A series of owners had renovated much of the character out of the structure, but that gave the duo carte blanche to infuse it with Taylor’s special brand of colorful coziness. And the floor-to-ceiling windows that connected the living and dining rooms to a covered patio and lush backyard also offered the promise of quintessential California indoor-outdoor living. “I felt like I could make my dreams of us all being together in the same living space but each doing our own thing a reality,” Taylor says. “I just had to knock down this enormous wall.”
While the home had a relatively open floor plan, the aforementioned wall cordoned off the galley kitchen, leaving it near-sliver width. For a mother with a young family and an avid host who has built her company around gatherings, the obstruction had to go. “Once we blew through it, the house instantly transformed,” says Taylor. To bring back some of the definition the wall had provided, the wood floors were swapped with milk chocolate brown and dusty rose tiles in a classic checkerboard. Trading out black countertops and dark wood cabinets for fresh white wood and gray marble lightened things up considerably, while adding open shelving—where Taylor mixes everyday dishes with ceramics collected over the past decade, including floral serving pieces from L.A. interiors gem Indigo Seas and blue speckled dinnerware from friend and potter Adam Silverman—brought more color into the picture.
Top right: Cement Tile, Granada; Bench Cushions in Juniper Fabric, Heather Taylor Home; Nesting Baskets by Bunny Williams, Ballard. Above, from left: Handmade Ceramic Candlestick Holders and Antique Rosa Daisy Planter, Nickey Kehoe; Floral Tableware, The Ivy; Gingham and Juniper Tablecloths, Heather Taylor Home; Salt Chairs by Ton, Design Within Reach; Sandbar Tray, Serena & Lily; Jute Bouclé Rug, West Elm.
