No Mas! Productions is as much of a business as it is a lifestyle for owners Walt Bilinski and Steve MacNeil.

Like a small but growing number of Atlanta area residents, they live, work, shop and dine all in the same block. Theirs is the quintessential loft life.

Frank Niemeir/Staff (ENLARGE)

Last August, the couple opened the 350-seat No Mas! Cantina a few steps away from their loft.

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Their 4,000-square-foot loft in Castleberry Hill is a doorstep away from their 15,000-square-foot furniture and accessories store, which is just steps away from their two-story cantina. The restaurant, which seats 350, sells everything from enchiladas to Day of the Dead statues.

"They can't take home the 50-foot-long bar," laughs MacNeil, "but we can do one customized for their house."

When the partners set their sights on the loft back in 1998, they were just looking for a cool place to live so they could end their commute.

"We came from Alpharetta," explains MacNeil. "I was driving some days and hour and a half each way to work. So I got three hours back into my day."

Once they settled in, they bought four more lofts on their block. They later sold some and used the equity to open a warehouse to store merchandise for their No Mas! furniture store on Huff Road.

The cantina opened last August. In November, Bilinski and MacNeil turned the warehouse into a retail store featuring one-of-a-kind bed frames, sculptures, paintings, doors and accent pieces created by more than 350 Mexican artisans.

"We feel the timing was right," says Bilinski. "When we opened on Huff Road 12 years ago, this is how Castleberry Hill feels now. So we feel like we're pioneers."

The men admit they aren't ready to close their flagship store just yet, because some of their clientele won't venture downtown to shop.

"People are a little afraid of downtown, period. And the southern side of downtown, they think, is scary," explains MacNeil. "But it's definitely on the upswing. We're past the tipping point."

The investment is paying off.

MacNeil doesn't own a car anymore and Bilinski's 10-year-old Beemer stays parked for days, a convenience many people can only dream of. "We can go a week and not drive the car," says MacNeil.

But although they are enjoying an unharried life while they watch their businesses grow, there is one drawback, MacNeil says, to living next door to work. "It's knowing when to shut off the computer."