This California Wine Country Cottage Swaps Boring Beige in Favor of ‘Rooms with Identity’ – Inside, Every Space is Defined by a Different Color Story
Layered greens, soft pinks, and botanical prints bring personality to this Sonoma cottage
In a region known for relaxing palettes, this vineyard cottage takes a different tack – and a far more fun one at that.
Designed by Lauren Nelson for a young family who spend their summers here, this is a 'project that speaks to the power of color'. In this home, guests don’t just pick a bedroom; they instead claim 'the blue room' or 'the pink room'. It’s a small touch, but it says everything about the spirit of staying here.
At around 3,000 square feet, this three-bedroom Sonoma house design has all the storybook appeal of an English cottage – a shingled, multi-gabled exterior softened by a meadow-like front garden that feels more countryside than California. But it's out the back where the connection to wine country really unfolds.
While the bones of the home already worked, Lauren enlisted the help of Architect Geddes Ulinskas, Builder Forma Construction, and Landscape Designer Regina Rollin to help realize her vision for this project.
And perhaps the most refreshing part? This wasn’t a full gut home renovation. The layout already worked, so the transformation came through paint, fabric, and thoughtful detailing.
'We mainly focused on finishes, fixtures, and millwork. However, the exterior deck was expanded quite a bit, and the back of the house was opened up significantly for better access to the deck and pool area,' Lauren explains.
Even the kitchen was refreshed rather than replaced, proving how far a thoughtful edit in the right hands can go.
Family Room: In the snug, Soane Britain's Scrolling Fern adorns the walls while Benjamin Moore's Saybrook Sage has been used on the ceiling and trims. A Clad Home Wiltern Sleeper Sofa has been reupholstered in Maria Flora Zagora fabric in Dark Sea Foam, while a vintage ottoman is wrapped in Zak & Fox's Oyo fabric, and a vintage chair in Radish Moon's Natural Linen.
From there, color became the connective tissue of the home, but rather than chasing a perfectly cohesive scheme, this home celebrates rooms with identity.
'Because this is a country home where the family and their guests spend their days on vacation, we wanted to lean into color and pattern in a playful way,' says Lauren. 'I love the idea of a guest claiming the pink room, or the blue room – a house where each room has its own personality and gives a certain energy.'
'We played up the cottage charm with a heavy hand of vintage furniture, painted millwork, floral patterns, and color stories to define each space,' she explains.
Kitchen: To create a layered palette, a series of paint hues has been used throughout the kitchen to transform the existing cabinetry. On the walls, Benjamin Moore's White Dove creates the perfect backdrop. The kitchen island and lower cabinets are in Calico Blue, while the upper cabinets contrast in Barren Plain.
The result is far from chaotic – it’s layered, with vintage pieces, botanical prints, and natural textures tying everything back to the rolling hills just outside. The contrast creates interest, but cohesion comes from repetition.
Green, in particular, moves through the house in varying tones.
'Because the house is perched in such a beautiful area and so connected to the surrounding hills and vineyards, green became a dominant theme throughout,' Lauren explains.
'A dark but vibrant green in the kitchen, a lighter sage green in the powder, and a minty green in the TV room. Earthy pinks, moody blues, and warm wood tones were also used to balance the green and create a dialogue of color.'
Living Room: White Dove is carried throughout the open living room, styled with Clad Home Palmoa Sofas, Nickey Kehoe's Spindle Viewing Chairs upholstered in Rose Tarlow's Eddy Neptune, McGee and Co Travertine Side Tables, and an Armadillo Malawi Rug underfoot.
At the heart of the home is a generous open-plan great room designed less for show and more for real life.
'The kitchen, dining, and living room flow seamlessly in this open floor plan, creating an inviting space perfect for casual entertaining and the constant stream of guests,' Lauren describes.
Nothing feels overly styled or precious; deep, sink-in sofas create a relaxed living zone designed to be used, with materials that happily allow guests and pets to flow from pool to indoors without worry.
Dining Area: At the center of the great room, Lauren has styled a vintage dining table with vintage Henning Kjaernulf dining chairs upholstered in McLaurin & Piercy Melati Jade and an Urban Electric Double Arm Beldi light fixture.
The dining area anchors the open space, with a substantial wooden table surrounded by pine chairs that bring warmth and a sense of history.
'Vintage Henning Kjaernulf dining chairs, upholstered in durable outdoor fabric, surround the dining table, while extra-deep sofas invite cozy movie nights,' Lauren adds of the multi-functional space.
Crucially, the room doesn’t stop at the walls. 'Expansive doors along the length of the great room fully open to the back deck, blurring the lines between indoors and out.'
It’s this outdoor connection that gives the space its intrigue. Instead of being a single uniform scheme, it's divided into a series of zones that feel layered, intimate, and inviting yet totally distinct from one another.
Kitchen: After a lick of paint, new aged brass hardware from deVOL was added to lift the dark tones of the kitchen. Cle's Zellige Tiles in Weathered White were used for the backsplash, Lum'Art Mansart Lanterns in Antique Brass hang over the island, which is surrounded by McGee & Co's Beau Counter Stools.
The kitchen is perhaps the clearest example of Lauren's approach to thoughtful changes, without the need for a full renovation.
'The layout was functional, so we preserved the existing cabinets and refreshed them with a coat of paint (moving away from the previous all-white finish),' Lauren explains.
'We also added new hardware, a new tile backsplash, updated decorative lighting, and gave the island a fresh look with new legs – each change bringing a new personality to the space,' she adds.
Together with warm wood floors and brass hardware, the palette lands somewhere between charming English cottage and relaxed California farmhouse.
