At first, interior designer Brooke Abcarian wasn’t so sure about moving to Redondo Beach, California. She and her husband had been living in West Hollywood, right in the center of the Los Angeles action, and they didn’t want to leave all the fun behind. But once they settled into their 1925 Spanish-style cottage in the South Bay, they were quick to become smitten with both the area and the home itself.

“Once we were down here, we were like, Oh, my god, we actually love it,” Brooke remembers. “It is a lovely place to raise a family. The schools are excellent. Even though we knew the house needed a bunch of work, I liked the charm of it being a hundred years old.”

AFTER: Another bonus: “[The house] is very close to the beach, so for my husband, who surfs, that’s very appealing,” says Brooke.

Since Brooke had just given birth to their daughter when they got the keys, her husband handled the necessary updates that come with a century-old abode. He oversaw the repairs of the plumbing, the replacement of the unsafe early-20th-century knob-and-tube electrical wiring, and the installation of a heating system—there was only an ancient furnace before.

After the behind-the-scenes upgrades were complete, Brooke tackled the aesthetic refresh. She wanted to honor the age of the architecture, so she maintained the historic arches, plaster walls, and original moldings. She had her eye on a palette of warm neutrals, with rich hues lightly peppered throughout. “My goal was to keep it calm and nourishing and textural, but I can’t not have color in the house,” she admits.

BEFORE: The living room definitely needed a spruce up

AFTER: A mix of designer splurges, affordable finds, and refinished treasures fill the light-filled living room.

Brooke also wove personal touches into each room through the elephant motifs that nod to the couple’s honeymoon, cherished vintage furniture (which she drove far distances to acquire), and extensive high-low collection of artwork. “Some pieces are from antique markets for as low as $5, I did some of the art myself, and some are inherited and therefore more valuable,” she shares.

In the living room, works by artist Aeand, photographer Piyatat Primtongtrakul, and painter Anna Núñez mingle with creations from the Long Beach Antique Market and by Brooke herself. An antique mirror from Brooke’s grandmother hangs above the brick fireplace, which she painted white to contrast the hearth.

To balance out splurges, like a contemporary Design Within Reach Emmy sofa and an Armadillo Agra wool rug, Brooke purchased a pair of armchairs at Target and substituted the lumpy back cushions with custom Larson linen pillows. She also refinished a scratched up vintage teak coffee table instead of buying a new one.

AFTER: “I priced out a bunch of different wood fabricators that are local, but because it’s LA, it’s more expensive here,” Brooke says. “So this table actually came all the way from Connecticut, and I love it. And now that it’s photographed, my plan is to fully let it get patinated because I just want it to live with our family. Hopefully we have it for a very, very long time. It is so beautiful. The wood grain is gorgeous.”

The adjacent dining room features a custom white oak table from The Nutmeg Table Company, a set of black Ton Era armchairs, a Marimekko Urna vase, and hand-signed Picasso and Alexander Calder lithographs. A sculptural 1980s Italian chandelier from Brooke’s childhood home is suspended from the ceiling. “It’s such a backdrop to my life,” she explains.

BEFORE: Brooke maintained the layout of the old kitchen, since it made the most sense for the space.

AFTER: “We brought the cabinets up even higher because it makes the ceilings look a little bit taller,” Brooke says. “Then we added that shelf over the window because what you see through it is just an office building, and I wanted plants to be able to hang down there so it looked a little more lush.”

Nearby, Brooke and her husband completely gutted the plain kitchen, but they didn’t replace it with of-the-moment finishes. “I do not want it to look dated in a few years, so anything that I could pick that was not trendy, that’s what I wanted,” Brooke reasons. “I just don’t want in 10 years to be like, Ugh, why did I do that? That was so 2020.”

AFTER: A 1954 O’Keefe & Merritt oven brings a retro vibe to the kitchen.

Modern Shaker–style cabinets in Old White by Farrow & Ball are paired with unlacquered brass hardware, quartz counters, and a Heath Ceramics Mid-Century White tile backsplash for a timeless look that Brooke will never get bored of. Plus, she kept the existing 1954 O’Keefe & Merritt oven for a bit of retro flare.

AFTER: Brooke completely gut-renovated the bathroom, but kept the original mirrored cabinet.

The biggest transformation was the bathroom, which Brooke and her husband also gutted. They swapped a pedestal sink, a rusted and cracked clawfoot tub, and rainbow diamond cement tiles for a storage-filled vanity, a shiny standard tub, and Calacatta and Nero Marquina marble basketweave tile. “That’s a very traditional old pattern. It could have been here—it was definitely around and being used in the 1920s,” Brooke says.

BEFORE: “We wanted it to have the charm of an old house aesthetically, but have all the amenities and safety of a newer house,” Brooke explains. “So we changed every single appliance and just brought things up to code a little bit.”

AFTER: “That whole credenza in the living room is full of toys, so the rest of the house can get pretty chaotic. The goal of the bedroom is to just have our eyes rest a little bit,” Brooke says.

For the primary bedroom, Brooke went with soothing earth tones. She combined relaxed Parachute bedding with a white oak Akron Street bed, Lane Brutalist nightstands, and custom ceramic lamps from The Starbird Pottery. Meanwhile, the nursery is painted a bold Avon Green by Benjamin Moore and includes whimsical details, like a colorful pastel drawing by Brooke’s mother, sconces by Peared Creation, and a bunny poster from Smallable.

AFTER: Brooke filled her rose-colored office with items that inspire her.

Brooke feels most creative, however, sitting in her vintage Knoll Pollack Executive Chair in her dusty pink office. The Sonoma Clay by Benjamin Moore walls are covered in art by Kristjana Williams, Julia Clift, Scott Reinhard, Plumette Studio, and her husband’s cousin Nick Abcarian. Altogether, the room is nothing short of inspiring.

AFTER: “I love the color green because it’s like nature,” Brooke says. “My daughter’s middle name is Green. I really gravitate towards it.”