I have wanted to redo this dining room for years.

Before

Before

It belongs to my clients in Manhattan Beach, CA. It is a contemporary home located in one of my favorite cities in which to work. I decorated the entry, living room and kitchen several years ago. At that time, we discussed replacing the chandelier in the dining room, but were unable to find the perfect one.

Needless to say, when the clients called me this year to help them with their dining room, I was ecstatic! The tropical theme of the “old” dining room worked with the beach theme of the home, but the traditional slant to this room clashed stylistically with the contemporary lines in the rest of the house.

After

After

This magnificent shell chandelier was the first item I found. It is the epitome of contemporary beach-style, the design concept of this room and home. In order to have the perfect fabrics, colors, dimensions and shapes, I had the window treatments, dining chairs, dining table and china cabinet custom made. I replaced the roman shade with these eco-friendly sheers from F. Schumacher. These chairs are upholstered with contrasting fabrics on the fronts and backs, both luxurious to the touch and both from Larsen. The dining table seats eight when closed and twelve when the leaves are attached to each end. The china cabinet fits perfectly into this niche in the wall. The doors on the bottom have push latches to open and close and the floating glass shelves sit in front of the mirrored back.

I have to say I have been waiting to design this room for years. I am so pleased with the results…and my clients are, too!

Sincerely,

 Alicia

Alicia Friedmann Interior Design, LLC

310.702.6346 phone

562.597.8022 fax

alicia@aliciafriedmann.com 

www.aliciafriedmann.com

http://twitter.com/AliciaFriedmann   

 http://afidsales.wordpress.com/

Have you ever thought, “If I change my kitchen, my house will feel completely transformed”?
Here is physical proof that this can happen.
If you walked into this kitchen

(before)

(before)

would you think you were in a five bedroom, five bath Mediterranean-style two-story house in the best part of Santa Monica, CA? To me, this white cookie-cutter style kitchen was simply out-of-place in this grand home.
The goal was for the interior of this house to match the exterior. And, of course, we began with the kitchen. For the kitchen is the heart of the home, where family and friends gather for sustenance and nourishment. To achieve this, we completely gutted the kitchen. We then created the new Mediterranean-inspired kitchen.

(after)

(after)

(after)

The key word for all the details in this space is custom. We replaced the old and damaged walnut floor with custom-sized rectangular marble tiles. We custom-designed the alder wood cabinets complete with corbels, under cabinet lighting (on the upper cabinets) and drawers that close themselves. Of course each door and drawer was made with its use in mind: warming drawer, trash & recycling pull-out, and cookie sheet storage, to name a few. Everything (including the refrigerator-freezer) is hidden from the eye when the doors and drawers are closed. The backsplashes used to be plain white ceramic tile. Now they are a complete design of natural marbles. The lighting used to be an arrangement of dim recessed lights. Now there is a mixture of low-voltage recessed lighting as well as the chandelier and pendants of custom ironwork. And of course we hand-picked this amazing and unique granite for the countertops.                                                                                                                                     Now the remodeled kitchen is the perfect balance of old-world style and new-world function. It has developed into a gorgeous center to a beautiful home. My clients used to get out of the kitchen as fast as possible. Now they look forward to spending time in it!  That is what I call success.

Sincerely,

 Alicia

Alicia Friedmann Interior Design, LLC

310.702.6346 phone

562.597.8022 fax

alicia@aliciafriedmann.com 

www.aliciafriedmann.com

http://twitter.com/AliciaFriedmann   

                                                                                                                                 (after)

When I walk into this room, I feel so inspired! I walk out of this room and I sense a void…I am overcome by a need to return! I enter this room again and I feel perfect: energetic, inspired, and as if everything is right in the world. And it is a sensation I never expected to have from this space!

                                                                                                                      (before)

When I first began working on this project, this room was already painted this fantastic color of red. It already housed the iconic Le Corbusier chairs and this amazing vintage French poster. Yet the room did nothing for my psyche. The space felt awkward and nothing seemed to go together spatially or stylistically.

So I went to work. Using AutoCAD, I designed this amazing wall unit. The first goal was to center the art on the all. The idea was to frame out the picture frame with the red of the wall. Then I specified  the details of the cabinet: dimensions, crown moldings, door and drawer pulls, wood detail on the glass, wood stain color, and hand-picking this beautifully bold granite slab for the countertop.

