Heather KW Styles

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Heather KW Styles Interior Designer & Ceramic artist based in Southern California

Already hired an architect? You might still want a designer at the table.On Project Monlaco, the architect shaped the st...
10/14/2026

Already hired an architect? You might still want a designer at the table.

On Project Monlaco, the architect shaped the structure and the new extension, and our role was to look at that plan through the lens of everyday life. We thought about how the family moves through the house in the morning, where the board games live, and how easily everyone gets out to the backyard. Those details aren't always visible on paper, but they're what make a home feel right once you're living in it.

Swipe through to see how one more round of drawings brought us to the final layout. 👉

The best projects happen when the whole team is in place from the start, with your architect, designer, and contractor working together toward the same goal. If you're planning a renovation in Long Beach or Orange County, let’s start with the layout! ✨

Project Julian kept me on my toes.Crooked walls, a closed-off kitchen, and a lot of decisions to make it all feel like o...
10/12/2026

Project Julian kept me on my toes.

Crooked walls, a closed-off kitchen, and a lot of decisions to make it all feel like one home. Come behind the scenes with me.

First, the before.

This is the house as we found it. It’s the best way to see what we were working with, and why every change that followed was so considered.

The bones were good: vaulted ceilings, skylights, tons of natural light and wood floors.

But there were also step-downs, level changes and quirky angles to plan around before anything could come together.

The kitchen, before.

White cabinets, granite counters, and a layout that felt boxed in. The plan was to open it up, connect it to dining, and make it a space you actually want to entertain in.

Here’s where it got interesting.

This house was crooked. Between the uneven walls and the changing floor levels, nothing was where you’d expect it to be, so every measurement and decision had to account for that.

Then demo.

Once the walls opened up, the real problem-solving began. You can’t pretend crooked walls aren’t there; you work with them. The goal was to make every line feel straight and balanced, even when the house wasn’t.

It started with a few leftover zellige tiles.

My clients had some on hand, and they became the jumping-off point for the whole palette. From there, I pulled together stone, wood, tile and fabrics with a moodier feel and a touch of Spanish influence.

Paint samples for the win.

We swatched every color in different spots and different light. A shade that looks perfect in one corner can read completely differently across the room. This step is never skippable.

And the paint is going on.

This is one of my favorite stages. It’s when all the small decisions finally start to look like a room.

One choice we made on purpose: we didn’t open everything up.

Instead of removing the header between the kitchen and the bar, we kept them as two distinct spaces, connected by an arched opening. Each space keeps its own identity, it still flows, and the arch brings in that Spanish influence. Meanwhile, the fireplace was getting ready for its glow-up.

And here we are.

From crooked walls and a closed-off kitchen to a home that feel

10/11/2026

You know what you like. But what happens when your partner’s taste leans a little differently?

That was Project Monlaco. She gravitated toward traditional and timeless. He preferred clean and minimal. Not opposites, but definitely pulling in different directions, and that’s where a home can start to feel like two separate ideas instead of one.

So the goal was never compromise. It was finding the overlap and building from there.

Traditional wall paneling paired with contemporary lighting. Slim Shaker cabinetry next to clean slab fronts. Raw brass for warmth, in modern shapes that keep it fresh. And finishes balanced zone by zone, so every room has its own mix but the whole house still reads as one story.

Because the last thing you want is a house full of pieces you each love, that just don’t love each other.

If you and your partner see things a little differently, that’s exactly where a designer earns their keep. Getting the balance right from the start means no buying twice, and no wondering why the room still doesn’t feel right. ✨

Photography Charlotte Lea Bailey
Design & Styling Heather Knight-Willcock | Interior Designer & Stylist
Photoshoot Styling
Construction: Jorgensen Construction

Ordinary is easy. Effortlessly cool takes nerve!I'm daring you to go beyond the usual choices and have some fun! Ready? ...
10/11/2026

Ordinary is easy. Effortlessly cool takes nerve!

I'm daring you to go beyond the usual choices and have some fun! Ready? Let's get into it.

̇deas

I dare you to not just have contractor-grade floating shelves.

Why settle for the basic version? There are so many ways to make open shelving feel intentional! Add beautiful brackets, change the material, or turn it into a real architectural detail. The little things matter!

I dare you to put more lighting on the walls than your ceiling.

Who says all your lighting has to come from above? Wall lights can add so much warmth and atmosphere to a room! Plus it makes a room feel more layered!

I dare you to try a cutesy cafe curtain over your sink.

Yes, really! Not everything in a kitchen needs to be serious! A little fabric at the window can soften all those hard surfaces and bring some personality into the room.

I dare you to make your dining room a destination again.

