This Sun-Drenched, Art-Filled Home Is the Chicest Way to Downsize

A fresh start. A new chapter. A clean slate.

There are so many ways to describe the process of beginning anew in a smaller, more manageable home that are more optimistic than the most common term: downsizing, a word that is spoken with two sad, flat notes from a tuba implied. But trading in a high-maintenance, traditional house for a snug and streamlined mid-century in Pasadena was anything but a bummer for Hilde and Reza Leiaghat. It just took a minute for Hilde to see it that way.

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“It was my idea to sell our family house in Los Feliz, which we had curated over 30 years,” says Hilde, who, along with Reza, founded the home textile brand Pom Pom at Home. The couple, who have two grown sons and are now grandparents, spent their adult lives furnishing and refining the house as they built and refined their brand. Back when they owned four Pom Pom stores across Los Angeles, they would swap out and sell their collected antiques and linens regularly. About 15 years ago, they shuttered the stores to focus exclusively on manufacturing home textiles. By 2021, they decided they’d put enough love and attention into that rambling old house and it was time to sell. Then, things moved quickly.

Thomas J. Story

“We were lucky that our house never went on the market,” Hilde recalls. “Someone was interested in buying it right away, under the condition that they could buy it as-is, with everything in it. We didn’t bring a single truckload with us.”

“When we saw this house, we realized that nothing that we had would work anyway,” says Reza, who admits the house felt a little sterile, and the televisions in every room were a turn-off. “We were drawn to the view and the potential for the backyard to build a pool and a patio for entertaining. But Hilde cried for a month.”

Thomas J. Story

“I did,” Hilde says, nodding in recognition of those dark early days. “I thought we made a big mistake.”

Faced with a blank canvas and limited time to fill it, the Leiaghats did what they do best. “We went shopping,” Reza says. “Now, whatever you see here in the house, except for one painting, is new to us.”

Thomas J. Story

The Leiaghats entered the nascent L.A. design scene in 1991, when the city had a trace of the anything-goes energy that today’s creative entrepreneurs can only dream of. After running two successful restaurants, one in a 16th-century building in Antwerp, Belgium, and another in late-1980s L.A., they stumbled upon a storefront for rent in Hollywood and took the leap into the world of interiors.

“Reza called and said, ‘I saw a place for lease on Santa Monica Boulevard, maybe this is what we should do?’” Hilde recalls. “I asked him, ‘Where are we going to get the stuff to sell?’ Reza said maybe we start with everything that’s in our apartment. That’s literally what we did. We moved everything out of our home and put it in the shop.”

Thomas J. Story

Along with some vintage textiles and antiques they brought from Hilde’s native Belgium, they sold furniture and accessories they had scavenged at the Rose Bowl Flea Market, which was still a relatively untapped resource. Next to the shop was an acting studio, and when Hilde saw the performers come and go in the uniform of the day—white T-shirts, Levi’s, and Converse—genius struck.

“In the back of the store, we built a big shelf. Then I went to the Rose Bowl and bought a stack of used Levi’s. I went downtown and got a bunch of white T-shirts. And then at the shoe factory, I bought Converse in red, white, and blue,” she says. “We opened the store, and within two weeks, we had the L.A. Times in, just by luck. They were so taken by the concept of the store, with furniture, an armoire full of Belgian and French textiles, and secondhand jeans. The following week, it was in the L.A. Times weekend magazine, and they gave us a double spread. Whatever we did after that, people came to see.”

Thomas J. Story

Their single shop grew into a mini-chain of four stores. Jennifer Lopez was an early and loyal client, and Hilde helped decorate one of her homes. Reza would go on buying trips to Europe, and they hired pickers and shoppers there, too. They’d fill containers to send to L.A., and they became known for their great taste in chandeliers and home linens.

“That’s what led to us starting the line. We were selling pieces that were one-of-a-kind, and then people would freak out when they would sell out,” Hilde says, recognizing the market for heirloom-quality linens. The Pom Pom brand is now sold in 2,000 retail outlets.

Reza and Hilde met as teenagers during a summer program in England, and they developed a symbiotic relationship that happens over decades of living and working together. Hilde is drawn to classics, while Reza’s tastes lean more modern. And their new home is a cohesive reflection of how their visions combine into something unique and inviting.

Thomas J. Story

Starting with a restricted palette of creamy neutrals, they scoured the Pasadena Antique Center and HD Buttercup, the site of their only Pom Pom store-in-store, for the right mix of warm and simple furnishings. Tables and chairs from Ethnicraft, a Belgian furniture company, and a Timothy Oulton sectional anchor the main living room.

“It’s so nice to play with the modular sofa, and we bought an extra slipcover. It was just so convenient,” Hilde says.

Thomas J. Story

All of the small accessories, baskets, and objects that line the shelves and countertops were picked up at flea markets and antique stores.

“We like to bargain, so we don’t shop online,” says Reza. “We want a deal, and we both just grew up looking for antiques.”

Reza designed the landscaping and oversaw the construction of the pool and deck, which was just completed at the end of 2023.

“There’s nothing I do without Hilde. I present an idea, and usually she agrees with it. That’s how it works. We work together on basically everything.”

Thomas J. Story

While their older son, Sam, is the official Pom Pom CEO, Reza and Hilde are still very hands-on in day-to-day operations. Hilde travels a lot looking for inspiration, and she visits factories in Portugal, India, and China to translate her design ideals into products that can be made at the scale they need. That the pieces they produce are very versatile and compatible with many different design styles is no accident.

“My problem is that I like everything,” Hilde says. “Even with music, I can listen to rap, hard rock, or classical. I appreciate it all. It’s the same with design. I like classic, romantic, or contemporary. Sometimes it’s a problem, and sometimes it’s a blessing.”

Thomas J. Story

The secret to their longevity, both at work and at home, may lie in this kind of flexible thinking, and the confidence they have in each other, and their ability to change along with the time, not against it.

“Every time we move and change styles, we just say goodbye,” says Reza. “It can be fun to start from scratch.”

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