For these thrifters, their rental is 99% secondhand goods and that's 'part of the fun'

After moving to Los Angeles from Palo Alto successful 2023 with lone a lasting table and a furniture frame, Tess van Hulsen and Andrew Chait learned rapidly however to furnish an bare rental without buying thing new.

Because they emotion thrifting, decorating unneurotic was really amusive for them.

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.

Two years later, their emotion of thrifting, antiquing, bargaining and restoring has turned their Westwood rental into a showcase of “secondhand treasures,” says Van Hulsen, 28, who works arsenic a commercialized declaration specialist.

“I person ever liked things that person past and quality and a communicative down them,” she says. “Each portion represents a store we love, a fortunate find oregon a palmy haggle that ended with america carrying location thing with history.”

Andrew Chait and Tess van Hulsen unbend connected their condo rooftop, sitting connected patio furnishings they bought successful Venice done Facebook Marketplace.

Chait, meanwhile, enjoys the thrill of searching and bargaining. He likes making deals, and adjacent if helium walks away, helium inactive feels similar he’s won.

“I’m bully astatine uncovering value, and Tess has the oculus for style,” says Chait, 32, who works arsenic a improvement director. “It’s thing we truly bask doing together.”

At a clip erstwhile galore millennials and Gen Z shoppers bask hunting for deals connected secondhand items, Van Hulsen and Chait besides wanted to debar “fast furniture, poorly built materials and disposable design,” according to Van Hulsen. For them, mildly utilized pieces marque their rental consciousness special.

“People my property are taking an involvement successful having heirlooms and accepted items,” Van Hulsen says arsenic she points to a silver-plated trinket tray that holds her jewelry. “I deliberation it’s truly amusive to entertain and bring worldly retired erstwhile guests travel over. It makes the array look nice, and the platters are large for bringing nutrient upstairs erstwhile we entertain connected our rooftop patio.”

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1. An assortment of vintage items connected show successful a hutch the mates purchased astatine the Santa Monica Flea Market. 2. Brass angel candlesticks scored for $2 apiece astatine a Palo Alto store merchantability flank a silver-plated punch bowl. The mates purchased the lithograph successful Beverly Hills done Facebook Marketplace.

Except for a fewer household heirlooms and immoderate tiny dressers from IKEA and West Elm, astir everything successful their condo is thrifted.

In the surviving room, an elegant cream-colored linen sofa from the Home Consignment Center is the main piece. On either broadside are striped linen armchairs, and a woody java array from Facebook Marketplace completes the look, giving the country a relaxed coastal feel.

A vintage ashtray Van Hulsen recovered connected Etsy rests connected apical of a Cezanne publication scored astatine a Palm Springs property sale.

Dutch ceramic figurines and Asian ginger jars from assorted property income and thrift stores.

Next to the 2-year-old sofa is an antique Tiger Oak hutch from the Santa Monica Antique and Vintage Market. It’s filled with their thrifted finds including metallic champagne buckets, candlesticks, colorful Mexican ceramics and a gangly rotating server from the Council Shop, a thrift store concatenation that supports low-income women and families successful Los Angeles.

“It’s unsafe surviving truthful adjacent to the Council Shop,” Chait says of the nonprofit, which is wrong walking region of the couple’s rental. “We astir apt locomotion down determination each 2 weeks oregon so.”

As the mates walks done their home, they reminisce astir however each point has its ain story.

In the bathroom, a mint julep cupful that was fixed arsenic a trophy astatine the 1964 Peacock Hill National Horse amusement holds toothpaste and toothbrushes.

“I knew we wanted a neutral couch,” Van Hulsen says of the sofa that was primitively connected clasp erstwhile they archetypal saw it. “Luckily, it is modular, truthful my mother-in-law and I took it location successful pieces successful 2 cars.”

The china furniture was discounted to $60 astatine the Santa Monica Antique and Vintage Market due to the fact that it was missing immoderate solid pieces. “We purchased it from a begetter and lad who were truthful nice,” says Chait. “Tess and I couldn’t acceptable it successful our car, truthful they delivered it to america for $40.”

Adds Van Hulsen: “It’s constrictive and the cleanable size.”

In the eating country country adjacent to a array and 8 chairs from the UCLA Thrift Shop that they had to prime up successful 2 trips sits a charming oak dresser with carved floral details. “I recovered it connected the thoroughfare during bulky point pickup time successful Palo Alto and brought it down during a vacation car thrust back,” van Hulsen says.

She besides recovered a vintage people of Windsor Castle, present hanging successful the entryway, connected the thoroughfare successful Palo Alto. “That was the furthest happening we person thrifted,” she says.

Many of the accessories successful their penthouse specified arsenic a agleam bluish Kitchen Aid mixer (which tin outgo up to $699 new), coffee-table books and a decorative clam ammunition punctual the mates of their favourite place: Palm Springs.

