A pied-à-terre in a 1920s Beaux-Arts building in San Francisco's Pacific Heights has a formal pedigree and a playful streak. Designer Merritt Amanti Palminteri reimagined the era loosely rather than copying it, per Homes & Gardens, and the result is described as "jaunty, self-assured." It has a moody caramel bedroom, a green-marble bathroom and a diner-inspired kitchen.
You probably don't have a Beaux-Arts building or a designer's budget. You can still borrow the thinking. Here are the techniques from this project that translate to an ordinary home, starting with the most useful.
Start your palette with a piece of art
The dining room in this apartment takes its colors from a Claude Venard painting, according to the report. Instead of choosing a paint color and hoping art will fit later, the art leads and the room follows.
You can do this with anything you already love:
- Pick the artwork first. It can be a print, a thrift-store find, a child's painting or a framed postcard.
- Choose three colors from it. One for the walls or largest surface, one for textiles, one for small accents.
- Test before you commit. Hold paint swatches or fabric samples against the piece in the room's real light, morning and evening.
This is also a budget-friendly route. A sample pot of paint costs far less than repainting a room you end up disliking, and a palette pulled from art tends to feel collected rather than matched.
Add one unexpected, small detail
Formal rooms can feel stiff. The fix in this project wasn't tearing anything out. It was adding a few surprising touches, such as a 1950s diner-inspired Formica tabletop in the kitchen and a jewel-box wet bar.
The lesson is that personality can live in small things. Try one of these in your own space:
- A laminate or painted tabletop with retro character
- A bar cart or a small cabinet corner turned into a deep, saturated "jewel box" with bold paint inside and a few good glasses
- A single quirky light fixture in an otherwise traditional room
Pick one. Putting a surprise in every corner is how a room tips from playful into chaotic.
Use warm, saturated color to keep old spaces cozy
Historic apartments with high ceilings and formal proportions can read cold. The bedroom here goes the other way, with a moody caramel palette. Deep, warm color makes a large room feel wrapped and calm rather than echoing.
If you're renting or cautious, you can get a similar effect without painting every wall:
- Paint one wall, or the wall behind the bed, in a warm tone
- Layer caramel, rust or tobacco-colored bedding, curtains and a rug
- Choose warm bulbs (around 2700K is a common warm-white rating) for evening light
One caution: dark, rich colors absorb light. The report notes that natural light shaped the material and color choices in this city apartment, so look at how your own room is lit before going dark.
Be restrained in public rooms, bold in private ones
The living room here is the quieter space, while the bathroom goes over the top with green marble. That contrast is a smart rule of thumb: keep the rooms guests spend time in calm and flexible, and save your boldest choices for small, closed-door spaces.
Small rooms are the best place to take risks, for a few reasons:
- You need less material, so the cost of a dramatic choice is lower
- You see the room briefly, so a strong look doesn't tire you out
- If you change your mind, the redo is small
You don't need real marble. Peel-and-stick marble-look tile, a rich paint color, or a dramatic wallpaper in a powder room gives the same "wow, this is a surprise" feeling for much less. If you rent, check your lease before applying anything permanent.
Honor the bones, don't copy the era
The designer's approach was to take cues from the 1920s without reproducing them. That matters if you live somewhere with character, whether it's a prewar apartment, a craftsman bungalow or a 1970s ranch.
A practical way to apply it:
- Keep what's good. Moldings, windows, built-ins and original floors are worth protecting.
- Pick one era cue. Maybe it's a color, a shape or a material from the period.
- Mix in the present. Add art, furniture and finishes that reflect how you live now.
The goal is a home that feels lived in and personal rather than staged like a museum.
Let the light make decisions with you
According to the report, the apartment's architectural views and natural light influenced its materials and colors. You can run the same test. Spend a day noting when each room is brightest and what the light looks like: cool and blue, or warm and golden. North-facing rooms often benefit from warmer colors, while sunny rooms can handle deeper shades without feeling heavy.
The one thing to do this week
Pick the artwork you love most, hold it up in the room you want to change, and pull three colors from it. That single step gives you a palette with a point of view, and everything else, from the paint to the playful details, can follow from there.
