Monday, July 7, 2025

Subsequent Cease, Montecito: As soon as a Prepare Depot, Now a Minimalist Sanctuary

We like it when the designers we’ve featured on our website examine in with us to report an replace to their residence, a brand new mission, a brand new enterprise, a relocation. Like a highschool trainer visited by former college students, we’re desirous to see the modifications which have occurred since we have been final involved.

So we have been delighted to open an e-mail from Remodelista alum Kathleen Whitaker, an LA jewellery designer whose works are unusually elegant and suave. In 2014, we shared her first rework of her Echo Park residence, and some years later the replace to the replace. The summer season earlier than final, she wrote to inform us, she briefly moved right into a rental in Montecito, a sleepy-chic group subsequent to Santa Barbara, to flee the stress of dwelling within the metropolis throughout a pandemic.

“The cottage dates again to the Twenties. It’s a single-story one-bedroom—at 675 sq. toes, precisely what you want (and nothing extra) for a getaway spot,” she says. “It’s certainly one of 4 cottages, all initially a part of the practice depot, so every one is exclusive and really charming. I used to be informed this particular cottage was seemingly the ticket workplace and baggage room. So even in its preliminary carnation, it was a spot simply to move by way of, briefly.”

The place got here unfurnished—an inconvenience that, for a lot of, would result in a visit to Ikea. However Kathleen noticed it as an intriguing design problem: to create the peaceable retreat she sought utilizing largely furnishings, decor, and artwork that she already had in her LA residence. “It was slightly confining however enjoyable to work with huge limitations,” she says. However even with the restrictions—no portray, no everlasting modifications—she was capable of sneak in a small, nail-free, simply detachable DIY mission. (Scroll right down to see the intelligent nook desk she constructed.)

Right here’s the way it all got here collectively.

Images by Ye Rin Mok and Logan White.

the cottage came painted white, which kathleen liked. the many unattractive wal 17
Above: The cottage got here painted white, which Kathleen preferred. The numerous unattractive wall sconces, although, she couldn’t abide. “I switched them out for fundamental ceramic bases with silver-tipped bulbs,” she says. The portray is by Hadley Vacation. {Photograph} by Ye Rin Mok.
much of the furniture is vintage—including the sofa (won at a billings auctio 18
Above: A lot of the furnishings is classic—together with the couch (gained at a Billings public sale and for which she had one lengthy cushion made and coated in felt) and the Nineteen Seventies Tacchini Sesann chair. The Noguchi flooring lamp is from OK in Santa Monica. The bolster pillow is by Christina Lundsteen, from Misplaced & Discovered. {Photograph} by Logan White.
like in her echo park home, light is ample in this cottage thanks to the many w 19
Above: Like in her Echo Park residence, mild is ample on this cottage because of the numerous home windows, together with some which are floor-to-ceiling. The portray above the chair is by Jay Stuckey. The ebook bench, created from reclaimed Douglas fir, is by Kathleen’s previous studio mate, Lindon Schultz. {Photograph} by Ye Rin Mok.
kathleen bought two vintage donghia pillow slipper chairs from chairish and had 20
Above: Kathleen purchased two classic Donghia pillow slipper chairs from Chairish and had them reupholstered in a poplin cotton. The desk is from LA vintage retailer The Window. {Photograph} by Logan White.
kathleen whitaker montecito train depot cottage table
Above: The vintage desk was handed down from a pal. Kathleen discovered the lamp at Brimfield. The basket is a classic “garlic gourd’ that she makes use of to carry her canine’ leashes and collars. {Photograph} by Ye Rin Mok.


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