Interior designer Michelle Nussbaumer’s more-is-more approach to decoration feels either inspired by the Pacific Ocean’s magnitude or like a brazen attempt to be the equal of the irrepressible view at this cliff-hugging vacation home in Laguna Beach. 

Fashioning a funky and fearless tableau requires a vast imagination, a key characteristic of natural-born maximalist Nussbaumer. For instance, the designer spared nary an inch of surface area in the house from gutsy graphics, from the site-specific black-and-white wall art in the game room, stenciled with painter’s tape, to the painterly CC Tapis rug underfoot in the kitchen-adjacent keeping room. Also in that rounded area, embedded with thin vertical windows, Nussbaumer applied a trendy paint dip to the walls in a pretty salmon hue. 

It’s also conceivable that turning a 1980s contemporary dwelling into a layered tour de force was done in defiance of the architecture’s seriously crisp lines. Wonky furniture silhouettes throughout the home are in constant conversation with the boxy interior architecture. In the primary bedroom, for instance, the bulbous glory of the iconic Up chairs by Gaetano Pesce challenge the space’s multidimensional flat surfaces and straight edges, even as the blocky tufted headboard and wallpaper by Phillip Jeffries seem to push back on any curvaceous advancements. 

Nussbaumer also seems to resist the inherent austerity of contemporary architecture with a nod to the wild ocean sloshing below, just beyond the house. In the daughter’s bedroom, an azure wallcovering by Phillip Jeffries conjures cascading water, while the ceiling, painted in 17 coats of lacquer, “makes you feel like you’re a mermaid inside a wave,” says the designer.Since amusement is a core value of any fun house, the home’s oddball amenities are as paramount to the decor as anything else. Besides the bar, which contains bottled water from around the world, a concession stand in the home theater is stocked with popcorn and candy.