California State of Mind: A Harmonious Lifestyle
Defining the California Aesthetic
The California aesthetic is characterized by a generous sense of space, abundant natural light, and a deep appreciation for materiality. This interior design style prioritizes a fluid transition between indoor and outdoor environments, celebrating the state's golden light and diverse landscapes. Beyond a singular look, it is a restorative practice that utilizes quality-crafted, sustainable materials to support emotional and physical wellbeing.
A Celebration of the Local Environment
At its core, California home style mirrors the beauty of the coastline and high desert through a palette of soft greens, deep blues, and warm earth tones. This design principle invites the outdoors in, fostering tranquility and connection. This regional approach is rooted in the early 20th-century Arts and Crafts movement, which emphasized a direct response to the natural landscape and the use of materials to anchor a building to its site.
Sarah Barnard, LEED + WELL A.P., notes, “Intentionally designing a sanctuary can cultivate a space that supports a deeper connection with our internal experience.” This focus on quality is central to creating a California connection within a residence.
Honor in Craftsmanship and Narrative
The interior design aesthetic is rooted in traditions that value personal, handmade, and quality-crafted details. By focusing on artisan furniture and architectural elements that showcase raw materials like wood and stone, a home becomes a collection of stories. This approach often includes design strategies for an unpredictable climate, where beauty and functionality balance to support longevity.
This narrative includes regional styles like the Spanish Colonial Revival, which blossomed in the 1920s to become a dominant Southern California style, using stucco, tile, and lush courtyards to create a romantic, site-sensitive identity.
Caliterranean: A blend of Italian, Spanish, and Mission influences characterized by soft stucco and intricate tilework.
Scandifornian: Coastal California elements paired with Scandinavian simplicity.
Francofornia: French sensibilities combined with California comfort.
Material Integrity and Environmental Health
Modern California design style prioritizes material health, selecting sustainable options that support a fresh indoor environment. This includes reclaimed woods, natural textiles, and raw minerals that provide a grounded presence. A humanistic modernism emerged in the state that fully embraced comfort and leisure, responding directly to the environment. Many homeowners also explore vegan home design to create a compassionate style that reflects a love of animals and wildlife.
Intentional Minimalism
The California look is curated and intentional, promoting calm and order. By utilizing vertical space and layered lighting, rooms feel expansive and airy. Functional elements are often integrated into specialized cabinetry or built-ins, allowing the eye to rest on art and natural woodgrains. This refined approach, sometimes called Caliminimalism, emphasizes organized spaces and functional neutral palettes.
Strategies for Achieving a California Lifestyle
Achieving this interior design style is as much about cultivating a state of mind as it is about visual design. By making intentional choices, the home becomes a tool for a life focused on mindfulness and connection to the land.
Cultivate a Nature-Inspired Palette
Selecting colors rooted in local minerals and flora brings the landscape indoors.
Coastal and Earth Tones: Soft greens, deep blues, and warm neutrals reflect the West Coast.
Grounding Minerals: Natural stones like California slate or river rock offer a sense of stability.
Golden Tones: Salvaged sycamore or reclaimed redwood emulate the warmth of West Coast sunshine.
Select Materials for Integrity and Longevity
The history of materials plays a significant role in supporting the local ecosystem and health.
Certified Timbers: FSC-certified woods like reclaimed elm or ash support environmental preservation.
Textile Health: Natural linens or textiles support indoor air quality.
Low-Impact Finishes: No-VOC materials for wood surfaces support a healthy living environment.
Emphasize Artisanal Craftsmanship
Focusing on pieces that showcase human effort and natural beauty adds depth to an interior.
Bespoke Furniture: Custom pieces celebrate the organic form of the wood.
Restored Heirlooms: Integrating family pieces or salvaged historical materials honors design traditions.
Tactile Surfaces: Chiseled wood, textured art, or rough-hewn stone add physical interest.
Sarah Barnard, LEED + WELL A.P., is a leading interior designer of personalized, sustainable spaces that support mental, physical, and emotional wellbeing. She creates restorative environments deeply connected to art and the preservation of the natural world. Sarah has been recognized as a “Ones to Watch” Scholar by the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID).
Bibliography
Stovall, Sarah. “California Design, 1930–1965: Living in a Modern Way.” LACMA, 2011. https://www.lacma.org/sites/default/files/California%20Design%20didactic%20FINAL.pdf
Van Wormer, Catherine. “Architecture and Engineering Theme: Arts and Crafts Movement, 1895-1930.” City of Los Angeles Department of City Planning, 2016. https://planning.lacity.gov/odocument/18037253-197d-483a-8b13-c85fcd553fe8/ArtsandCraftsMovement_1895-1930.pdf
Sloan, Carolyne. “Spanish Colonial Revival Architecture in Santa Monica.” Santa Monica Conservancy, 2024. https://smconservancy.org/property/parkhurst-building/
The Natural World Within Luxury Home Design
We can harness the beauty of nature within our homes in subtle and luxurious ways. Material and form combine within this home project to capture components of a beautiful experience within nature, such as the golden glory of a sunrise, a leaf floating in the wind, or the fresh lightness of bubbles in the ocean.
