CELEBRITY LIVING ROOMS

Baltica Blue seems to go a little celeb-centric on a Friday. Today's no different!

Check out the living rooms of some rich & famous peeps:

Demi Moore & Ashton Kutcher

“This was a definite joint effort,” actress Demi Moore says of the 1950s canyonside house in Beverly Hills she renovated with her husband, actor Ashton Kutcher. “I didn’t want a living room that looked off-limits,” says Moore. “I wanted rooms that were elegant but inviting—for kids, dogs, and everyone.” As a result, Los Angeles decorator Brad Dunning designed a space where “you can even sit on the backs of the chairs,” he says, and that can graciously accommodate six people or 60. In fact, it was here that the couple exchanged vows. (March 2007).

Anjelica Huston

Since 1984 a ranch in California’s Central Valley has been a restful retreat for actress and director Anjelica Huston. The property’s main structure dates from 1932 and features a living room she has furnished with an assortment of pieces found on movie locations and at swap meets. She painted the decorations around the window frames—symbols for protection from rattlesnakes, fire, flood, scorpions, and broken hearts—herself. (October 2005)

Sting & Trudie Styler

Sting and his wife, actress and producer Trudie Styler, tapped Lee F. Mindel, of architectural and design firm Shelton, Mindel & Associates, and restoration architect Anthony Close-Smith to renovate their early-18th-century London townhouse. Styler requested light, and Mindel delivered. In the living room, where Matisse prints and a Picasso grace the walls, the silk-and-wool rug acts like a photographer’s reflector, spreading light from the windows evenly throughout the space. The low tables are by Yves Klein, the side table is by Diego Giacometti, and the sofa fabric is by Holland & Sherry. (May 2010)

Joshua Bell

To create his Manhattan residence, classical violinist Joshua Bell worked with architect Charles Rose. The apartment works not only as a domestic setting, but also as a concert hall. During solo and chamber performances with friends, guests take a seat in the foreground living area, and the piano is moved into the library/study in the background, which conveniently becomes a staging area. A velvet curtain can be used to divide the two areas. “I use the curtain to add a little theater – I come out from behind it. Why not?” Bell laughs. The sofas are by Cassina, and the rug is by Odegard. (May 2010)

Jennifer Aniston

Jennifer Aniston collaborated with designer Stephen Shadley to transform a 1970 residence by Harold W. Levitt in Beverly Hills into an inviting retreat where she hosts frequent gatherings. “The making of the house was as significant to me as the living in it,” says the actress. The living room is an intimate space that opens to views of a koi pond. The low table is from Todd Merrill Antiques. Glant linen is on the sofa, which Shadley designed, and the chair velvet is by Manuel Canovas. (March 2010)

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Sir Elton John & David Furnish

Sir Elton John and his partner, filmmaker David Furnish, asked Martyn Lawrence-Bullard to design their Los Angeles residence. “Our goal for this apartment was neither entertaining nor having houseguests—it’s about function, about us,” says Furnish. “Though Elton’s definitely a maximalist, I, a more clean-line minimalist, we both wanted something very L.A., very ‘70s, à la the building’s architecture. Immediately I thought: Boogie Nights.” The living room’s onyx-and-chrome low tables are by Lawrence-Bullard, and the carpet is by The Rug Company. (December 2009)

Kimberly & Dennis Quaid

“We just wanted it to feel like you’re in the country,” Dennis Quaid says of the 15-room house in Los Angeles’s Rustic Canyon that he shares with his wife, Kimberly, and their twins. The interiors are “relaxed, comfortable; you walk in and throw your feet up—but at the same time, they’re artistic,” says Kimberly. In the living room, interior designers John and Krista Everage incorporated rough-hewn beams from a Pennsylvania barn to add to the farmhouse aesthetic. (November 2008)

Diane Keaton

New York designer Stephen Shadley renovated actress, director, and producer Diane Keaton’s Spanish Colonial Revival home in Beverly Hills, originally built in the 1920s by architect Ralph Flewelling. The overall aesthetic was to be plain and simple, with a deep but not reverential bow to California’s Spanish heritage. “I wanted to bring the house back to its core simplicity,” says Keaton, who is also an enthusiastic and knowledgeable collector of California art and design. The living room features works by Maynard Dixon and William Ritschel. The pots are Hillside, from the teens and ‘20s; the daybeds are Monterey pieces. Of the latter, Shadley says, “Diane has the best collection anywhere.” (November 2008)

Gerard Butler

In Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood, actor Gerard Butler worked with architect Alexander Gorlin and film designer Elvis Restaino on his 3,300-square-foot open loft in a converted manufacturing warehouse. “I wanted something elegant and gorgeous and at the same time rather masculine and raw,” says the actor. “I guess I would describe the apartment as bohemian old-world rustic château with a taste of baroque.” The living space, shown, is centered around arched, brick-framed windows that look out at the Empire 

State Building. The chandelier and leather chairs and ottoman are from ABC Carpet & Home. (May 2010)

Patricia Heaton & David Hunt

“Despite its large size, there’s a hominess to it,” actress Patricia Heaton says of the 1920s house she and her husband, actor-producer-director David Hunt, share with their four sons. The home, in Los Angeles’s Hancock Park area, is very different from the cozy, modest Cape Cod Heaton and her TV husband, Ray Romano, inhibited on the critically acclaimed sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond. Interior designers Bebe Johnson and Ellen Geerer used warm tones but kept some of the living room’s original formality. The carpet is by Mansour, and the sofa and ottoman are by A. Rudin. (December 2009)

Cher

“My houses are passions,” says Cher, who turned to friend and interior designer Martyn Lawrence-Bullard to help conjure up “something ethnic, spicy, and romantic”—albeit in creams, ivories, whites, and buttery beiges—for the interiors of her duplex, perched high above Los Angeles. For the main living space, Lawrence-Bullard designed comfortable seating, covered in Kravet fabric, where the actress can relax and enjoy the views. Also in the living room is a zebra-print rug by Edelman on top of a Stark sea-grass carpet. “If Cher hadn’t been a singer,” he observes, “she definitely could’ve been a decorator. She was very involved. I’d go to her house, get up on her bed, and sit with her going through color samples.” (July 2010)

Sheryl & Rob Lowe

With the help of architect Don Nulty and interior designer David Phoenix, actor Rob Lowe and his wife, Sheryl, built their dream house on the California coast, nestled on four acres near Santa Barbara. “I’ve always been drawn to a historic, East Coast American aesthetic,” says Lowe, a Virginia native, who looked to George Washington’s Mount Vernon for inspiration. Adds Phoenix, “Sheryl loves beautiful things and is definitely a collector. She has a very clean vision.” Pictured: An English dog painting is set over the living room fireplace, while a photograph by Lyndie Benson is above the Dutch secretary; the sisal rug is by Stark. (November 2010)

ARCHITECTURAL DIGEST