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Houzz Tour: Design Ideas From a Vibrant Teenage Retreat in Venice Beach
Colour and pattern feature heavily in this resource centre for homeless teenagers, created by a team of compassionate designers
The same talented team of designers behind the incredible rooms at the Good Shepard Charity Project open-house tour have now donated their services to create a cheerful retreat for homeless teenagers in Venice Beach, California.
With Vanessa De Vargas acting as project manager and lead designer, the vision for a bright and contemporary home-from-home became a reality.
With Vanessa De Vargas acting as project manager and lead designer, the vision for a bright and contemporary home-from-home became a reality.
Venice Beach is home to hundreds of runaway teenagers. The retreat, right off the boardwalk, aims to provide them with a haven to help them restore their lives. The materials, appliances, furniture and fixtures were donated by companies such as Flor, CB2, Blu Dot, Hygge & West, EKLA Home, Cliff Spencer, midcenturyLA, Henry Road, Zia Priven, The Sofa Company and more.
The reception area, designed by Typhanie Peterson, is the first sign that you have reached a welcoming and vibrant place. The geometric wallpaper declares that the space has young energy, and the blues reference the nearby beach. Keeping the reception furniture white, light and unfussy makes for a less intimidating encounter for the teenagers.
Another view of the reception area from the computer area shows that it is divided by a low wall from the rest of the open floor plan, but the visual connection is always there, which demanded a cohesive vision from the designers in regard to style, colours and geometry.
The computer area was created out of the open-plan space and was designed by Kelly Edwards. This is a office area for teenagers to connect online with family members and friends and reassure them that they are OK. The simple home office gets a jolt of energy from the teal desk lamps and black Pantone chairs. The large abstract wall art above the office is an inexpensive to recreate at home, and ties in the different designers’ colour schemes in the big, high-ceiling room.
De Vargas used the design of the living room to set the tone for the rest of the areas in the building. A retro-modern look infused with turquoise and pink accents sounds jarring, but under her direction it’s pleasing to the eye.
Check out more living rooms with gorgeous geometrics
Check out more living rooms with gorgeous geometrics
Note De Vargas’ use of the half-painted pink walls to add height to the low-slung modular sofa. She also hung framed artwork low in relation to the high ceiling. These two decisions bring an intimacy to the living room that is hard to achieve in an open-plan space with high ceilings and lots of white walls.
De Vargas is also adept at giving vintage furniture a new lease of life through reupholstering and the right accessories. The chair and sideboard used for the living room may have been overlooked by other designers, but when you are working for free you take what you can get and make it work.
At the back of the long rectangular space is the kitchen. A deadline of three weeks would have scared away many other designers, but Charmean Neithart did not shy away from the challenge. The key was keeping the cabinets, worktops and appliances as simple as possible and having fun with the glass tile splashback and wallpaper. Notice that the same grey-green and blue, ‘beachy’ colours seen in the reception area are reflected in the tile splashback and the rug.
A splash of yellow by way of the retro-style table and chairs for the kitchen-diner is a cheerful surprise and an eye-popping contrast to the greys, blues and greens.
On the staircase up to the mezzanine level is an unusual use of wallpaper.
At the top of the stairs is another living area, a little more private, designed by Winston Carney. The pink colour from downstairs is carried up through painted neon pink support beams.
This mezzanine space sits underneath the skylights and in front the entrance to an office. It offers a relaxed vibe; good conversation can flow at the picnic table, where neon pink cushions lighten the mood. Another great idea you can see in the background: cheap sliding wardrobe doors have been revamped and covered in wallpaper for a stylish look.
The serenity of this office space, which is by Mollie Ranize, introduces some inventive storage solutions. Again we see half the wall painted, but this time with a twist: The lemon-yellow paint is installed on the upper half. Wood crates serve as floating storage above the sofa. Their black painted interiors showcase the contrasting objects within.
More wood crates are stacked up for an ad hoc bookcase. Painting the interiors of the crates a range of difference hues relates to the bright colours downstairs and the Missoni-like cushions nearby. This is a fun and inexpensive solution for dressing up everyday crates.
Since the bathroom is closed off and separate from the other open spaces, it took on its own personality and went Regency glam with a design by Marilynn Taylor. Note how the yellow and grey from the downstairs kitchen is tied in here, but with a very different look.
Read why yellow and grey are a winning combination
What do you think of this home on Venice Beach? Let us know in the Comments below.
Read why yellow and grey are a winning combination
What do you think of this home on Venice Beach? Let us know in the Comments below.