This California Residence Places Upcycling Entrance & Heart – See It Now
Angela O’Brien is a certified global citizen. As the co-founder and imaginative director of Cleobella, she companions with independent artisans from all in excess of the world to generate stunning, sustainable dresses. So, it’s only normal she used that exact mentality to her 2,900-square-foot property in Seal Beach front, California, which she shares with her husband and co-founder Jim and their two little ones, Keenan and Indigo.
O’Brien was originally drawn to the community in 2004 since it blended beautifully with their family’s way of life. “We have [relatives] in Los Angeles and Orange County,” she shares. “Also, our way of life is created all over the ocean, and we like that we are living going for walks length to the beach.” But, soon after a couple of years of employing her space as an office environment for her budding company — total with a makeshift warehouse in her garage — she wished to renovate this location into the perfect relatives home. When she made a decision to renovate her ’50s develop in 2019, it was the perfect chance to make the space feel more special to individuals who lived there.
“What I like about our neighborhood is that all the houses are one of a kind.” she claims. “There are some initial mid-century style [spaces] and younger family members who have renovated cute seashore cottages.When renovating our house, we wished to blend common factors to match the neighborhood with modest specifics that felt like us.”
Obviously, her and her family’s passion for the planet around seeped into just about every component of the project. After meeting the sister duo behind Design 4 Corners in Bali a several a long time prior, O’Brien tapped the business to create the ideal retreat.
“Our residence tells a tale of wherever we have been the cultures and people we have encountered on our journey,” she shares. “For the final 15 years, we’ve lived five months in Bali [and] Indonesia. So much of our aesthetic reflects the artisan lifestyle that we have been influenced by.”
Photographed by Meilani Cottrell for Lonny.
The worldly inspiration is on entire display screen long before you step inside the household. When the structure’s exterior wall boats imported stone from Europe to give the residence a additional Mediterranean experience, the white oak utilised on the garage doors and window shutters softens the seem.
On entry, you will immediately discover the vibrant, white partitions and natural stone flooring, crafted in a Versailles sample. “We appreciate mixing previous and new,” O’Brien shares. “We required to build the suitable palette the place our collections from our travels could have a house and be exhibited in a way that was significant.”
The room attracts inspiration from all corners of the world, but there is no lack of California satisfaction. The foyer’s pièce de résistance is arguably the curvy staircase, which signifies the ocean’s changing tides.
“My uncle is a framer by trade, and he launched us to a father-son group who spent about a thirty day period making the condition,” she adds.
Photographed by Meilani Cottrell for Lonny.
Of system, striking a very careful harmony concerning regional and intercontinental inspiration was only a person piece of the layout O’Brien also needed to swath her dwelling with sustainable furnishings and extras.
“As the founder and imaginative director of Cleobella, I have had the privilege to put into action the identical values into our brand name,” she points out. “[By] utilizing sustainable, ethically sourced supplies, and upcycling our deadstock fabric into other products and solutions, we are continually investigating new means to do enterprise that is ideal for our artisan associates, clients, and the planet.”
The good thing is, the dwelling home mixes the vivid inspiration and eco-friendly touches in fantastic harmony. O’Brien shares that she found the space’s two armchairs on Facebook’s market and reupholstered them with a bouclé material and woven ikat print, respectively. When she was not scouring social media, she snagged accessories from sellers close to and much. For illustration, her personalized wood credenza is peppered with South African sculptures and art discovered at Prolonged Beach’s flea sector.
Photographed by Meilani Cottrell for Lonny.
In true West Coast manner, O’Brien’s living home offers bifold doorways that guide to the home’s courtyard, blurring the lines involving the terrific outdoors and indoors. Decked out with a drought-tolerant Mediterranean back garden, quite a few spritely succulents, and some edible crops, this lush house has doubled as a retreat during the ongoing pandemic.
“We have a sauna and ice plunge, which [have] been an essential parts of our wellness regime through Covid-19,” O’Brien shares.
But, just mainly because the pandemic has thrown a wrench into the family’s journey programs will not indicate they are unable to celebrate their favorite places. The courtyard features a hand-carved joglo, a roofed structure where by communities in Indonesia normally assemble. Below the fixture is patio household furniture that O’Brien’s spouse produced from reclaimed teak wooden.
