My Houzz: Fresh and Airy Updates to a Southern California Home
Designers with a shared love of a clean, modern aesthetic renovate their new home
Zimny, Kovacs and dog Willow enjoy their favorite spot in their home. The couple recently cofounded a design studio, Pepper + Salt. “When friends started asking for our help with their homes and workspaces, we started a design partnership for passion projects,” Zimny says.
The living room opens up to the dining room, hallway and kitchen. The hallway leads to the office, bathroom and bedroom.
Plywood lounge chair: Urban Furnishing
Plywood lounge chair: Urban Furnishing
Zimny and Kovacs most often find themselves in the living room: “Whether we are grilling, watching TV or just hanging out listening to music, the whole space really opens up and transforms. Sometimes we turn down the lights in the house, flip on the disco ball, turn on the fire pit and lounge,” Zimny says.
Industrial storage coffee table: West Elm; rug: Pottery Barn; wall and trim paint: Simply White, Benjamin Moore; sectional sofa: Scandinavian Designs; ceramic wall planters: West Elm
Industrial storage coffee table: West Elm; rug: Pottery Barn; wall and trim paint: Simply White, Benjamin Moore; sectional sofa: Scandinavian Designs; ceramic wall planters: West Elm
The large sliding glass doors in the living room were a selling point for the couple. “Our home isn’t large or grand in any way, but having the openness afforded by all that glass makes the space feel so much bigger,” Kovacs says.
The doors showcase the couple’s lush backyard and the view of Los Angeles over the shrubs lining the perimeter.
The parquet floors are a cherished feature original to the home — the couple loved them so much they decided to leave them untouched.
The doors showcase the couple’s lush backyard and the view of Los Angeles over the shrubs lining the perimeter.
The parquet floors are a cherished feature original to the home — the couple loved them so much they decided to leave them untouched.
Zimny and Kovacs took cues from the home when they began to choose and place items. “There is a lot of lush greenery visible from our living room, so this influenced the more bohemian accents such as the bamboo shades, rugs and textiles,” Zimny says. “We try to avoid unnecessary decorative objects — everything has a function, even if it’s a plant — they clean the air!”
Zimny keeps her hats close by the bedroom door.
Ottoman: Target; dresser and planter: Ikea
Zimny keeps her hats close by the bedroom door.
Ottoman: Target; dresser and planter: Ikea
One design dilemma the couple had to solve creatively was the off-center windows and sliding doors in the bedroom. “There’s only one wall where you can place the bed, but the window on that wall is in a strange spot,” Zimny says. They decided to forgo a headboard and hang a picture rail and add artwork at the same scale as the window. “It sounds like a strange solution, but it worked and we love how it turned out,” she says.
Kilim pillows: Decolic, Etsy; duvet in Belgian flax linen: West Elm; see more duvet covers
Kilim pillows: Decolic, Etsy; duvet in Belgian flax linen: West Elm; see more duvet covers
The couple solved the issue of the off-center sliding doors by hanging curtains the full length of the wall to cover the uneven wall space. “It makes the room feel grander than it would if the curtains only covered the door, and it also makes the space feel soft, both in terms of light quality and material softness, which is just what you want in your sleeping quarters,” Zimny says.
The sliding doors open to a private patio surrounded by succulents and vines.
The sliding doors open to a private patio surrounded by succulents and vines.
A Shabby Chic-style dresser doubles as a nightstand with a simple stem arrangement and modern lighting on top.
Brass table lamp: Target
Brass table lamp: Target
“We had bigger dreams for the bathroom but ultimately had to reduce the bathroom remodel to the items that would make the biggest impact: new tile flooring and a new vanity,” Zimny says. They recently regrouted the floor with a darker gray after previously going with white, which easily showed dirt and grime.
Many of the accents are finished in matte black, including the wooden mirror and the light fixture. Though the electrical work was outsourced, Kovacs and Zimny did the majority of renovations in this room.
Floating vanity: Godmorgon, Ikea; sink: Vigo VG04005, Build; countertop: Carrara marble; mirror: Ikea; light fixture: Theo, Cedar & Moss; floor tile: Carrara marble hex tile; faucet: Vigo VG03009MB, Build; shower curtain: Locust Wyatt space-dyed: Urban Outfitters
Many of the accents are finished in matte black, including the wooden mirror and the light fixture. Though the electrical work was outsourced, Kovacs and Zimny did the majority of renovations in this room.
Floating vanity: Godmorgon, Ikea; sink: Vigo VG04005, Build; countertop: Carrara marble; mirror: Ikea; light fixture: Theo, Cedar & Moss; floor tile: Carrara marble hex tile; faucet: Vigo VG03009MB, Build; shower curtain: Locust Wyatt space-dyed: Urban Outfitters
A second room down the hall, opposite the bedroom, is the home office. The couple updated the fan and added bamboo shades.
