In the summer issue of the magazine, Chloe Heath of Heath Interiors showed us how to get the look of a playful-yet-sophisticated playroom in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles. Today, we’re taking a tour of the entire house.
Chloe’s clients are a young family of 5—husband, wife, and three young daughters—and initially the couple only wanted help decorating the home. “But the longer they lived in it, they got a clearer picture of their needs, which ended up changing our scope to involve some renovations as well,” the designer explains. “We took a slow approach to this project which I think worked out really well in the end. Beyond optimizing the home for more functionality, we wanted to make the home reflect the clients’ taste and personality.”
The house is traditional, but with comfortable (and at times, playful) details. This is established in the entryway, which previously had an open layout and a formal sitting room that was not necessary for the family. “Their daughters are all creative and musical, so we ended up walling off this room and added glass pocket doors to create a dedicated music room to house their instruments,” Chloe says. “I love that the clients were open to a moody feel in the music room and a mix of patterns from the drapery fabric to the wallpaper.” And by creating more of a walkway, they were able to carve out some much needed storage and built-ins for backpacks, shoes, and more.
In the common areas, Chloe used a cohesive color palette. In the dining room, the clients original table was kept while new chairs and a gorgeous cabinet—custom made in England and coated in Farrow & Ball’s Pancho—elevate the space. The living room got a total transformation. “It was a white box before and we mixed lots of patterns and textures here, which gave it character,” Chloe explains. To keep things family-friendly, they snuck in heavy-duty performance fabrics on the sofas, ottoman, and chairs.
Another big change happened in the kitchen. “This kitchen nook didn’t previously exist,
the designer recalls. “It was a small outdoor patio area that wasn’t used much. The family didn’t have a casual seating area for the whole family before and didn’t have a proper pantry, so we decided to expand the kitchen and add both. I love the mix of colors here.”
Playful personality was brought into the bedrooms and bathrooms. The powder room—previously dubbed the “Home Depot special”—was reimagined with tongue and groove paneling, a William Morris wallpaper, and a custom curved vanity. “We chose tongue and groove to connect to the paneling on the custom front door which was a small but favorite detail. In a spec house, it’s common for the architectural details to be really disconnected so adding a through line was a priority for me,” Chloe says. In the girls’ bedrooms, tones of pink and peach were the only request, while in the playroom (as seen in the magazine), a muted teal color palette and durable pieces create a space that is age-appropriate but will easily grow with the girls.
Though it wasn’t a “quick” project by any means, designer + client both agree it was well worth the wait. Take a tour in the slideshow.