Your dining room doesn't have to be the room you only use when guests come over. Give it a reason to be lived in! Good lighting, beautiful built-ins, art, and a table you actually want to sit around and linger at can make all the difference.

I dare you to fake the fireplace.

If you don't want to deal with the hassle of a real fireplace, fake it! You can still create that beautiful focal point without all the fuss.

I dare you to care about your basement.

Just because it is downstairs does not mean it should feel like an afterthought! Give it the same attention and love you would give the rest of your home, and suddenly, you have another space you actually want to spend time in!

I dare you not to put a mantel on your fireplace.

I know, I know... no mantel?! But you don't need one when you've got beautiful tile bringing all the texture and interest. Let the tile be the statement!

I dare you to add a tile detail to your stair risers.

Why leave the stairs boring? A little tile can turn an otherwise overlooked spot into one of those details that makes people stop and look twice.

I dare you to start with the art.

Why wait until the ve

10/09/2026

It’s all in the details.

When we design a room, we look at the whole picture, but we also obsess over everything within it. The cabinet hardware. The tap. The way two materials meet. The little things that might seem insignificant on their own.

Those smaller choices, often the ones you don’t notice straight away, are what pull a room together and make it feel truly considered. Sometimes that’s something beautifully understated. Sometimes it’s the detail that catches your eye every time you walk past.

We want your home to feel intentional from top to bottom, so that when it all comes together, it feels less like a room that was decorated and more like a collection of beautiful pieces you can live with, enjoy, and keep loving for years to come.

That’s where the art is ✨

Photography Charlotte Lea Bailey
Design & Styling Heather Knight-Willcock | Interior Designer & Stylist
Photoshoot Styling

What started as a budget constraint ended up becoming one of our favorite parts of the space. ✨For Project Peabody, we w...
10/07/2026

What started as a budget constraint ended up becoming one of our favorite parts of the space. ✨

For Project Peabody, we wanted to open up a small, dark kitchen and create a space where the family could actually gather and entertain. But with a second floor above it, and one very large post that had to stay to keep things within budget, we had to get a little creative.

Swipe through to see how we turned one tricky constraint into something functional, beautiful, and a whole lot more interesting →

Photography Charlotte Lea Bailey
Design & Styling Heather Knight-Willcock | Interior Designer & Stylist
Photoshoot Styling

What started as a budget constraint ended up becoming one of our favorite parts of the space.For Project Peabody, we wan...
10/07/2026

What started as a budget constraint ended up becoming one of our favorite parts of the space.

For Project Peabody, we wanted to open up a small, dark kitchen and create a space where the family could actually gather and entertain. But with a second floor above it, and one very large post that had to stay to keep things within budget, we had to get a little creative.

Swipe through to see how we turned one tricky constraint into something functional, beautiful, and a whole lot more interesting →

Photography Charlotte Lea Bailey
Design & Styling Heather Knight-Willcock | Interior Designer & Stylist
Photoshoot Styling

A fireplace without all the usual fuss.Of all the decisions at Project Monlaco, the fireplace is the one we circled arou...
10/06/2026

A fireplace without all the usual fuss.

Of all the decisions at Project Monlaco, the fireplace is the one we circled around the most. Our clients didn't want to gas plumb a new fireplace, and they didn't want an electric insert either. Honestly, in Southern California they were most likely never going to turn it on! So rather than shoehorning in a solution they didn't want, we kept coming back to one question: what did they actually need a fireplace to do?

It needed to give the living room somewhere to land the TV, create a proper focal point, and (perhaps most importantly) give the family somewhere to hang their Christmas stockings!

So we built a false fireplace instead. No gas. No electric insert. No faff. Just the architectural presence this living room was missing, without adding anything the clients didn't want.

The matte cement tile does a lot of the heavy lifting. Its perfectly imperfect, softly textured surface diffuses the light rather than bouncing harsh glare around the room, so the fireplace has plenty of depth without any chaos. We designed a custom mantle just deep enough to host a few trinkets but not too deep it would cut into the flow of the space. Roman clay on the bulk of the fireplace separates it from the rest of the home — giving it that architectural significance we were after. When the TV's off, the fireplace is a focal point all on its own. When it's on, it never competes. ✨

There's even a little power outlet tucked into the tile (slide 4), because a pretty false fireplace still has to work in real life, aka when it's time for twinkle lights over the holidays!

And come Christmas, those stockings will have somewhere rather lovely to hang.

A little unconventional, perhaps. But it ticked every box for my clients which is what good design always does 💫

Photography Charlotte Lea Bailey
Design & Styling Heather Knight-Willcock | Interior Designer & Stylist
Photoshoot Styling
Construction: Jorgensen Construction

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