Jenna Pilant's San Diego Home Is a Disco at the End of the Rainbow

Seeing “before” photos of Jenna Pilant’s San Diego home — then a decidedly ‘70s SoCal shrine to all things earth-toned — paired with Jennafied versions of the same rooms is a bit like watching Dorothy step from Kansas into Oz. A polychromatic designer who walks the walk on #banthebeige, she’s all about putting a personal stamp on anonymous objects and so-so spaces.

Going all in on super-saturated color and prismatic patterns is one thing when you’re a professional furniture-flipper and room-rejuvenator, but how likely are the rest of us to echo Jenna’s swagger in our spaces? That’s where embracing your weird comes in, she says. “’Trend’ is my least favorite word, honestly. The thing for me in design that doesn’t go out of style is being you — like really [homing] in on what you like and what your color palette is.” Granting yourself that permission is the key that unlocks your happy place — and Jenna’s will show you how it’s done.

“I came home from the hospital being born to a yellow-walled, navy-[carpeted], rainbow-themed nursery, so I don’t know if I came out of the womb loving color, but I definitely got influenced by it right away,” Jenna explains. “My favorite color’s a rainbow.”

Jenna wastes no time establishing a mood at her home, and the first DIY visitors clap eyes on is a doozy. “Right when you walk into our space, the first thing you see is this giant checkered mural,” she says. “I wanted to give all guests who come here a nice little taste of what to expect throughout the home.”

“When we moved into this house it was beyond blah: 50 shades of beige,” Jenna recalls. That said, one of its original quirks proved useful in the large-scale upcycling project she undertook. “The couple that built this house originally grew plants in this atrium area, so there was this giant cement tub underneath — which is why I knew I could build a sunken living room.”