Jen & Alex

Jen & Alex

Jump to a section

Jen and Alex love their 1940s L.A. home: It’s full of character and still has some of the original features, but its closed-off layout is no longer functioning for the growing family. We tackled the living room, dining room, kitchen, mudroom and backyard to give Jen and Alex a clean, bright transformation that embraces both the past and the present.

Shop the Look

Check out the decor, furniture, and more seen in this episode–and get it for yourself!

FH S5E1 Jen&Alex

Click below to see all of the items featured in this episode!

wdt_ID	Room	Product Type	style	Product	Company	Product Code/Style
1	Throughout	Pot Lights	HLB4LED	HLB4LED	HALO	HLB4LED
2	Throughout	Flooring	Brighton (White Oak)	Brighton (White Oak)	CRAFT Artisan Wood Floors	N/A
3	Dining Room	Lighting	Armstrong 26" 8-Light Chandelier Natural Brass	Armstrong 26" 8-Light Chandelier Natural Brass	Kichler	N/A
4	Kitchen/Laundry Room	Countertops	Calcutta	Calcutta	Ollin Stone	N/A
5	Backyard	Floor Tile	Interlocking Decking Tiles	Interlocking Decking Tiles	Eco Arbor Designs	N/A
6	Throughout	Wall, Trim, Ceiling Paint	Revere Pewter	Revere Pewter	Benjamin Moore	HC-172

Before & After

DESIGN HIGHLIGHTS

NO REPLACING THIS FIREPLACE

Jen fell in love with their home’s original 1940s charm, from its chime doorbell to this detailed mantle and brick fireplace. She didn’t want a sleek modern upgrade for fear of losing that character, so we sanded it down, repainted it and cleaned up the bricks to maintain the home’s authenticity while giving them a useful feature as well as a conversation piece.

SCANDINAVIAN-ISH

Alex’s native Sweden had a big influence on his design tastes, which trended toward the typical Scandinavian white-on-white, ultramodern look. When we took our design inspiration tour, though, we discovered both Jen and Alex wanted to integrate more wood tones and texture into a Scandinavian palette. We took that advice and gave them a veined slab backsplash with wood-grain cabinetry to provide a more visually arresting space.

OUTSIDE THE BUDGET

We presented Jen and Alex an option to redo the backyard, but with a potential family trip to Sweden looming, the couple opted to focus their budget on the inside of the house. But we couldn’t just do nothing—that’s not our style! So we figured out a few ways to make the budget stretch to provide a new wood tile over their concrete pad, with coordinated outdoor furniture to give them a brand-new entertaining space without breaking the bank.