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.

I am extremely excited to introduce you to another fabulous partner for the COCOCOZY Design House, Monogram! This is GE’s elite line of professional kitchen appliances.

As a major anchor partner for our renovation of the 1860 square foot Spanish style home in View Park LA, Monogram has offered to provide EVERYTHING… EVERYTHING appliance related for the kitchen. This mean Refrigeration, Stove, Dishwasher, Microwave and even the Washer/Dryer. Woo!

I was at my day job one day and I was telling a colleague, who is a major home chef, about the COCOCOZY Design House concept and he suggested I reach out to Monogram, the best in the business. I immediately hopped on Google and learned about this amazing line of professional quality kitchen appliances. The minute I saw this great collection, I was in love! That weekend, I popped over to the local showroom where I spent a good amount of time oogling over all of the appliances on display!

Work on the COCOCOZY Design House continues.  

Next step — lighting! This has been THE single most difficult design decision for this house by far. Lucky for me, Lamps Plus came on board to help me solve the dilemma. As one of our fabulous anchor partners in the COCOCOZY Design House project, Lamps Plus offered to give me lighting for all areas. Wait, what? All rooms and outdoor! Again, what?! All lighting! Yes.  

Lamps Plus does have some brands they make themselves like Possini, Franklin Ironworks, 360 Lighting, John Timberland, and a few more… but in addition to those, they carry tens and tens of thousands of lights from other brands. I whittled down my selection after several visits to two different Lamps Plus stores here in Los Angeles. This was a real exercise in decision making!

Time for some kitchen planning!

The cabinets have been ordered, appliances have been selected, and now I am thinking about counters. I am super duper lucky to have another wonderful company on board to provide product for the COCOCOZY Design House. Caesarstone has generously agreed to supply all of the countertop material for the kitchen and the baths.

I had Caesarstone counters in my first house — you all may remember that tiny little cottage in the Hollywood Hills. Now for my first COCOCOZY Design House, I went to Caesarstone as my first choice for counters!

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)!

It might be sunny here in California, but I still have winter mountain vibes on my mind!

This Park City Canyons kitchen remodel by Studio McGee is a gorgeous example of how to take an outdated ski home and transform it into a stylish, cozy mountain destination. This isn’t totally my style, but I love the use of traditional warm colors and bright whites to really give this home some life — while still keeping that rustic cabin feel!

So thrilled to bring you my latest project!  A fabulous small kitchen remodel!!!  I was lucky enough to partner with the Whirlpool Corporation and my very talented developer friend Steve Jones of Better Shelter. Steve and I began working on this project a few months back – remodeling this fixer upper 2 bedroom house in the on-trend Silver Lake area of Los Angeles. We got really excited when we were offered Whirlpool Fingerprint-Resistant Black Stainless Steel appliances for the tiny kitchen remodel.  Okay, if you have read the blog over the years you know, I always love a wonderful small kitchen remodel. The blog started because almost 10 years ago because I had remodeled my then really small kitchen in the Hollywood Hills.  Now, this project is particularly thrilling because of the appliances we are using, I get to be at the forefront of the next kitchen design trend…read on to see how…

(This post is sponsored by the Whirlpool Corporation. While I received product and compensation, all opinions are my own)

Have you ever done something once and then had to redo it again and again…well for some reason I wrote a whole post about this AMAZING kitchen and it didn’t save.  So then I wrote it again and published it and it published blank.  Third time is a charm?  Here we go.  Love this kitchen by Illinois interior designer Kate Marker. (I am literally saving the post after I write each sentence….arghh…anyhooooo…).  Fantastic open kitchen with dining room.  Light white washed exposed wood beams with a matching range hood tucked into a nook, great dramatic farmhouse style pendant lights, steel doors, cool rope chairs surrounding the dining room table…and then there is the adorable prep sink!  Quite luxurious to have a second kitchen sink.  Love Kate’s work with this one AND another fab kitchen she designed that I feature on Instagram today.  But before going to my Instagram, take a tour of this darling modern country kitchen…

I find inspiration in so many places and in so many styles.  For example today, I bring you this pretty country farmhouse style kitchen from Stanwick + Dunham and Frank Smith Designs in Charlotte, NC.  The kitchen is actually in a 2007 built English Arts & Crafts style house in Charlotte. Love the white curved tongue and groove ceiling.  The vibe in this space is wonderfully farmhouse country living.  Wouldn’t this be a lovely space to make your morning tea or coffee every day?

