A Los Angeles Home That Expertly Blends Old and New

“Our house sits on a pretty busy corner, so I like that it feels like a retreat with all the greenery surrounding it,” says Shelby Grayeli. The Grayelis kept the tile roof that was added in the ’80s, but they refinished the exterior with a smooth style of stucco often used on historic buildings in Santa Barbara. 

Shelby and Sam Grayeli had just completed renovations on their home in West Los Angeles, CA, when Shelby saw a listing for a 1935 Spanish ranch house five minutes away. Unable to resist its charm, she convinced her husband to check it out. His reaction was less than enthusiastic. “He thought it was terrible — it hadn’t been touched since the ’80s — and that I was insane for falling for it,” says Shelby.

But she was so smitten by the ample size (3,600 square feet) and the location (near the campus of UCLA, Sam’s beloved alma mater) that she talked Sam into making an offer. Less than 48 hours later, it was accepted, and so began a whirlwind few months of selling their old home and renovating the new one more extensively than planned after they discovered it was (brace yourself) infested with rats. The reno included an overhaul of the kitchen and bathrooms, and major construction work to create a master bedroom. When it was done, Shelby, a collector of vintage furniture, rugs, and light fixtures, worked with designer Irene Lovett to pull together a look that mingles Shelby’s old finds with new pieces so it feels like they’ve been together forever. 

The dining room features a delicate antique chandelier, a vintage wool rug and a new table and chairs from Restoration Hardware.

An easy-on-the-eyes palette in the living room includes Restoration Hardware sofas covered in soft gray fabric. “These were in our old house,” says Shelby. “The classic shape means they have staying power.” She topped them with a mix of faded and dip-dyed pillows from DwellStudio and Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams. The weathered double-tier coffee table is also from Restoration Hardware. Although the oak and washed-cotton chairs by the bay window look vintage, they’re actually new ones from Jayson Home.