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Happy Home

Comedienne Caroline Rhea goes for colors that put a smile on your face

Written by Saxon Henry • Photographed by Grey Crawford • Produced By and Styled By Char Hatch Langos

Location: Los Angeles, California

Caroline relaxes in her sunroom, where comfort was a design priority. Fabrics throughout include solids, checks, stripes, and vivacious floral prints.

Actress Caroline Rhea is known for her exuberant personality. This and her career in standup comedy, her own network talk show, and six years on Sabrina, the Teenage Witch have won the star a legion of fans. The most loyal may be Rhea’s best friend, interior designer Amanda Nisbet—they have been pals since they were both six. When Rhea took the leap and purchased her 4,500-square-foot home, she naturally chose Nisbet to decorate it. The two women share a passion for color. And Rhea has always loved her friend’s sense of style. “The first time I realized she had good taste was when she stole my favorite magenta pencil in the fourth grade,” says Rhea.

Their number one design priority was to create a bright environment that would welcome Rhea after hectic days in the limelight, and color was key. “I told Amanda that I wanted my home to be a haven in Los Angeles, because the city can be so challenging,” remarks Rhea. “I wanted the bathrooms to be luxurious, and I wanted a closet that I could spin around in. The rest I left up to her, because she knows me so well.”

Rhea was initially attracted to the home’s easygoing Colonial-style architecture, “because it reminded me of the house where I grew up in Canada,” she says. Nisbet, therefore, used the architecture as her starting point. “The house, built in 1922, had such good bones that I didn’t need to do much structural work,” says the designer. “It was mainly about adding color and fun for Caroline.”

The kitchen and bathrooms had not been refurbished since 1973, so Nisbet began here, updating them with new, white beadboard cabinets in the kitchen and wainscoting in the bathrooms to amplify the home’s Colonial charm. Fanciful roman fabric window shades printed with an oversize kiwifruit pattern echo the kitchen’s green walls and lend the room a dash of whimsy. In the adjoining breakfast room, distressed purple and green chairs accompany an old pine farm table with painted legs and an antique pine hutch.

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