It’s not often that we get to feature a designer’s own home on the blog, but today we are incredibly fortunate to tour this charming modern cottage makeover by homeowner and designer Lilly Walton. Channeling cozy kitchen vibes from her childhood in England while preserving the home’s original charm, she converted this three residence house to a California casual home. Finishing touches like the ‘perfect green’ cabinets and a splash-proof bathroom created a most welcoming family abode. Snuggle up and enjoy a tour through the delightful photos by Jessie Webster.

From the designer… We bought our home in Ojai five years ago. It is a ranch style house built in 1949. We instantly fell in love with the charm-adobe brick walls, two fireplaces, and original brick flooring in parts of the home. However, like most older homes, it needed a lot of work. The previous owner had divided the single-family home into three separate living units. There were three kitchens, far too many doors leading to the exterior, and many walls put up in order to separate the spaces. We took down walls, got rid of extra kitchens, and opened it up to make the perfect home to raise our three girls. We kept as much of the original charm as we could and updated the rest to make it functional for our family. The original bathrooms were tiny so we pulled space from a bedroom to make a bigger kids’ bathroom for our daughters to share. It was a long narrow space and I love the tub in a shower configuration we landed on. It’s incredibly functional for kids, splashing in the bath is not a problem!

I am half British and spent a lot of my childhood in the English countryside. I was drawn to classic English Devol kitchens and used that as a jumping-off point for the design. I was very particular about the cabinet color, of course my designer brain obsessed over that detail! It took a lot of paint samples to get just the right shade of not-too-green, not-too-blue. I am very happy with how it turned out; it’s a color that changes with the light and gives a warm feeling to our home.

After a year of renovating, we are happily settled. The goal was to keep the warmth and charm while updating it for modern family life. I feel like we succeeded and I couldn’t be happier with how it turned out.

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Like what you see? Take a peek at the talent behind the story… Interior Design: Lilly Walton · Photographer: Jessie Webster · Builder: Jake Stone Construction · Architect: Otis Bradley