Houzz Tour: Fuss-Free Venice Beach Bungalow
Situated in Venice Beach, Calif. — a bustling seaside tourist destination for its art and culture — is a cozy bungalow built in 1895 which belongs to interior designer Katerina Tana. Los Angeles-born and London-raised, Tana purchased the property from 2000. The house was originally recorded as a tear-down, but she chose the project to add her own stamp of style. “The decision to embark on a complete rebuild was in part to love what I put my clients through,” she says.
Growing upward, Tana spent summers in Croatia on the Adriatic Coast, along with also the”magical Mediterranean atmosphere” and her roots in theater and film are observed throughout the house. Tana eliminated walls and additional skylights. She included classic bits and interlocking every corner of this two-bedroom, two-bath house. A studio and garage space preserves the authenticity of the house’s 19th-century origins.
As well as her interior and landscape design work, Tana also comes with her own line, Katerina Tana Collection featuring first fabric, wallpaper, rugs, lighting, and table layouts. She approaches her endeavors with the objective to”create a style for the client’s house and for their life,” much as this space reflects her own life with its own thoughtful, artistic details.
Katerina Tana Design
A friend described her location as”the house in eight colors of white.” That aesthetic is captured here in the living area. Built-in bookshelves separate the major seating space from the kitchen; they have been deliberately built just shy of the ceiling to allow natural light to flow in by a kitchen skylight. The major inspiration for the house was”distilling the house so there was nothing which would result in clutter or fuss.”
A custom armchair provides comfy chairs by a coffee table. The glass art piece, inspired by fireflies and branded”Bell Jar,” is by Los Angeles-based Alison Berger. Tana can be a lover of Berger’s lighting layouts, carried at Holly Hunt.
Yellow cashmere throw: Denis Colomb
Glass Bell Jar: Alison Berger
Katerina Tana Design
“I despise fuss,” Tana says. “I really like elegance and comfort combined.” With that framework, she designed a space that is inviting inside and outside, starting with the porch. A seating area gives you furniture made of banana leaves from Indonesia and lavish turquoise cushions. A porch came with the first residence, but Tana had it reconstructed, adding more structural support, Pennsylvania Bluestone tiles and pendant lighting. Two birch branches lean casually against the sides of the doorway. Gathered in the aunt’s farm at Three Rivers, near the Sequoia National Park, they create a pure framework as you step inside the clapboard-sided bungalow.
Industrial Pendant Lighting: Urban Archaeology
Tile: Pennsyvania Bluestone
Katerina Tana Design
A tall white timber fencing and vibrant purple wisteria make for a dramatic pairing ahead. “Wisteria was an easy choice because it would get as much light as it needed and it looks fantastic and gnarled when bare.” Tana enjoys plants which denote the delicate Southern California seasonal adjustments, and as soon as it is in blossom she says,”You can hear people oohing and aahing out because they stop and sniff it!”
Katerina Tana Design
For Tana, every detail counts. In the living area, a collection of bowls shirts a 19th-century Japanese rosewood shelf beside an antique African stool. The set of framed portraits from Burma are by 19th- and 20th-century photographer Felice Beato. Tana began collecting his work about 12 years back.
Katerina Tana Design
Tana’s no-fuss design philosophy is manifested from the kitchen’s tranquil color palette. Blue ceramic tiles constitute the backsplash, and polished nickel hardware, along with a Shaw handmade fireclay farmhouse-style sink, adds to the effortlessly casual appearance.
Countertop: Pennsylvania Bluestone
Faucets: Rohl, Perrin and Rowe
Sink: Rohl, Shaws Original
Katerina Tana Design
A handmade braided tray from New York artist Jonathan Kline functions as headboard in the master bedroom. The woven pieces are created out of ash trees Kline develops himself. Tana says she’s also collaborating with the artist interior shutters, as she’s attracted to”the way the light comes through them.”
Flanking the bed are a set of oversize Turkish tiles at a glowing blue complementary to the pink bedding by a London linen store.
Woven Tray: Jonathan Kline
Bedside tables: Waterworks
Bedding: Cologne & Cotton
Lighting: Urban Archaeology
Katerina Tana Design
At a nod to the nearby canals and beach a five-minute bicycle ride off, the bathroom includes a clean white and blue color palette. The brilliant blue oversize tiles are all creations of ceramic artist Adnan Hoca of Turkey, who works with the Iznik Foundation.
Tana has collaborated before using the Iznik Foundation for her set on a project Named Centuries Ahead. Tana designed tables around unique tile centerpieces; each table was handcrafted by woodworkers and bronze casters in California.
Countertop: Honed Volakas marble
Mirrors: Waterworks
Tiles: Iznik Foundation
Lighting: Urban Archaeology
Katerina Tana Design
The second bedroom includes additional classic furniture and collected pieces. Tana gets her furniture from dealers from the LA area (such as Eccola) and Santa Barbara, London and Paris. Above the bed is another first woven timber tray by Kline. This room provides the ideal cozy refuge to unwind from the welcomed stresses of living so near the Pacific shore.
Woven Tray: Jonathan Kline
Katerina Tana Design
Fragrant and edible plants greet you when you head out to the inviting backyard. Artichokes left to blossom add exquisite sculptural and textured form. Other plantings include lavender, pelargonium, and scented rose geraniums. Four Michelia Figo trees grow slowly, but”are particularly happy in the space and have an insane banana odor whenever they blossom,” Tana says. Water always flows in a carved white marble fountain from India, providing a pleasant place for birds to splash around and clean their wings.
Katerina Tana Design
The garden is one of Tana’s treasured areas, and it’s easy to see why. A Sombreuil (climbing rose) and tall cypress trees add to the bucolic setting. The size of this garden can be enviable, as Venice is a densely developed area where it is becoming increasingly rare to discover open outdoor spaces.
Katerina Tana Design
Fruit trees — lemon, orange, mandarin and Santa Rosa plum — provide delicious harvests. The spacious yard lends itself to dining al fresco; Tana enjoys fun as many as 100 individuals here. “It never seems to feel bloated. In Venice, space is the greatest luxury,” she says.
“I don’t believe luxury needs to be for a special event,” she continues. “Good design is something we ought to encounter at every turn.” It’s certainly encountered throughout this cheerfully elegant California house.
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Kerrie Kelly’s California Style
Nation Glamour at Woodstock, NY
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