Dare We Say, This Brown-on-Brown L.A. Kitchen Beats Bright and Airy Any Day
Photo by Michael P.H. Clifford
Kirsten Blazek had known the owners of this home for five years by the time they saw her professional side. As the founder of design firm a1000xBetter, which has gained traction for its of-the-moment take on mid-century style, Blazek seemed like the ideal person to make over the 1959 property they purchased in the foothills of Los Angeles—as long as she didn’t mind the pressure of working for friends. “It’s less formal than the usual setup, but I’m still doing a service,” she says. “More than anything, I wanted to make sure it was a hit.”
As a creative director and lawyer, respectively, the couple are naturally detail oriented and were eager to go all in on a sophisticated style. Their three-bedroom home was likely finished around the time Eisenhower was president, but it hadn’t been significantly touched since. “It had all of the character of a typical mid-century, like a large stone fireplace and wood beams, but it also had a disjointed layout with a cramped galley kitchen. There was really old shag carpeting, too,” recalls Blazek.
