It’s redecorating that clicks
BY BONNIE MCCARTHY >>> When Beatrice Fischel-Bock moved into a 1930s West Hollywood Spanish-style bungalow with friend and fellow entrepreneur Lizzie Grover they commingled their collections of hot pink and white home decor and got straight to the business of fundraising for their first start-up. The two were co-founders of Hutch, a digital design app that helps take some of the guess work (and potential for buyers’ remorse) out of decorating your home. Users upload a picture of the room they’d like to make over, and 3-D technology removes all the furnishings, but retains the room’s dimensions and appearance. Then, the fun begins.
Users can click to add thousands of furnishings and accessories from the likes of Anthropologie, All Modern and Kate Spade New York — which can be purchased through the app, of course, for an online shopping experience enhanced with a high-tech injection of augmented reality. (Hutch makes money by partnering with vendors on the site, and a cut of sales.)
And yes, it’s as addictive as you might imagine.
Two years later, Hutch has acquired foundation capital from venture capitalists like Tinder cofounder Sean Rad, and attracted additional co-founders even as Hutch’s functionality continues to evolve.
What hadn’t changed was the hot pink and white decor in the home that Fischel-Bock, 26, and Grover, 27, still share.
It was time to adult-ify the bungalow. It was also the perfect opportunity for the bicoastal entrepreneur who was recently named to Forbes’ list of 30 Under 30 retail and e-commerce professionals to put her app to the test.
The transformation from girly and glam to grown-up and cleverly curated took the tech maven just over a week, which is not surprising considering this high-octane personality made her first million before college graduation.
Here, she tells us how she took the formerly Barbie-inspired bungalow from hot pink and dated to contemporary California cool with an earthy palette and eclectic styling that is sophisticated without being stuffy.
“Going neutral doesn’t mean boring,” Fischel-Bock said, referring to a common misconception that equates serious style with an absence of color or whimsy.
The updated living room space is awash in an organic-inspired palette of white, cream and sand with accents of ebony, rose and natural greenery. “It’s neutral with a lot of interesting elements,” she said referencing the vintage fireplace tile, coved ceilings, tactile fabrics and textured accessories, “so it feels adult in the fact that yes, it’s not hot pink anymore, but it doesn’t mean just going bland.”
The finished space is a mix of old and new, high-end and low.
A vintage painting shares the mantle in soulful harmony with a new framed print by Society 6. “Because we’re mixing it,” said Fischel-Bock, “it doesn’t feel like it’s off the internet.”
The hammered metal coffee table is from World Market. “I was playing with a similar piece on the app,” said the designer, “and I realized, oh, I have that outside so I brought it in and cleaned it up.”
Dressing up a space
Something that hasn’t changed is their genius use of annexing an odd space off the living room to create the kind of walk-in closet most of us only dream about.
Instead of allowing the unincorporated square footage to become just another clutter catcher, or the resting place of dusty gym equipment, they painted the space white and added garment racks, floating shelves, a dresser, large mirror, draperies and an ottoman. It’s a glamorous little piece of heaven.
Appetite for design
The dining room design was inspired by a trip Fischel-Bock took to Tulum, Mexico, last year. “Every little place... was well designed and aesthetically pleasing… that’s kind of the look I was going for here.”
She chose a round table, rattan pendant light from World Market, organic elements, colorful art and a console table from CB2 to appoint what she called “awkward” space.
Sweet dreams
In her tiny bedroom, she created a “gallery wall” using a creative, curated assortment of artistically arranged framed prints by Society 6, vintage paintings, drawings and sculptural 3-D elements. The effect adds color, texture, warmth and personality. “I think you over-fill for a small space, because it makes it feel bigger.”
Shopping via Hutch, she achieved a soft, feminine look choosing West Elm drapes and Parachute bedding. “I love light pink,” said Fischel-Bock of her barely blush colored bedding, “I didn’t want it in the rest of the house, so I kept it in here but I made it a little more adult.”
It looks like the bungalow’s home decor has finally caught up with the sophisticated style of the grown-up on the fast track.