This Lively Los Angeles Cottage Is Full of Fun Designs

It’s not every day that a designer gets a request like “I want my house to feel a little silly.” But that’s exactly what comedian and writer Josh Thomas told designer Caitlin Murray.

“I like kitsch and whimsy and color, and I was looking to have all of that,” says Josh. The Australian moved to the States in 2018 for his new show Everything’s Gonna Be Okay, on the Freeform channel. He bought a plain 1956 cottage with only 1,100 square feet of living space, then called on Caitlin to bring the zing.

She started by painting most of the walls white. “White might not feel like the most obvious choice when you’re going for quirk, but it’s like turning your walls into a canvas so the furniture can be on display,” she says.

In Josh’s house, those pieces are a cheeky mix of rainbow-bright hues and funky shapes. Caitlin satisfied Josh’s other demand, dude-proofness, with a couch in a forgiving dark color and durable quartzite counters in the kitchen. “I like to entertain, my friends are disgusting, and I’m not great either, so I couldn’t have a place that was at all precious,” Josh says. His bachelor pad is practical yet packed with personality—silly chic at its best.

“I’m way into big colors,” says Josh. Even on the fireplace? Y-e-s! Designer Caitlin went for an offbeat berry shade that doesn’t hold back. To keep the space from looking like a crayon explosion, she blended brights—like a sunny console from Chairish—with more subdued hues, like a cranberry wool-blend sofa from Muuto and baby blue chairs from Industry West. A triangle mirror by Consort serves as art: “It’s interesting but simple, so it doesn’t feel distracting,” Caitlin says. The vintage shiny brass coffee table is also from Chairish.

The counter and the backsplash rock: They’re natural quartzite in check-me-out pink. Caitlin painted the cabinets a light blue gray (Sea Star by Benjamin Moore) to complement the quartzite’s blue veining. Black hardware from Buster + Punch ties into the sleek open shelves. The large workspace came in handy when Josh first moved in. “I tricked new friends into thinking I’m someone who always cooks by making bread for them,” he says, “but only three times, then never again!”

A burl-wood-veneer-and-Lucite sideboard from Modshop at one end of the living room is Caitlin’s cool, unfussy answer to a bar cart. “The inside is filled with stuff like grappa that nobody but me seems to like,” Josh jokes. Gold-toned accessories, including a pineapple from World Market and a coppery vase from Anthropologie, glam it up. Josh already owned the kitschy artwork. The linen curtains, the same as in the dining room, are from Restoration Hardware.