Client West Coast Is The Best Coast
It’s been a while since we’ve gotten to reveal a big project — and because the holidays are right around the corner, and my book won’t be hitting shelves ’til 2020, I figured it would be a good time to share a project we worked on this year. Everyone, please give a warm welcome to this Santa Monica, California thriller #ClientWestCoastIsTheBestCoast. This was a big ‘ol family home that needed a major refresh and myself and the design team’s main goal for this project was to tone down the traditional white box look and make the space feel homey, layered, collected, and filled with texture and warm tones. While we felt like the Amber Interiors design philosophy and overarching vibes were apparent, we loved the more moody tones this project had. We are all pretty stoked with how the house turned out and are very excited to share. And because it’s the season, we added in a way for you all to “shop the look” if you fancy. Take a gander at the entire project, as we break down design details from room to room. Feel free to pin, or ‘gram, or tweet, or scream from the rooftops as well…we welcome all the sharing.
Living Room and Dining Room
This turned out to be one of our favorite rooms in the house!! When we walked in, the first thing we noticed was that we had some really pretty molding and trim work to play with, but lots and lots of stark white blaring us in the face. Trust me, we love white rooms around here, but even for us it was too much and we needed a solution to warm up the very large space. We added a textured Phillip Jeffries wallpaper above the chair rail in a beautiful creamy, beigey, gray tone. Although the wallpaper is technically pretty “neutral,” the textured material added a layer of warmth and coziness that was really needed here. In typical Amber Interiors form, we filled the room with several vintage pieces, and mixed in leather, colorful pillows, our Shoppe Woodlake Coffee Table, our newest member of our Shoppe sofa collection (coming soon), some dark evergreen curtains, and a custom designed and built hutch in the dining area, for all the things.
Shop Living and Dining Room
Large Coupe Tray
$290
Woodlake Coffee Table
$4,650
Vermont Large Colander
$215
Ethan Pillow
$235
Tawa Vase
$310
Brass Beads
$94
Vincent Van Gogh
$85
Bent Ply Lounge Chair Pair
$5,400
Felicity
$5,600
Shull Pillow
$265
Condiment Bowl
$24
Norden Planter
$50
Kitchen and Breakfast Nook
When we first laid eyes on the space, we realized we had an all white, all chrome kitchen situation on our hands and we needed a dramatic change for sure. It felt cold, to say the least, and not the slightest bit family friendly. With a little reluctance from our client, and a weeee bit of push back, we managed to convince them that going dark, would actually make the whole area not feel dreary and dark, but much more rich and inviting! We took the plunge, and landed on a color match of Farrow + Ball’s “Down Pipe”. We also went about adding a custom blackened steel hood and switched out the glass cabinets to solid doors. There was some yucky existing beveled and shiny glazed traditional tile backsplash, that we replaced with a Matte brick subway tile. To play better with the more deep color tones, we switched out all the plumbing and hardware for ones in a dark bronze finish. Although we did not change out the island, or perimeter countertops, we honed the marble and took the shiny shine off a bit. The light fixtures were updated, bar stools were added, and we zhushed the whole room with accessories. Because the kitchen flows right into a bay area of windows, we built a breakfast nook so the family could all squeeze in and chow down. The table was designed and built custom for the banquette, and the chairs were vintage from Shoppe.
Shop Kitchen
Baker's Dozen Spoon Set
$160
Brass Pepper Mill 9'
$85
Serving Board Set
$150
XL Coupe Vessel
$290
Brass Pepper Mill 10'
$98
Khonsu Pillow
$195
Family Room
Shop Family Room
Gwynnie Sofa
$4,795
Ottoman Cube
$795
Kurlisuri Throw
$725
Ethan Pillow
$235
Healy Pillow
$285
Nolas Pillow
$265
Paola Pillow
$265
Office Space
The team wanted to keep this office space bright, airy and functional. They added custom built-in shelves — because, duh. And a seating area, so the client could have a comfortable meeting space.
Shop Office
Byron Leather Chair
$2,394
Copabu Bowl
$70
Straight Edge Catch-All
$80
Foraged Flora
$40
XL Coupe Vessel
$290
Master Bedroom
There wasn’t much to do in this room besides trying to make it feel like it now belonged, especially with all the other changes we made to the house. This master bedroom was very bright and very ready for us to bring in the good stuff! We started by layering and mixing solids, and patterns, while staying in a calm and neutral color tone throughout. All the fabrics, colors, textures really play off of each other in the space, which in my humble opinion, just worked. As always, we paired vintage pieces with new furniture pieces, like the Mandeville Side Table in Ebonized from Shoppe.
Shop Master Bedroom
Mandeville Side Table
$3,200
Victoria Morris Lamp
$1,600
Seagrass Carafe
$25
Large Coupe Tray
$290
Brass Chandelier
$2,750
Kurlisuri Throw
$725
Melan Pillow
$245
Kids’ and Play Rooms
Moving onto some of the most layered and textured rooms in the entire home — the kids’ rooms and playroom. One of the major standouts in the girl’s room was adding wallpaper to the ceiling. Yes, you heard that right. Wallpaper on the ceilings is A-OKAY. We thought it was cute as can be with all the layers, especially the Schuyler Samperton fabric they used for the curtains. The team added custom built-in cabinets for storage with a rolling library ladder and a pretty sweet loft for the kids to play. PS. The cabinets are Farrow and Ball’s Manor House Grey.
Shop Kids’ Room and Play Room
Penny Bed
$5,200
Hassa Pillow
$245
Shull Pillow
$265
Alexandra Pillow
$265
Nolas Pillow
$265
Khonsu Pillow
$195
Leather Valet Tray
$90
Leather Wrapped Vase
$75
Floor Basket
$225
Shop Entryway
Anderson Console
$5,295
Bone Beads
$75
Surf Shake
$35
Vincent Van Gogh
$85
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