Love at First Sight
Author:Abigail StoneJoanna Parol demonstrates why clients often fall head over heels with the interior designer’s clean, sleek style
![](https://www.californiahomedesign.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Joanna-Parol_project-1_1_vertical-823x1024.jpg)
THE MINUTE JOANNA PAROL walked into this Manhattan Beach spec home for an initial meeting, she began making notes: creepy double-layered drapes in the bedroom had to go, a subwoofer would need to be hidden by a built- in bench and the walls required a wash of white to brighten up the large space. The client balked. “I said, ‘What part don’t you understand?’” laughs the Polish-born interior designer.
![](https://www.californiahomedesign.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Joanna-Parol_project-1_2-768x1024.jpg)
a gray-brown wash, is illuminated by a light from Jean Prouvé. Photography by Jose Manuel Alorda.
![](https://www.californiahomedesign.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Joanna-Parol_project-1_3.jpg)
plan space and is ideal for Super Bowl Sunday parties. Photography by Jose Manuel Alorda.
Growing up under communism trained her in efficient space design and prompted her creativity; a modeling career twirled her through Paris, Hong Kong, New York and San Francisco, whetting her appetite for beauty; a degree from UCLA schooled her in architecture; and tutelage under the aegis of Trip Haenisch, Martyn Lawrence Bullard, an internship with Kelly Wearstler and her mentor James Magni groomed her talent for interior design.
![](https://www.californiahomedesign.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Joanna-Parol_project-1_7.jpg)
The client not only hired the confident designer, who created the ultimate bachelor pad for him, from its bespoke 15-foot-long custom couch to its custom leather Eastern king-size bed to a cerused oak dining table for 10, she also stole his heart. “I couldn’t imagine sharing this space with anyone else,” he told her once the job was done. Talk about a glowing recommendation!