“I strive to achieve rooms where people can sit and get lost in what they see,” says the West Coast designer Ohara Davies-Gaetano, who finds portals to the past in the Continental antiques she sources for clients. In a Mediterranean-style villa south of Los Angeles, she installed an 18th-century Italian painted ceiling in the dining room, a scene stealer whose trompe l’oeil effects impart fantasy to an otherwise simple, serene space. A pair of Swedish painted chairs from 1stDibs flank an Italian breakfront, and the finish on a custom dining table echoes the ceiling above, for a highly unified — not to say transporting — room.
“The soulful moments that come from the unexpected beauty of an architectural detail, a work of art, a lustrous light fixture, an antique door or ceiling have become the underlying thread that runs throughout our work.”
Design philosophy?
“A home should bring comfort and sanctuary. I encourage my clients to love and live with art, to appreciate architecture, embrace imperfection and materials with history and to allow us to design them a home where they can dream.”
