May 17, 2026When a design commission involves decorating just some rooms in a house rather than the entire place, it can prove more daunting than an all-encompassing project. Injecting a fresh perspective only here and there can make a cohesive, coherent look difficult to achieve. But thanks to her restrained aesthetic and sensitivity to a home’s architecture and setting, Nicole Hollis excels at solving such conundrums.
Recently, the San Francisco–based talent — and member of the 2026 1stDibs 50 — was brought in to refresh several public spaces and the bedrooms of an ultracontemporary clifftop home built in 2020 in Beverly Hills. The architecture, by the Los Angeles firm Donaldson + Partners, had several inspiring features.
The exterior of the 21,000-square-foot V-shaped house is composed of panels cast from a stone-like polymer with gemstone-like facets. Inside, these panels frame the living spaces. The existing decor didn’t suit either this geometric envelope or the homeowner’s requirements and preferences. “He wanted things softer and cozier,” Hollis says of her client, an art-collecting investor with a young son. The furnishings “felt temporary,” she explains. “It didn’t have enough furniture, and he needed more seating for larger gatherings. He wanted to do the right things for the house. He wanted to honor the architecture.”
Hollis wanted to honor the architecture too. Her first order of business was to address the long, angled living room, which is visible from the entrance. “It was a very challenging room to furnish,” she says. “If you don’t know what to do, it can be really difficult.” She removed heavy drapes from the windows to reveal breathtaking views of downtown Los Angeles and the Pacific Ocean, and she commissioned a huge sand-colored rug with an undulating pattern, which defines and embraces the oddly shaped space.
She then filled the glass-wrapped room with a mix of singular contemporary pieces by international artists and a few select vintage ones that injected the space with personality and warmth. These distinctive, often sculptural furnishings include a half-moon sofa by Pierre Augustin Rose and an indigo-coated-wood cocktail table by Shuji Nakagawa. A vintage lounge chair by Martin Eisler sits next to a chic silvered-bronze drinks table by Vincenzo De Cotiis, while nearby, a pair of egg-shaped swivel chairs by Pierre Yovanovitch flank a rustic wood-topped coffee table by Gilles & Boissier. Amid the neutral palette, the circular yellow shade of a custom floor lamp by Carmen D’Apollonio radiates like sunshine.
For the seating area around the fireplace, whose centerpiece is a large-scale self-portrait by Chuck Close, Hollis looked to Scandinavia for inspiration, pairing exaggerated wingback armchairs by the Danish duo Ib Madsend and Acton Schubell with a robust cocktail table by the young Swedish designer Louise Liljencrantz.
Hollis made subtle but stylish changes to the dining room, which is set off from the living room by walnut-paneled walls behind the fireplace. She surrounded the existing German silver dining table by De Cotiis with shapely chairs by Vladimir Kagan, upholstered in green leather, and added a slender console by Aldo Bakker hanging above it a whimsical abstract painting by Yayoi Kusama. “I love the way the blue of the painting reflects on the gleam of the table,” she says.
Although most of us covet the serenity of hotel rooms luxuriously appointed in soothing neutral hues, the homeowner found the initial decoration of his bedroom to be a bit too beige and hotel-like. It didn’t “feel” like him, Hollis says. She introduced a moodier vibe — a specialty of the hers — commissioning a wall-spanning carved-wood headboard, which serves as an artful backdrop to a pair of exquisite charred-oak nightstands by Valentin Loellmann. These hold table lamps by Alexander Lamont, their light complementing that from a cloud-like chandelier by Mathieu Lehanneur floating above.
Hollis wanted to transform the son’s bedroom and playroom into fun, colorful spaces in which to hang out, albeit with high-end furnishings like in the rest of the house. Her client “didn’t specifically request color,” Hollis says. “I did bring in some, but not to compete with the outside. There is a balance to be struck.”
In the boy’s bedroom, a round, red powder-coated-metal chandelier plays off a curvaceous Jesmonite side table by Faye Toogood. Against the wall is a daybed of Hollis’s own design that resembles a stack of ladyfingers, handsomely upholstered in navy and gray Holland & Sherry fabrics.
A chandelier by Charles Williams for Fontana Arte reigns over the playroom, hovering above a lemon-yellow kids’ crafts table. Nearby, a vintage lounge chair by Paola Buffa huddles with a Ligne Roset footstool and a cactus-shaped ceramic floor lamp by Eny Lee Parker. These are complemented by an array of artworks, including a photograph by Wolfgang Tillmans. “Why shouldn’t kids grow up with amazing art and furniture?” Hollis asks.
“Each piece is very unique on its own,” the designer says of the items she assembled throughout the house. “But put together, it becomes a very interesting mix with a collected feel. Nothing is too matchy.
“It’s hard to do,” she adds. “It doesn’t always work. The shell was tricky to warm up, but we were able to come up with a design that brought soul to the space with texture, color and pieces that have unique stories of incredible craftsmanship.”
