Craftsman Charm: A Historic Renovation Home Tour in LA
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Welcome back to another edition of our home tour series, friends!
We’re heading to Los Angeles for this edition of our home tour series. Today, we’re visiting a craftsman historic renovation home tour that I’m just sure y’all will love as much as I do — courtesy of the amazing team at Linette Dai Design.
We have toured quite a few renovation projects here on Shabby and one thing that we see a lot is a design approach that plays it safe.
Strip everything back, paint it all one soft neutral, let the architecture speak and nothing else. And look, that approach certainly has charm! But I thought it would be a good idea to look at a more playful take on a historical renovation home tour this time around.
And this home tour? It ticks all my boxes!
Craftsman Charm: A Historic Renovation Home Tour in LA
This home does something I love so much, it feels collected. Not decorated in a weekend, not styled to match a mood board, but gathered, piece by piece, over time. A slate-blue kitchen island sits next to woven cane barstools. An olive velvet sofa lounges in front of pomegranate-print wallpaper. Brass and polished nickel mix in the same house without a single apology. Nothing here matches perfectly, y’all, and that’s exactly what makes it sing!
And the best part? The bones are still all there. Original stained glass, craftsman stair spindles, French doors you could stare at all day. This isn’t a house that erased its history to feel current. It just let a few new, playful things move in alongside it.
So grab your coffee (or iced tea if you’re in the south like me), and let’s walk through it room by room.
First Impressions, Craftsman Style
Step through the front door and you’re already getting a preview of everything this house does so well.
Original stained glass panels flank the doorway, each one detailed with those little jewel-toned accents you just don’t see in new construction anymore. It’s the first hint that this home’s history is still very much intact.
Just off the entry, there’s a built-in bench doing double duty — storage below for shoes, a soft cushioned seat on top, and a woven tray corralling the everyday clutter that always seems to land by the door.
A hat and jacket hang from simple hooks nearby, and a tall floor mirror leans against the wall. It’s such a small moment, but it’s the kind of detail that makes a house feel like people actually live there.
Even the millwork gets in on it — paneled doors, deep trim, that same craftsman language you’ll see carried through the rest of the house. Nothing about this space feels like an afterthought, even though it’s just the entryway.
Now, let’s step into the kitchen, where that same collected spirit really starts to take shape.
Slate Blue, Warm Cream, and All the Right Details
This kitchen is such a good example of how far a single color choice can carry a room. The island is painted a soft, dusty slate-blue.
Not navy, not gray but somewhere in between, and it anchors the whole space.
Everything else stays quiet around it: warm cream cabinetry, a marble countertop with just enough imperfections to feel real rather than showroom-perfect.
The lighting deserves a mention too.
The glossy globe fixtures on polished nickel arms are the perfect complementary lighting fixture.
They show up here, and then again in other rooms throughout the house. It’s a small, but smart way of tying everything together without making the whole place feel matched on purpose.
And the little details keep adding up: the curved end of the island with open shelving for pottery and cookbooks, the cane counter stools with their tied cushions, brass and nickel mixed without any hesitation.
None of it was chosen to coordinate perfectly on paper, but in actual real life, and that’s exactly why the room works as well as it does.
An Open Layout with a Standout Staircase
Right off the kitchen, there’s the dining nook and staircase, and it might be one of the most personality-packed corners of this whole historic renovation home tour.
What stands out first is how open everything feels here. The dining table sits just steps from the island, with no walls dividing them, so the whole back of the house reads as one continuous, easy space.
It’s the kind of layout that makes a house feel made for actual daily life, cooking, eating, kids underfoot, not a string of separate, formal rooms.
Then there’s that staircase. Square white spindles run the full length, spaced out just enough to let light pour through from the window above.
It’s such a clean, modern take on a craftsman staircase, and it sets the tone for how this house treats its original architecture throughout. Honored, but never frozen in time.
Underneath, there’s a built-in nook making the most of every awkward inch. Open shelving stacked with books and pottery, a couple of drawers, and a little door tucked at the base leading to what looks like a cozy playroom. It’s a smart solution, but it never feels like plain storage.
Those little vignettes on the shelves, a stoneware pitcher, a small bowl, a woven basket, make it feel curated.
The dining table itself keeps things simple. Natural wood, woven-seat chairs, a big branch of greenery standing in as the centerpiece.
A nice reminder that not every space in a collected home needs to be loud to earn its spot.
Where the Stained Glass Steals the Show
The living room is where those original bones really get to shine. Stepped-back French doors flanked by stained glass panels, the kind with all those little jewel-toned details you just don’t see in new construction anymore.
It’s the strongest evidence of this home’s history, and thank goodness nobody thought to cover it up!
And here’s where the collected feeling really comes together.
A deep olive velvet sofa anchors the room, paired with striped and checkerboard-woven pillows that clearly weren’t bought as a set. Across from it, a set of striped bench seating and chairs, mismatched in the best way.
Nothing in this room was picked from the same catalog page, y’all, and that’s exactly the point.
The floral curtains bring in another layer of pattern, soft and a little old-fashioned in the best sense. A rounded pendant with a little tassel hangs overhead, simple but with just enough personality to fit right in.
Even the little vignette by the door, a hat and a jacket slung over hooks, a floor mirror leaning against the wall, makes the room feel lived-in rather than staged. It’s a space that clearly gets used, not just looked at.
Pattern, Color, and a Little Bit of Risk
With a wallpaper that stops you in your tracks, the bathroom may be one of my favorite spots in this whole home tour, and it’s easy to see why.
Featuring a green and cream botanical print with pomegranates tucked in among the leaves, and climbing all the way up to the ceiling line, the wallpaper is a bold choice for a bathroom.
It wraps the walls just outside the shower, so it’s the first thing that greets you before you even step in.
But, it works! Everything around it stays so grounded, like the soft blue-gray beadboard on the lower half of the wall, white marble countertops and the natural oak on the vanity.
Then you get to the shower, and it’s a whole different mood, a deep, glossy navy subway tile that takes over the entire arched alcove, trimmed out in a contrasting blue tile edge.
It reads almost like a little jewel box set into the room, especially with that small window letting light spill in over the marble sill.
The hexagon marble floor tile ties the whole space back together! There are so many small touches worth noticing, too.
Like the marble bench built right into the shower, brass fixtures throughout, open shelving with a few simple everyday objects instead of anything overly styled.
Even the pendant light over the vanity, with its wood detailing, feels like it was chosen with intention rather than picked off a shelf.
It’s a room that takes a real risk with pattern and color, and it pays off completely!
Get the Look
If this home tour has you itching to bring a little of that collected charm into your own space, I’ve got you covered!
I pulled together a few of my favorite finds below, so you can recreate that same slate-blue-and-cream color story, that same mix of pattern and texture, without needing a full renovation to do it.
Collected doesn’t happen overnight, but it can absolutely start with one great piece.
Stained Glass Decorative Film | Rattan Serving Tray | Faux Green Hydrangeas | Swivel Accent Chair with Storage Ottoman | Round Side Table | Cocoon Pendant Light | Green Floral Curtains | Sconces | William Morris Throw Pillow Covers | Cabinet knobs
And that wraps up today’s tour, friends! I hope this one left you as inspired as it left me.
If there’s one thing I want y’all to take from this house, it’s that a little history and a little personality can absolutely live in the same room.
Loved this home tour? Save this post for later, and let me know in the comments which room was your favorite!
And if you want more inspiration like this, don’t forget to check out some of our previous home tours!
Prout’s Neck Coastal Home Tour: A Timeless Maine Beach House Interiors Full of Charm