HOUSE TOUR: FIRST PHOTOS

This has been a long time coming, and after having just shared the first peek at the finished home on YouTube, I’m finally sharing photos!

I will, of course, have more photos to share, but one thing I didn’t fully realize when putting all of this together was that some of these rooms would be a work in progress for a while. For example, there’s a chair for the master bedroom that’s backordered until November, there’s a vintage Louis Vuitton trunk that’s taking forever to arrive, and of course there’s the patio furniture, which, to my surprise, takes about a month to ship out! Oh, did I mentioned I haven’t even ordered the patio furniture yet? Yepp. I guess these are the little things you learn when you decorate your home; you have this perfect idea of how it’s all going to come together but, of course, it always turns out differently than you expect.

I’m very excited to share these first photos of my home and give you an idea of the character of the home. It turned out to be the perfect blend of traditional and contemporary with just the right medieval accents that I was looking for. For those of you just joining the remodeling journey, the house is a 1927 English Tudor, so it was important to keep much of the inside of the home traditional: No wide plank floors, plenty of rich fabrics and textures, and some restored original elements of the home that keep everything rooted.

The formal living room and the study are two of the most traditional rooms in the house. I call the living room the “animal kingdom” because the animal theme is present everywhere you look. The Batchelder fireplace sort of inspired more animal elements: This particular design includes etched deer across the front and two regal peacocks, Glendale’s official city bird. I added faux antler mirrors, faux cowhide ottomans, a horse head made of raw pieces of wood, and a gorgeous Arteriors side table with bird legs that makes everyone laugh when they see it! The whole room is very nature-inspired which works wonderfully with the fireplace and the original molding in the high ceiling.

Last September I took a trip to Marrakech which ended up being my favorite place in the whole world. While I was shopping in the souks I had a goal of buying a berber rug, so I found one that I loved and carried it all the way back to LA with me. At the time I’d just bought the house and begun remodeling, so I wasn’t sure where I’d be able to use it. To my delight, it fits in perfectly in the study. The rich colors complement the dark walls and that comfortable leather chair. By the way, the trunk that’s currently sitting there was $98 and I found it at Home Goods!

Once we move into the kitchen and family room (which I purposely made a semi-combined space; I’ve always wanted a kitchen that opens up to a family room. That’s how it is at my mom’s house and we spend practically all our time in that space) we get into a bit more of a contemporary vibe. Since the family room (some would call this the TV room) is on the small side, (it used to be a bedroom!) I couldn’t fit a sectional in there, so I opted instead for this comfortable linen sofa that was just $995 at Living Spaces. Some simple sheer linen drapes and a small tufted coffee table were all this room needed.

The kitchen was, by far, the biggest transformation in this house! I’ll talk more about the changes made to this space in my house tour video going live at the end of this week, but my goal for the kitchen was clean, contemporary, and a little country. The three windows, farm sink, and industrial sconces give it that country touch while the custom cabinets, (the color is Grey Owl by Benjamin Moore) the honed marbled, and the polished Calacatta Borghini island give it the contemporary feel. Another more country accent is the backsplash: I used an 8 inch handmade subway tile in a herringbone pattern, and the uneven “baked” surfaced just makes the room a little less glam and more cozy.

And, of course, here’s a look at the guest bathroom right off of the family room. I finally got a mirror in there!

That’s all the photos I have for now. In the next post I’ll share more of the bathrooms, the guest bedroom, and, of course, my master suite.