The Kitchen in This LA Spanish Colonial Has a Collected European Look

Morgan Goldberg
·6 min read

In the renovation of a 1929 Spanish Colonial in Los Angeles, Jamie Haller faced a common old home conundrum: a bevy of small, disjointed rooms. The interior designer nearly gutted the space to create a functional, circular layout with a large kitchen, butler’s pantry, and laundry room, but she was still able to maintain key original details. The intricately carved wood doors (which she stripped to their natural hue) and plaster cove molding (which she restored and replicated) set the tone for the rest of the project.

The new elements Jamie introduced—from the locally made Delft tile backsplash to the Douglas fir French doors that mimic those in other parts of the house—look like they’ve always been there. The herringbone oak floors are intentionally era-appropriate. “The boards are almost identical to the type that they would’ve used in the 1920s,” she says. “They have a flatter grain, which gives you more of a tiger finish. It’s all irregular.”

The Portuguese-inspired Delft tiles were made by hand in Los Angeles.
The Portuguese-inspired Delft tiles were made by hand in Los Angeles.

For storage, Jamie was inspired by the idea of “found cabinetry,” a mix-and-match system of armoires, cupboards, and shelving units that have been gathered over time. Since antique case goods aren’t conducive to modern living, she pulled off that collected European aesthetic by incorporating a variety of finishes, profiles, and decorative details on the custom cabinetry throughout. Plus, she integrated a few vintage pieces that pull it all together.

New windows funnel in natural light.
New windows funnel in natural light.

Location: The historic home is set in Los Feliz, a hilly Los Angeles neighborhood that borders bustling Hollywood and sprawling Griffith Park.

The before: “It was definitely in a fixer state,” Jamie describes. “It had all the beautiful bones intact, but the house needed a lot of attention. My scope of work included a series of rooms that would get combined and rearranged to make a larger kitchen. The original kitchen was lovely, with all the original tile and an arch, but it was very tiny and wasn’t really functional.”

The inspiration: Jamie discovered the “found cabinetry” look in old photographs and was immediately drawn to it. She thinks it’s a refreshing departure from the crisp, uniform cabinetry that’s popular today—and more aligned with the age of the home.

Vintage French industrial pendants hang over the custom island, which has an antique vibe despite being new.
Vintage French industrial pendants hang over the custom island, which has an antique vibe despite being new.

Square footage: About 450 square feet.

Budget: “We didn’t have a whole number that we were trying to stay within, but we also didn’t approach it from ‘anything goes,’” explains Jamie. “The goal was always to do something special and we used the money that the client felt comfortable with wisely.”

Main ingredients:

Wall paint: Slipper Satin by Farrow & Ball. “Spanish houses are known for their creamy plaster walls, so a lot of the house was repainted in this specific cream,” Jamie says. “It was important that it was not too bright, that it had a real yellow undertone, but also a little red in the undertone, too, so that it feels beautiful and glowy.”

Floors: Two-inch, tongue-and-groove oak planks in a herringbone pattern. “We always opt for unfinished wood and then we hand-stain them on site,” reveals Jamie.

Cabinetry: Custom cupboards in alder wood with a provincial stain and Hay by Farrow & Ball in the kitchen, Hay and Card Room Green by Farrow & Ball in the butler’s pantry, and Oval Room Blue by Farrow & Ball in the laundry room. “By doing different stains and paints and door profiles, it looks like they're all brought in from different places,” describes Jamie.

“I wanted the experience to be that as you walked from room to room, there’s the flirtation of the color,” Jamie describes. “From the kitchen, you might see through the door that the butler’s pantry has this green in it. As you walk into that room, the gold is there, too, and the corner of your eye catches that the laundry room is blue. And then you circle back around into the kitchen and we’re picking that up with the blue tile. It feels very cohesive in a circular way.”

Hardware: Unlacquered brass knobs, bin pulls, and long bar pulls from Paxton Hardware.

Countertops: Soapstone. “It actually has a deep, mottled, green or black effect depending on where you’re looking,” Jamie notes.

Backsplash: Custom Delft tiles from Lascaux Tile.

Island: Walnut base with a quartzite countertop. “It has a really beautiful, marble-looking finish,” says Jamie. “There’s a lot of veining in it and it is more durable, harder, more stain- and heat-resistant than marble. You won’t see the etching in the quartzite. They cook and they have kids, so it’s going to get used and battered.”

Faucet: DeVOL aged brass bridge faucet.

Soapstone counters appear again in the pantry.
Soapstone counters appear again in the pantry.

Appliances: Bertazzoni Heritage Series Induction Range, Fisher & Paykel 18" Integrated Freezer and 30" Integrated Fridge, Bosch 800 Series Panel-Ready Dishwasher in the kitchen, and Smeg Panel-Ready Dishwasher in the pantry.

Lighting: Vintage custard bowl sconces, vintage French industrial pendants, and a DeVOL Small Wide Pleat Porcelain light.

Furniture: Vintage stools at the island, vintage armoire in the butler’s pantry. “Instead of custom-making a pantry cabinet, we just found a big beautiful freestanding armoire that really lent more authenticity to the space,” Jamie says.

Most insane splurge: Jamie spent a lot of money on the custom millwork, from the cabinetry to the wainscoting, as well as on the new windows and French doors. Stripping the original carved wood doors was also a big expense.

Sneakiest save: Most of the lighting is vintage, which tends to be significantly cheaper than contemporary fixtures.

Jamie loves the pantry corner where the green cabinetry meets the gold.
Jamie loves the pantry corner where the green cabinetry meets the gold.

The best part: “In the pantry, where the green corner hits the gold corner and it shows the multiple profiles—I just love that the client was game for that,” shares Jamie. “As a designer, not everyone’s willing to give you that rope. And she was like, ‘Let’s do it. It’s going to be amazing.’ There was a lot of trust there.”

What I’d never do again: “These doors that we put in the kitchen, they’re beautiful,” says Jamie. “They’re exactly what we all wanted. But we didn’t realize that recreating the finger joints to match all of the other doors in the house was going to be a nightmare for the hardware. We couldn’t put in a mortise lock and we didn’t know it until it was way too late. Finding a proper lock set was a nightmare.”

Final bill: “I don’t even know what the final amount was, to be honest,” Jamie admits. “We didn’t even add it up, but along the way, I wasn’t showing things that I knew were outside of their comfort levels.”

“The beautiful laundry mud room is where they walk in every time they enter the house,” shares Jamie. “There’s always your front door, but then there’s the door you actually walk through, so it’s nice to make that special.”
“The beautiful laundry mud room is where they walk in every time they enter the house,” shares Jamie. “There’s always your front door, but then there’s the door you actually walk through, so it’s nice to make that special.”
A washer and dryer are tucked into built-in compartments.
A washer and dryer are tucked into built-in compartments.

Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest

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