Tour Creative Director Brady Tolbert's Neutral, Modern Los Angeles Home

It's not every day that you stumble upon a modern Los Angeles home that gives off pure life-in-a-treehouse vibes, but that’s exactly the type of home interior designer and Bobby Berk creative director Brady Tolbert carefully curated. "When we first moved in, we were trying to figure out what kind of house this was," Brady says. "And it inherently just felt like a treehouse. You really are amongst the trees, just nestled in nature. And the house itself feels like this storied, character-filled space that we just really have grown to love."

Brady and his partner Jason, a private chef, enjoy entertaining and lounging in their spacious living room with giant floor-to-ceiling windows. "You feel like you’re outside while you're inside," Brady says. "You look out over the tops of the trees and it’s such a magical place. It just feels like this huge, open and bright, inviting space to be in."

"One of my favorite parts of this room is this massive sofa," Brady says. "It’s like a 17-foot sofa and it's so comfortable. I also love that we can have friends over and everybody can just hang out and chill here and not feel like you're on top of each other." Entertaining with a white linen sofa may sound crazy, but Brady has a hack for that. "I [chose] a rough linen so that we can take the covers off, throw them in the wash and not have to worry about somebody spilling on it. Accidents happen and it's totally fine."

Brady’s tenure in interior design stretches from architecture school to a Frank Gehry internship, a Beverly Hills designer in job LA to curating spaces alongside HGTV designer and stylist Emily Henderson. "I physically thought through and touched every single piece in here, whether that means that I made it over, that I DIYed it, or that I brought it from somewhere," Brady says. "And I've tried to curate [the home] to feel like it isn't just a copy-and-paste moment from somewhere else. It’s truly unique and it feels homemade and handmade."

"I stuck to a neutral color palette with whites and creams and every single wood tone," Brady says. "There's no wood tone I don't love. And then a lot of rust, oranges, greens. I wanted [it] to feel like this neutral home base that always feels like anybody's welcome in and [that] they can come and hang out and not have to worry about anything."

"I just love mixing a lot of different eras and styles into one space," Brady says. "I love a lot of vintage pieces. So you'll have something from the ‘70s, something from the ‘60s, something from the ‘50s, something from yesterday that I got at Target or wherever. Additionally, I always love mixing materials, so you mix [that together with] some different wood finishes and you can create this really layered environment versus something that feels flat."

"We're TV people," Brady says. "But I also wanted to hide it. So we got this TV, which is called a Frame TV, and then to again hide it even further, I mixed it into this big gallery wall." Surrounding the TV is a collection of Brady's personal artwork mixed in with some of his favorite artists. "I'm just a big believer in DIYs and gallery walls."

"I'm always of the mantra of mixing and matching from different eras, from different styles and kind of making it yourself," Brady says. "The dining room, metaphorically, it says everybody has a seat at the table. There’s not one chair that doesn't really belong, and I kind of like that [it] tells that story ... I think that’s just the same kind of ethos I have for life: There's always room for everybody at the table."

Before heading up to the first floor, Brady designed a special nook beneath the stairs outfitted with a console table catchall. "[This is] a place to throw our keys. There's actually a lot of storage which is really, really helpful, and there's always a place for last looks [in the mirror before heading out the door]."

The modern staircase embodies Brady's love for mixed materials, pairing varied wood tones and open railings. "There's just a lot of texture, a lot of different surfaces, a lot of different materials [and] that feels like it's a curation of the things that I love."

"Originally, when we first moved in, this whole hallway had really dated floors," Brady says. "They were orange, they were laminate and they weren't good. So I painted the floors white, which is such an easy hack. If you have ugly floors that you don't like or that are you know are not the color that you're really going for, just paint them with white porch paint and it'll last forever."

"Once I added the white to the floors, I knew I wanted to add something architectural to kind of give a moment [here]," Brady says. "I ended up finding this custom bookshelf that was made for a retail store. I bought it for maybe $500 and it ended up fitting perfectly into the space."

Natural light floods Brady's home office, giving it a calming, zen space to create, craft mood boards and take meetings. "The desk is actually a piece that I had custom built for the space," Brady says. "After looking forever to find the right piece, I couldn't find something, so it's been a fun desk for me."

"This mood board wall is something that is constantly evolving," Brady shares. "I'll find something and I'll be inspired by it and add it here. I'm a very visual person, so having somewhere that I can put things up, play around with them and visually see them is really, really important for me and part of my process."

"I just really wanted to create something that was inviting and relaxing and a little bit luxurious for our guests," Brady says. "I just wanted it to feel like it was a hotel. I wanted to keep the fixtures and the furnishings minimal and I wanted to just really lean into a lot of layered moments on the bed."

"Rather than warm neutral woods," Brady continues, "I brought in some really contrast-y woods just because I wanted to have it a bit more punchy for when guests come."

"The primary bedroom feels so inviting and so comforting, and this space is somewhere [I] wanted to feel a bit more restrained with stuff," Brady says. "At the end of the day, I want to just lounge in here and relax and feel zen. So I kept it very minimal as far as the accessories go, but the ones that I did include are very intentional."

Procured textured elements stand out in the bedroom, like the woven yarn headboard, leather pillow and linen duvet, helping "create a neutral kind of cocoon to step away from everything else that’s happening in the house."

"We love TV. But I hate having a TV out in a bedroom," Brady says. "I found this vintage piece that was old and it had slider doors that went back and forth. So I accordioned them, and then I put the TV on a mount so that you can pull it out and tilt it [to] watch from [the] bed. When you're done with it, you put it back and you don't have to see the TV — it’s kind of the best of both worlds."

From the party lights and comfy outdoor furniture to the rustic chimenea, Brady's outdoor aesthetic is just as inviting as the interior. "We love entertaining people," he says. "I love making drinks. I love having people over. I love curating the playlist. [Jason] loves cooking. So bringing that outside is another way that we can just really enjoy this space together."

"The pieces that you bring into your home shouldn't just feel like you ripped them out of a catalog, threw them in there and called it a day," Brady says. "For me, it’s much more about curating this space that truly feels like an extension of you."

See more of Brady's design work in other spaces, like this eclectic living room with bright white walls and cool, contrasting dark beams overhead.

When creating a space like this pink room with striped throws, a sheepskin rug and playful giraffe, Brady looks for deeper themes. "I want [a space] to feel like it has a story, like it has a journey that it's been through," he says. "Really leaning into design and what works for you can create such a special space for you to live in."