Et Sal Interiors

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Et Sal Interiors Los Angeles based holistic interior design firm crafting spaces where old world character meets livable luxury.

One of my favorite parts of designing a home is figuring out what shouldn’t change.These exterior doors are a perfect ex...
10/19/2026

One of my favorite parts of designing a home is figuring out what shouldn’t change.

These exterior doors are a perfect example.

For years, their beautiful wooden details were buried beneath layers of solid black paint. It would have been easy to replace them with something new. Instead, we carefully removed the old paint and brought the doors back to life through hand restoration and an artistic interpretation of what had once been there.

The blue and green, the fan-shaped detailing, the glimpse into the courtyard beyond. They’re wonderfully unexpected, and I can’t imagine this home without them.

I think we sometimes approach renovations with the assumption that new automatically means better. But beautiful homes aren’t made by erasing every trace of what came before.

They’re made by knowing which pieces of the past deserve a place in the future.

And occasionally, that means taking something that has been painted over for decades and giving it permission to be extraordinary again.

Honesty is one of my core personality traits. I’ve never been particularly good at giving an opinion just because it’s t...
10/16/2026

Honesty is one of my core personality traits. I’ve never been particularly good at giving an opinion just because it’s the one someone wants to hear.

And at Et Sal, that’s a pretty important part of how we work.

We have strong opinions about design. About craftsmanship, materials, proportions, the things worth investing in, and the things that probably never needed to exist in the first place.

We also believe that having a point of view comes with a responsibility to know when to challenge an idea, when to defend one, and when to admit there’s a better way.

Because our client isn’t hiring us to agree with everything they say. They’re hiring us for the experience, judgment, and perspective we’ve spent years developing. And sometimes that means having a conversation that starts with, “Okay, hear me out…”

That doesn’t mean we always get our way. Nor should we! It’s your home, after all.

But I do think the best design comes from having the confidence to stand behind what you believe, the curiosity to consider something different, and enough of a sense of humor not to take yourself too seriously.

Over the years, I’ve been fortunate enough to share some of those opinions with some pretty wonderful publications. And while I may occasionally raise an eyebrow with what I say, I can promise there’s a reason behind it.

So here are a few things I’ve been willing to put my name on in print. Thank you Real Simple, VERANDA Magazine , Homes & Gardens , Mansion Global , Martha Stewart , House Beautiful , Good Housekeeping for deeming my opinions worthy of publication.

And yes, I still stand by them.

10/14/2026

I could spend hours in a slab yard.

The movement, the color, the imperfections. The fact that something this extraordinary was made by nature and no two pieces will ever be exactly alike.

And while I love a beautiful marble countertop, I don’t think stone should be relegated to kitchens and bathrooms.

Give me a dramatic stone fireplace, an unexpected marble side table, a sculptural pedestal, a stone-clad doorway or an incredible slab hanging on the wall like art.

Sometimes the material is the entire inspiration for a room.

And sometimes I fall in love with a slab before I have any idea where I’m going to put it.

10/08/2026

A pretty stone is the easy part. The real work is everything that comes after the first glance.

I can fall in love with a slab of marble just as quickly as anyone else. The veining, the movement, that one unexpected color running through it. But loving a material and knowing it’s right for a particular home are two very different things.

Does that beautiful pink undertone turn muddy next to your floors? Does the finish show every fingerprint? Will your everyday cleanser etch the surface in six months? Is that dramatic veining going to look just as beautiful once it’s cut into smaller pieces, wrapped around a corner, or interrupted by a sink?

And then there are the questions that have nothing to do with how it looks.

Who is using this space? Are there kids dropping toothpaste on the counter? Someone who leaves a lemon sitting on the kitchen island? Are you the kind of person who enjoys the patina of natural stone, or will every little mark drive you crazy?

Because neither answer is wrong. But they lead to very different material selections.

These are the unsexy questions I ask before we ever sign off on a finish. Not because I want to talk someone out of something beautiful, but because I want them to still love it after they’ve actually lived with it.

I believe a home should be like an art piece, but I also believe you should be able to live in it without treating every item like it’s part of a museum exhibit.

Nothing gets picked just because it’s pretty. It gets picked because it’s pretty and it can take you. And that’s why you hire me, to bring in the art but ask the tough questions you’d never think to ask.

I don’t want everything in a room to get along.In fact, I usually want at minimum one thing that feels a little unexpect...
10/06/2026

I don’t want everything in a room to get along.

In fact, I usually want at minimum one thing that feels a little unexpected.

Something too old. Something slightly strange. A color that isn’t the obvious choice. A piece that feels like it wandered in from another house entirely.

Because when every piece belongs to the same design language, a room can be beautiful and still feel completely forgettable.

The tension is usually what makes it interesting.

And interesting will win over perfect for me every time.

Interior Architecture and Design: Sophia deDomenico -LA Interior Designer

Construction: BUILD D3

Photography: Charlotte Lea Bailey

Photo styling: LE MO

Three of my favorite clients in the past year have all called our design discovery meeting the same thing: couples thera...
09/28/2026

Three of my favorite clients in the past year have all called our design discovery meeting the same thing: couples therapy.