Sofa: Scandinavian Designs; rug: Pottery Barn; find more area rugs
Sofa: Scandinavian Designs; rug: Pottery Barn; find more area rugs
A tufted gray sleeper sofa, artwork by Kovacs and an oar decorate a corner of the home office.
The open dining room offers views and access to nearly every room in the home. The couple hung a woven, beaded curtain over the small pass-through window between the kitchen and dining room, creating a sheer wall.
Pendant: West Elm; table: Docksta, Ikea
Pendant: West Elm; table: Docksta, Ikea
The kitchen mostly stayed as it was. Zimny and Kovacs changed the hardware, took down a top cabinet and replaced it with open shelving and updated the faucet.
Oven: Samsung, Best Buy; sink faucet: Delta Trinsic, Build; hardware: Top Knobs M1159, Build
Oven: Samsung, Best Buy; sink faucet: Delta Trinsic, Build; hardware: Top Knobs M1159, Build
Kovacs built new shelves for the kitchen, staining the wood a dark mahogany and using black Ikea brackets.
Countertop: quartz; brackets: Ekby Valter, Ikea
Countertop: quartz; brackets: Ekby Valter, Ikea
The patio wraps around from the side of the house to outside the living room.
“The pavers under the fruit trees were our aisle, we said our vows on the back lawn and our guests ate dinner under the string lights on our patio,” Zimny says of their home wedding.
Chairs and table: Target; heater: Home Depot
“The pavers under the fruit trees were our aisle, we said our vows on the back lawn and our guests ate dinner under the string lights on our patio,” Zimny says of their home wedding.
Chairs and table: Target; heater: Home Depot
The living room and kitchen form a corner of the back patio.
A corner sectional, grill and fireplace create a warm outdoor living space with views of Los Angeles. “The thing we most often brag about is the view,” Zimny says. “Anytime we’re home to catch the sunset, we feel especially lucky to call this place ours.”
Calanthe sectional: Wayfair; Acapulco side chair: Wayfair; pillows: Decolic, Etsy; Red Ember Tucson 36-inch gas fire bowl: Hayneedle
Calanthe sectional: Wayfair; Acapulco side chair: Wayfair; pillows: Decolic, Etsy; Red Ember Tucson 36-inch gas fire bowl: Hayneedle
A small garage houses the couple’s cars, tools and DIY projects. They built the trellis and planted the wall vines to help soften and fill in the side wall.
Door paint: Victorian Greenhouse, Dunn-Edwards; exterior paint: Made of Steel, Dunn-Edwards; trim color: Pebble Walk, Dunn-Edwards
My Houzz is a series in which we visit and photograph creative, personality-filled homes and the people who inhabit them. Share your home with us and see more projects.
Browse more homes by style: Apartments | Barn Homes | Colorful Homes | Contemporary Homes | Eclectic Homes | Farmhouses | Floating Homes | Guesthouses | Homes Around the World | Lofts | Midcentury Homes | Modern Homes | Ranch Homes | Small Homes | Townhouses | Traditional Homes | Transitional Homes | Vacation Homes
Door paint: Victorian Greenhouse, Dunn-Edwards; exterior paint: Made of Steel, Dunn-Edwards; trim color: Pebble Walk, Dunn-Edwards
My Houzz is a series in which we visit and photograph creative, personality-filled homes and the people who inhabit them. Share your home with us and see more projects.
Browse more homes by style: Apartments | Barn Homes | Colorful Homes | Contemporary Homes | Eclectic Homes | Farmhouses | Floating Homes | Guesthouses | Homes Around the World | Lofts | Midcentury Homes | Modern Homes | Ranch Homes | Small Homes | Townhouses | Traditional Homes | Transitional Homes | Vacation Homes
Who lives here: Sarah Zimny and Peter Kovacs and their dog, Willow
Location: Monterey Park, California
Size: About 1,100 square feet (102 square meters); two bedrooms, one bathroom
Sarah Zimny and Peter Kovacs bought their two-bedroom, one-bath home in Monterey Park, California, in November 2015. Zimny, an interior designer, and Kovacs, an experiential marketing designer, worked together to fuse their minimalist styles in the home. The couple took on most of the updates themselves, remodeling the bathroom, painting the walls white and updating the hardware and fixtures.
Within a year of moving in, the couple hosted their wedding at the home. “Our living room transformed into a dance floor,” Zimny says.
They added the wood feature above the fireplace to hang their television and conceal the wires. Kovacs cut wood pieces to size, then sanded and stained them and created a box. “Anyone can change a light fixture or regrout tile. There’s a greater sense of value when you’ve done it yourself,” he says. The couple chose the stain to match the wood furniture, and they find the feature brings warmth to the room and anchors the space.
Porter midcentury modern storage cabinet: Target