For many, contemporary design focuses on minimalism and the editing of superfluous details to achieve a purified elegance. This was true for a Pacific Heights residence, which, prior to being purchased by the current owners, had undergone a gut renovation that left it with a white-walled interior absent of any overt adornment or color.
Initially, the owners aimed to preserve the abode’s unadulterated sleekness and recruited designer Benjamin Dhong just for furnishings. However, as Dhong walked through the bare white rooms, he knew the home’s pristine feathers needed some metaphorical ruffling. “Doing something purely modern would feel a little cold here,” the designer explains. “I wanted to mix things in and take full advantage of the whole vocabulary of interior furnishings.”
The designer remained restrained with the palette, sticking to a strict range of white, gray and notes of black. Such colors would feel at home in any modern interior, but, in Dhong’s hands, familiar neutrals take on a romantic, painterly quality when filtered through layered textures and subtle patterns.
This deft sense of tactile minimalism blossoms in the living room, softened with tufted bouclé sofas, a plush Beni Ourain rug and pleated drapery diffusing the abundant sunlight. Everything is bathed in cumulus shades of white, recalling the hushed quality of “Marin County on a very misty day,” Dhong muses. “It feels like being in the clouds.” Reflective accents, like the brass armchairs and a shimmering convex mirror, “bring in elements that catch the light,” he adds. The couple’s bedroom leans further into this ethereal ambience with a silver-lined cloud wallpaper and an upholstered bed framed by billowy floor-to-ceiling curtains. “I love canopy beds, especially when you have a very large space, because they create small rooms within a room,” the designer says.
Spaces that shift toward stormier hues required an equally able hand to preserve a sense of dimension. “When I use dark colors, they need to have an inner light that shines through,” Dhong notes. Character-rich wallpapers proved key, like one guest bedroom’s rivet pattern that “creates a gray cocoon-like feeling.” He also swathed the expansive game room in a wallcovering that “looks almost like a men’s tweed suit fabric, with horizontal lines that give a sense of movement,” the designer says. These deep, dynamic tones permeate through to the smoky gray carpeting, velvety upholstery and ebonized wood finishes.
Furniture lines throughout the home are sleek yet sculptural, favoring eased geometries such as a circular tabletop, a rounded chair back and an amoeba-shaped sofa. “I tried to avoid right angles, so spaces never feel cut in half,” the designer notes. “This creates a sense of subconscious welcome.” To avoid a sea of chair and table legs, he opted for details like the dining room’s velvet-clad chairs that “skirt down to the ground, making everything visually less cluttered,” he says.
Old meets new in the airy entry hall, from the Victorian black armoire from 1stdibs to the graphic Zoe Bios for West Elm rug. Overhead hangs a three-tiered Fortuny light fixture. The vibrant wall sculpture is by Paslier Morgan.
Glamorous notes in the living room include a bouclé-upholstered sofa by West Coast Modern LA and a pair of Warren Platner-style brass chairs by Eternity Modern. They surround a santos rosewood Guerra Vanni coffee table from 1stdibs.
Sleek white Brett Beldock for CB2 counter stools fit neatly into the kitchen’s existing clean, monochromatic style. The designer also incorporated characterful details, like a custom cloud screen in the adjacent dining area.
CB2 chairs join an RH table in the dining room. Stark carpeting covers the floor, and a white-painted geometric totem sculpture from Noir stands in the corner. The custom folding screen cleverly conceals a television.
Dreamlike clouds courtesy of the primary bedroom’s Fornasetti wallpaper serve as the backdrop to an RH bed draped in linen curtains. A Kardiel sofa and wool-covered ottoman form a cozy seating nook. Glinting above is a Studio Anansi for CB2 fixture.
Phillip Jeffries wallpaper and a striped Stark carpet swathe the bunk room in texture. A yellow pop-art wall piece from RH hangs over benches from Homary and adds a punch of color to the monochromatic space. The pendant is by Visual Comfort & Co.
Shades of gray, from the mural by York Wallcoverings from Anthropologie to the textured Stark carpet, envelop the guest bedroom. The twin RH beds are dressed in Serena & Lily linens. Another Tazi Designs Moroccan-style pendant hangs above.
Gray leopard-print loungers from Pottery Barn and a Crate & Barrel nesting coffee table create a fun gathering space in the kids’ playroom. A vintage yellow console from 1stdibs and a Takashi Murakami Flower Ball punctuate the space.
“I like to think of a house as a narrative . I want you to wander through it and discover unexpected places and pieces .”
–BENJAMIN DHONG
However, this contemporary take on simplicity didn’t preclude ornamentation. Dhong delighted in incorporating baroque, anachronistic accents that pure modernists might leave out. The foyer illustrates this delicate balance, featuring a silk-lined shield pendant adorned with old-world Venetian motifs alongside a towering black Victorian cabinet of curios that the designer filled with bone boxes and plaster pieces. Such flights of whimsy carry throughout the home, from a fluffy white cloud pendant floating in the stairwell to a Takashi Murakami smiling flower piece in the children’s playroom. “I like to think of a house as a narrative,” Dhong says. “I want you to wander through it and discover unexpected places and pieces.”
One particularly thrilling note in that narrative is the Moroccan-inspired lounge the designer created in a little-used space. “I love the look and feel of the Middle Eastern elements,” the designer explains. The low-slung custom seating “forces you to sink in, so the space feels more lounge-like.” While keeping true to the home’s monochromatic mood, small details like the embroidered wallcovering, layers of fluffy sheepskin rugs and an authentic Moroccan lantern convey a rich atmosphere.
The new interior still exudes urbane polish, but now its sharp edges feel honed and softened and are embellished with characterful details. Here, the designer proves that the drive toward simplicity need not sacrifice life’s pleasures—including the decadence of a plush rug, the pattern and texture of an embroidered filigree, and a glinting flash of bronze and gold. “I’d like to think I’m setting a new direction for modern decor,” Dhong reflects. “One that doesn’t completely dispense with minimalism but rather builds on it.”
The Moroccan-themed lounge features a medley of textures, including a shag rug and Carnegie Xorel embroidered wallcovering. A lantern by Tazi Designs hangs over a low- profile coffee table from Chairish. An RH convex mirror completes the space.