Beauty Doesn’t Have to Be Expensive – And Surviving LA’s Wildfires Has Shown Us What Truly Matters in a Home and Its Decor
It was a terrible start to the year, but a challenging time that made us swing into action, and taught about what makes a house a home
Interior designers Azar Fattahi and Lia McNairy, founders of the LA-based studio LALA Reimagined, have joined Homes & Gardens as Editors-at-Large for By Design. They’ll be sharing their insights on creating personality-filled interiors and the art of blending eclectic ideas into richly characterful schemes. See the rest of their articles here.
Last year, Los Angeles endured one of the most destructive wildfire seasons in its history. The city lived under a constant veil of tension – sirens echoing in the distance, the Watch Duty app alerting us to danger nearly every half hour, smoke lingering in the air, and that surreal, amber-tinted sky that makes the world feel slightly off its axis. One evening, a fire ignited suddenly along Mulholland, near Hollywood, and I found myself forced to evacuate with almost no warning.
Completely unprepared, I ran through my house, grabbing anything that felt important – valuables, mementos, sentimental objects – without logic, purely on instinct. It’s a feeling I never want to experience again. By the next morning, my phone was flooded with calls and texts. Friends, family, and neighbors – so many had lost their homes overnight.
Azar’s cousin, Tina, had been asking us for years to help design her home. But life got in the way – timelines, schedules, the usual juggling act – and somehow, the project never began. Then, in one devastating night, her entire world turned to ash: the home she cherished, the nursery she had lovingly prepared for her baby boy, due in just weeks – gone.
In moments like these, decisions are instinctive. We didn’t hesitate. We simply stepped in.
It took time to find the right home for Tina, her husband, and their newborn – a place with open flow, strong bones, and the potential to cradle a fresh chapter. And through it all, we remained mindful of the budget. When life is stripped down to its essentials, priorities shift. But one of our core beliefs at LALA has always remained true: beauty doesn’t have to be expensive. We thrive on the high–low mix. We treasure flea markets. We get resourceful. And yes – we make it fabulous.
The first transformation began with paint. We wrapped the entire interior in Kashmir by Portola Paint, but pushed it to 100% intensity – richer, warmer, and twice as soulful. Instantly, the house seemed to exhale, breathing life into its walls and ready to embrace its new story.
For the primary bedroom, our vision was simple: to create a sanctuary – a place where two exhausted, healing parents could land softly at the end of each day. We turned to Coda, another Portola hue – moody, enveloping, quietly luxurious. It became a cocoon of calm amid the chaos of rebuilding a life.
When you’ve lost everything, clarity arrives fast: a roof over your head is everything. The rest – the furnishings, the layers, the beauty – can come slowly, intentionally, with care. That’s where strategy becomes essential. We always begin by identifying the anchor pieces, the items you simply cannot compromise on. In most homes, the sofa is that anchor. It sets the tone for proportion, color, and comfort – it’s the heartbeat of the living space. Once that foundation is in place, the surrounding elements become more flexible. Chairs can be vintage treasures, flea-market finds, or – as in Tina’s home – affordable pieces elevated through thoughtful upholstery and material choices.
The bathrooms posed their own challenge, but also a profound opportunity. Luxury is not about price; it’s about perception, proportion, and intention. We identified the tones, shapes, and scales we loved, then sourced with devotion, searching until we found options that carried the same elegance without the extravagant cost. The transformation was immediate. The results felt custom, timeless, and quietly expensive – a testament to the fact that design magic doesn’t rely on a high price tag.
At LALA, every home tells a story, and we believe in letting that story unfold with intention. We ask: what is essential right now? What can be borrowed, repurposed, or held temporarily until the perfect piece reveals itself? That pause – that willingness to let the home breathe – is where the soul of a project forms.
This home, in particular, became a true labor of love – a reconstruction not just of walls and rooms, but of memories, hope, and the tender act of beginning again. Some things can never be replaced, yet others – warmth, beauty, comfort, and meaning – can be carefully and thoughtfully reimagined.
Stay tuned for Part II of this journey. As with everything that truly matters, the most profound transformations take patience, intention, and heart. More of Tina’s story – and the magic of this home – will be unveiled soon.
