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Name: Annette, Gustavo & Lola Gutierrez (and Amos and Phlea)
Location: Los Feliz — Los Angeles, California
Size: 2300 square feet
Years lived in: 9 years —own

Last week on The Kitchn we caught an intimate look at the Gutierrez family kitchen. Welcome to their home; a renovated 100 year old California craftsman, situated at the base of hills (which recently became known as the Hollywood Grove Historic Zone). This is a delightful and warm home full of memories, artwork, and a colorful palette of decor.

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When Annette (co-owner of Potted in Los Feliz) and her husband Gustavo moved into this house they took great pains to restore the bones of the original floor plan while remodeling certain aspects of the yard, kitchen and bedrooms.

"All the parts are essential to me. You can't have a fabulous kitchen and be miserable in your bedroom. Every room has a function and purpose and if you are truly "designing a home," care will be given to every space. You may have to compromise somewhere but for me that is compromising a little bit everywhere. I want a bathtub I can lay down in. I want tile that makes me happy every time I look at it. I want a living room that is comfortable and lovely. I want to look forward to getting into my bed every night because everything about my room makes me happy. It doesn't have to be perfect...just the best that I can make it."

Their home is decorated in cozy couches, family style tables, wonderful art pieces and of course a lovely collection of plants and flowers. There are so many significant things to make a home feel cozy and lived in.

"The only truly significant thing is my family and two dogs but if there were a fire and I'd already gotten them and the family photos out, I would definitely be grabbing my original Phyllis Diller painting. It was a gift from my sister and I really, really love it."

One of my favorite aspects of their renovation was how they opened up the back of the kitchen right onto the deck. Another neat feature they added was building a double staircase which you can enter from the dining room and living area. Also they added this incredible deck off the master bedroom, where you have a clear view of their amazing landscape design and of the Hollywood sign.

"I love how laid back and effortless Los Angles is. People talk about strip malls and endless driving, but that isn't the LA I know at all. I see beautiful Spanish and Craftsman houses mixed with great Modern architecture and amazing landscape design and people excited to be outside trying new things. The ethnic mash up here totally affects how I see the world and how I see design. There is no one-way to describe LA and there is no one-way to describe what I like in my personal style. Or maybe that's exactly how to describe it--just like LA, my style is a big ethnic mash up...with a bit of editing, of course"

Apartment Therapy Survey:

Our Style: Bohemian Funky Eclectic.

Inspiration: Anything with color and life. I love Spain, Morocco, Cuba, Portugal, Mexico, South America...the colors, textures, patterns really grab my imagination.

Favorite Element: The porch off my bedroom. It wasn't even suppose to be there but we had to figure out a way to raise the roof on the kitchen below and it seemed like the only sensible thing to do. It's my own private hideaway where I can swing in my hammock chair and totally zone out with the most amazing view of the Hollywood sign...and there was no view before!

Biggest Challenge: The upkeep on 103-year-old siding is not easy. We replaced a lot of the wood with concrete siding (which sounds terrible but actually looks great and is fire proof to boot) but on the other parts of the house we are having a terrible time getting paint to stick. On this last repaint I made the mistake of actually hiring good painters and they stripped the old paint off (as they should) but now nothing will stick to the old siding. Our front porch looks like it constantly has fever blisters.

What Friends Say: Friends love our house. They say it looks cool but homey, like you could actually live there. I'm proud of that because I do actually live there.

Biggest Embarrassment: Well those blisters on my front porch aren't making me too happy. And then there's the hideous seam in the carpet in my bedroom. They laid it twice and still couldn't get rid of it. I think it has something to do with the floor not being level. Sigh.

Proudest DIY: My tea towel curtains. I can't sew my way out of a brown paper bag, but I figured that tea towels (Anthropologie has a great selection) over a tension rod would be the perfect solution for all my bathrooms so that light would come in but we still had privacy. And when I want a little change, I just get new tea towels.

Biggest Indulgence: The new kitchen was a real splurge, but besides doing the Ceaserstone countertops, real wood cabinets and tile that made us oh so happy, we invested in a 10-foot bi-fold door by La Cantina that opened up the back of our kitchen so that the distinction between indoor and out was gone. It was a custom feature that in the scheme of things didn't cost that much but made our house really stand out in both form and function.

