Design Inspirations and Ideas from Commune

The kitchen and courtyard are covered with cement tile custom-stamped with a pattern borrowed from French kitchens of the 1940s. The off-white and off-black have an aged patina—“an effect we love,” says Commune partner Pamela Shamshiri.

The kitchen stools are originals from midcentury California designers Van Keppel-Green. Commune found them at Reform Gallery, then re-covered the seats in “Root Beer” leather from Edelman. “The stools are amazingly proportioned, so the back hits in just the right spot and the footrest is perfect,” Shamshiri says.

The kitchen’s custom conical pendants are from the L.A. lighting store Paul Ferrante. The shop’s “Theo” pendants look very similar. “We just altered their scale,” Shamshiri says.

On a trip to Argentina, the Commune team fell in love with the green doors they saw, which influenced their choice of paint for the kitchen cabinets. “We tested 33 colors before settling on a custom blend from Fine Paints of Europe,” Shamshiri says. “The Peruvian walnut countertop has a warmth that goes beautifully with that color.”

For the fireplace in the courtyard outside the kitchen, Commune enlisted Stan Bitters, a California Design Ten clay artist. “He’s having a resurgence; he shows at Ten 10 in Silver Lake,” Shamshiri says. “It was great that he was able to do the tiles for the fireplace—they’re turning black from the smoke, which is making them look better and better.”

“For the Ace Hotel in Palm Springs, we wanted to reference Easy Rider, campsites and the desert, as well as gypsies and nomads—that’s how we got to kilims for the patios,” Shamshiri says.

"The desert can be brutal, so we needed sturdy materials," Shamshiri says. "The patio shades and sectionals are made of recycled Army canvas for tenting and tarps, which we found in L.A. at AA Surplus."

“Heath Ceramics approached us and asked if we knew of a great line of linens,” Shamshiri says. “We said, ‘No, but we’ll make some.’ We already had a linen fabric we loved and an idea for stitching based on Bauhaus textiles.” From $88 for 4 napkins at Heath Ceramics; 323-965-0800 or heathceramics.com.