity so I love how this stupid ghost makes me feel every time I see him. It’s like, “Hi, I want my house to look nice but also…

Oct / 10 / 2016

Orlando’s Obsessions: Pedestal Side Tables

My mother always used to tell me, “Don’t put other people on a pedestal. You’re just as great as anyone else.” But she never said anything about putting drinks or stacks of books on a pedestal, which is why I’m obsessed with pedestal side tables! Today we’re talking about these sculptural, lovely pieces of furniture that can add va-voom to any room. Continue reading >>>

Oct / 7 / 2016Oct / 10 / 2016

A Light Makeover with Legrand

Dear Detail-Obsessed People, If you asked me the most pressing issues I faced while designing Orcondo, light switches and outlets would likely not be among them. However, after moving in, I started thinking it might be a good idea to add light switches and outlets that jive more with the condo’s modern vibe. So when I came across Legrand, a company that produces beautiful, modern switches and outlets, I was like “GET IN MY HOUSE.” What I’ve noticed over the years designing is that it’s sometimes the smallest details that people notice. Most commonly, it’s things they touch. Like faucets in…

Oct / 3 / 2016

Spooky & Sophisticated Halloween Decorating

Dear Guys and Ghouls, I grew up in an area where Halloween was a pretty big deal. In the small community of Yosemite Village where I was raised, trick-or-treating was acceptable until you were well into your teenage years, locals built terrifying haunted houses and covered their yards in spooky corpses, witches, and spider webs. Every year, months before Halloween started, my sister and I would start figuring out what we wanted our costumes to be and start pestering my mother about making them (my older brother was less high-maintenance and always did some variation on the “scary-mask-with-regular-clothes” costume). We weren’t…

Sep / 30 / 2016

Orlando’s Obsessions: Wild for Wallpaper

Dear Wanters of Wallcoverings, Do you find yourself hating your naked walls, wish they were covered in glamorous, warm wallpaper? Do you feel like your life lacks meaning because your home isn’t interesting enough? Do you wish there was a material on your wall that took tons of labor to install? If so, you should think about adding some wallpaper to your life. I’ve gathered up some of my favorite wallpapers from Homepolish projects and shared some tips for installation on Homepolish Magazine. Check it out immediately! CONTINUE READING >>>

Sep / 28 / 2016

LA Needs to Stop Tearing Down Its History to Build Garbage

Dear Architecture Lovers, When I moved to Los Angeles eight years ago, I lived in the area of Hollywood very close to West Hollywood. I remained in that neighborhood for the next seven years, until last year when I moved to Silver Lake to live in a condo overlooking the Silver Lake Reservoir with my boyfriend. Over the years I noticed West Hollywood started to explode with construction. That explosion has extended all over town, from the crazy expensive homes being built in Venice to the amazing (and insane) transformation of the Arts District downtown (which is literally nothing but bulldozers these days)….

Sep / 23 / 2016Sep / 25 / 2016

Hommemaker Guide to Nice, France

Dear Travel Diary, It’s kind of impossible to talk about my beautiful trip to Nice without talking about the mass murders on Bastille Day. Edouard and I went to Nice only a few weeks after the tragic/disgusting/outraging attack on July 14th that killed eighty-six people. We went back and forth as to whether we should go to a place that so recently suffered such an overwhelming tragedy. Was it safe? Was it appropriate? But we ended up erring on the side of not allowing murderers to determine where we go and what we see. Edouard is from Paris, and I get the sense…

Sep / 21 / 2016Sep / 22 / 2016

In The Studio: Goula Figuera

Dear Design Diary, I’m not exactly sure how I came across the sublime work of Goula/Figuera. Maybe it was Instagram. Maybe it was somewhere online. But I remember immediately losing my mind over it. The Barcelona-based team of Álvaro Goula and Pablo Figuera are doing something that I think is unprecendented and unparalleled in today’s world of lighting. They’re making works of art that have a functional illuminating purpose. Their pieces are playful and sophisticated at once and it’s impossible for me to look at them without thinking of one of my favorite artists, Joan Miró. Their work isn’t derivative,…

Sep / 19 / 2016

A Dining Room Makeover for Gray Malin

Dear Lovers of Gorgeous Colorful Photography (i.e. Gray Malin’s gorgeous work), I met Gray Malin a few years ago when we worked on his living room and outdoor space. He and his husband Jeff were a joy to work with, so I was excited when they called me up to re-imagine their dining room, which they’d never been stoked about. Previously, it was filled with furniture they had from their previous homes. As is often the case when adjusting old furnishings to a new space, the pieces in the room didn’t feel quite cohesive. The size, finish, and style of their furniture didn’t…

Sep / 16 / 2016Sep / 16 / 2016

Studio Tour: The Ethereal Paintings of Beth Winterburn

Dear People With Naked Walls, I was wandering around a big box store yesterday, eyeing all the new stuff they have, really enjoying myself, when I came across something that irked me a little bit. Giant, gross photographic prints stretched onto canvases and sold as filler art. You see this type of filler art everywhere, sometimes it’s good, sometimes it’s bad. There are definitely great online resources for beautiful reproductions by real artists (Minted Art is one of my favorites). But there’s also a lot of junk out there. So when I saw these nasty fake art reproductions yesterday all…

Sep / 14 / 2016

The Modern Furniture I Need for Fall

Dear The End of Summer, Even though it hasn’t rained in LA since 2007, it’s been cloudy and romantic here all week. Most people would find this depressing. For me, it’s the greatest blessing I could ever hope for. Since I live in a land that hasn’t had weather in years, where it feels like we’ve been living on the edge of apocalypse as long as I can remember, I love anything even remotely resembling atmospheric drama. What’s so great about cold, rainy weather, you ask? Well mostly I like it because it forces you to stay indoors. And what’s…

Sep / 12 / 2016

Orlando’s Obsessions: Grand Dining Tables

Photo by Ana Kamin courtesy Homepolish Dear Dinner Partiers, Dinner at home with friends is one of my very favorite things on earth. I just love the intimacy, the laughter, and not having to compete to get a table in an excruciatingly loud restaurant where I can’t hear anything and spend the whole dinner just nodding and smiling so it looks like I know what is going on. For this reason, the first place I look in a home tour is the dining room. I just love an inviting dining room with a big table that seats at least 8….

Sep / 9 / 2016

This Week At Homepolish

Photography Courtesy Homepolish Dear Homepolishers, Each week (for the most part, unless I’m traveling, which has been a lot lately I’M SORRY OK?) I sift through the amazing projects Homepolish completes in cities across the U.S. and highlight some of my favorites. This week’s pics are filled with gems, from beautiful cozy Hollywood homes to exciting New York start up offices. So follow along with me as I show you what’s up at Homepolish!