Andrea DeRosa and Ashley Justman have 15 years of experience in hospitality design, specializing in new construction and renovations for popular hotels, restaurants, and retail destinations. From their Avenue Interior Design HQ in downtown Los Angeles, they’ve reimagined what public spaces can look (and feel) like—with layered interiors that encourage guests to stay awhile.
It’s no surprise that the firm’s pivot to residential design is bringing the “hotel home.” Their first completed residence is the home of co-founder Ashley, located in the historic Forest Hills neighborhood of Woodland Hills, CA.
Ashley set out to create a relaxing refuge for her young family, creating an open floor plan and cohesion between the spaces—ultimately pulling inspiration from the local surroundings. “The home was a 1960s Ranch style, typical of the Valley, long and open one story with French windows and doors and a ton of natural light,” she tells us. “There’s a casualness to the style that lends itself to be an easygoing family home with muted colors, comfortable furnishings, and natural wood tones. It was important for us to embrace a relaxed, California vibe and use color and pattern inspired by what surrounded us.”
The designer had about a month to pull together the plans before the quick construction journey. “Over the years I had been collecting ideas of what I wanted our first family home to feel like so when it came time to home in on the details, I had a lot of things I had been dreaming up,” she says. “This project felt very different from hospitality because there were no restraints or guidelines to follow. I had a lot of freedom and could use more natural materials like wood flooring and stone, as well as fabrics and wallpapers that were less durable than we would use for our hotel projects.”
The house had great bones—which Ashley credits to the previous owners’ care of the property—but it did need some modifications to the internal structure. “One of the larger projects included opening the dark and closed off entryway to create a bright walkway from the front door to the main living space and adding a small powder room,” she recalls. “We also converted an existing closet into a proper laundry room and completely gutted and opened up the kitchen. This included all new custom inset wood cabinetry, beautifully veined marble countertops and Moroccan Zellige brick as an accent on the backsplash. Smaller items included new wood flooring throughout the entire house and interior and exterior paint.”
The biggest hurdle was time. “The goal was to try and complete the majority of the work in six to eight weeks. We had a great team behind us and were pretty close to meeting our deadline,” she notes. The result is a home that’s relaxed with plenty of style. Take a closer look in the slideshow.
