One of my all time favorite design hotels is Colony Palms by designer-to-the-stars Martyn Lawrence Bullard. This year the brilliant designer has put his globally-inspired stamp on the revamp of Casa Laguna. The 23-room boutique hotel consists of several Spanish Colonial style buildings dating back to the 1900s in Laguna Beach California. The compound is set overlooking the Pacific just a few blocks from the beach.Bullard brought in lots of blue to echo the sea while keeping the deep reds and terracotta tiles of the original buildings. The design is filled with Moroccan design details like Moorish tiles and ceramics as well as Bullard’s own line of fabrics inspired by the patterns of the region.
The stunning bed panel in the guest rooms is his Shambala print and the yellow bedcover is Mamounia Petite.
Lots of design ideas to crib here, including a few insider details the designer shared exclusively with Hotel Chic.
Here is Bullard’s Shambala fabric in green playing off of the tufted green leather bed. “The design for the bed panels is inspired by an antique moorish cloth that I found in a street bazaar in Tangier,” Bullard explains. “I enlarged the pattern to make it feel more modern and recolored it for Casa Laguna to give a more oceanic flavor, whilst retaining its exotic, tribal vibe.” A bed panel is an easy DIY, just sew a pocket for a ceiling rod and hang behind your bedframe.
Bullard used the same Moorish inspired tiles on bathroom floors and on walls in the dining room and lobby. The print unifies the small spaces. When you are using a big print in a small home, repetition rather than incorporating many different prints, is a trick that makes the space seem bigger and visually cohesive.
“The velvet corner sofas were inspired by Catalan sofas, thought to be 18th century from the legendary Hearst Castle estate,” Bullard tells Hotel Chic. “The quirky shape was adapted to work around the windows and frame the beautiful ocean views at Casa Laguna.”
Adding vibrantly colorful or patterned tiles to stair risers is a common design trick in Morocco. It’s a beautiful way to add style to a set of stairs.
Lots of spots for taking in the view. Benches with blue and white stripes add punch (and a perch) on a small terrace.
Photos by Tim Street-Porter courtesy of Casa Laguna
