“This home sits in a small pocket of Beverly Hills that feels untouched by time,” says interior designer Emma Fox. “It was built in 1936 for silent film star Toby Wing, and you can feel that history the moment you step inside.”

Emma was tasked with a complete kitchen and scullery renovation, vaulting the ceilings to echo the architecture of the home and refreshing the layout. 

Her clients cared deeply about beauty but didn’t want the home to feel too ‘perfect.’ “They like rooms that feel discovered and a little surprising,” Emma shares. “Function was also very important. They have beautiful plates, cutlery, and cookware that deserved to be both accessible and displayed. They also love to host, so the kitchen needed to feel open and welcoming.”

Very early on, one of them asked Emma to talk him out of doing an all-cream kitchen. “I am grateful I did,” she recalls, also making sure to credit their musical preference with influencing the look and feel of the space. “They often had Fleetwood Mac playing when I visited, which became part of the creative rhythm of the project,” she notes. “The house has so much personality and character. Nothing about it feels generic. Every corner reflects the people who live there, which is rare and something I really love about the property and the neighborhood.”

The style is classic Regency, with a jewel-toned warmth and a sense of surprise in the details. “The custom cabinetry from The French Tradition was the foundation of the design,” Emma tells us. “We matched the green to one of my client’s favorite vases, which gave the room its calm but saturated tone. The Calacatta marble wraps the counters and backsplash softly and the fluted glass cabinets by the sink have glass backs that let natural light in.”  

The walnut island became the heart of the room. “It was originally going to be green, but the warmth of the wood grounds the space and plays perfectly with the red and white checkerboard marble floor,” Emma says—noting that the floor was a fun moment. It was originally going to be a traditional black and white, but the client—always in sync with the designer—thought about adding red instead. 

In the scullery, a House of Hackney wallpaper adds a playful note to the ceiling, while a custom sofa from Olive Ateliers adds a (welcome) shock of hot pink and pendants sourced from 1^st Dibs bring a hint of British charm. 

It was an eight-month project that had a few structural limitations, and the clients lived at home throughout the renovation. “It made things interesting,” Emma laughs. “At one point their refrigerator lived outside…for months. Waiting for the range and hood also slowed things down. But those challenges pushed the design to a better place. When they saw the finished kitchen, they were genuinely over the moon. It felt like the room had always belonged in the house.”

See more in the slideshow.