A Lattice Room Perfect for Summer

As we all prepare for the long summer at home, I don’t think it is unusual that we start looking around our houses to see what projects can be achieved. So today I thought I would present a sweet sun porch that we transformed one year for the Pasadena Showcase House for the Arts. It is a great example of how a simple thing done well can totally transform a room.

The room that I wanted to transform was a well lit sun room that was just off the Library, which was sort of a formal space, so I wanted this room to be a nice transition from formality to the garden. It had fantastic windows and in fact may have been an open porch at some point that was enclosed.

I have always loved lattice walled rooms and this one is one of the best designs I had seen, although the scale was off, it was a great inspiration for what I thought we could achieve. Even the color was perfect, that soft olive sage kind of paint was the ideal backdrop.

One day I happened to be visiting Greystone, the old Doheny Estate in Beverly Hills, and along one edge of their walled garden was this fantastic lattice screen. Now this one had the right scale and the right mix of architecture and design, so this became the basis for our design.

So after a lot of math and geometry we finally got the layout correct and started with the walls. To get the layout right, start with the basics, like the wainscot location and the various vertical pieces, then you can use the lattice to fill in the spaces. Like any project, the more you layout and prepare ahead of the time the better the whole project will end up.

This is an image of the room almost complete. You can really see how the lattice has accentuated the architecture of the room and made a nice, well lit space into a dramatic garden room with a true sense of place.

This is the finished design. I furnished the space with a blend of indoor and outdoor furniture, anchoring the room with a natural fiber rug and then the large slip covered pieces of furniture. The abstract sculptures are made of onyx and were selected because of their translucent qualities which gave more depth to the room. This space is still one of my all time favorites.

Want to see what we can do with your space? Why not reach out and set up a free design consultation and we can discuss ideas to make your home a show piece.