The Tea Room Inside This LA Loft Is a Storage Serenity

Location: Arts District in Los Angeles, California

Square Footage: 280 square feet

How would you describe your aesthetic?

I like things that are very thoughtful and sentimental. That’s of course subjective to the person, but I like more than just an aesthetic—I like a feeling. I would say there are so many Asian influences in everything I design, whether it’s coming from a philosophical standpoint or it’s more directly visual.

Why did you decide to make a tea room?

It was actually planned to be a guest room, but to be honest, I rarely get guests. I rarely have people visiting, so I felt like it was such a waste of space for me to just put a bed in there, and then all of a sudden it’s dead space for the rest of the year. I wanted to create this platform so that I could drink tea and hang out with my friends when there’s no guests staying over, which is the case most of the year, and when I do have a guest, I could take out a futon and it becomes a platform bed.

What was the inspiration when you were designing the space?

My inspiration for residential rooms is always to create a space that will evolve with the inhabitant, and what that means is that we leave room for the future, for the growth of it together with whoever’s moving in. So it’s never to complete it fully or have the sense that it feels complete. In order to do that, we always leave some things empty. Another thing that plays a large role in my inspiration for residential spaces is to always avoid any extremes.

The goal is always to achieve that sense of calm or serenity because I think that feeling or attachment to a space is very consistent versus if [buy] something that’s a big investment and then it screams something. It’s grabbing your attention and that to me never feels good in a residential space. Because it was designed to be part of my residence, there was a sentimental element that I wanted. I wanted to try and bring in as much of that as possible, whether it was going on a trip and then bringing an item home and then thinking about that trip as I’m using that item.