After years as a practicing family law attorney, Carly Waters left the world of law in 2014 and started her design firm, Carly Waters Style. CWS marries the analytical with the beautiful: white spaces, clean lines & layered textures make up the look she’s coined warm minimalism. Her latest design project, her own home, is currently on the market and embodies her signature style. In the slideshow, she shares her 10 essential tips for renovating a home.
10 Insider Tips from Carly Waters’ Pacific Palisades Renovation

1. Celebrate the home’s inherent style by adhering to the original bones.
This classic Southern California mid-century home was built in 1958. We aimed to maintain the integrity of its timeless style so we were careful to preserve the clean, angular lines and stucco exterior.
Photo Credit: The Salty Shutters

2. Stick to an aesthetic, & have that vibe flow from space to space.
We utilized our signature style here – warm minimalism. Each room has its own unique composition, but speaks to every space throughout the home.
Photo Credit: Jenna Peffley

3. When designing spaces for your little ones, don’t compromise.
Sticking to a coherent look can be challenging when designing kids’ rooms, though it doesn’t have to be. The decor and refined color palette in our children’s rooms match the home’s minimal design. Because we are focused on being a sustainable household, we stick to wood toys and furnishings (or vintage items we’ve saved from our childhood). This not only avoids overstimulation and an overabundance of objects, but it also allows for us to easily (and affordably) make updates as they grow and mature.
Photo Credit: Jenna Peffley

4. Minimize gratuitous furniture by maximizing space with custom built-ins.
In order to stay consistent with the warm minimal aesthetic, we opted for less furniture. Our solution? Built-in drawers and shelves in closets for optimal storage and organization. For materials, we used plywood and black metal rods, and finished the look with pulls from Cedar&Moss.
Photo Credit: Jenna Peffley

5. Extend your home’s square footage by bringing the outdoors in.
When you’re limited with square footage, you want to utilize every square inch of your property. Large windows, glass doors, and indoor plants not only bring the outside in but also bring the inside out. Indoor/outdoor living is ideal for the LA lifestyle, and we achieved that here by employing these ideas to the fullest.
Photo Credit: The Salty Shutters

6. No need to raise the roof if you’re stuck with low ceilings.
Another common feature of mid-century architecture is low ceilings. There are several ways to create the illusion of height to avoid a major construction project. Here, we added skylights throughout the home (x6), and installed drapery and shower curtains at the ceiling to raise the eye.
Photo Credit: Jenna Peffley

7. Integrated appliances for the win.
They elevate your space, provide a kid-friendly solution and turn your bulky appliances into pieces of furniture. We took it a step further, and opted for no hardware because nothing screams warm minimal more than flat white oak cabinets.
Photo Credit: Jenna Peffley

8. Invest in natural, sustainable materials.
We are focused on sustainability, and minimizing the use of plastic in the home. In furnishing this house, we opted for natural materials (think wood, clay, and linen), even when it came to the accessories and household necessities. A few of our favorite swaps have been cloth napkins, silicone sandwich bags & reusable glass dispensers. And yes, we even use cloth diapers!
Photo Credit: Jenna Peffley

9. Don’t forget the texture.
When you’re house is angular and white, it is key to bring in texture to provide warmth to the space. In the master bathroom, we utilized black belgian terracotta floor tiles and our new favorite wall application- plaster. You’ll never see me use wallpaper but plaster- that’s our new crush.
Photo Credit: Jenna Peffley

10. Transform storage space into living space.
We drywalled, added a skylight, and epoxied the floors of our garage. We also added a utility closet outfitted with shelves for cleaning supplies, tools, holiday decorations, and anything else that did not need to be on display.
Photo Credit: The Salty Shutters
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