Houzz Tour: A Home Redesigned for Family, Work – and Meditation
A designer reimagines a place for two parents who work from home, their two young boys, and a Buddhist practice
Becky Harris
7 December 2020
Houzz Contributor. Hi there! I live in a 1940s cottage in Atlanta that I'll describe as "collected."
I got into design via Landscape Architecture, which I studied at the University of Virginia.
Houzz Contributor. Hi there! I live in a 1940s cottage in Atlanta that I'll describe... More
These Southern California homeowners needed professional help to make their three-storey home family-friendly and conducive to home working. So they enlisted the help of interior designer Rachel Chulew of DesignHaus 24, whose strategies included using durable fabrics, installing carpet tiles and wipeable wallcoverings in high-traffic areas, and designing bespoke storage for the children’s toys and books. She also renovated the top floor to serve as a high-functioning, multi-purpose office space for the two parents.
House at a Glance
Who lives here? A couple and their two young boys
Location Playa Vista, California, USA
Size Five bedrooms and six bathrooms; 4,000 sq ft (372 sq m)
Designer Rachel Chulew of DesignHaus 24
“After” photos by Corinne Cobabe
“The house was just kind of vanilla and lacklustre before,” Rachel says. “The wife is creative, she’s a writer, and she had a vision to improve it. They wanted to be able to live in the house during the remodel, so we are completing it in strategic phases.”
Phase one was the ground floor, phase two was the first-floor kids’ rooms and two guest rooms, and phase three was the second-floor office space. Rachel is currently working with the homeowners on phase four, the master suite. Because she now lives in Dallas, she flew in every few weeks and called in interior designer Tathienne Kader of Studio Neshama for local assistance.
The homeowners have two young boys, and Rachel kept family-friendliness and durability in mind throughout the home. She’d worked with the couple before, so she had a good handle on what they liked: warm, modern California style with worldly accents. “Houzz was a place where we shared some inspiration images and did some shopping,” Rachel says.
She outfitted the home with calm neutrals, dashes of blue, interesting artwork that includes framed African textiles, a variety of woven textures, and soft organic elements. She also worked in lots of beautiful built-in storage for toys, books, dinnerware and office organisation.
In the living room, storage for the kids’ toys and books was key. There’s space in the console, in the ottoman and in baskets, which makes it easy to quickly corral all the things that little ones tend to spread out everywhere. Rachel chose durable, stain-resistant and wipeable fabrics for as much of the furniture as possible. And she used carpet tiles. “This way, if one of the kids spills something, they can just replace the individual tile,” Rachel says. The sofa’s slipcovers are easy to remove and wash.
The artwork consists of six framed pieces of African cactus silk. At the time of the photo shoot, the couple were waiting for some beautiful black-and-white family photos to be framed for this room.
Who lives here? A couple and their two young boys
Location Playa Vista, California, USA
Size Five bedrooms and six bathrooms; 4,000 sq ft (372 sq m)
Designer Rachel Chulew of DesignHaus 24
“After” photos by Corinne Cobabe
“The house was just kind of vanilla and lacklustre before,” Rachel says. “The wife is creative, she’s a writer, and she had a vision to improve it. They wanted to be able to live in the house during the remodel, so we are completing it in strategic phases.”
Phase one was the ground floor, phase two was the first-floor kids’ rooms and two guest rooms, and phase three was the second-floor office space. Rachel is currently working with the homeowners on phase four, the master suite. Because she now lives in Dallas, she flew in every few weeks and called in interior designer Tathienne Kader of Studio Neshama for local assistance.
The homeowners have two young boys, and Rachel kept family-friendliness and durability in mind throughout the home. She’d worked with the couple before, so she had a good handle on what they liked: warm, modern California style with worldly accents. “Houzz was a place where we shared some inspiration images and did some shopping,” Rachel says.
She outfitted the home with calm neutrals, dashes of blue, interesting artwork that includes framed African textiles, a variety of woven textures, and soft organic elements. She also worked in lots of beautiful built-in storage for toys, books, dinnerware and office organisation.
In the living room, storage for the kids’ toys and books was key. There’s space in the console, in the ottoman and in baskets, which makes it easy to quickly corral all the things that little ones tend to spread out everywhere. Rachel chose durable, stain-resistant and wipeable fabrics for as much of the furniture as possible. And she used carpet tiles. “This way, if one of the kids spills something, they can just replace the individual tile,” Rachel says. The sofa’s slipcovers are easy to remove and wash.
The artwork consists of six framed pieces of African cactus silk. At the time of the photo shoot, the couple were waiting for some beautiful black-and-white family photos to be framed for this room.
The living room is open to this dining space and the adjacent kitchen. Another designer had already completed a kitchen remodel, which included white oak details on the open shelves and cooker hood.