The primary bedroom for this home project features a dusty pink color palette in the upholstered headboard, rug, sofa cushions, and drapes. This color scheme, reflected in the large abstract painting that hangs beside the bed, works harmoniously with the tones of a recessed architectural feature in the ceiling. A dramatic pendant chandelier made from hand-blown textured glass and brass hangs in this recess. Inspired by organic shapes and textures of the sea, it resembles bubbles floating elegantly in space. The wrap-around upholstered headboard creates a sense of privacy and comfort. To balance this expanse of upholstery, the exposed timber bed frame made from Danish oiled walnut gives the bed a feeling of lightness within the room.
This view of the primary bedroom showcases the fireplace and ornate closets. A hand-tufted silk rug breaks up the darker tones of the Danish oiled walnut bed frame and hardwood floor. Rectangular, wall sconces made from glass and metal hang on either side of the fireplace; the fog finish glass produces a warm, diffused light within the room.
In this option, the black and white marble coffee table creates a dramatic focal point underneath the draped chains of the hand-blown glass chandelier. These darker tones, alongside the grey textile of the custom curved sofa, create a point of contrast that grounds the dusty pink highlights around the room.
A spare bedroom is transformed into a luxurious dressing room. A fantastical space dedicated to preparing for special events and the display of treasured fashion items.
This option for the dressing room features a custom built-in vanity, closet, and shelving. The closet features glass doors flanked on either side by multiple shelves that create a retail-like environment. The shelving and vanity countertop is made from a beautiful slab of Quartzite, which harmonizes with the tone of the custom-built island in the center of the room. This island features a framed glass top and bronze base. Bronze accents carry throughout the space in the vanity chair's cast legs, the drawer hardware's bronze patina, and the hand-cast satin bronze legs of the vanity bench. The generous, plush seat of the vanity chair is upholstered in Boucle, providing a soft, luxurious, and inviting texture. These seating options are tied together with a plush, faux sheepskin area rug whose thick pile and organic shape bring warmth and softness to the floor.
The chandelier presented in this option for the dressing room is a series of organic shapes that resemble flower buds, made from hand-blown glass and metal. The amber tone of the glass ties in nicely with the vanity drawers made from Danish oiled walnut. The custom-made wall mirror features a honed stone inset and brass frame, which connects with the material elements of the vanity counter and shelving throughout the room.
This viewpoint of the dressing room features a floor mirror with an iron frame and antique brass finish, as well as additional built-in shelving to display shoes and accessories as if browsing in a luxury boutique.
In this option for the primary bedroom, the color scheme of the headboard, sofa, cushions, and drapes is a lighter, creamier shade of pink. The shape of the gold-polished stainless steel suspension lamp, which hangs from the decorative recess in the ceiling, is reminiscent of floating abstract leaves. The hammered patina of this fixture creates a plant-like texture that gently reflects light around the room. The bronze wall sconce above the bed also features a subtle texture that resembles the imprint of a leaf. Its golden oval is mirrored in the colors and shapes of the abstract painting that hangs beside the bed.
Here, the hand-tufted rug has a subtle rose tint that harmonizes with the room's lighter, creamy pink highlights. It also features a faint decorative floral pattern that echoes the botanical influence of the leaf-shaped suspension lamp and textured wall sconces.
This view features golden oval wall sconces on either side of the fireplace; their bronze patina reflects a warm, rich light reminiscent of a sunrise. This light is captured by the textured surface of the leaf-shaped gold polished stainless steel suspension lamp, creating a warm golden glow throughout the room.
This option for the dressing room replaces the exposed shelving with a fully enclosed custom-built closet with glass doors. The island in the center of the room has a green tint and brass base, which ties in with the brass accents in the art deco dressing table and the soft gold legs of the creamy boucle bench. Incorporating leather alongside walnut and brass in the dressing table creates a pleasing tactility that softens the hardness of the other materials. This softness carries through in the vanity chair, which is upholstered in bouclé fabric and features a vast circular backrest.
In this option for the dressing room, the circular pendant chandelier features unique, handmade slabs of clear glass with abstract white swirls within them. Each piece of glass looks organic, mirroring the room's round white shapes. The custom-built shelves that wrap around the corner of the closet are made from a beautiful Onyx slab, whose natural pattern echoes the smoky white swirls of the glass chandelier.
This option visualizes how the glass doors of the custom closet provide another source of light within the room. This lightness continues in a large floor mirror framed in bone, antique brass-finished metal, and mango wood.
Concepts and materials from the natural world often bring mindfulness and contentment into our homes. With this can also come luxury, creating a dream level of comfort and style that brings glamour and excitement into our everyday experience of a space.
Sarah Barnard, WELL AP + LEED AP, is a leading designer of personalized, sustainable spaces that support mental, physical, and emotional wellbeing. She creates highly personalized, restorative spaces that are deeply connected to art and the preservation of the environment. An advocate for consciousness, inclusivity, and compassion in the creative process, Sarah has appeared in Architectural Digest, Elle Décor, Vogue, HGTV, and many other publications. In 2017 Sarah was honored as a “Ones to Watch” Scholar by the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID).