A Flair for Spare
When it comes to choosing the finishing touches for a project, Los Angeles designer Kelly Wearstler doesn’t like to be pigeonholed. “I would probably call myself a Modernist, but I don’t have one particular look,” says Wearstler, known for colorful, eclectic interiors that often feature mid-century and ‘70s furnishings mixed with her own creative hybrids. When real estate developer Brad Korzen, her collaborator on hotels and half-a-dozen vintage apartment buildings, asked her to redesign his 1928 Spanish home in the Hollywood Hills, she decided on a pared-down interior with a muted palette. “Brad has such a hectic schedule,” Wearstler says. “I wanted a soothing place where he could relax.”
She first gutted the house, reconfiguring rooms and adding casement windows. She painted and papered white walls in Burmese beige, moss green, pale butterscotch and Wedgwood blue, adding a hip blend of ‘50s and ‘70s modern furniture and objects, as well as her own pieces. Everything is set against a new, ebonized red oak floor. “Black floors are always dramatic,” she says. “Whatever you put on them stands out.”
“Richness comes with a layering of textures through carefully selected accessories”: lamps of glass and wood; chandeliers of brass, aluminum, plastic; area rugs of sea grass, woven leather and wool shag. In the den, a ‘70s leather-shag area rug that Wearstler picked up in New York lies across a black sea grass mat, while a ‘50s area rug with a starburst pattern adds punch to the master bedroom.
Wearstler says art and lighting are a home’s most important elements. So Abstract Expressionist paintings hang in every room and chandeliers fill the house: a trio of plastic, amorphous-shaped globes in the dining room, a mid-’60s stainless steel fluted orb in the kitchen, a striking cake-tiered brass confection in the den. “A hanging lamp is like sculpture in a room,” the designer says.
Elsewhere in the house, actual sculptures add further interest. A kinetic 1950 Harry Bertoia piece resembling a steel bouquet casts moving shadows on the floor at night. A group of wood carvings--a woman, a geometric form and a 19th century Cambodian flute--look as if they belong together on a table. “Accessories add personality,” Wearstler says. “A house without them isn’t complete.”
What inspires Kelly Wearstler:
* My 80-year-old teddy bear, Frank.
* The late designer David Hicks, for his bold mix of styles.
* Architect Carlo Scarpa’s shapes and materials.
* Mark Rothko’s paintings.
* London’s Designmuseum.
* Billie Holiday’s recording of “At Last.”