How to Turn a Completely Normal Room Into a Mermaid Oasis
A step-by-step Room Recipe
Welcome back to Room Recipe, a column on À La Carte where we stare at an image of a room we love for a very long time, then break down its “ingredients” into specific items and themes. The goal is never to copy, but instead to get to the bottom of why certain rooms just *work* and to understand how we can translate that inspiration into real life.
I’ll be honest—my first thought upon seeing photos of Cento Raw Bar’s new space in LA was, Here come the girlies. I could already imagine them arriving in droves to sardine around the bar for a good photo (probably with flash). Cento Raw Bar kind of feels like a mix between one of those sexy restaurants you’d see in an early-season episode of Sex and the City and Ariel’s Grotto, so who can blame them, really—it’s a real bona fide hot spot, and a beautiful one at that.
I feel like LA is lacking in transports-you-to-another-world, put-on-a-fun-outfit-why-don’t-you restaurants these days. We have a lot of great food, of course, and plenty of beautiful spaces to dine in, but I’m talking about the types of places where you can’t stop taking in alllll the little details. Cento Raw Bar is a great example; from the restaurant’s wavy-edged seafood towers to their color-blocked martini glasses and napkins at each place setting twisted into shell-like spirals, no stone has been left unturned. It’s not typically an aesthetic zone I play in—one part ‘80s postmodern, one part mermaid—but the more I look at photos of the space, the more intrigued I become.
Typically when I write Room Recipes, I’m looking at rooms that make me say, “Wow, I wish my house looked like this.” But what got me excited about writing this one is that there’s not such an obvious connection between a place like this and a real, livable home (unless you live in the Shell House, of course, in which case the connection is clear). I’m challenging myself to translate the feeling of Cento Raw Bar into practical steps, none of which include covering your walls or furniture with plaster or anything else. (There’s no pandemic-era DIY foam furniture allowed on À La Carte.)
So, I invite you to follow me to your seat at the seafoam green bar. There’s a shrimp cocktail waiting with your name on it.
INGREDIENTS:
Iron-wrought, nautilus-inspired furniture
White, and tons of it
Texture galore
Pops of pastels and zingy brights
Funky tableware and misshapen glassware
Spirals, of course
Multi-colored, swirly glass vases
Stainless steel decor items
Lots of curved edges, no sharp corners
STEP ONE:
Let’s start with the star of the show: the custom bar seats you’ll see in almost every shot of Cento, a design inspired by Italian artist Luigi Serafini’s 1986 Suspiral chair. The key here is to look for a piece of furniture, probably something vintage, that has some sort of twisting spiral shape to it. But beware: too many spirals and loop-di-loops and your space will feel more garden than grotto. (Not a bad thing, but not what we’re after.) For an actual living space, I probably wouldn’t go crazy here—just one accent chair or a little side table will do the job.
STEP TWO:
I am not going to tell you to roughly plaster your walls. In fact, I’m going to beg you not to roughly plaster your walls unless you want to look like you’re living in a house made of whipped butter (and lose your security deposit in the process). But the texture across Cento’s many surfaces is what balances out all the smooth, rounded objects we’re going to fill the space with, so rather than focus that texture on the walls, we’re going to achieve it in smaller, more temporary doses through ceramics, textiles, and light fixtures.
STEP THREE:
The fun part is here: pops of color. Cento brings color in through their glassware, plates, and some strategically placed art objects throughout the space. There aren’t really any rules here—the world is your oyster—but aim for a mix of soft pastels (lilac, aqua, butter yellow) and zestier tones (citron, cobalt, hot orange). Practice restraint—that’s what makes a pop color a pop color.
STEP FOUR:
We’ve come to the accoutrements, the squeeze of lemon or sprinkle of sea salt that just finishes things off. A lot of what’s trending right now in design fits the bill: stainless steel serveware, misshapen glassware, novelty flatware, and anything shaped like a shell or a fish.
Want more Room Recipes? Read ‘em here.
x
Ali
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'In fact, I’m going to beg you not to roughly plaster your walls unless you want to look like you’re living in a house made of whipped butter' made me chuckle
I had my patio chairs custom made to mirror the Luigi Serafini chair ❤️ Loved this post!