Labor of Love

Manhattan Beach designer Jill Johnson tells us how she remade a rental mess into her dream cottage, one room at a time.

 

Cottage exterior wtih cedar-shake shingles and a brick driveway
Photographer Grey Crawford

Age Appropriate

CL: Is that how you brought back the charm?

JJ: I wantd the 1920s house to look its age―not like the 1970s halfway hose it resembled when we bought it. So we pored over magazines and books to get the details right. We installed light hardwood floors, and added lots of molding and trim, all new windows, cedar-shake shingles, and the brick drive out front.

NextTaking Your Time

Before exterior renovation

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Before master bedroom renovation

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Cottage exterior wtih cedar-shake shingles and a brick driveway

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