Rustic Spanish in the Hollywood Hills
We got the call from one of LA’s best realtors to come out and tour a cool rustic Spanish style home nestled into the hills above Hollywood. This place did not disappoint. Soon after seeing it our minds began buzzing about how we wanted to stage it. Scale was important. It was time to go big. We set aside some of our favorite large-scale items and got to work planning the layout and inventory selection. Plus, there were five rustic wood built-in bookcases and shelving systems, so it was time to pull out all the best books and decor to fill them.
The living room demanded our best linen sofa and nubby neutral pillows. We played with strong contrasts to bring out the architectural detail in this Spanish style home. We especially loved the unique vintage Mexican doors throughout this property, once owned by actor Benjamin Bratt.
A cool loft space above the dining room and accessible by ladder creates a lot of architectural eye-candy. Our seagrass rug and transitional armchairs seem right at home here.
In an area of the living room that serves as a walkway between the kitchen and patio we placed a large antique Chinese altar table. Above that a petal shaped mirror and plenty of massive-scale accessories to stand up to the grandeur.
One of the aforementioned rustic built-in bookcases, which we styled with hand-hewn neutral items, natural-toned books and hand-thrown pottery. Throughout the home, Mexican Saltillo tiles feel cool underfoot on hot summer days — and remind us of long, lazy vacations.
In the dining room, high-contrast linen and black wood-frame chairs match up well to the rustic appeal of the dining table. A vintage demijohn is filled with garden greenery and a simple stack of plates and bowls rests nearby.
We love our thrifted finds. In this case, a tall hand-carved pottery vase brings a muddy elegance to the altar tabletop. We find coffee table books at thrift stores all the time that are hiding stunning covers under their dust jackets.
Charming blue and white tile and a chef-ready Wolf range greet the potential buyer in the kitchen.
A main floor guest bedroom beguiles with crisp white bedding, a neutral Moroccan rug, vintage Heywood Wakefield nightstands and a brass medallion. High ceilings mean a tall headboard feels right at home here.
One floor below the main floor is a family room, complete with its own fireplace, a large hand-hewn wood built-in bookcase and plenty of space for a sofa, cocktail table and a pair of vintage leather Westnofa chairs. Underneath, a super-thick sweater-y gray rug that adds some Nordic hygge to the mix. Rustic wooden beams, arched doorways and antique doors. This home has it all.
A smooth white plaster fireplace brings to mind the Greek islands. Especially when subtly styled with properly scaled neutral items and a couple of tall palm leaves.
Huge vintage movie posters have such impact in home stagings. We love how they work so well in this family room.
When styling a home with this much personality, a measured approach is best. We edit ourselves constantly, reminding ourselves that less is truly more.
I think we’re happiest when we’re styling bookcases. It’s literally one of our favorite things to do. And this home had soooooo many of them. We’ll never run out of ideas for filling awesome shelves like these.
Thrift stores are the best source for interesting objects — and books — to fill shelves. A basket shaped like a fish, a horn, a coil of rope. All speak of a life lived well and a plethora of interests. We want to tell a story about the fictitious person who lives here.
A view into the primary bedroom reveals a symphony of black and white tempered with cool neutrals. A pair of reclaimed wood nightstands with X-leg metal bases stand up to the king sized bed. A pure wool off-white rug contrasts with the Saltillo tile. Above the bed, a pair of brass elbow-framed original sketches.
In primary bedrooms we almost always keep the color scheme neutral. This signals that the space is a peaceful retreat from modern life and a restful place to unwind at the end of the day.
In a corner of the primary bedroom, Urban Outfitters’ Marte chair takes pride of place. A B&W print provides a simple pattern while a palm tree in a stand speaks of warm tropical nights.
The next level below contains another living space for TV watching and general hanging out. We staged it with a full living room on one side and a game room on the other. In the middle, a bar gets four counter stools for adult beverage-drinking and cavorting.
Our vintage French Raquel Welch poster has never looked more at home than she does here. A game table is set up with Scrabble and Tic-Tac-Toe, four vintage Mid Century modern chairs circle a World Market round table, while a reproduction Eames lounge chair and ottoman rest on a large sheepskin.
More built-ins. This time a niche which makes its contents appear to float in air. A mini collection of vintage baseballs reminds potential buyers of that fictitious resident we want them to always keep top-of-mind. Here we also brought in some muted red to work with the poster and the rug on the opposite side of the room.
On the lounge-y side of the TV room, West Elm’s Antwerp sofa and red, yellow and taupe Moroccan rug set the tone for our Mid Century modern lounge chairs and credenza. The raffia medallion was a Facebook Marketplace find.
A tantalizing peek into another guest bedroom and a work-from-home space. We’re being asked to incorporate WFH in most stagings of a certain size these days. Who wouldn’t want to work in this perfect little scene complete with chippy vintage blue doors?
Large scale high-impact art is essential when staging character homes with high ceilings and beams. The pure heft of these framed vintage subway rolls really mean business.