“Palm Springs is our blessed place,” Van Hulsen says. “We often spell determination for a nighttime oregon a agelong weekend, and there’s a reliable drawstring of antique stores determination that we love: Sunny Dunes Antique Mall and the Antique Galleries. We support extending our thrifting to Rancho Mirage — we emotion Victoria’s Attic Antiques and Collectibles — and La Quinta, and we besides spell to property sales.”

The mates play Phase 10 connected the eating country array they purchased from the UCLA Thrift Shop.

Now that they’re settled, it’s casual to hide however pugnacious it was to find a rental adjacent Chait’s caller occupation successful Santa Monica. “It was hard,” Van Hulsen says. “It was astir Christmas, and determination wasn’t a batch available.”

“People were making deals and offering to wage much than the listed rent,” says Chait.

Eventually, they recovered a agleam two-bedroom, two-bath portion successful Westwood with precocious ceilings, a loft and a rooftop patio. “We applied to 2 different places earlier we saw this one. It was worthy waiting for,” van Hulsen says.

Chait grew up successful L.A. and spent 10 years successful the Bay Area. He believes buying secondhand from strangers is simply a large mode to get to cognize the city. “When I went to bargain a vino fridge from idiosyncratic yesterday, we ended up talking astir surfing for fractional an hour,” Chait says. “It’s amusive to conscionable caller radical and perceive the stories down what they’re selling. Plus, exploring caller parts of L.A. is ever interesting.”

A ceramic beagle rests adjacent to 2 metallic toothpick holders.

For them, sticking to a fund is simply a mode to get creative. Whether it’s metallic platters oregon things near retired connected the thoroughfare during bulky point pickup day, the mates is ever searching for stylish, affordable finds.

The effect is simply a amazingly cohesive look with jute rugs, airy woods and striped linens creating a relaxed California coastal vibe with touches of Palm Springs and France. “My ma has ever been a thrifter,” says Van Hulsen. “When we lived successful London for 4 years, we collected each sorts of bits and baubles.”

“From the beginning, Tess and Andrew’s narration was stitched unneurotic done a shared emotion for the hunt,” her parent Dana McCue said successful an email. “Their weekends distant were ne'er conscionable astir the destination, but astir the ‘treasures’ hidden successful dusty corners and the thrill of the ‘find.’ Today, their beauteous Westwood Penthouse serves arsenic a surviving assemblage of their emotion story. Each curated portion is much than conscionable decor; it is simply a carnal milestone that captures their travel from that archetypal shared find to the beingness they person built together.”

The couple’s furniture and broadside tables are among the caller items successful their condo.

Though immoderate couples who are making a location unneurotic for the archetypal clip similar to bargain caller furniture, Van Hulsen and Chait person stuck with secondhand pieces but for their upholstered sheet bed, which they purchased astatine Living Spaces. “That is our lone large furnishings purchase,” Chait says. “Things are truthful expensive, and truthful galore things autumn apart. And besides, we similar the stories. That’s what we get excited about: the story, talking to people, imagining the beingness it had before.”

They person a dresser from the Venice Canals that Tess squeezed into her Jeep Cherokee, etchings from an property merchantability successful Carmel, a lamp from the Guy connected Motor astatine Venice successful Palms and a vintage reflector from San Diego. “We person thrifted each implicit California,” says Van Hulsen.

Silver platters are everywhere: connected broadside tables, nether cabinets and besides nether the bed. “Stubbing my toed connected metallic is not that atrocious of a life,” she adds, laughing.

Sometimes things don’t spell arsenic planned. For example, Chait precocious bought a Frigidaire vino refrigerator for $100 connected Facebook Marketplace, but erstwhile helium got it home, helium saw it was excessively large for their space. (They’re inactive trying to marque it work.) Van Hulsen adds: “I’ve gotten immoderate java tables that I ended up flipping due to the fact that they didn’t enactment successful our space.”

Making a inexpensive mistake isn’t a large woody erstwhile you tin conscionable resell the point online.

Now that their condo is furnished, bash they person a regularisation astir not bringing successful excessively overmuch stuff?

A photograph of the mates rests adjacent to a coating of Manhattan Beach the mates recovered connected Facebook Marketplace.

“You’re looking astatine him,” Van Hulsen says, grinning astatine her fiancé.

“You’re making maine dependable similar the atrocious guy!” Chait says, laughing.

“That’s portion of the fun,” Van Hulsen says arsenic she brings implicit a sterling metallic crystal pick scoop engraved with “There’s thing incorrect with maine that crystal pick can’t fix” successful hardly perceptible cursive.

“We’re ne'er truly done,” Van Hulsen says. “It’s breathtaking to find caller things and ideate however they’ll acceptable successful our home.”