A Brilliant Built-In Bookshelf Is the Secret to This Smartly Designed LA Studio

published Dec 11, 2025

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About this tour

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Home Type

Bungalow

Studio Apartment

Location

Los Angeles, California

Style

Eclectic

Vintage

Bedrooms

Square feet

450

Sq ft

450

“Coming off a decade of small dark New York apartments, I was initially happy having landed in a sunny one bedroom in Silverlake. However, once I got settled and realized what else the LA market had to offer, I began craving something with character, something that felt a bit more ‘California,'” begins Lindsay O’Brien, the Art & Home Merchandiser at Etsy.

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Credit: Lindsay O'Brien

"I get so many questions about the art, and I constantly feel like I’m letting people down when I report that it’s nearly all from flea markets," Lindsay writes. She also has quite an extensive collection of rocks and shells around her home. "My favorite objects fall into three categories: things I've made myself (a collection of ceramic bowls, vases, a wood stool), things I've collected during travels (a candelabra from Mexico, pewter vessels from Denmark), and pieces made by friends (a shelf of books published by people I love, gifted ceramics)."

It’s Lindsay’s job to “help shoppers find the very best treasures on one of the internet’s most incredible marketplaces,” so it should come as absolutely no surprise that her own home, this 450-square-foot rental apartment, a bungalow built in 1925, is also filled with treasures.

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Credit: Kai Byrd

Lindsay is also a designer and handcrafter of "sterling silver jewelry alongside a curation of vintage pieces" and calls her line: Petunia (another childhood nickname!). "Despite the limited space, I've managed to carve out an at-home jewelry workshop," she writes. "I scored a 1970s 'Magic Box' desk from Facebook Marketplace — a clever, unassuming cabinet that transforms into a desk with tons of storage. It's amazing to have a dedicated space to work on my crafts and then be able to tuck it all away."

Lindsay explains that the apartment came with “incredible bones and character” and that the most recent renovations gave it minimal but intentional finishes, allowing for her to put her own mark on the space.

Credit: Lindsay O'Brien

“It was originally a small one-bedroom, but my landlord took down the original bedroom wall and replaced it with a built-in pass-through shelf, opening up the space while still retaining a designated bedroom area,” she continues.

Credit: Lindsay O'Brien

The bathroom "gets incredible sunlight and feels bright and airy all day long," part of what makes it Lindsay's favorite room. "It has beautiful built-in shelves, and all of the finishes are simple yet thoughtful (for example, there’s a little cutout in the shelf over the sink for the faucet). But the real showstopper is the green clawfoot tub — it came with the home and is something I never would have chosen on my own, but the joy it brings has given me the confidence to be more playful with my design choices. I’m a big bath person so it’s been such a dreamy haven for me."

Lindsay describes her home as very personal space that’s also quite functional. “I’ve focused on making it comfortable in a way that serves my needs and routines, and have filled it with collected, meaningful objects that tell a story — nearly everything in my home is vintage or handmade,” she writes. “The whole space feels airy and bright, very much the ‘California’ feel I was looking for!”

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