This 1904 summer house is in Venice, California. Susan Chevalier, a costume designer for TV commercials, renovated it mixing modern and country styles, creating a relaxing atmosphere.
Turquoise green items collected in Susan's travels add colour to the living room with dark oak floors and white denim slipcovers.
This is the photograph I had seen a couple of times before. A solid piece of butcher block from a supermarket propped on two sawhorses to form a dining table, unfinished and unlacquered. Plain water glasses serve as simple vases for flowers.
Susan's collection of Bauer and Pacific pottery.
Mostly matte McCoy sits behind glass in the living room, where a bench from a German beer hall serves as a coffee table. Its lines are echoed in the paddleboard resting on the beams. Five children's chairs from the Rose Bowl and Santa Monica swap were left the original green.
A tortoise shell given to her by a fisherman on Mustique rests on an antique director's chair outside the sunroom. Vintage cigarette ads from London complete the picture.
White subway tiles in the bathroom are bordered in a soft green 1930s reeded-tile trim.
Unusual decorating idea in Susan's bedroom. An old carnival sign hangs in above cubbyholes in a wire shelf she uses to display her Keds footwear.
In the kitchen, glass-fronted cabinets display colorful pottery. A great idea for someone who cooks a lot is the pot-filler faucet that swings out above the stove.
Peeling paint distinguishes a kitchen cupboard that Susan found. She gave it a back and then turned it into a repository for her research books. It takes up an entire bedroom wall.
Quilts on and behind a bed, and other soft textiles such as mosquito netting add layers of interest.
Susan's upstairs office is a room with a view — and a deck.
Photographs by John Coolidge.
All images and information from here.
