Let’s start in the living room – what major changes did you make?

I love the original 1930s architectural elements of the living room, but I wanted the space to have a fresh, clean look with layered textures and fun patterns. The entire home is an interior renovation, from new plumbing, electric (we rewired the whole house), new HVAC, brand new kitchen with new appliances, all new baths and plumbing fixtures, new wood floors, new paint, new outdoor landscape, etc.

The living room had popcorn ceiling, dark wood floors and dark exposed beams. I of course removed the popcorn from the ceiling, painted the beams white, and lightened the 2” red oak floors throughout the house.

There were no ceiling lights and very outdated wall sconces…so I was able to add some very large black matte finish lighting to the ceilings and walls from Lamps Plus.

This space gave me an opportunity to play with a tonal palette with blacks, whites and grays. I balanced the neutral colors with wooden and natural elements including the rattan side table, coffee table, and wood lamp. I infused the space with my own personal touches, including my own COCOCOZY rug and personal mementos and collectibles.

The windows in this room were not in good shape so I went to salvage yard and found wonderful wood casement windows to replace. We trimmed out all of the windows and French doors in Benjamin Moore’s “Blacktop”.

You chose Benjamin Moore’s “Super White” for the walls – is there a reason why you like that particular white over others? Are you one of those designers that test paint colors on the walls to see how it works with the light?

Benjamin Moore has an amazing selection of colors, and I used their “Super White” paint for the walls, which allowed for a stunning contrast against the bold black trim in Benjamin Moore’s “Blacktop”. The home has so many sources of natural light, and it was important for me to see how the paint colors look during the day with the natural light shining through.

I like “Super White” because is a very clean crisp white that allows natural light to bounce off of it and also takes on the colors of the room or hues from outside.

Moving on to the kitchen, we love the baby blue cabinets – such a fun twist on the blue kitchen trend that we’ve been seeing. Where did you source them and what inspired the color palette for this space?

The color for the lower cabinets is Benjamin Moore’s “Silent Night”. It was actually an unplanned design addition. Initially, I had planned near black lower cabinets but when our carpenter brought in our cabinets to be installed, they had been primed and not painted. The primer was a lovely soft grey/blue. I loved it. I found a real paint color to match it.

The countertops are by Caesarstone – had you used their products before?

Caesarstone provided all of the countertops in the kitchen and baths. They have this amazing quartz material and the counters look absolutely beautiful. I’m a huge fan of theirs, and can’t wait to work with them again. I used Caesarstone in my first kitchen remodel about 12 years ago in my tiny little cottage in the Hollywood Hills. I have been a fan ever since.

What room are you especially proud of? Did you know ahead of time that it would work out as well as it did?

The dining area is definitely a standout, especially the beautiful gallery wall. I love to incorporate elements of my personality and special memories into my design. Art is very personal to me. I have an original Space Needle architectural drawing by John Graham Jr. and agricultural drawings of botanicals on the gallery wall, both which are highlight pieces.

My mother gave me an old poster from the Museum of Contemporary art from 1985, which I also included on the wall. As a native Los Angeleno, I wanted to feature Los Angeles history in this home to pay homage to my hometown. I have a book from the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics on my coffee table, and art by my friend and Los Angeles painter and public relations executive Sarah Robarts.

Tell us about your selection of furniture – are there any standout pieces?

I love the vintage 1930s dresser in the master bedroom, which I painted in fun two-toned colors to breathe life into the vintage piece. A lot of the art and objects in this home are from my own personal collection and are incredible flea market finds. When I’m vintage shopping, I’m drawn to smaller pieces and objects rather than big pieces of furniture, and I try to find beauty in the simple things. For example, on my gallery wall in the dining area, I’ve torn out pages of beautiful botanicals from a vintage agriculture book and framed them, along with pages from an old Paris guide book from the 1800s.

You decided to maintain some of the home’s original room divisions instead of blowing out all of the walls – can you tell us why you made that decision?

We live in an era where everyone is completely gut renovating historic homes in favor of identical open floor plans. I’m not one to follow trends, and I deliberately chose not to blow out the major walls and alter the personality of this iconic home. I still wanted the home to have the character and charm of a 1930s Spanish Colonial, so it did not make sense to turn the home into something super modern with an open floor plan.

The bathrooms have an old-world meets contemporary feel to them. Can you tell us about your selection of materials and configuration?

The master bath in this home is truly an oasis. I wanted to create a fresh take on old-world charm, and I outfitted the space with beautiful hexagonal marble tiles on the floor with long matte finish tiles on the shower wall. We have a gorgeous drop in cast iron tub and a wonderful shower set by TOTO and a very fancy Neorest Toilet from TOTO as well.

For the basement bathroom, I opted for a high contrast design with a clean, modern twist. This bathroom was a complete gut renovation, and I had it converted from an old storage closet. I purchased a claw foot tub for $400 and had it painted and re-glazed for a vintage look. To juxtapose the vintage vibe, I featured lots of contrasting elements such as glossy tiles on the walls and hexagonal tiles on the floor, which I paired with a large black-framed mirror with minimal lines. When designing each room in the space I sought to create a whimsical moment. In this particular space, that moment was the tiny window with original stained glass which I discovered hidden behind a wall. All of the bathrooms in the home blend contemporary with vintage, which is a look I’ve created throughout the rest of the home.

For someone thinking about going through a similar renovation how long did this project take to complete? How did you organize the planning process?

Because of our hiccup with the contractor, the project took a time and a half, and ended up taking 11 months. However, my amazing new contractor was able to pick up the pieces and bring my creative vision to life. We made an offer on the house and within 14 days I owned it. During the escrow period is when I went into planning overdrive. We worked with our architect during that period, got partners on board and began all designing. Use your escrow or under contract period to get your planning done.

Left: Colette Shelton, founder of COCOCOZY.

Right: Her project manager for the Design House, Tiara Parker-Ragland, owner of Almost Anything Inc.

The Design House before the renovation.