We may earn revenue from the products available on this page and participate in affiliate programs.
Memorable design can take the shape of large or small moments, splashy gestures, or quietly cool choices. We saw it all, and then some, in our cover stories this year, which featured one-of-a-kind forces like fashion designer Clare Vivier, manifestation expert Lacy Phillips, and creative power couple Jonathon Burford and Jesse Rudolph, as well as sex educator Ericka Hart and comedian Eric Wareheim. Their styles have little overlap, and that’s what makes each story and space dynamic. Here’s what stuck with us over the course of 2024; tell us what your favorite scenes are in the comments.
Clare Vivier’s Contrasting Pink and Orange Kitchen
The color-drenched powder pink kitchen in fashion designer Clare Vivier’s bungalow gets a dose of cool with a high-gloss finish and high-contrast shelving painted in Farrow & Ball’s Charlotte Locks. Thankfully, the fiery orange isn’t covered up by cabinet doors.
Lacy Phillips’s Guest Tent
When Lacy Phillips finally manifested her Topanga Canyon home—a rustic 1,800-square-foot hunting cabin dated to 1934—she blended old with new, indoors with outside, in many different ways. She was able to keep the floor-to-ceiling stone fireplace in the living room, but the only source of plumbing, the outhouse, had to go. She transformed it into an outdoor shower with a bathtub, adding a tented area as a bedroom. How’s that for guest quarters?
Eric Wareheim’s Seussian Plants and Planters
“I treat them like pieces of art,” Wareheim says of his plants. In his double-height 1,237-square-foot work-live loft, the comedian has assembled an ethereal space with ’70s-era Italian furniture, a massive wine collection (he’s the cofounder of Las Jaras Wines), and an impressive mix of greenery. He has sourced several of his from The Potted Earth Co., but if you want to take a cue from him, you can find rubber trees, string of pearls, philodendron, felt plants, and staghorn ferns at your local garden store or online.
Ericka Hart’s Itsy-Bitsy Corner Sink
Jewel tones, patterned rugs and furniture, and historic bones are all a part of sex educator Ericka Hart and her partner Ebony Donnelly’s reimagined Victorian. They’ve infused the space with an expansive collection of Black art and ephemera, including the wallpaper in a powder room that is home to a darling corner sink we fell for.
Jonathon Burford and Jesse Rudolph’s Clueless-esque Pool
It’s hard not to think of the columns lining the entry to Cher Horowitz’s home when you see Jonathon Burford and Jesse Rudolph’s Ionic-style lounge chairs around their curvy L.A. pool. In fact, Burford finds so much inspiration from the iconic ’90s movie that it informed their approach to design at a young age. “I just wanted to live with art,” they told us. Rollin’ with the homies, indeed.