An Architect Opts for ‘Optimistic Modernism’ in Her Silver Lake Kitchen

In the Silver Lake neighborhood of Los Angeles, the architect Barbara Bestor has transformed an ordinary 1940s house into a deeply personal residence she is happy to call home.

“I would call it no-name architectural midcentury,” said Ms. Bestor, 59, describing the boxy structure. After buying it in 2011, she took down many walls to open the interior and later added additional bedrooms on the lower level and in the former garage. Then she filled it with color, vintage furniture, and art and objects collected over many years.

The architect raised two daughters in the house, who eventually grew up and moved out. “But they’re like ‘Don’t move. Don’t sell the house. We want the house in our family,’” Ms. Bestor said. “So I just stay here. I really like it, and it really works.”

In particular, she noted, she can avoid stairs and live on the main level, where there is an open kitchen, dining and living room, along with a single bedroom. When her friends and daughters’ friends visit, she still has plenty of space for hosting.

Even after living there for 15 years, she continues to change and adjust the interior. She recently highlighted a few favorite things in her kitchen and dining space.

Easy Upgrade

D.I.Y. painted pin board, about $100 in materials from building supply stores

For one of her plywood-paneled walls, Ms. Bestor made a custom pin board for displaying a changing collection of personal paper goods, from family photos to bumper stickers. “I wanted to have somewhere to pin up,” she said. “It functions as a record of stuff I like: postcards, pictures of my kids, better holiday invites and all kinds of things. I switch it out a lot, and there are layers.”

Ms. Bestor made the pin board from Homasote, a cellulose fiber panel that’s also known as sound board, and a wood frame, all of which she painted Benjamin Moore Bumble Bee Yellow.

She matched the size of the board, and thickness of the wood frame, to a framed artwork by Geoff McFetridge she already owned. Then, she mounted the two pieces on either side of a doorway for symmetry.

Now, the pin board is visible every time she cooks at the kitchen island, reminding her of past experiences.

Splurge

Slab dining table, $3,994 at Tom Dixon

Ms. Bestor said she put up with a dining table that didn’t work particularly well for years. The pink-painted table had a long skinny rectangular top and a base that was always in the way when she tried to seat guests at the ends. As a result, whenever she hosted dinner parties, “it was hard to fit enough people,” she said.

She recently decided to splurge on an upgrade and chose this oak table by the British designer Tom Dixon. “I like the color of the wood,” she said. “It’s a matte oak and it goes really well with blue things on top,” including her favorite dinnerware, the cobalt-hued Valencia range by the Finnish company Arabia.

But more important, the top is wider, the legs stay out of the way and the curved corners make it easier to squeeze in additional chairs. “I recently hosted a fund-raiser for Nithya Raman,” the Los Angeles mayoral candidate, Ms. Bestor said, “and had something like 15 people.” That wouldn’t have been possible with her old table, she noted: “I can kind of squish people in there.”

One of a Kind

Vintage ceramic hippo, $350 at Hedge

When Ms. Bestor was working on a project at the Sunnylands estate in Rancho Mirage, Calif., she visited the vintage furniture store Hedge in nearby Cathedral City and fell for this turquoise ceramic hippo. “I just think it’s so damn cute,” she said.

Although its origins were unclear, she thought it recalled the blue midcentury modern ceramics produced by the Italian manufacturer Bitossi. The unfortunate thing, however, was that the hippo wasn’t actually for sale.

“It was on their desk,” as a decoration, she said. When she asked if she could buy it, “they were like, ‘No, we like the hippo,’” she recalled. But she persisted and eventually convinced the owners to sell it to her. Now, it is always on display in her kitchen.

“I really love the aesthetics of my youth,” Ms. Bestor said. “I grew up in Cambridge, Mass., in the Design Research era of the ’70s,” she said, noting that the hippo reminds her of the influential store that offered colorful, inspiring furniture and objects for contemporary living.

“It’s cheerful,” Ms. Bestor said, which matches the vision she has for her home. “My personal aesthetic is optimistic modernism.”