Home tour: a mahjong player’s vibrant jewel box in Santa Monica

“We like to create a visual thread that carries through the home, allowing each space to feel distinct while still belonging to a cohesive story,” says Markatos Lowe, founder of Christine Markatos Design. “Every room has its own atmosphere and character, but the connection between them remains quietly present.”

That thread becomes more apparent as one moves through the home. Hints of emerald and turquoise offer a first glimpse before deepening into coral, orchid, and fuchsia through richly patterned wallpapers, expressive textiles, and bespoke furnishing. Each room builds upon the last, unfolding as a series that remains connected by a carefully orchestrated thread of colour. Markatos Lowe says the palette evolved alongside the project itself. While the homeowner initially gravitated towards more restrained colours, her confidence grew throughout the renovation, allowing jewel tones to slowly take over the interiors.

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At the rear of the home, the kitchen serves as its organising principle. Reconfigured to open onto the surrounding landscape, the layout blurs indoor and outdoor living. The homeowner envisioned a space equally suited to both intimate breakfasts and spirited celebrations, prompting Markatos Lowe to create a generous, light-filled kitchen that works just as well for everyday meals as it does for entertaining. Veined marble surfaces are paired with handcrafted mosaic tiles, while wide-plank oak flooring and hints of unlacquered brass temper the palette with warmth and timeless elegance.

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In the formal dining room, vintage Chinese calligraphy paintings from the homeowner’s family collection are set against Farrow & Ball’s Helleborus wallpaper. “Many of the artworks belonged to her parents and became the inspiration for the home’s colour story,” says Markatos Lowe.

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The home’s defining space is undoubtedly the mahjong salon. Replacing the traditional formal living room, it was designed around the homeowner’s weekly games. A custom lacquer table with a shagreen leather top serves as the focal point, accompanied by custom cabinetry designed to house the client’s extensive collection of mahjong sets, many of which were inherited from her mother. A raspberry-hued serpentine sofa introduces a playful break from the room’s clean lines, inviting conversation to flow as naturally as the game itself.

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Throughout the house, family heirlooms are treated as part of the architecture itself rather than decoration. Vintage Chinese artworks inherited from the owner’s parents were carefully reframed, their colours informing the jewel-toned palette that carries through the interiors. The same thinking extends to the formal living room, which now centres on a custom mahjong table. Through these design choices, these heirlooms are given an everyday presence, allowing old and new to coexist naturally. In the end, the home is shaped as much by the homeowner’s daily rituals as by her collections.

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Looking back on the project, Markatos Lowe says it was the homeowner’s “innate sense of style and unapologetically feminine point of view” that became the foundation of the design, describing the finished home as ‘transitional maximalist.’

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