STYLE : INTERIORS : Out of the Blue

Even before screenwriter Laurie Frank bought her Hollywood Hills home, its warren-like kitchen had been slated for renovation. But the room, a cramped cooking area and two small pantries, was to be outfitted with very expensive--and very conventional--cabinets. So Frank persuaded the seller to forgo remodeling and lower the purchase price. Then she gave her imagination free rein.

“I approached the kitchen as if it were a painting,” Frank says of hiring artist Nic Valle to color the walls. Valle applied an indigo base coat, then whitewashed it to add texture. The walls now resemble a moody Santa Fe sky, offset by pink baseboards and yellow window mullions. Gray-and-white marble from Mexico went underfoot; metal lights designed by Frank to hang from second-floor joists went overhead.

Stainless-steel fixtures completed the transformation. The sink and refrigerator are new; other pieces are used. Old baker’s racks were steam-cleaned to display dishes and Frank’s globe collection. A secondhand table, topped with a butcher block, lends warmth and a sense of history. And a 1950s O’Keefe & Merritt stove adds a jolt of color.

“I call it rustic modern,” Frank says. “I didn’t want any one style in the house. I wanted it ‘90s, but with references to other eras. I wanted the room to have wit.”