A California Home Gets an Impressive New Look

No major teardowns. No big additions. This whole-house redo from HGTV Magazine was all about paint, furniture and accessories.

From: HGTV Magazine

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Photo By: Kim Cornelison

The House

Before Brooke Ueberroth and her husband, Casey, had kids, they were always on the go — heading off to the beach, hiking local trails and dining out three or four times a week. “We were pretty much nonstop,” says Brooke. But once their kids came along, the couple found themselves kind of stuck in their too-small house in Costa Mesa, CA. “Being at home so often made us realize how much we wanted more room — and light,” says Brooke. They found both when they hit upon a 1999 five-bedroom home in Newport Beach with an airy layout, high ceilings and more than double the space.

But while their square footage wish was met, the dingy yellow and brown interiors weren’t at all what the Ueberroths had pictured. So with help from Ashley Clark of sKout — whom Brooke met at a mommy and me class — the couple totally transformed the house without knocking down any walls or reconfiguring rooms. “It’s amazing what fresh paint can do,” says Brooke. “Even on gloomy days, our house feels sunny.”

From: HGTV Magazine

The House Before

From: HGTV Magazine

Family Room

What to do with an odd niche that’s too shallow for furniture? “Make it look intentional,” says designer Ashley, who suggested this navy palm frond–pattern wallpaper from Farrow & Ball. The rest of the room — and the rest of the house — is painted superlight gray (Cold Morning by Dunn-Edwards) that looks almost white in sunlight. To make the fireplace blend in better with the bookcases, Ashley had it resurfaced in white stucco, with an alder beam added as a modern mantel. The armchair and brass coffee table are from Dovetail, and the big-enough-for-six (plus Louie, their 8-month-old labradoodle) sectional has a denim-y blue linen slipcover.

From: HGTV Magazine

Family Room Before

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Dining Room

The biggest challenge here: finding furniture that didn’t get swallowed up by the spacious room. Even after bringing in the starburst light fixture from Arteriors, the concrete table by Hart Concrete Design, and the six distressed Noir chairs, the setup still felt small — until Brooke found the perfect solution: wicker canopy host chairs from Noir. They’re oversize, but thanks to the see-through design, they don’t look bulky. The wool rug is from Anthropologie.

From: HGTV Magazine

Dining Room Before

From: HGTV Magazine

Kitchen

“Because we have such a crazy-busy house, we like the serenity of a white kitchen,” says Brooke. After continuing the light wood floors (engineered Fossil Stone by Provenza) into the kitchen and replacing the countertops and the backsplash behind the range with Carrara marble, they saved big money by keeping the existing appliances and island base, and repainting the old cabinetry Pure White by Sherwin-Williams. To make the room feel even more airy, clunky upper cabinets were torn out and replaced with open shelves. The polished nickel pendants and cabinet hardware are from Restoration Hardware, and the wishbone counter stools are from Industry West.

From: HGTV Magazine

Kitchen Before

From: HGTV Magazine

Breakfast Nook

The white leather Oly chairs and hearty round wood Dovetail table — which see more action than any other pieces in the house — lived in the Ueberroths’ old home, and Brooke wanted to keep them for the new one. She found the perfect spot in the kitchen’s breakfast nook, and had the built-in bench painted white and its cushions reupholstered in wipe-clean vinyl. The impressive shell chandelier is also from Oly.

From: HGTV Magazine

Living Room

Brooke says this room is closest to her heart stylewise: “I walk in and I’m like, Ahhh.” It’s a mix of old and new, family heirlooms and vacation souvenirs. They started by having the Room & Board sofa from their old place reupholstered in a small-scale print. Then, rather than using one big coffee table, Brooke picked two acrylic and brass tables from Jonathan Adler to sit next to each other. But her favorite piece in this room is the piano that belonged to Casey’s parents; Brooke had a piano shop lacquer it in shiny black. Cole and Ozzie have since started taking lessons. “I want to start soon too,” says Brooke. The gray leather chair is from Anthropologie, and the jute rug is from West Elm.

From: HGTV Magazine

Living Room Before

From: HGTV Magazine

Bathroom

Since this ground-floor bathroom next to the kitchen is the most-used one in the house, Ashley wanted it to have its own design spin — without sacrificing storage space. She replaced the solid vanity with two floating wood shelves and added a rectangular porcelain Pirch sink. The silver patterned wallpaper is by Schumacher, and the bone-inlay mirror is from Serena & Lily.

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Bathroom Before

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Master Bedroom

“We have two favorite purchases in our marriage,” says Brooke. One is a Vitamix; the other is this custom king-size white-leather bed. “We didn’t realize it would fit so perfectly under the window,” says Brooke. “It was kismet!” They replaced the carpet with a similar light one from Stanton and layered a polypropylene rug from Rugs USA on top of it. The diamond-print bedding is from Annie Selke’s Pine Cone Hill.

From: HGTV Magazine

Master Bedroom Before

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Wren's Bedroom

Wren’s room is painted the same go-with-anything pale gray as the rest of the house. “Pink and purple are her favorite colors today, but who knows what she’ll like next year?” says Brooke. With neutral walls, swap-outs will be easy to make down the road. For now they’ve spiced up the room with a hot pink Jenny Lind bed from The Land of Nod and chevron curtains from West Elm.

From: HGTV Magazine

Backyard

“I used to call this a cement desert,” says Brooke of the “hot as a furnace” backyard — but that was before they turned it into a dreamy little oasis. Now two magnolia trees flank a built-in concrete sofa (it’s clad in stucco and topped with Sunbrella-covered cushions), perfume-scented star jasmine vines climb the lattice fence, and a custom 7-foot-by-3-foot concrete and stucco gas fire pit fills the space. The gray wicker chairs are from Kingsley Bate.

From: HGTV Magazine

Backyard Before

From: HGTV Magazine

A California Home Gets an Impressive New Look

Related To:

Shop This Look

The House

The House Before

Family Room

Family Room Before

Dining Room

Dining Room Before

Kitchen

Kitchen Before

Breakfast Nook

Living Room

Living Room Before

Bathroom

Bathroom Before

Master Bedroom

Master Bedroom Before

Wren's Bedroom

Backyard

Backyard Before

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