This space is close enough to the kitchen to feel like an eat-in kitchen space, but Rachel helped define it as more of a formal dining room. She delineated the area with a linear lantern chandelier, new wall panelling and new built-in cabinets. The latter can serve as a bar and buffet, and they provide plenty of storage for platters, table linens and kitchen overflow.
Rachel matched the top of the cabinets to the kitchen work surfaces to create a cohesive look, but she chose other cabinet hardware in the same brass finish to differentiate them.
She also chose a white oak table to match the kitchen elements. “My clients like to host a lot of family gatherings,” Rachel says. She found them a table that extends to accommodate 12 people.
The large artwork is a piece of handmade African indigo mud cloth in a white oak frame.
Rachel matched the top of the cabinets to the kitchen work surfaces to create a cohesive look, but she chose other cabinet hardware in the same brass finish to differentiate them.
She also chose a white oak table to match the kitchen elements. “My clients like to host a lot of family gatherings,” Rachel says. She found them a table that extends to accommodate 12 people.
The large artwork is a piece of handmade African indigo mud cloth in a white oak frame.
One of the homeowners is a Buddhist and this space next to the dining room is her meditation room. “The altar and symbols are important. For example, the bowl of apples are an offering and the open hand is a sign of offering and openness,” Rachel says. The lotus motif of the light fixture represents purity of the enlightened mind in Buddhism.
The homeowner hosts Buddhist meet-ups here, so incorporating extra seating was also important. Rachel worked it in with ottomans and floor cushions.
The walls are covered in a grasscloth wallpaper. The designer used brass light fixtures and organic elements such as woven pieces and white oak in keeping with the rest of the home.
Find an interior designer in your area on Houzz.
The homeowner hosts Buddhist meet-ups here, so incorporating extra seating was also important. Rachel worked it in with ottomans and floor cushions.
The walls are covered in a grasscloth wallpaper. The designer used brass light fixtures and organic elements such as woven pieces and white oak in keeping with the rest of the home.
Find an interior designer in your area on Houzz.
Before The homeowners take off their shoes as soon as they enter the house, and the bootroom often became cluttered with piles of footwear.
After Rachel added hooks, cubbyholes, baskets and shoe racks to keep backpacks, bags, outerwear and footwear in order. She kept the existing bench, because it’s handy for putting on and taking off shoes, but she re-covered the seat cushion in vinyl and added some blue cushions.
She covered the walls in a textured vinyl wallcovering. “It makes it easy to wipe off all those dirty prints from little hands,” she says.
She covered the walls in a textured vinyl wallcovering. “It makes it easy to wipe off all those dirty prints from little hands,” she says.
Before The ground floor cloakroom was rather tired.
After Rachel added a beautiful patterned grasscloth wallcovering by Candice Olson, a statement mirror and new lighting. She also gave the existing vanity unit an upgrade with a new countertop, tap and paint.
“The hues in the wallpaper and vanity unit change throughout the day,” Rachel says. “While the wallcovering has blue tones and the vanity has green tones, they both have grey in them, which ties them together.”
“The hues in the wallpaper and vanity unit change throughout the day,” Rachel says. “While the wallcovering has blue tones and the vanity has green tones, they both have grey in them, which ties them together.”
Before Outside, the courtyard already had stunning patterned tiles.
After Rachel had the fireplace surround resurfaced with white stucco and furnished the space. The drum table is concrete.
Before The homeowners wanted the first-floor bonus room to serve as a playroom.
After Rachel added lots of built-in cupboards for storing toys and books. She repeated the white oak seen throughout the house on the tops and added soft, kid-friendly leather pulls in lieu of cabinet hardware. “These are much softer in case of [boisterous play],” she says.
The sofa she chose folds out into a queen-size bed. “The boys like to snuggle in for movie nights,” she says.
The chandelier is made of coco beads. The new window treatments are woven wood. And the homeowners already had the wicker camel book holder – a perfect fit for the space.
The tepee fort was the homeowner’s idea. “She wanted everything in here to feel very mobile, so the kids could move it around and do a lot of different things in here,” Rachel says. That includes vigorous fort-building.
The sofa she chose folds out into a queen-size bed. “The boys like to snuggle in for movie nights,” she says.
The chandelier is made of coco beads. The new window treatments are woven wood. And the homeowners already had the wicker camel book holder – a perfect fit for the space.
The tepee fort was the homeowner’s idea. “She wanted everything in here to feel very mobile, so the kids could move it around and do a lot of different things in here,” Rachel says. That includes vigorous fort-building.
Before This photo shows the opposite side of the space before it became a playroom – and how much it was in need of the new cupboards.
