A 1920s Spanish-style house in Los Angeles has been given a full makeover, and the surprise star of the renovation isn't the kitchen or the pool — it's the dressing room. The 2,500-square-foot, three-bedroom, two-bathroom home belongs to a musician with a serious fashion collection, and he asked L.A. design firm LAUN to build him a closet worthy of it.

The brief was unusual. Many of his garments are delicate and needed precise humidity control, both in the room itself and inside the cabinets — something the designers had never tackled before. Their fix was inventive: wine-room technology, which allows for exact temperature and humidity regulation, quietly built into the millwork. Founding partner Rachel Bullock describes the result as a "gallery-level space for couture."

The finished dressing room reads more like a private boutique than a wardrobe. Custom cherry millwork lines the walls, with a dry bar, a generous island and an oversized bench turning it into a genuine hangout spot — the owner now uses it to get ready before performances. There's also a secondary closet and vanity off the primary bedroom for everyday dressing.

The rest of the renovation was about balance. The house had picked up awkward additions over the decades and, while well kept, lacked a cohesive interior. LAUN worked to restore its historic character rather than erase it: the original tiled Batchelder fireplace was brought back, arched windows and doorways were retained, and plaster, stone and zellige tile detailing were added to echo the period. Contemporary layers — stone finishes and wood panelling — bring warmth and tie the rooms together.

Furnishings mix contemporary and vintage, much of it built around the owner's existing collected pieces. Bullock sums up the result as ranging from Gothic to Baroque references with a feel of "restrained maximalism" — rich, personal and rooted in the house's history. The general contractor and millwork were handled by MoCa Handcrafted, with hardware from Bankston.

For travellers, the story is a nice window into one of L.A.'s most beloved housing styles. Spanish Revival homes — white stucco, arched openings, handcrafted tile — are everywhere in neighbourhoods like Los Feliz, Hancock Park and Echo Park, and this project shows how they can be modernised without losing their soul. Anyone house-peeping on a trip to Los Angeles, or just after ideas for mixing vintage finds with clean modern finishes, will find plenty to take away here.