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How to Decorate

Ep. 356: Los Angeles Interiors with Annie Kelly

How to Decorate

Caroline McDonald

Arts, Business, Design

4.4 • 838 Ratings

🗓️ 10 April 2024

⏱️ 43 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

We head to Tinseltown this week for a fun history lesson in LA design with accomplished author, Annie Kelly. Annie shares insights from her new book "City of Dreams: Los Angeles Interiors," offering a sweeping photographic survey of the city's most striking historic and contemporary homes. She discusses the inspiration behind the book and her longtime creative partnership with photographer Tim Street-Porter and shares a glimpse inside some of LA's most breathtaking modernist gems as well as historically significant homes. Annie also traces the evolution of the city's architecture from the early influence of the film industry to the innovative mid-century structures still inspiring interiors today. What You’ll Hear On This Episode: The inspiration behind Annie’s book, City of Dreams: Los Angeles Interiors.  How the topography and terrain of LA helps foster different and often quite eccentric design choices.  More about the influence of the film industry and influx of architects and artists after WWII on past and present design in LA.  Annie shares more about how she chose the homes featured in the book to be more about interesting and captivating stories rather than just celebrities.  Mid-century modern architecture in LA.  More about Annie’s venetian-gothic home.  Outdoor living and garden spaces that expanded entertaining areas.  The evolution of LA's architecture from the grid pattern of flatlands to hillside communities.  Renowned LA design stores and the characters behind them.  Restoring iconic Case Study Houses for a new generation to appreciate.  What is next for Annie and Tim? A sneak peek into a very exciting upcoming project.  Ballard Designs  City of Dreams: Los Angeles Interiors  @anniehkelly  @timstreetporter  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

Welcome to How to Decorate from Ballard Designs, a podcast all about the trials and triumphs of decorating and redecorating your home.

0:08.9

Each week will help you unleash your inner decorator.

0:11.6

I'm Caroline, and I'm on the marketing team.

0:14.0

And I'm Taryn, and I'm a product designer.

0:16.0

And I'm Liz.

0:16.8

I head up the Ballard creative team.

0:18.4

We're your host. Join the expert team at Ballard Designs

0:21.9

for tips, tricks, and tales from interior designers, stylists, and other talents in the design world.

0:26.1

Plus, we'll answer a listener question at the end of each show. So don't forget to send them to

0:30.2

podcast of Ballarddesigns.net. Yes, we love answering them. Now on with the show.

0:36.9

Okay, so today we have writer and designer Annie Kelly, who's an accomplished author in the design community with 12 design books under her belt.

0:46.8

She's written the very popular Rooms to Inspire series, as well as authoring several books with her husband, photographer Tim Street Porter.

0:55.1

The two of them have been living and writing about Los Angeles for decades,

0:59.0

and in their most recent book, City of Dreams, Los Angeles Interiors,

1:03.4

they take us through the history of design in Los Angeles with a look at 21 incredible homes.

1:09.6

It's a peak inside the architecture and interior design of artists and visionaries and their

1:14.8

influences.

1:15.8

Annie, welcome to the show.

1:18.0

Thank you.

1:19.0

Great to be here.

1:20.9

So this book is just a beautiful look at Los Angeles homes and really the magic of Los Angeles and living in Los Angeles.

1:32.3

Maybe you can tell us a little bit about what inspired you to bring this book to life.

...

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