Recycled Style

A Santa Monica cottage is full of bright bold colors, a Soho loft is transformed from industrial to historic, a homeowner and her architect turn 450 square feet into a collection of art, and a DJ booth is part of this modern Tokyo home.

Colorful Cottage
Krista Wooten has an eye for flea market treasures, which have inspired her home decor. At first she was drawn to smaller pieces, but once she started putting larger pieces in her home she saw that it started to feel bigger. Wooten also found that grouping items together in one space was a great way to display collections and eliminate clutter throughout her home.

Wooten faced a common design dilemma: what is the focal point of the space? Since the fireplace was the obvious starting point, she centered everything around it only to find that it made the room cramped and awkward. Instead, she created a new focal point on the opposite wall with a credenza and some favorite Italian design prints. The result is a balanced space with a comfortable flow. Don't let a fireplace or a built-in force you into laying out your room in a certain way; create your own focal points with a big piece of furniture or great piece of art.