RUSTIC ELEGANCE

Cozy textures, elegant vintage pieces and farmhouse simplicity come together in this Los Angeles home.

Cozy textures, elegant vintage pieces and farmhouse charm come together in this Los Angeles home.

In this beautiful 5,500-square-foot home located in a quiet equestrian neighborhood in Los Angeles, California, blogger Karen Snyder of Sanctuary Home Decor and her husband have transformed their 1960s ranch-style house into a sophisticated yet cozy farmhouse cottage. With a background in real estate, event design and photography, Karen started her blog and Instagram account three years ago as an experiment. “I wanted to try something new,” she says. “I wanted to find something I loved spending time doing.” Home décor and design seemed like the perfect transition given her combined interests, and she named her blog Sanctuary Home Decor after her belief that home should look and feel like a sanctuary. “What really inspires me is creating spaces that bring a sense of peace and joy to whoever is in them,” she says. “It is not just the way a room looks, but the way you experience it.”

“I did not want it to feel brand new; I wanted things to be worn and imperfect."

Creating warm and inviting spaces is important to homeowner Karen Snyder, who loves hosting family and friends. With a variety of textures and a soft, neutral palette, this cozy living room is the perfect spot to relax. “It’s a large room, so I tried to create a defined seating area with larger elements behind the couch,” she says. “The tall cabinet in the corner isn’t flat against the wall but sits diagonally, which helps take out the harsh corner.”

The front of the house was completely redone to create a wider porch with a more casual entrance. In addition to the front door, there’s a set of doors to the left that leads to the dining room and a set on the right that leads to the library. The exterior has shingle siding, while the front porch is prefabricated stone with a grout finish to give it a worn look. “The idea was an English cottage feel, with a bit of Cape Cod,” Karen says. “My husband did the landscaping—he’s a lawyer but he loves working in the garden.”

The covered patio sits outside the family room and is the perfect spot for enjoying time with family and friends. The family’s barn with horses sits in the background. “Because this is close to the family room, I tried to repeat the same colors and textures so it feels seamless and is a continuation of that space,” Karen says. Rather than using outdoor furniture, she opted for Ikea sofas and an indoor rug. “We spend a lot of time out there,” she says.