How a San Francisco Designer Gave a Bold New Look to a Victorian Charmer

Founder of the firm Noz Design, San Francisco-based interior designer Noz Nozawa is a rockstar. Honored as one of the new American voices in interior design by several prestigious outlets, Noz is known for her ability to create narrative-driven spaces that tell a unique story, individual to her clients. “I don’t have one singular aesthetic,” says Noz. “I’ve definitely been recognized for using bold colors and layering patterns, but I play in lots of styles, from Japanese minimalist, to color explosions, to traditional. The main thing for me is that my team and I start completely from scratch with every new project and every new client. There is no formula.”

For this particular project — a Victorian in San Francisco’s Lower Haight neighborhood — Noz and her team collaborated with architecture and construction firm San Francisco Design Build, as areas of the home were in need of renovation, including the kitchen. “The home on arrival was perfectly live-in-able but lacked an openness for hosting. The kitchen was stately but perhaps designed in the past for someone who did not cook so often,” Noz says. A staircase that was ruining the flow of the kitchen was relocated to open things up and make room for stunning details, like the dusty blue island. “The client had a clear vision for a lot of the details we included in the kitchen — colorful terrazzo countertops, a mix of colors, open shelves wherever possible and a traditional larder pantry, as the family comes from England,” remarks Noz.

The larder pantry makes a vibrant, bold statement in the shade Orange Burst by Benjamin Moore. For a family that cooks and needs storage, they maximized the pantry, going from the floor to the ceiling. “The ceilings in this house are quite tall, so we also loved adding a ladder to reach the topmost storage,” explains Noz.

To complete the kitchen’s story, they brought in one more pop of color on an unexpected appliance — the range. “The Bluestar range in a custom orange was iconic,” says Noz. “I absolutely adore it. It is so joyful and energizing.” It's a perfect match to the vibrant larder pantry.

As the home was reconfigured, the kitchen was in need of one more thing: a better flow to the backyard. “We gut-renovated the rear powder room and opened the wall into the backyard with folding doors that created a seamless flow between the kitchen and yard,” says Noz. The end result is a connection that allows for easy indoor-outdoor living.

“This is the smallest family room we’ve worked on, and I absolutely loved the cozy scale of it,” says Noz. However, the designer admits that it was also one of the hardest rooms to design due its small floor plan. “We wanted to embrace that, while still getting the most roominess out of it.” They brought the jewel box space to life with rich details, including trim painted in Benjamin Moore’s Autumn Purple and vivid wallpaper. “Our vision was to saturate the new wainscoting with a rich aubergine pulled from the botanical wallpaper and add richly textured pendant lights, a rug and ottoman to complete the room.”

In another nod to the family’s English heritage, they chose a luxury sustainable wallpaper by British brand House of Hackney. Upon entering the dining room, the lush wallpaper, framed by blue trim in River Blue by Benjamin Moore, is immediately attention-grabbing.

"The irony of this dining room is that it was previously the darkest room in the house, which the clients didn’t like because it wasn’t their choice,” says Noz. “But in designing the room, the family agreed that having a deep-toned, rich library energy in here would be amazing. But this time they chose for the room to be dark.” The room’s dark hue is a rich addition to the transition of colors within the home’s design. “I love seeing the colors transition from the peacock teal dining room, past the orange pantry wall, to the aubergine family room. It’s very impactful,” Noz remarks.

In the dining room, midcentury modern pieces and original details play well together, creating the collected-over-time feel that Noz Design is known for. “We selected a deep peacock teal that coordinated perfectly with the House of Hackney wallpaper, paired it with a custom live-edge dining table and a bright vermillion chandelier. We left the original fireplace and dining hutch built-ins in their original condition,” reports Noz.

The dining room is also home to a floor-to-ceiling library with a space carved out for reading. “We added a wall of bookcases with a reading nook around one of the windows, with a rail that fits the kitchen ladder,” explains Noz.

“This sweet little powder room mostly needed to work hard as the only toilet on this level,” says Noz. “We added wainscoting paneling around the perimeter, a joyful floral wallpaper, and chose brass fixtures for warm glowy pops.” Another wallpaper from House of Hackney, it’s the perfect finishing touch for the small powder room.