An Interior Designer’s Bright Remodel of Her 1956 Home

House at a Glance
Who lives here: Stacee Christen of Christen Interiors and her two sons, John Paul, 20, and George, 17
Location: Marin County, California
Size: 2,875 square feet (267 square meters); four bedrooms, 4½ bathrooms

“My first priority was to fix the floor plan problems,” Christen says. Opening up the wall separating the living room from the stairwell and kitchen was the initial step. It was important that the home felt “light and bright and inspirational for my family,” she says. Christen worked closely with local general contractor Rob Jackson to make the quick interior transformation.

Before: The house hadn’t been updated for decades. The previous owners had lived in it for over 40 years. The home had green wall-to-wall carpeting installed years before and original features that needed updating. The door next to the dining table led to the kitchen.

Find an interior designer near you on Houzz

Christen sits in the remodeled living room with son John Paul, who attends college away from home.

Christen was pleased when she pulled up a corner of the carpeting to see the condition of the original oak floors. She had them refinished and stained.

The custom sofa is upholstered in a turquoise indoor-outdoor fabric. “There was already a gas fireplace, and I had it clad and reframed with large slabs of marble,” Christen says. “Cladding the old fireplace with simple marble detail, in addition to painting the wall and ceiling white, made the space feel bright and clean.”

This view of the living room from the dining room table illustrates how open and effective the new floor plan is. “I wanted to create a mostly bright envelope with clean white lines,” she adds. “It’s easy to interchange the accent colors that way.”

Find a local upholstery professional

The dining room is tucked perfectly beside the living room. Once the living room was opened up, there was no need to have a door to the kitchen.

Modern pendant light in chrome by Gino Sarfatti: Flos; table and chairs: Ligne Roset

Christen bought the dining room’s collection of framed lithographs in Los Angeles.

The family room is next to the main room, behind the fireplace. The home’s television is mounted on the wall. Above the custom purple mohair sofa are two oil paintings by Christen’s mother, Terry Ashcraft.

White chair and ottoman: Ligne Roset

“In the kitchen, I wanted it to be open, light and bright with a big island,” Christen says. The room’s location stayed the same, but the front wall was taken out to open up the space. The designer also chose not to install upper cabinets. “I’m 5 feet, 2 inches, and it just doesn’t work functionally to be able to reach upper cabinets,” she says.

The island was designed to fit perfectly in the space. It has a seamless Caesarstone countertop.

Pam bar stools: Ligne Roset

This kitchen feature wall sports modern Porcelanosa ceramic tile with a relief design. The range hood is custom.

Find a local kitchen designer

The master bedroom features pink as an accent color, with Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec’s Facett armchair for Ligne Roset and a framed heart print.

The master bathroom was a major renovation, with a new freestanding tub bought on Houzz and floating vanities from Porcelanosa. “Who doesn’t like a little mirror on the ceiling?” Christen asks. The large-format Porcelanosa tile, in light gray, extends from the floor to the ceiling on two walls.

Marisol bathtub: Transolid

Christen’s son George sits in his room. “He’s the musical one in our family,” she says.

Before: This was the view of the back deck from the family room. The existing materials needed replacing, and a number of updates made the space more usable.

After: Christen kept the deck’s footprint but added a gas fireplace and a comfortable Divano Lounge outdoor sectional that she found on Houzz. “Facing the valley, you feel like you are flying over Marin,” she says.

Square fire table and propane tank cover: Real Flame

Before: The side of the house beside the kitchen was neglected for many years, although the large tree offered great shade.

After: “We created outdoor spaces in many different places,” Christen says. “This one is just outside the kitchen — a great location for the herb garden, the barbecue, the pingpong table and for lounging.” A power washer cleaned up the existing concrete patio, and Christen replaced the overgrown hillside plants with a variety of succulents.

Trim paint: Oxford White, Benjamin Moore

“I love the retro style and fun party feeling in the pool area,” Christen says. She updated the existing backyard shed by painting it turquoise. On the concrete bench, colorful Turkish towels await swimmers after a dip in the pool.

My Houzz is a series in which we visit and photograph creative, personality-filled homes and the people who inhabit them. Share your home with us and see more projects.

More on Houzz
See other home tours
Find a home pro
Shop for home products