Love at First Sight

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Joanna Parol demonstrates why clients often fall head over heels with the interior designer’s clean, sleek style

In the kitchen, Parol anchored the room with black lights by Tom Dixon and stools by Space Copenhagen. Photography by Jose Manuel Alorda.

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.

The dining table, created from cerused oak with
a gray-brown wash, is illuminated by a light from Jean Prouvé. Photography by Jose Manuel Alorda.
The custom 15-foot sofa, covered in Thomas Lavin’s Romo fabric stretches across the living room area of the open floor
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.

In the master bedroom, a custom Eastern king-size bed covered in leather from Romo is flanked by custom white lacquer side tables. Photography by Jose Manuel Alorda.

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!