Katherine LaNasa adds a taste of New Orleans to tiny Venice bungalow
Katherine LaNasa plays a deliciously hard-edged, evil wife in the new TV series “Deception,” but at home in her Venice bungalow, she showcases a soft side influenced by her native New Orleans.
“Being from New Orleans completely dominates my sense of style,” said the actress, who’s also starring in “Jayne Mansfield’s Car,” the forthcoming film directed by Billy Bob Thornton. “There is a drama and a funk to New Orleans. It’s the last place people play it safe. They celebrate the vibrancy of life.”
Following her divorce in 2010, LaNasa moved to the 950-square-foot bungalow to be near her son and his ill father, Dennis Hopper. The 1953 house was rundown and needed an update, but her priorities were not about remodeling but simply getting settled.
“Dennis was dying,” she said. “I just wanted to be there for my son.”
After Hopper died in May 2010, LaNasa, who had worked as an interior decorator before her acting career took off, decided to stay in Venice, where she viewed the nondescript tract home as a blank slate.
“It didn’t have much detail. I felt like I could do anything I wanted,” she said.
She began by replacing all of the windows and making inexpensive cosmetic changes, such as covering the home’s damaged laminate floors with sky-blue epoxy paint. (“I’m into working with what you have,” she said.) A vibrant French Art Deco beach poster served as inspiration for the home’s sunny and soothing palette — blues, oranges and yellows. The result, with its eclectic mix of antiques, brightly lacquered furniture, thrift store finds and collectibles from her travels, is colorful, warm and a little funky. Just like New Orleans.
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