Now, this room is perfect. I love how it mixes the classical built-in wall unit, the modern chairs, the Asian accessories (area rug and Buddah), and the mixture of finishes on the various pieces of metal. To top it off, this room has a function! It is a bar, complete with not one, but two Sub-Zero wine refrigerators, ample display for drinking vessels and libations, and storage to boot!

To me, this room has grown to be a “living” example of the design term I embrace most: form follows function. And I love the form and the function of this room!

  (after)       (after)

Sincerely,

Alicia

Alicia Friedmann Interior Design, LLC

310.702.6346 phone

562.597.8022 fax

alicia@aliciafriedmann.com 

www.aliciafriedmann.com

http://twitter.com/AliciaFriedmann   

My new husband and I have just purchased our new house! It is our first house (and marriage)…and we are so excited! Brian and I were wed on August 9 and found our house on August 15. Therefore, I would like to announce that I have a new client…us!

As with all my jobs, the first step is to get to know what the clients are looking for in their new home. I asked Brian and myself the questions I have scripted to ask all new clients. Our answers help me (as the designer) better understand the living environment that will work best for us. We have established that we want the house to feel relaxing and comfortable, minimalistic yet warm, and subtle in color and pattern. Our color palate will be in the blue and brown-to-black color ranges. Ski resorts and beach destinations are the places that make us happiest, so we will be incorporating the feel of one (or both) of those places as the ‘theme’ to our decor.

The second step is to create floor plans of the space to be worked on. Brian acted as my assistant to measure and take photographs. Then I drew the house up on AutoCAD. I played around with different layouts and presented them to the clients. This is the one we decided to go with.

Step three is the hardest. This is establishing our budget. Brian and I fit into the category of clients who are working with a tight budget. We will use the floor plan, color scheme, and aesthetic as our blueprint for the work to be done. With this, we understand the timeframe for the project of our home may be a long one. But, because we have established what the end-look will be, we know the criteria for the pieces we are seeking to complete our look. Therefore, everything we do along the way will work towards our finished home. 

The fourth step may very well be the most fun. We get to find all the furniture and accessories that fit into our floor plan! By ‘fit,’ I mean spatially, aesthetically and economically. I will keep you posted as we go!

Here are the ‘before’ photos.

Alicia

Alicia Friedmann Interior Design, LLC

310.702.6346 phone

562.597.8022 fax

alicia@aliciafriedmann.com 

www.aliciafriedmann.com

http://twitter.com/AliciaFriedmann    Alicia Friedmann Interior Design is now on Twitter! Come follow me!

This master bedroom belongs to a young family – a married couple and their baby boy.

When I first walked into this room, all I could think was, “wow…they are used to decorating an apartment, not a grand room like this!” This space is 16’ x 20’ with hardwood floors and a lofty pitched ceiling. Yet the clients had a mere 5’x7’ area rug at the foot of the bed to “ground” the space.

My goal with this room was to treat it like it is: a large master suite in Virginia Country Club, one of the most sought-after neighborhoods in Long Beach. Only when completed with furnishings that fill the space will this room feel as large as it is. My clients’ wish was for this room to function as a warm and inviting retreat. With both their wishes and mine in mind, I went to work.

Although it may seem counter-intuitive, covering more of the space makes the large room feels bigger and warmer. First, I moved the dresser from the room’s entry to a wall far away from the door. Although that piece fit into the space, its solid shape and size said the opposite of “welcome.” I replaced it with this elegant settee and calming piece of art. I also added silk striped window treatments to bring softness to the walls. I replaced the small area rug with on 10’x12’ in size. This useful piece of art ground the room properly.   I added tall plant to complete the space in the corner beside each nightstand. To further enhance the space, I filled the ample space above the king-size bed with a substantial piece of art. And at the foot of the bed, I added these two chairs to create a real sitting area in the room.

Now this master bedroom is warm, inviting, peaceful and complete!

Alicia

Alicia Friedmann Interior Design, LLC

310.702.6346 phone

562.597.8022 fax

alicia@aliciafriedmann.com 

www.aliciafriedmann.com

http://twitter.com/AliciaFriedmann    Alicia Friedmann Interior Design is now on Twitter!

Not a single piece of furniture, art or accessory was purchased for this project. Yet this loft was completely transformed. All it took were inspiration and wall paint.

This loft is located in Koreatown and has a magnificent view of the Wiltern Theater. 