Powder Room: Looking through the kitchen into the pattern-filled powder room, you'll find Jasper's Indian Flower Wallcovering in Blue. The new beadboard wainscotting is painted in Farrow & Ball's Blue Gray, with sconces already belonging to the client.
The powder room may be one of the smallest spaces in the house, but it delivers some of its biggest personality.
Before the remodel, she described it as 'a white box, lacking any architectural interest' – functional, certainly, but forgettable. Rather than stripping it back entirely, Lauren focused on a handful of new additions that would completely change the mood of the room.
'The vanity was cute and worth saving. With just 3 simple additions – beadboard wainscotting, patterned wallpaper, and a new faucet – it felt like a completely new space.'
Primary Bedroom: With a connection to the outdoors, the primary bedroom has been painted in a moody blue-green tone that mimics the tones seen beyond the patio doors and is layered up with wood tones and soft textiles.
The primary bedroom takes a noticeably restful turn from the rest of the house.
'The design brief for this primary bedroom was dark and moody, to create a cozy yet dramatic retreat,' Lauren explains of the cottage charm with a modern twist aesthetic. On paper, it's a rather bold choice for a vacation home, but one that pays off beautifully, thanks to all the natural light in the space.
A large opening leads directly onto the deck, with sightlines stretching toward the pool and surrounding hills beyond. That connection to the outdoors stops the darker tones from ever feeling enclosed, alongside floral drapes that frame the doorway and plush, layered rugs underfoot to bring warmth and comfort.
Guest Bedroom: In the pink room, Benjamin Moore's Seaside Sand creates a cozy atmosphere. The bedside table is a discontinued find from McGee & Co, styled with a vintage lamp.
Of all the bedrooms, the so-called 'pink room' perhaps best captures the home’s playful approach to color.
Rather than leaning saccharine, the muted lilac-toned walls feel earthy and cocooning, creating a soft contrast to the greens and blues used elsewhere in the house.
As Lauren explains, the drapes were the starting point for this room, a floral Carolina Irving fabric whose faded berry tones are echoed in the walls and bedding tones.
It's that thoughtful layering that gives the room its charm. Blush linens, patterned textiles, and vintage furniture all sit comfortably together, while even practical pieces were reimagined rather than replaced – 'an old IKEA sleeper sofa was made anew with an indoor/outdoor Peter Dunham fabric,' she adds.
Guest Bedroom: In contrast, in this guest bedroom, a rich blue has been used to cocoon the space. In the window, a vintage bench upholstered in Zak & Fox's Sayat is framed by drapes in a Les Indiennes fabric.
If the dusty pink bedroom feels soft and romantic, the blue guest bedroom takes a more enveloping approach. Here, the walls are drenched in a mid-toned blue that gives the space depth.
'No stranger to color or pattern, we blanketed the room with a rich blue hue on the walls, and layered in pattern with Les Indiennes textiles and striped wallpaper,' says Lauren.
Despite the stronger tones, the room never feels overwhelming thanks to the careful balance of texture, with layers of pattern, woven wicker, and warm woods that keep the space feeling relaxed rather than overly formal.
Kid's Room (Left): The walls are painted in Benjamin Moore's Manor Blue in the kids' twin room, with vintage art sourced from Elsie Green. Guest Bathroom (Right): Down the hall, Benjamin Moore's Hazelwood creates a calm ambiance paired with Fireclay's Marrakech Lace tiles in White.
Even the smaller corners of the house carry the same sense of personality seen throughout the main living spaces. In the kids’ bedroom, vintage furniture and collected artwork set a nostalgic tone, while soft blue-gray walls create a calm backdrop for patterned textiles and warm wood accents.
That same balance continues into the shared guest bathroom, which was completely reimagined with 'all new fixtures and finishes, a custom vanity and a wainscot of hand-painted patterned tile.'
The palette is softer here, moving into muted mauves and warm neutrals that give the room an almost spa-like feel, while unlacquered brass hardware and a woven rug add warmth and patina.
Exterior: In the lounge area, Gloster's Lima Sectional creates the perfect spot to take in the view. Tucked into the meadow-like garden is a large fire pit surrounded by chairs for an evening alfresco.
While the interiors are rich with color and personality, the real luxury of this Sonoma home may be its connection to the landscape beyond.
As part of the project, the deck was significantly expanded and the back of the house opened up to completely change how the home is experienced day to day.
'Following the renovation, the rear of the house now embraces a California Casual aesthetic while retaining the English Cottage influence, seamlessly integrating indoor and outdoor living,' Lauren explains. 'Both styles reflect a shared commitment to creating harmony with the surrounding landscape.'
Exterior: On the deck, a large family-friendly teak dining table and chairs were all sourced from Restoration Hardware. Out by the pool, McGee and Co's Triby Teak Adirondack Chairs sit opposite Mesa Teak Chaise Lounge Chairs from RH.
Now, nearly every main living space spills naturally toward the outdoors.
Wide doorways frame views of the pool, gardens, and views beyond, while the deck itself functions as an extension of the house rather than a separate entertaining area.
Different dining and lounge zones are each positioned to take in the view, each with a relaxed sense of flow that Californian living does best.
Dining tables stretch toward the landscape, lounge areas are positioned to take in the view, and the transition between inside and outside feels intentionally seamless — exactly the kind of relaxed flow California living does best.
The most memorable moments here aren't some impressive full gut jobs or grand gestures, but the quieter ones.
Rather than competing with the scenery, this house echoes it – through its continuous thread of verdant greens, natural materials, and gently layered patterns and textures. The result is a home that feels as though it could only exist here, among the vineyards and hills of wine country.
'I think this project speaks to the power of color, and giving old pieces a new life with fabric and paint,' Lauren notes.
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