Honestly? I’ll take it.

Most couples come in with two different visions and no shared language. They leave with one plan they’re both excited about. My job in that room is to hear both people, find the common thread, and turn it into a home that feels personal to everyone living in it.

If you’ve been circling the same saved posts for six months, come talk to me. Let me show you why our process is different than most design firms and will leave you feel assured. Link in bio.

This salon Mane & Co Salon is a good example of something I think about on every project. Expensive and luxurious are no...
09/23/2026

This salon Mane & Co Salon is a good example of something I think about on every project. Expensive and luxurious are not the same thing.

A room can cost a fortune and still feel soulless. What makes it feel luxurious is quieter than that. Proportion. Restraint. Materials that age well. Craftsmanship you notice on the third visit, not the first. And above all, the feeling that everything in the room belongs there.

In this space, nothing is precious for the sake of being precious. The pendants are woven rattan, not crystal. The ceramics on the shelves are vintage finds, not gallery pieces. The stone wall does more work than anything with a logo on it. The dry station bench customized for this client to be both comfortable and durable. Every piece was chosen because it earned its place, not because of where it came from.

That is the standard I hold for every room, whether it is a home or a business. Not pedigree. Not price tag. Just one question: does it feel personal, useful, and alive?

If it does, it is luxury.

Share this with someone who values discernment over labels.

Interior Architecture and Design: Et Sal Interiors-Sophia DeDomenico

Contractor: Warren Bonney

Photography: Charlotte Lea Bailey

Photostylist: LE MO

A renovation doesn’t have to be extensive to completely change how a home feels.We’re featured in Real Simple talking ab...
09/21/2026

A renovation doesn’t have to be extensive to completely change how a home feels.

We’re featured in Real Simple talking about the rise of the “micro-reno” and why smaller, strategic changes can have a much bigger impact than their scope would suggest.

As I told Real Simple, the goal is to shift the feel, not necessarily the bones.

In this project, we kept much of what was already working and focused our attention where it would actually change how the space lived: new countertops and a built-in banquette that gave the family better seating and made the room feel entirely different.

I think there’s a misconception that good design requires ripping everything out. Sometimes it does. But good design is really about knowing what deserves the investment, what can stay, and where a few very intentional changes will do the heavy lifting.

Thank you hannah baker 🐝 and Real Simple for featuring Et Sal Interiors and our work

Interior Architecture and Design: Et Sal Interiors-Sophia DeDomenico

Construction: Craig and Donna Murphy

Photography: Charlotte Lea Bailey

Photo Styling: LE MO

You picked the stone. The flooring. The tile. The lighting.But what about the vent in the middle of that beautiful ceili...
09/15/2026

You picked the stone. The flooring. The tile. The lighting.

But what about the vent in the middle of that beautiful ceiling?

The grout color? The door hinges? The edge of the countertop? Where the tile stops? What happens when one flooring material meets another?

These are the areas people forget to design.

I call it considering the peripheral.

The big decisions get all the attention, but a home rarely feels really resolved because of one spectacular countertop or one beautiful sofa. It feels resolved because someone thought about what happens around them.

The ceiling. The edges. The transitions. The hardware. The things your eye may not immediately notice, but absolutely notices when they’re wrong.

Good design doesn’t stop at the obvious.



Interior Architecture and Design: Et Sal Interiors-Sophia DeDomenico

Construction: BUILD D3

Photography: Charlotte Lea Bailey

Photo styling: LE MO

Let’s pull back the curtain a little because design fees can feel unnecessarily mysterious.As a general planning tool, f...
09/09/2026

Let’s pull back the curtain a little because design fees can feel unnecessarily mysterious.

As a general planning tool, full service interior design fees often land somewhere around 15–25% of the overall project investment. Sometimes less, sometimes more. The size, scope and complexity of the project matter.
So when we say “it depends” or we won’t know until we proceed with a paid consultation that isn’t a cop out. No two projects are exactly alike in their needs.

At Et Sal, we use two different fee structures within the same project. The design phase is a flat fee and once we move into implementation, our time is billed hourly against a time bank.

We structure ours the way we do because I want the actual design clearly defined from the beginning and after years of doing this I know what our team does to ensure the plan. The actual build or remodel part of the job is the unpredictable part of bringing it to life. The fee structure reflects the amount of work it actually requires.

And because I believe in radical honesty, I think real numbers are helpful. If you’re planning a $1M project and hoping your design fees will be $30,000, we’re not the right studio for you. I’d much rather you know that before you ever fill out our inquiry form.

Some projects will fall below that 15–25% range and some will absolutely fall above it. But if you’re sitting at home trying to figure out what you should realistically set aside to hire a full service interior design studio, it’s a pretty good place to start.

There. One less mysterious thing about hiring an interior designer.



Interior Architecture and Design: Et Sal Interiors-Sophia DeDomenico

Contractor: BUILD D3

Photography: Charlotte Lea Bailey

Photo Stylist: LE MO

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Thousand Oaks, CA

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+14247817060

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