I need to brag about my dear friend Linda Grasso for a second.

Linda is the editor of Los Angeles magazine Ventura Blvd and the host of the SheSez with Linda Grasso podcast. She is a veteran journalist who interviews fascinating women about their bold, innovative, and sometimes badass moves. She and her husband Charlie recently remodeled the kitchen in their fantastic Encino home. They’ve lived in the house for years and have raised their sons there.

A little background, Linda and I go way back. We both worked at E! Entertainment Television, where we became friends after working on a project together. She has since been a fabulous confidant and consistent sounding board over the years! You may remember when she interviewed me on her podcast — which you can catch up on by clicking here.

Anyway, I went over to Linda’s house right before the remodel to have lunch with her and to brainstorm with her about fixtures, counters, the works. I loved her old kitchen… it had a Tuscan or French country feel to it. Linda and Charlie were ready for a change, though. This whole project started as an interior paint refresh, but it turned into a whole new kitchen. Like me, she is an avid cook and entertainer — so I understand her desire to create an inviting place that she’s proud of.

As far as exterior color goes, the house in this first picture is my inspiration for the color scheme on the exterior of the  COCOCOZY Design House! The inspiration house was designed by my COCOCOZY Design House partner, amazing real estate developer, Steve Jones of BetterShelter

I am in the process of picking all the exterior colors for the renovation of the stunning 1860-square-foot Spanish style home built in 1930 in the heart of View Park, LA. I have never had to make so many decisions in such a short amount of time other than right now. We started actual construction the first ever COCOCOZY Design House in the middle of April — and since then, I have been running around like crazy!!! Arghhhhh.

One of the decisions that was easiest for me was picking Benjamin Moore as the exclusive paint partner for the project. The Benjamin Moore team was nice enough to give me all of the paint for both interior and exterior of the home. I felt honored that this brand was open to the idea of working with me and my team on this inaugural COCOCOZY Design House.

Taking a quick break from the COCOCOZY Design House craziness for a Laurel Canyon home tour!

I lived just east of Laurel Canyon for such a long time, so this one hits home for me. I love the rustic nature of living in the hills above Los Angeles. One of my favorite things is finding a really refined spaced in the midst of the windy roads. This grand 1925 Mediterranean-style mansion belonging to interior designer Brigette Romanek and her husband Mark is quite fantastic. It is a 2800-square-metre untraditional family home (previously owned by legendary music producer Rick Rubin) that has true California refinement and obvious musical history.  

Let’s take a peek (below)!

Major life update alert!

If you’ve been following me on Instagram, you already know that I’ve started my first big COCOCOZY design house project! And now that I’ve got my footing, I want to bring you all along on the journey with me in hopes we can learn a thing or two together!

Basically, I bought this house as an investment property a few months ago in an historic area here in Los Angeles called View Park. The Spanish Style home is 1860 square feet and was built in 1931. It sits on a large, magical lot surrounded by palm trees and birds of paradise. It was 3 bedrooms and 3 baths — but now we are morphing it into a 4 bedroom and 3.5 bath home!

If you know me, you know I was admittedly OBSESSED with the Royal Wedding!

I am still on a detox after days of being glued to the TV, live streams, and social media soaking up every detail I could about Meghan Markle and Prince Harry. I can’t be the only one who cared that much, right?? Help me please.

One thing I can’t stop thinking about from the magical weekend is the Cliveden House, the exclusive hotel property just outside of Windsor where Meghan and her mother, Doria Ragland, stayed the night before the nuptials.

As you can imagine, the dreamy seventeenth century estate located in the quaint Berkshire countryside is incredibly historic and sits on about 400 acres of land. Surrounded by trees and gardens, the venue also offers stunning views of the River Thames. Inside there are ornate chandeliers, gold-plated furniture, heavy-canopied beds, oil paintings, and velvet couches. The definition of glamour!

It is all about the high ceilings and exposed beams in this canal loft house in Amsterdam.  Renovated by the design team at Netherlands based interior design firm Nicemakers, this 1600s built loft on a canal was once an orphanage.  Today here’s a little house tour for you from Europe!  Love pitched ceilings in the living room and the exposed beams in the kitchen…check it out!

My mind has been swirling lately with all of the craziness in the world. Today, I am finding my refuge in escapist beautiful aspirational images of living spaces. This is not to say I am tuning out of what is going on…I am so concerned and I encourage everyone to stay alert and aware, to be understanding and helpful to our fellow citizens and to engage, to speak out when you see wrong and to use your votes to act. Over the last year, I have been so busy.  I have been finding it hard to carve out time to blog. Every time I am just about ready to write a blog post, some political crisis or natural disaster strikes and I am so shell shocked about the state of the world (our country in particular) that I cannot bear to write about what I love – design. This last week, I am finding refuge in my website…not bury my head in the sand kind of refuge…but recharge my soul kind of refuge, pick up my chin, and stand tall (or kneel) and face what is going on around us all.  Recharging is necessary these days…don’t you think?  That being said…today I bring you beautiful beautiful Paris apartment living in an Avenue Montaigne home designed by French architect Joseph Dirand (have a huge crush on his design sensibility).  Unique, classic, modern…Paris ultra modern at its best…the closet and the floating marble counter in the kitchen are certainly my faves…take a look….

You guys…I will be in Paris at the end of this week!  So excited to travel back to one of my favorite cities in the world.  This year, am stopping in Paris for a few days to see my mother at the beautiful Parisian apartment she leases ever year.  My dear friend AT is coming in from London for a few days, I’ll go back to London with her for a day to hang out with AT and her guy AND to see a top secret project I have been working on…and then back to Paris and then off to Greece.  I cannot wait.  I have a full schedule in about 11 days but I am so excited.

Anyhoooo…all of this talk of Paris travel has me dreaming about Paris interiors.  Here’s a Paris house tour of one for you…a $6.5 million dollar apartment in the 8th arrondissement….take a tour….