“The incredible location, view and lot size were all so good, but the house itself was too small,” designer Tania Cassill of huit design says of this Laguna Beach home. It’s located in a private gated community called Upper Three Arch Bay, and Tania was brought on to do a complete renovation. “The previous layout before we came on board wasted space that we really wanted to capture,” she recalls. “We were able to utilize all of the wasted space and create the kids’ rooms, den, guest suite and an extra laundry room!”

The clients, an active family with a teenage son and preteen daughter, love life in Southern California and wanted their home to capture that coastal energy. “We had such a great working relationship and they really trusted the design direction we were headed in,” Tania shares. “The biggest challenge we faced was making the main room feel and appear very open and roomy when we needed to fit the kitchen, dining and great room all in the same place. All of the areas in this space work with each other yet each space is subtly defined… the dining area is off to the corner of the room and although it is in the same area, it is obviously the dining area.”

Though Tania shares more about the home in the slideshow, it’s this dining area that she ended up loving most. “It’s funny, I never really thought my favorite spot in the house would be the dining area but it most definitely is,” she laughs. “The client asked if we could keep the old farm table from the original house. It really didn’t work with the current direction we were heading, but with some black paint, Ghost chairs and a woven pendant…voila, it was perfect!”