I have no intention of remodeling a kitchen any time soon BUT that doesn’t mean I can’t admire all things that have to do with making a kitchen beautiful.  Earlier this week, I shared a cute kitchen from a hip Hollywood home for sale.  Today, am still musing about kitchens but this time it is all about backsplash tiles.  So many things to think about in a kitchen…cabinets, appliances, color, lighting AND perhaps one of the most important decorative touches is the kitchen backsplash.

Even if you live in an apartment or a rental that you do not want to renovate…there are options.  North Carolina based Mirth Studio, where I have a collection of COCOCOZY wood floor tiles, makes cute peel and stick tiles that can be used and then peeled off when you move out!  There are options.

That being said, here is my complete tile guide to 41 kitchen backplash tiles…(thanks to intern Henna K for her help with this one)…here goes…

I love love love this green small kitchen with black and white checkered marble floors designed by blogger Gwen Hefner of The Makerista. So well designed.  Apparently she and her husband took charge of making over their outdated kitchen last year.  They took a normal small kitchen and gave it an extremely luxe feel with green cabinets, black pendant lights, quartz countertops and more.  Click below to tour the full space and to see what it looked like before!

What does it cost to remodel a kitchen?  That is the question of the day.  Of course the answer can be…”as much as you want to spend” or we can give you a few details.

Today,I bring you a cute kitchen update from STUDIO LIFE.STYLE. designers Shannon Wollack and Brittany Zwickl.  This is a kitchen they remodeled for a client here in the Los Angeles area.  The designers shared some of their sources and design thinking behind transforming this space into a cute kitchen.  They estimate that a remodel like this would cost between $30K-40K.

For those of you contemplating your first kitchen remodel, I have also broken down a possible kitchen renovation budget from low to high end too.  How much does it cost to remodel a kitchen like a designer…details…details…

I love a wonderful range hood mounted on a wall above a cooktop.  Most people go for the generic store-bought version that matches their stove.  Typically now-a-days that has been a standard stainless steel or white.  I like the idea of going for a hood with a little trim on it.  If you have contractor creating a frame for your vent and sleeve – make a custom version range hood…trim it with a little wood or some metal.  There are companies that will customize a hood for you online at a bit of a cost.  I love this as an option.  Modern or classic…it can be done.  Just an idea!

My favorite is this first photo designed by E Interiors…simple, elegant, modern and rustic with the wood trim around the bottom. The rest are just some ideas for more traditional kitchen designs but good-looking too!  Take a look.

Must love a great two-toned kitchen.  Right? Because of my new COCOCOZY Color Block rug collection, I am all about the color blocking in home decor this season.  About a year ago, my mother had her lower cabinets painted a lovely blue and her upper kitchen cabinets painted white. It is nice to have a mom who is instinctively ‘on trend’!  Love the idea of juxtaposing large monochromatic blocks of color in a room.  I am doing a room makeover for a girls’ room right now.  My little “clients” love pink.  I decided to give them a color blocked room with a perfect pink ceiling and white walls.  It turned out sooooo cute.  So since I am all about two-toned spaces and things…today I bring you 12 stunning two-toned kitchens.  Hope you enjoy!

The copper trend continues to live on…

About 5-6 years ago, the on-trend must have accent metal for hardware and lighting in kitchens was brass and or gold.  Copper then snuck onto the scene a few years ago as the metal du jour.  The trend is a definite.  I like the idea of mixing copper accents int the kitchen with other metals.  Pendant lights, faucets, drawer handles and pulls…you name it…copper works.  Here’s a few copper looks I am loving for the kitchen…

Today I bring you fab tile backsplash ideas for behind the stove in the kitchen.  Just a like a beautifully painted feature wall in any other room of a home, the area above the cooktop in a kitchen provides a great space for a pretty interior design moment in a kitchen.

Cement tile, ceramic tile, subway tile, mosaic tile, zellig tiles, limestone, so many options.  Take a look…