Los Angeles Design Blog | Material Girls | LA Interior Design

My niece, Alyse, already has a favorite color: Purple! (And she’s just two year’s old, having been adamant about purple being her favorite color even before.) Coincidentally, I like purple too and my very first apartment was filled with purple accents (bedding, chairs, ottomans). So in honor of Alyse, here’s a little purple!

Deeply painted purple walls in this children’s playspace. {Image via Pinterest}

A purple lucite chair – just for kids. {Availabla via 5Rooms}

Putting the purple on the ceiling with wallpaper makes this closet ultra glam! {Image via Pinterest}

A high gloss painted built-in in a variant shade of purple. {Image via Pinterest}

I recently came across these purple leather trays. {Available here}

How fun is this purple outdoor cocktail chair and table set! {From Society Social}

Even purple carpet can be pretty! {Image via Pinterest}

Love this bathroom! And the lavendar wallpaper is a nice juxtapose! {Image via Pinterest}

Chic bedroom with purple upholstered walls! {Image via Pinterest, via Elle Decor}

Pretty purple painted accent wall in a dining room. {Image via Pinterest}

“Grapecicles” artwork featuring various shades of purple. {Available at ZGallerie}

A pretty entry in a soft shade of purple. {Image via Pinterest}

Taking purple from the ground up! {Image via Pinterest}

 A living room bathed in purple. {Image via Elle Decor}

And if you like purple enough – consider starting at the front door! {Image via Pinterest}

Whether you are two or twenty, thirty, forty – purple is a fun, eye-popping color!

Tie-dye decor!

{image via Pinterest}

Love the look of tie dye in fabric and furnishings! Saw much of this at High Point Market last Spring, such as in the console (below) from Drexel Heritage.

Love seeing elements of it mixed in, like the living room above!

Summer style = a bit of nautical decor!

{Nautical tote bag from Shrimp & Tiddlers UK}

{Vintage whale poster from Etsy.com}

{Sailboat shelving display, image via Pinterest}

{A chair to anchor yourself in, via Pinterest}

{Captain’s Quarter Sconces, available at Shades of Light}

{Vintage 1950′s pair of Anchor Andirons, currently available on 1stDibs.com}

{Bunk bed bedroom worthy of a ship cabin, image via Pinterest}

{True nautical notations, via Pinterest}

{Rope chandelier from Restoration Hardware, image via Casa Sugar}

{Rope tie backs from Restoration Hardware}

{Keeping ship shape!}

Tufted headboards, tufted sofas, maybe a tufted bench…How about tufted walls? Check out these rooms taking the tufting to a whole new vertical level!

[Image above via Elle Decor, by designer Jamie Drake]

A stunning dining room by interior designer Tobi Fairley, with an upholsted built in banquette and floor to ceiling tufted walls.

A settee taken to all new heights. Image via Pinterest.

A full height tufted headboard. Image via Pinterest.

An upholstered accent wall. Image via Pinterest.

Nail-head tufting behind a pretty desk. Image via Pinterest.

A dramatic headboard spanning an entire wall in a suite at the Soho Berlin.

Last but not least, an upholstered tufted door! In a bathroom of all places! Image via ToDaLoos.

Warmer months ahead means more time spent outdoors, and the idea of a courtyard is especially appealing as it offers privacy as well as an extension of indoor/outdoor living.

The epitome of an outdoor living room, great for entertaining.

A courtyard with a pool.

A very European inspired courtyard, ideal for long leisurely late afternoon lunches.

Another European inspired courtyard, perhaps an entrance to a building that makes a great spot for congregating.

A courtyard garden.

A more tropically eclectic inspired courtyard, with Spanish and Mediterranean influences.

Overlooking vast greenery, a courtyard with a reflecting pool.

The graveled courtyard.

Cozy and casual and well-landscaped.

Images via Houzz and Pinterest.

Beautiful bathrooms bathed in natural stone…

Gold and glam with Carrara marble.

Lots of veining in the marble floors and walls bring color and interest to this bathroom designed by Steven Grambel.

Carrara subway tiles, always a classic.

