The posh enclave of Brentwood, in Los Angeles, is no stranger to glamour, given its celebrity denizens and tree-lined streets stocked with distinguished manses. For one jet-setting family looking to put down roots, however, the aim was actually to tone down the glitz. 

They had purchased a classic, white-paneled, 11,000-square-foot home that a previous owner had amped up (imagine a study coated in bright green lacquer and a dining room bathed in black), but wanted to slip into something more comfortable. For the transformation, they turned to M. Elle Design, whose portfolio of work they’d long admired.

Designer Marie Turner Carson co-owns the studio with her sister Emily Turner Barker. Carson said clients wanted them to adopt a fresh, coastal, indoor-outdoor, relaxed and elegant feel. So need to tear down a few unnecessary things above all, let this home appear more modern, still need to use more restrained tonal at the same time.

The major intervention, however, was in the kitchen, which was completely gutted and reoriented with a range wall in the back, parallel double islands commanding the center, and a sink wall to the side. Symmetry was important to the client, so They worked to get things orderly in the remodel.

The most transformative move was knocking down the wall between the kitchen and the formal living room, creating a seamless flow between the two and linking them to the family room. “It opened things up in such a different way, and now the spaces speak to one another,” Carson says. “The rooms have their own personality, but are linked by an overarching aesthetic.”

All in all, the remodel took a little over a year—with the family finally moving in after a leak in the kitchen flooded the first floor and made a reinstallation necessary. Bad luck aside, the residence is an oasis for the extended family to gather, offering sun-drenched spaces that flow outdoors to the deep yard. “It’s timeless, inviting, and livable,” Carson says. “Anyone who comes in is impressed, but can sit down immediately and not have to walk on eggshells.”