First-Class Style

Check out four very different homes with first-class style. A playroom addition doubles an L.A. space, two architects make room for entertaining, a college student styles his dorm room, and an antiques dealer mixes modern decor with antique pieces.

Architect Barbara Bestor found this teeny 400-square-foot shack that was falling apart, but because it is in a great location in Los Angeles' Echo Park, she decided that it had potential. One year and a 600-square-foot, two-story addition later, Bestor and her two young daughters are the renovated home's first tenants! The casual and creative style is featured in her book Bohemian Modern: Living in Silver Lake.

The open downstairs has one big room that functions as the living room, dining room, family room and piano room. This cheery modern sitting area is carved out with bright pink walls and a built-in, U-shaped couch with storage drawers to house the girls' toys. The sitting area has a white sheer curtain that can be used to block off the front door, separate the sitting area from the rest of the living room and serve as the perfect backdrop for the plays that the girls perform.