Best Advice: Live in your house a while before you remodel. Ideas you have right away change radically when you actually use the space. Do you have kids, dogs? It all really makes a big difference. The other advice I would share is go to flea markets and funky thrift stores and then don't be afraid to have things fixed, refinished or reupholstered. As a designer and retail storeowner, this is what I do to get things no one else has. And it's a lot of fun.

Dream Sources: Flea Markets, Antique Stores, Estate Sales, Traveling...

Resources of Note:

PAINT & COLORS

    • Exterior: Benjamin Moore "Cargo Brown," "Edwardian Linen" and Chartreuse (but can't remember exact shade)
    • All Interior Trim: Behr "Decorator's White" or Ralph Lauren "Turret Stair"
    • All Ceilings: Behr "Ultra Pure White"
    • Living Room & Entry: Martha Stewart "Squash Blossom"
    • Dining Room: Custom Color
    • Kitchen: Martha Stewart, Upper "Artemesia," Lower "Luminaria"
    • Master Bedroom: Behr "Whimsical Shadow" & Benjamin Moore "Copper Day"
    • Lola's Room: Martha Stewart "Porch Ceiling Blue"
    • Guest Room: Behr "Retro Avocado"
    • Office: Behr, Lower "Greensward", Upper "Window Seat"

FRONT PORCH / EXTERIOR

    • Glider: Vintage Rosebowl Flea Market
    • Chair & Bench: Fermob - Luxembourg Series (www.fermobusa.com)
    • Custom Tiled Table
    • All pots and plants-Potted, including The Circle Pot, Bauer, Gainey and some Asian Pottery.
    • Grass Pillows: Firmly Planted
    • Floor coverings: Mad Mats and Chilewich both available at Potted

ENTRY / LIVING ROOM

    • Orange Couch: Dwell Floor Five
    • Green Upholstered Chair: The Living Room
    • Leather Club Chair: Civilization (now closed)
    • Striped Ottoman: Crate & Barrel
    • Orange Leather Ottoman: Badia
    • Oak Coffee Table: Vintage, thrift shop cut down from kitchen table
    • All Lamps Vintage, Shades, Anthropologie
    • Upholstered Ottoman on wood: Dekor

DINING ROOM

    • Table: Pulled out of conference room at American Film Institute and stripped
    • Sideboard: Vintage from Rosebowl
    • Blue Cupboard: Vintage window with pine cupboard, gift.
    • Oak Secretary: Wells Antiques (though they sell mostly amazing tile)
    • Curtains: Ikea
    • Pottery on Table: Bauer Canoe

KITCHEN

    • Countertops: Ceaserstone Grey
    • Range: Wolf
    • Cabinets: Wood with Stained Glass inset
    • Sinks and Faucets: Kohler
    • Tile: Local manufacturer purchased at Mortarless
    • Flooring: Linoleum Tile cut down to 9" in Light Blue and Black
    • Pottery on Counters: Vintage & new Bauer Pottery
    • Mossquarium on window ledge: We make them at Potted
    • Clear Pendant Lights: Roost (www.roost.com for retailers)
    • Bar Stools: Used to be from Peddlers...try www.lostines.com for possible retailers.

MASTER BEDROOM / PORCH

    • All Furniture: Vintage
    • Pillows: Anthropologie and Distant (http://distant-la.com/)
    • Hammock Chair: Potted
    • All Plants and Pots: Potted

MASTER BATHROOM

    • Green Sink: Vintage
    • Toilet: Kohler
    • Floor: Linoleum Tile in orange, yellow & sage green cut down to 6" squares.
    • Mirrors & Hooks: Vintage

OFFICE

    • Red Sofa Bed: Ikea
    • Metal File Cabinet: Office supply store then stripped down by us and sealed
    • Other Furniture: Vintage
    • Black & White Striped Rug: Dash & Albert


LOLA'S BEDROOM


ARTWORK

    • David Alfaro Siqueiros (signed print
    • Victor Vasarely (signed print)
    • Antonio Mendoza
    • Phyllis Diller
    • Joy Feuer
    • Michael Whitmore
    • Cindy Bennett Johnson

Thanks, Annette, Gustavo and Lola!

And...Many thanks to Julie Maigret for introducing me to Annette!!

(Images: Bethany Nauert)

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