The words 'Palm Springs', 'LALA Reimagined' and 'vodka martinis' were all the enticement I needed. Two days in my favorite Californian enclave with the interior designers Azar Fattahi and Lia McNairy, founders of the LA-based studio LALA Reimagined, hosted at a sprawling adobe house they've been decorating for years. I could barely get on a plane fast enough.
Because I love how LALA Reimagined approaches design. Having interviewed them many times, I've come to know them as having the personality of 1950s film stars, injecting and expecting fabulousness in and from all that they touch.
They understand that, at its core, design is meant to be fun. To give you the opportunity to have fun and – most importantly – be fun. Add to this the fact that the palm trees and pools of Palm Springs could bring out the hedonistic side of even the drabbest among us, and I was packing my tropical prints and bedazzled turbans faster than Azar and Lia could mix a martini.
The home we stayed at together is a project they have slowly been working on for years. It's spread out over one level, with large gardens, a pool, and various pool- and garden-houses. It's flanked by one of the arid mountains the area is known for. Gophers trot across the little footbridge over the stream that trickles through the grounds, and the interior style is a mix of all the design hallmarks LALA Reimagined is known for: graphic prints, pastel colors used large, artfully chosen lighting, and lots of zones to create intimate socializing spaces.
Over my stay, we gossiped, laughed and couldn't help but feel fabulous. And over the two days, these are the key interior design tips I learned from being in close proximity to two of the most exciting designers working today.
1. Amber lightbulbs are a must
As a design journalist, I've written a lot about how the big light is dead, and how most of us rarely turn them on in favor of softer table and floor lamps and a more layered lighting scheme. It's a sentiment LALA Reimagined agrees with. They prefer to actually use smaller task lighting for function, but the large rooms they work on tend to come with large ceiling pendants.
The trick is that, no matter how big they are, they only ever produce the softest of illuminations. 'We only ever use amber lightbulbs,' Azar Fattahi told me. 'They produce candle-like glows, and mean that even when they're overhead and central, they don't dominate or dazzle the space.'
This living room is of another project by LALA Reimagined, and the way that the amber bulbs radiate a warmth is truly enticing. They seem to pick out the richness of the wall color to perfection, without being at all harsh. It's a trick you can use if you can't get over the aesthetic desire for a sculptural central ceiling light, and then actually want to use it from time to time.
Gentle organic ripples give these lamps from the recent collaboration LALA Reimagined, created with Anthropologie, a sense of fluidity and prettiness. For use with amber bulbs only, of course.
These amber filament bulbs have a slightly old-fashioned shape and create just the right level of candle-like glow.
Green is a key LALA color – more on that in a moment – and this pressed glass pendant would refract an amber light bulb perfectly.
2. Green is the secret to decorating in a maximalist way
The bathroom of an LA-based project LALA Reimagined completed for the same client as the Palm Springs estate
'There's a reason green gets used so much for children's bedrooms,' says Azar. 'It's a soothing, calming color that helps relax you no matter what brightness or zest of it you go for.'
It explains why green is such a common accent color in so many LALA projects, seen on couches, as wall trims, the base shade of a graphic wallpaper. In the Palm Springs estate, it appears as all of the above, as well as on the ceilings, architectural details, and the fluorescent green floor chosen for the games room.
It's what gives Lia and Azar the license to mix patterns, layer in their hallmark stripes and prints, the ability to play with impactful patterns and never have them seem overwhelming. Green is a soothing ingredient that, no matter where or how it appears, is a starting point, never an afterthought.
It could be as simple as adding in a green throw pillow or two, and you'd have all you need to ground your scheme.
Not all greens need to be vibrant, and an olive-tinged counter stool is an easy way to fold the color into a more neutral scheme.
A softer green that that used in the bathroom by LALA Reimagined, above, but these pared-back hues mean you can get away with a smaller repeat pattern and still not have it feel busy.
3. Bold prints don't have to be scary if you know how to match it
One of the common themes in this Palm Springs estate was the use of graphic wallpaper on all four walls. It worked because the rooms were so large they could take them, but also because LALA had oh-so-cleverly and oh-so-carefully matched the trim and ceiling colors to shades found within the wallpaper.
I asked how long it took the duo to find the right shade. 'It takes forever!' Lia said. 'It's a constant process of looking for just the right paint. You're searching for something so particular.'
But as someone like myself who is pattern-averse, I came away with the understanding of how I'd fold in a big print while elevating instead of dominating the room. In the dining room of the Palm Springs estate, above, the trim is the same lilac-blue as the flowerbuds, while the ceiling is the same peach as the petals.
There are also, of course, paint mixing services you can take a swatch of wallpaper to and have them make paints to match exactly, cutting out weeks of sampling, which is what I will be doing for sure.
Impactful patterns form a big part of LALA's work, and their ottoman, another hero of the LALA/Anthropologie mash-up, is a prime example of how to use it.
This prettily patterned wallpaper is just crying out to be matched with a trim the same color as the birds' blue wings and a ceiling the same red as the cherries.
Always order samples! But Mambo by Little Greene is a good place to start as a close blue to that of the birds' wings. There are also plenty of other blues from Little Greene, worth trying, too.
What I came away with from my time with LALA Reimagined is a better understanding not just of how they put rooms together, but why. They are great editors, knowing when to inject personality and then exactly when to pull back, and that's why their schemes work so well.
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