One designer shares her secrets behind creating the most luxurious home in Playa Vista
Story by Shanee Edwards | PHOTOS BY DESIGN LINE INTERIORS
Interior Designer, Dawn Davidson, founder of Design Line Interiors, was thrilled when her team was asked to design the Jewel model homes about three years ago.
“The assignment,” says the award-winning designer, “was to create the highest-end, most luxurious product being built in Playa Vista. A home that reflects the Los Angeles lifestyle, that was contemporary and yet still warm and inviting.”
While the assignment may sound daunting, Davidson says the challenges were few. “When you have a great builder who is relentless when it comes to designing floorplans and designing the buildings and making sure they are well done with the utmost quality and that they live and are functional, the interior design is the icing on the cake. The Jewel builders thrive on collaboration and together, we choose cabinets, flooring, colors, theme and schemes. They selected very nice upgraded appliances, railings, cabinetry and the best of the best building products.”
Now completely sold out, the Jewel homes are three-story detached residences, each over 4,000 square feet. With high ceilings, spacious living areas, chef’s kitchens and indoor and outdoor entertaining areas, these homes are Silicon Beach’s most brilliantly sparkling gems. Let’s take a closer look at the kitchen and the home office.
Modern Kitchen
Whether it’s in the morning before work or at a holiday party, the kitchen is the place where everyone likes to gather. It’s a lifeline to sustenance and socializing. Davidson began with a subdued color palette of beige, champagne and bisque to create a modern aesthetic, saying she was going for “peacefulness with very little distraction. Cooking is an art and the less distraction, the better.”
While the kitchen needed to be very functional, Davidson also says she wanted to create a romantic cooking vibe and took inspiration from design master Mick De Giulio, adding, “His kitchens are fabulous – and SieMatic [a German kitchen manufacturer] as well.”
Adding natural wood accents like the beverage tray, tiered stand, and the cutting board helped to add warmth to the space. “Warmth is what creates the heart of the home,” she says.
Davidson purposefully mixed curves (the faucet and padded chairs) with sleek, straight lines (the drawer handles and the blocky marble island) to balance the space, saying, “They flow with each other in contrast. Like a man and woman doing a tango.”
The Calacatta Oro Polished Chevron Marble Mosaic backsplash is stunningly beautiful, adding sophistication and detail without overpowering the design.
But the real star of this kitchen is the Calacatta Gold Marble Waterfall Island from Arizona Tile. Instead of the marble stopping at the edge of the island, it drops vertically down the sides, creating a continuous flow from the cabinetry to the floor adding elegance. Whether used for chopping vegetables, a breakfast bar or simply doing homework, this island is the dramatic focal point of the room.
Davidson, refers to the kitchen island as the “chameleon” in the home because it’s so versatile, making it one of the most important spaces where function and form truly intersect.
Home Office
Davidson admits the home office was her “favorite room in the project.” She especially loved the lux, polished, zebrawood walls. Zebrawood is a tropical, decorative hard wood with an exotic stripe-like grain.
As a whole, she says the office design is, “Sophisticated. It has heart, it’s a room that I think anyone would feel warm and comfortable in.”
Balancing the inherent linear look of the zebrawood is the softness of the unusual 9’ by 12’ handmade Surya wool rug that looks like fluffy cobblestones, making the room rife with distinguished textures that comfort the eye and body.
“It’s also a soothing room, especially now with the COVID-19, we all have to work in our home offices and if they’re not comfortable and they don’t give you that sense of focus, it’s hard to get anything done – The decor and feel of this office literally inspires a sense of focus.”
With masculine touches like the black and white custom-made drapes, Davidson calls the room, “A big burly hug of a room. It’s sturdy, strong and bold.”
To learn more about Dawn Davidson and Design Line Interiors, visit designlineinteriors.com.
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