All Eras Welcome: A Spanish Colonial Update in LA - Remodelista
LA designer Martha Mulholland is a jack of all visual trades Needless to say she can pull together a presentation with a certain panache which is... Photography by Laure Joliet for Remodelista. ...just what the clients of this 2 100 square foot Spanish Colonial in Altadena California needed when they moved in with a baby on the way The Spanish Colonial underwent a significant renovation by LA architecture firm Park McDonald before Mulholland worked on the interiors. In the foyer, the owners’ Shaker chest provides the base for a classic Mulholland vignette of far-ranging pieces. “I like adding light blue to this mix as well, hence the Louis IV chair with its original periwinkle-blue velvet upholstery,” she says. The kitchen cabinets, painted in Benjamin Moore Amherst Gray, were custom built in a simple Shaker style with oil-rubbed bronze hardware. The bright bands of color in a photograph by Todd Cole provide a strong focus for the window-lined breakfast room; the cage ceiling pendant is from Shopclass. When Mulholland looked through the clients’ dishware and crockery, she noticed an abundance of orange and red pieces, which she arranged on the open shelves opposite the breakfast table. Kumquat branches in a deep orange/red ceramic vase bring an added vibrancy to the display. The breakfast room overlooks the dining room and has built-in Shaker-style cabinets that serve as a visual extension of the kitchen. With her background as a painter and props stylist, Mulholland likes to use color to train the eye to focus on specific areas of the room without being overwhelmed. “I love emerald green in interiors,” Muholland says. The emerald curtains in the dining room create an impact in the large open living room as well. Midcentury Danish armchairs and nesting tables are arranged in front of the fireplace; a Stanley Moore painting that Mulholland found at an estate sale hangs above the mantel. In big spaces with several seating arrangements, Mulholland often uses a neutral jute or sisal carpet as a base layer to define the overall space. Mulholland anchors a prominent corner of the living room with a Belgian linen–upholstered antique chaise from TL Gurley Antiques and a cupboard from her clients’ Southern heirlooms collection. The designer updated a 1970’s velvet sofa by removing the loose cushions and replacing them with pillows made of mud cloth, kilim fragments, and feed sacks for a more bohemian and casual look. “I love a good vignette–a holdover from prop styling, no doubt,” Mulholland says. The living room is expansive enough for both a formal seating area around the fireplace and an informal seating area for television watching. In the master bedroom, gray curtains and a velvet headboard in ochre provide strong blocks of color against a neutral background. On the bed, Mulholland blends colors and textiles like an artist blends paint. The bedroom in the guesthouse overlooks the pool and has a more neutral palette, in keeping with the simple furniture. Drought-tolerant plants thrive in the side garden. And over on Gardenista, see a succulent wonderland in A Magical Glasshouse Garden in Pasadena.