 The client is a classically-trained pianist who greatly enjoys navigation throughout Los Angeles on the metro and on his bicycle. When he moved into this space, it was a blank canvas of white walls.

His first major artistic investment to make this space his own was to bring inspiration he gathers every day from the streets of LA into his home. He hired a local graffiti artist to paint his favorite spots onto the living room wall.

The next step was to make the colors in the grafitti wall resonate throughout the space.  In addition to being driven by the sights and sounds of LA, this client is deeply moved by the art of Frida Kahlo. Therefore, I found paint colors in her art as well as colors used in her fellow countryman, architect Luis Barragan’s buildings to make the color scheme of this loft truly bold, powerful and timeless.

The colors, like Frida Kahlo’s work, are rich, vibrant and enveloping. And the way in which the walls are painted is in line with the work of Luis Barragan. The views in this loft are completely different colors depending on the angle from which one is standing. It is the drama in the colors as well as the way the colors reflect the ‘center’ of this place – the graffiti wall – that makes this artist’s loft a bold world that simply works.

Sincerely,

Alicia

Alicia Friedmann Interior Design, LLC

310.702.6346 phone

562.597.8022 fax

alicia@aliciafriedmann.com 

www.aliciafriedmann.com

http://twitter.com/AliciaFriedmann    Alicia Friedmann Interior Design is now on Twitter!

Now that summer is upon us, how can we not be inspired to bring the indoors out and that which we discover on our travels back home?

Upon returning from a recent trip to Mexico, a client of mine wanted to bring a taste of her wonderful vacation home with her. The colors of Mexico are vibrant and true.

The brilliance of the hues gives the viewer no choice but to become happy. Therefore, how could one afford not to take some of this happiness home?

So, I hand-picked these tiles and customized the layout. The contractor installed this staircase as I specified. Now every time my client uses this section of her garden, her mind floats to the fond memories of her travels.

Alicia

Alicia Friedmann Interior Design, LLC

310.702.6346 phone

562.597.8022 fax

alicia@aliciafriedmann.com 

www.aliciafriedmann.com

http://twitter.com/AliciaFriedmann    Alicia Friedmann Interior Design is now on Twitter!

06.22.09

While a student in the UCLA Extension Interior Design Program, I would take myself on ‘field trips’ to Hennessey + Ingalls Bookstore in search of design inspiration. I would stay there for hours at a time, leafing through countless interior design and architecture books. It was during this time that I acquired my foundation in the language of art and design (as well as my design library).

There are times when, while working, I am searching for design inspiration. This is when I look to my design library. And how ecstatic was I when I opened John Welsh’s Modern House by Phaidon Press today and re-discovered this house!

This is Casa Gaspar by Spanish architect Alberto Campo Baeza. It is a structure with clean, pure lines which represent the minimalist movement.  The image of this tree growing between five white planes one of the five most inspirational views that I often float to in my imagination. The walls (and floor) are white, but the architect constructed the space to capture light in such a way that the space glows in an amazing color of radiant sky blue. To me the tree represents the power of survival, the power of one to live and grow even when blocked in on all four sides.

Yours truly,

Alicia

Alicia Friedmann Interior Design, LLC

310.702.6346 phone

562.597.8022 fax

alicia@aliciafriedmann.com 

www.aliciafriedmann.com

04.21.09

Sometimes a room can have all the correct furniture in it, and yet not feel quite right.

This dilemma may very-well be the most frustrating one people encounter while decorating their homes. Because after all the correct furniture, wall colors, flooring and lighting have been chosen, installed and paid for, people want their places to look like the beautiful and inspiring images they have been imagining in their heads.

But it is the finishing touches that can make-or-break a space. These pieces are called accessories.

Accessories are the pieces that give the room character. The art on the walls and the vases on the buffet are the accessories that take this dining room from ‘good’ to ‘great.’

The most important design fundamental to remember when choosing these finishing touches is that the pieces are of the correct size for the room into which they are going. Even if the pieces are ‘perfect’ for the room, if they are out of scale and proportion for the space, they will never give the room the desired effect. Accessories bring color, pattern and texture into the house. This is why accessories (of the proper dimensions) are pivotal in creating the desired style, theme and feel in the home.

Smiles,

Alicia

Alicia Friedmann Interior Design, LLC

310.702.6346 phone

562.597.8022 fax

alicia@aliciafriedmann.com 

www.aliciafriedmann.com