After Rachel added built-in cabinetry for crafting supplies, as well as a window seat with storage drawers. Rails on the wall provide display space for books.
In the older boy’s room, the bunk beds were existing. Rachel ordered world map decals for the wall. “This is a multicultural family and they want their kids to grow up understanding that life does not revolve around California,” she says.
The wall-to-wall carpeting upstairs was also existing. “They decided to keep it until their kids destroy it, and then they’ll replace it,” Rachel says with a laugh. She added a new soft rug for playing on the floor, as well as a new window seat with storage.
The wall-to-wall carpeting upstairs was also existing. “They decided to keep it until their kids destroy it, and then they’ll replace it,” Rachel says with a laugh. She added a new soft rug for playing on the floor, as well as a new window seat with storage.
The house also has two guest rooms, which were bland. One element Rachel needed to keep in here was some overflow office space.
“Even though a large office space for multiple people was part of this project, sometimes one of [the parents] just needs to get away to their own space to work alone,” she says.
“Even though a large office space for multiple people was part of this project, sometimes one of [the parents] just needs to get away to their own space to work alone,” she says.
In addition to organic materials, the designer added touches of blue throughout the house. “In this guest room, we wanted to go totally bold,” she says. “This blue floral wallpaper makes the room.” The chandelier is composed of beads and iron.
“We worked in a desk so it can also serve as an ‘escape room’ when one of the homeowners wants to work alone,” Rachel says. It’s wrapped in a gold woven textile. An ottoman that tucks underneath for seating helps to disguise the desk as a pretty dressing table for guests.
“We worked in a desk so it can also serve as an ‘escape room’ when one of the homeowners wants to work alone,” Rachel says. It’s wrapped in a gold woven textile. An ottoman that tucks underneath for seating helps to disguise the desk as a pretty dressing table for guests.
The second guest bedroom has touches of blue in the cushions. A trio of African juju hats fills the space over the upholstered headboard.
Before The top floor was the designated office area. Though spacious and finished, it had become a jumbled storage spot.
After “The at-home workspace was extremely important to these homeowners,” Rachel says. “He works from home full-time and she works from home part-time. They also wanted room for one or two assistants when necessary.” They needed the office to give them their own individual workspaces, as well as smart storage. This is his work area.
“They both wanted sit-and-stand desks, but didn’t like the style of the electric models,” Rachel says. She found them white-oak-topped versions that manually crank from sitting to standing height. The cranks and gears give the desks a cool industrial look.
“They both wanted sit-and-stand desks, but didn’t like the style of the electric models,” Rachel says. She found them white-oak-topped versions that manually crank from sitting to standing height. The cranks and gears give the desks a cool industrial look.
This is the wife’s workspace. Because she does creative work, Rachel provided her with a magnetic pinboard for inspirations. White oak shelves match her desktop, while brass library lights illuminate the work area.
A sofa separates the his-and-her spaces. It folds out into a king-size bed for guests if needed. There’s also a full bathroom on this floor.
The sofa and swing chair provide alternative seating options during long workdays. “We wanted some points of relief that were not work-related to brighten them up. Sometimes you just need to go hang out in a swing chair,” Rachel says.
The sofa upholstery is camel mohair, while the walls are covered in a linen-weave wallpaper. The chandelier is another organic touch: natural abaca rope woven over a metal frame. Along with the blue cabinetry, these organic elements tie the office to the rest of the home’s décor.
The sofa and swing chair provide alternative seating options during long workdays. “We wanted some points of relief that were not work-related to brighten them up. Sometimes you just need to go hang out in a swing chair,” Rachel says.
The sofa upholstery is camel mohair, while the walls are covered in a linen-weave wallpaper. The chandelier is another organic touch: natural abaca rope woven over a metal frame. Along with the blue cabinetry, these organic elements tie the office to the rest of the home’s décor.
Rachel designed expansive built-in cupboards to take care of all those boxes and bins seen in the ‘before’ photo. They include lots of file drawers and some hidden rolling files.
A wall of cabinets, file drawers and shelves occupies a space between the separate workspaces. Rachel also designed a bespoke sliding door in a diamond pattern. The door hardware plays off the bases of the desks. Both the door and the built-in cabinets are painted Hale Navy by Benjamin Moore.
Tell us…
What do you like about this home? Share your thoughts in the Comments.
Tell us…
What do you like about this home? Share your thoughts in the Comments.
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@M J, you're welcome! If you browse here, a lot of these are hollow with a concrete finish:
https://www.houzz.com/products/outdoor-coffee-tables/query/concrete/nqrwt
All lovely. The one item I would change is the outdoor rug covering the beautiful tile.
I love all of this, and dream of redoing my house someday. It would be nice to know approximately how much this cost ( including the designer services) so I can tailor my expectations accordingly.