Clarissa Cowles – Los Angeles Home

Clarissa Cowles called Jonamor Décor after seeing our ad in a local magazine. Clarissa is a schoolteacher and single mother of two wonderful children, Jonathon, 10, and Halley, 7. Clarissa and her kids moved from Kentucky to L.A. so that Jonathon and Halley could pursue acting. They have since been featured in many commercials, print ads and TV shows. Clarissa found a lovely 2-bedroom apartment in the historic Park la Brea community. The rooms of the art deco apartment are basically like white boxes with large windows. Clarissa prefers a contemporary traditional style and wished to keep as much of her own furniture as possible. Our small budget made craigslist and Ebay our most viable options for furniture and accessories. Our previous client, Jane, was also obsessed with online shopping and the thrill of a good bargain. This project was the first one where we had ever designed for children. We were excited about the challenge and interviewed the children as extensively as we did Clarissa. We found out that they love the Far East and they both collect Chinese trinkets and umbrellas. This theme would be appropriate for a boy or a girl and is not to age specific. The main Living areas have jewel-toned walls to provide an exciting contrast to the wood and leather furniture. We chose a more traditional palette of Venetian Red, green, blue, and brown. Clarissa claims that this is now her favorite home and we are proud to have helped create that experience

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Living Room

Clarissa wanted a traditional, yet comfortable look for Her Living/ Dining Room. I took inspiration from her lovely accessories which we chose to use in the project. I noticed that she liked jewel tones and unfussy florals. We used a large, Persian are rug to give visual separation to the dining area. The rug was black ,red, green and tan exotic floral motif on a dark background in the center and a light background in the border. We used this as a the jumping off point for our paint colors and fabric. We covered the huge picture window with a floral fabric which complemented the design on the rug. The red was chosen because of it’s deep, rich, color and it’s ability to make a room bold, yet elegant.

Kitchen

We used  silver and green metallics in the kitchen to complement the building’s minimal art deco details. This is a great solution for metal cabinetry in rental apartments.

Bedroom

Clarissa wanted her bedroom to be a retreat and also a place for her to work. The dark brown ceiling creates drama and adds coziness to the large bedroom. The 1940′s cut crystal bedside lamps were an Ebay find. Clarissa is not a fan of retro-style, so we introduced vintage items that were more classical and that did not scream a certain time period. Blue and brown always make a winning combo in a traditional or modern palette.

Children’s Bedroom

Jonathon and Halley’s room presented the biggest challenge. When I first entered their room,  I saw a bunk bed with stickers all over it buried in a corner behind a pile of all their belongings. This was the first time we also had to be professional organizers. We had to create a lot of storage and also create an open play space . The bunk beds were painted black and curtained off to resemble a sleeping bunk on the Orient Express and also to create a sense of privacy. The children’s umbrella collection was hung from the ceiling and lit from above. The fabulous gold medallion was designed by one of our in-house installation artists, Steve Lanasa.