Less heat but lots more warmth
Revamp turned an actor’s furnace and storage room into a cozy den.
Actor Phillip P. Keene has a good reason for hanging out in the downstairs den of his Los Feliz home: It’s part of a larger space that serves as an office for his husband, writer/producer James Duff, with whom he works on the TNT show “Major Crimes.”
“One of James’ favorite things is for me to be sitting here watching TV while he’s writing,” Keene said. “Even though we are on the same show, we don’t get to spend a lot of time together.”
The couple share the threelevel, 5,200-square-foot home, which was built in 1927.
They have owned it since 1996, and it’s been under renovation for about as long — a stop-and-start process contingent on “money, ideas and the evolution of things,” Keene said.
The den is part of the home’s ground floor, which was once a utility and storage room. Before it was overhauled, the space had three gas-fired furnaces that heated the house.
What do you most love about this room?
The coffered ceiling, with more than 2,000 linear feet of crown molding made from hand-stained white rift oak laid out in a grid pattern. It gives the room dimension.
What do you enjoy doing here?
Watching movies, listening to music. It’s comfy and cozy .... Other than the kitchen, it’s where we all just hang out.
What were you going for, designwise?
I love architecture. I studied art history at UCLA. As a kid, we’d drive around, and in my mind I’d put together pieces of houses.
Which pieces are most meaningful to you?
We love Paris, and there’s a vintage print map of the city behind the bar, from Restoration Hardware. It was given to James for his birthday from the show’s writing staff.
Did you pick out everything here yourself ?
We chose the dry bar to mimic the idea of the pattern in the ceiling. And the pair of rosewood consoles, I found in a secondhand store in Pasadena. The vases on top are from the flower market downtown for $10 apiece.
What else was a find?
I discovered the 1970s coffee table at a consignment shop on La Brea. I like mixing different decades. I found the shag rug at a store called At Home in the Valley. It wasn’t big enough, so they got two and sewed them together.
Would you say you’ve gone for the high-low approach, budget-wise?
I invested in the couch, which is from Mitchell Gold [+ Bob Williams]. That’s where I got the chairs, which have the same tonal qualities but different fabrics.
Would you undertake a project like this again?
I could do it for fun but not as a profession.
There is so much more time and cost involved that you never see.