Silver accents tie in nicely with Carrara marble too.

Stone tiles and a basketweave pattern tiled shower floor make for a more rustic bathroom.

Dramatic black & white: Carrara Marble with Nero Marquina 3×6 field tiles.

One dramatic slab of stone is like a piece of artwork in this bathroom.

[All images via here on Pinterest.]

For more natural stone inspiration, check out some of my images from a recent trip to a slab yard here, here, and here on Instagram.

Recently, I have been working on a couple of projects where we are focusing on the exteriors…with Spring here and Summer around the corner, time to fix up the outdoors! Here’s some inspiring outdoor spaces!

Love a graveled courtyard.

How charming is this guest house!

A lush garden.

Love these steps!

Such a cozy, intimate space.

How fun is this!

Amazingly elegant!

Dreamy!

All images from here and here on Pinterest.

Wallpaper in a powder room or bathroom adds flair and character…take a look at these wallpapered spaces!

Light and pretty, works great above the wainscoting!

Bright and cherry, with lots of pattern!

Simple fixtures…with bold pattern.

An elegant powder room.

A retreat of a bathroom, that is sunny and light filled with a graphic pattern.

A very narrow powder room with a bold trellis wallpaper.

Black and white stripes, so classic!

Stunning with navy blue grasslcoth above the patterned/textured wainscoting.

Another classic striped wallcovering, reminds me of men’s suiting material, for the masculine.

And a bit of whimsy!

{All images via here on Pinterest}

For many undertaking a kitchen remodel, the goal is typically to expand an already compact kitchen. However, the reality is often times some spaces cannot be enlarged or expanded by increasing the square footage. Instead maximizing a compact kitchen space and aesthetically improving it’s design and style is the most ideal way to turn a small space into a big improvement!

Modern and minimalist, this kitchen epitomizes the aesthetics of a compact kitchen.

Super space saver and super sophisticated – sometimes putting the best into a small space is great on the return.

This compact kitchen has a more expansive feel by it’s use of open shelving, mirrors, and pass-thru counter / bar height seating. Maximizing space to it’s fullest it includes a built-in banquette dining area.

This is a layout I have done for many small kitchens – incorpoating an island with seating and storage, prep sink optional, makes for a functional compact kitchen.

Classic and contemporary, sink side feels open with windows and cabinets are best placed to maximize storage.

A model (pun intended) example of a compact kitchen, this one in a Manhattan loft, where even the narrowest of islands provides functionality.

Light, bright, and airy – a tiny kitchen that feels very open and even includes a little counter seating area by incorporating a tiny ledge of surface area.

Another kitchen with an island and bar height seating, not to mention a full height cabinet help to make this compact kitchen feel more open.

Taking cabinets full height (to the ceiling) is a great idea to make any kitchen feel larger, whether or not it’s compact.

Images via Pinterest and Elle Decor.

Occasionally it’s refreshing to see interiors that are airy, light, and bright. While dark colors can be exciting and dramatic, lighter colors tend to be more soothing. Often times, clients request warm colors for the sake of having some richness to their rooms. Yet, this past week I did a paint color consultation for a client’s new home where we went with “barely there colors” – paint colors almost devoid of anything but a hint of color.  Sometimes it’s nice to “lighten up!”

{image via Hometown Girl}

Tone on tone, whites and creams.

Benjamin Moore Elmira White HC-84

{image via Pinterest}

A crisp white, bright entry!

Benjamin Moore Decorator White 1-04

{image via Home-Styling}

Light with a subtle hint of pink.

Benjamin Moore Mirage White 2116-70

{image via House & Home}

Cool blues and grays.

Benjamin Moore Wales Gray 1585

{image via Pinterest}

Off-whites and grays.

Benjamin Moore Owl Gray 2137-60

{image via Pinterest}

Cabinets painted in greige with a soft white contrast.

Benjamin Moore Ozark Shadow AC-26

{image via Pinterest}

A tone on tone affect with a hint of warmth.

Benjamin Moore Lancaster Whitewash HC-174

{*for E., for giving me the great quote}