Just east of San Diego lies a charming area called La Mesa. “It is a great neighborhood for families with an old historic downtown, nick-named ‘jewel of the hills,’” says interior designer Allison Garrison. “There are many parts that have beautiful views towards the city, ocean, and Mexico.”
Allison’s design firm, Allito Spaces, was tapped by a professional couple to update several key areas in their La Mesa home. “Daniella owns her own Pilates studio, Avanti Pilates, and is my personal Pilates instructor! Josh is a former lawyer turned data analyst,” she tells us. “Functionality was truly lacking in their space. The clients had no closet in their primary bedroom and had to walk out of their bedroom through the kitchen to get to their bathroom. Once inside the bathroom, the layout was super funky and completely underutilized. They wanted all of this fixed and to bring some of their style into their home.”
The couple loves both Art Deco and mid-century modern—as well as the color teal—so Allison leaned heavily into those influences as she crafted a plan. After testing several colors, they landed on Teal Stencil by Sherwin-Williams and opted to color-drench the primary bedroom walls. “This moody darker teal looks amazing with the wood tones,” Allison says. They had hoped to bring in burlwood with the furniture choices, which would give the room additional depth and variation; however, the dresser they originally sourced went out of stock before the order could be placed. “We pivoted to the large mirror above the bed and it turns out it is one of those happy mistakes where the final product looks even better than what you originally planned,” she smiles.
The mid-century bed frame belonged to the clients originally, and Allison sought to balance it with a few Art Deco accessories. “We chose the Visual Comfort bedside lamps with the white glass shade for its Art Deco vibes and the fan-shaped hardware on the closet doors, sourced from Etsy, are a favorite detail,” she says. “On the closet front, we added a full wall of built ins. They went from nothing to an amazing, well-thought out, customized solution which we drenched in the same color as the walls.”
In the bathroom, she brought in bold marble floors from Ann Sacks. “They have a soft organic feel and the clients decided to do heated floors so walking on them feels truly luxurious,” she explains. “While the black and white checkered floors leaned heavily Art Deco, we chose to do a stacked brick concrete tile in the shower to mix in the mid-century influence.” In the vanity area, the two styles are again blended, with a mid-century–leaning vanity from Rejuvenation and Art Deco fluted glass lighting from Visual Comfort. A piece of art by Katie Krauter adds the finishing touch.
The clients wanted to sneak in as much storage as possible in the small bathroom, so they carved out 12″ from the shower to create a vertical storage tower, using the backside of the tower for the shower niches. “We added more storage with recessed medicine cabinets,” she adds.
It was a relatively quick makeover—just 12 weeks—and the clients are thrilled. “They keep telling me if feels like they are checking into a hotel every night,” Allison says with a smile. The result is a primary suite that feels personal, pulled-together, and genuinely comfortable to live in.
