It's hard to beat a Wallace Neff on a leafy street in Hancock Park. An inspiration for these interiors was to furnish them as if original occupants might still reside there, with furniture dating from the deco period forward, anchored by significant streamline Asian antiques.

As I often do, I began with color, selecting a complex, unexpected shade of melon. This tone softly glows very differently from room to room. I chose a neutral white for trim and ceilings. These colors seem to do justice to the Italianate architectural theme of the building. I picked a black brown enamel for the trim in the living and dining rooms for a slightly more formal tone. This family of colors provides an uplifting backdrop for all the serious antiques and fine fabrics, architectural symmetry and progression of spaces.

In addition to color, I did some minor architectural work to smooth the lines of age, making the space prettier and more user friendly. I restored the original kitchen, and pulled out vestiges of former owners, such as wall-to-wall carpet, which hid an amazing mosaic floor in the bathroom. I added lighting and fixtures more suitable for the space.

A pair of sofas of my own design provides comfortable seating in the living room. They sit low, and stress a horizontal line, broken by vertical channels along the back evocative of late deco upholstery styling. They are executed in a soft celadon wool boucle, again meant to evoke a vintage look. The dining chairs, upholstered in Bergamo silk, and dining table are also pieces I manufacture, reproduced from vintage and antique originals. Low, plush, bordered rugs in a unified color scheme pull together the public spaces, quietly layering the rooms for warmth without being overbearingly formal.

I really wanted the rooms in this home to be seen, and not disguised. I invited exotic flourishes and juxtaposed them with non-thematic deco embellishments. I emphasized contrast throughout choosing pieces in dark woods, and setting them against light walls and fabrics. In this way, the antiques stand out just enough. The home is as much a statement of today as it is of the past.