“We really like to have lazy Sundays right here,” she states. “I make a huge frittata with herbs and greens from our garden, and we energize for the week in advance.”
For O’Brien and her household, the kitchen area is the heart — and tummy — of their residence. The space is anchored by a roomy, charcoal island, which boast a substantial rose quartz enjoy vein down the center. Not only is this attribute the family’s favorite part of the dwelling, but O’Brien shares it was also the developing block of the room’s structure.
The kitchen’s European-type cabinets are coated in Dunn-Edwards’ Oyster, a warm hue that picks up the island’s eye-catching veining and gives the area a homey, lived-in truly feel. Just about every drawer is accessorized with custom made pulls, which were made out of recycled brass in Bali. Over the the decreased cabinets is a line of floating cabinets, adorned with a mélange of vases, objets, and cookbooks.
While the kitchen area has no scarcity of excellent appears to be like, it’s also exceptionally purposeful. Between the personalized bar stools and classic bench, there is a good deal of room for this relatives to kick back again and loosen up.
“I appreciate cooking and our youngsters are often at the counter drawing,” she suggests. “We come to feel most grounded [here].”
Photographed by Meilani Cottrell for Lonny.
The kitchen area might be the home’s most frequented area, but O’Brien is personally partial to the powder space. “It’s a exceptional mixture of aged-environment design and style that requires me away to a faraway put,” she shares.
Contrary to the rest of the home, which features a gentle, airy shade palette, the powder place is coated in a deep charcoal — Portola Paint & Glazes’ Nitty Gritty, to be correct. Admittedly, utilizing a dim color in this sort of a little area is typically achieved with some trepidation. On the other hand, the powder room feels amazingly bright, many thanks to the limestone checkered floor and white vessel basin.
Speaking of the sink, this powder room gets a hefty dose of worldly charm with the Indian marriage chest, which has been repurposed into a vainness. The smooth marble countertop doubles down on the deft harmony among previous and new that is found in the course of the property. And, rounding out the powder area, are two vintage sconces, which O’Brien reveals are from a movie set.
Photographed by Meilani Cottrell for Lonny.
When the loved ones renovated the residence in 2019, they preserved the structure’s footprint, still totally adjusted the format. In accordance to O’Brien, the only issue that is just not new to the home is the angular black fireplace that rests in the main bed room.
For several, the boudoir is the one place the place dwellers can put their taste on total display screen, so it truly is only fitting that the Cleobella founders made use of this space to make a assertion. Between the light pendant from Morocco, Turkish rug, and antique home divider from Bali — which has given that been repurposed into a headboard — the bed room is the place it all will come with each other to build a tranquil respite.
But, with so numerous assertion-generating parts in the space, it can be quick for a room to feel a minor overpowering. The good thing is, O’Brien practiced the great volume of restraint by portray her walls in Dunn-Edwards’ Whisper White. The mild color palette makes a blank canvas, giving the couple’s pieces permission to glow at comprehensive wattage.
Photographed by Meilani Cottrell for Lonny.
As the accompanying bathroom proves, there’s enough “wow” issue to go about. Listed here, the bathtub is anchored by a teak wood carved wall from a 100 year-previous Indonesian dwelling. “We observed [it] while living in Bali,” O’Brien shares. “[When you’re] getting a bath, the window shutters open up to a sliver of an ocean see.” The statement wall is complemented with a cheeky, hand-formed stool, which was also sourced from Bali.
Related to O’Brien’s bedroom, the toilet has its fair share of unfavorable room. Marble countertops, a row of custom cabinetry, and white floors from Clé Tile usher in a dose of modernity.
Photographed by Meilani Cottrell for Lonny.
Even though sustainability and world-wide intrigue choose middle phase, it was important for O’Brien to generate a area that felt like…nicely, a dwelling. “Our dwelling is classy, but understated, it tells a tale of the spots we have traveled,” she explains. “Absolutely nothing is far too valuable or on pattern [here] its timeless treasures obtained from artisans [are] integrated into a present day clear aesthetic.”
All through the area — and specially in the children’s bedrooms — individual touches like Diy art and hand-me-down guitars make this worldly strategy feel a minor nearer to dwelling.
