Starter home

The style of the home evokes storybook cottages.

Now the entry is wallpapered with a darkly patterned Morris & Co. design purchased from Egg & Dart in Los Angeles.

In the living room, there was no delineation between the walls and the ceiling. Molding was installed as a demarcation line. The walls were painted Union Springs in velvet by Dunn Edwards and the ceiling was brushed with flat, Dunn Edwards paint in Historic White.

Details of a bench and a couch in the living room.

A needlepoint pillow features the likeness of Buckie, a Cavalier King Charles spaniel.

The living room features a gallery wall.

The previously purple dining room was repainted in Silver Lake from Dunn Edwards and features a set of French doors that lead to a private, pergola-covered patio. The table’s 1940s Hitchcock chairs were found on EBay.

LOS ANGELES, CA-DECEMBER 5, 2016: Patrick Wildnauer turns the lights on inside dining room of his English cottage style home, located in the mid-Wilshire area of Los Angeles, that was built in 1927. This is the original light fixture but the shades were changed from pleated white to black and gold. (Mel Melcon/Los Angeles Times)

Decorative plates adorn the dining room.

Ready for company in the dining room.

The hallway formerly featured canned lighting and little else. Now it has sueded wall panels with picture rails to showcase a growing art collection.

A St. Patrick Byzantine icon, right, is among the items displayed in the hallway.

The new wall covering in the master bedroom is by one of the couple’s favorite designers, David Hicks. The window seat is newly covered.

Homeowner Patrick Wildnauer is reflected in a faceted round mirror in the bedroom.

A bronze Buddha in the bedroom.

The redesigned guest room is accented by an armoire from the 1930s.

Deciding against the addition of an en-suite bathroom, the couple renovated the existing space with a decorative, period-appropriate tile floor, new medicine cabinets, paint and light fixtures.

French doors in the dining room open onto a terrace.

The exterior of the cottage-style home, which was built in 1927. It has great bones, so the updates so far have been redesigns, not renovations.