Old Hollywood Glamour Meets Mid-Century Modern in the Hollywood Hills
A designer brings character to this modern Laurel Canyon home renovation with herringbone floors and brass details.
- Interior Designer: Barbie Palomino, Studio Palomino, posted her clients’ renovation project of a 1,635-square-foot modern home on Sweeten
- Where: Laurel Canyon, Los Angeles
- Scope of work: A complete remodel of the home, built in the 1950’s, including a kitchen, three bathrooms and major mechanical upgrades
- Designer Highlight: “Our general contractor was such a pleasure to work with. Very clear in all communications, and he made me feel as if I was in LA vs. 5000 miles and a 3 hour time difference away.”
Written in partnership with Interior Designer, Barbie. “After” photos by Jess Isaac.
Calling in a Designer to Nail the Details
When Barbie’s clients set out on their Laurel Canyon home renovation journey, they knew they would need the help of a talented designer to take the space from “developer drab to chic and fab”. Sweeten brings homeowners an exceptional renovation experience by personally matching trusted general contractors to your project, while offering expert guidance and support—at no cost to you. Renovate to live, Sweeten to thrive!
The clients hired Barbie Palomino of Studio Palomino who used Sweeten as a resource to find the right general contractor for the renovation. Barbie noted, “even with all my years in the field, it’s so difficult and time consuming to find the right contractor for a project. I trusted Sweeten had vetted their options, and communicating with potential GC’s via the platform was seamless and easy”
When the clients initially met with Barbie, they focused on a few key words and phrases to identify the look that they hoped to achieve. They landed on four themes: Old Hollywood, mid-century modern, organic, and mixed metals.
Barbie took charge of the interior design for the contemporary Laurel Canyon home renovation. After realizing that the existing layout of the peninsula in the kitchen forced entry at the far end of the room, they made the decision to flip it. That created a much better flow through the space. Next up were the bathrooms, a steam shower took priority over the bathtub in the primary bathroom and in the clients’ son’s bathroom, incorporating color and additional storage were key.
Bathrooms that work for the whole family
When considering how to approach the clients’ son’s bathroom, they knew they wanted it to be more playful than the primary. Barbie combined youthfulness and sophistication and steered clear of anything deliberately childish. Although the custom brass framed bifold shower doors turned out to be quite the undertaking, but in the end worked out brilliantly.
For the primary suite in this Laurel Canyon home renovation, Barbie wanted to bring some drama without feeling too pretentious or glitzy. The concrete floor in the steam shower grounds the show-stopping black marble feature wall and glamorous bronze brick in the shower. Barbie used oil rubbed bronze plumbing fixtures and hardware as a nod to the Old Hollywood and Mid-century modern themes.
Details amaze in the open kitchen and living room
A splurge, the herringbone flooring brought a classic Old Hollywood elegance to the open living and dining rooms. Barbie chose a matching plank flooring for the hallway and bedrooms. The green Avocatus slab shines as the kitchen backsplash and is complemented by repeated green tones in the sage green cabinetry and the textured wallpaper on the walnut cabinetry in the living room.
P.S. There’s a TV hidden behind those walnut doors!
Once realized, details like the LED lit suspended shelving above the cooktop and etch detail on the peninsula countertop were clearly worth any challenges along the way. Barbie noted that her firm loves “creating unique, customized design solutions for our clients, so the research and hurdles along the way are kind of expected”.
After taking on this Laurel Canyon home renovation, Barbie had some words of advice for future renovators: “You probably need an interior designer, but you definitely need a fantastic contractor! Please, please, please don’t just go with the lowest bid. You get what you pay for, and what you think you’re saving up front will likely go to repairing shoddy work, compensating for time delays, etc.”.
Renovation Materials
Kitchen Resources:
- Kitchen Cabinets: Bespoke
- Countertops: Piombo Honed Quartzite (with etch edge detail in fabrication), Marble Unlimited
- Backsplash: Avocatus Quartzite / Marble Unlimited
- Sink: Blanco
- Faucet: Briizo
- Fridge: Miele
- Dishwasher: Bosch
- Stove: Bosch
- Hardware: Alno Moderne
- Floor Tile: White Flagstone
Primary Bathroom Resources:
- Bathroom floor tile:
- Hardware: Phantasm
- Marble Mosaic, TileBar
- Shower fixtures: Diama Collection by Phylrich
- Shower glass doors: Bespoke
- Shower floor tile: Concrete
- Shower wall tile: Bronze brick by Cle Tile
- Sink / Vanity: Lacava sink, Custom vanity
- Mirror: Custom Medicine cabinet
- Toilet: Duravit
- Lighting: Visual Comfort sconces
Child’s Bathroom Resources:
- Bathroom floor tile: Terrazzo by Cle Tile
- Shower fixtures: Brizo Invari Collection
- Shower glass doors: Vico Glass
- Shower wall tile: Cadenza Nocturne Blue, TileBar
- Sink / Vanity: Lacava sink, Custom vanity
- Mirror: RH Modern
- Toilet: Toto
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