How Author Tahereh Mafi Made Her Family-Friendly Kitchen Her Own

When bestselling young adult and children’s author Tahereh Mafi and her husband, filmmaker and author Ransom Riggs, were looking to relocate from Los Angeles to Irvine, California, three years ago, they were fortunate to find their ideal home quickly.

Designed in a French-Provençal style, the property was set on a half acre of land and had plenty of room to accommodate their daughter, Layla, now four, as well as Mafi’s parents, who live with them full-time.

One of the biggest selling points, according to Mafi, was the spacious kitchen, which seemed perfectly suited for their love of cooking. It had a traditional island with barstools, a double oven, and an adjoining professional bread oven with a second island across from it dedicated to the art of bread baking. “My family is from Iran, and we all love bread plus my parents love to bake, so the oven and island were a draw,” she says.

Within a few months of moving in, however, Mafi and Riggs realized how impractical the setup was. The island was next to the living room and became a barrier rather than an asset, both in their day-to-day lives and whenever they entertained.

“There wasn’t a seamless flow from the kitchen to the living room because the island was an interruption,” Mafi explains. “If my parents, Layla, or any of our friends were in the living room, and we were in the kitchen, it felt as though we were in completely different parts of the house even though we were all right there.” Mafi envisioned a setting where people could either be in the living room or kitchen and easily socialize with everyone around them.

Finally, this spring, she decided that a makeover of the problematic area was in order. Rather than hiring a designer, she took the endeavor on herself and sketched out the space, reimagined as a kitchen nook. “I’ve always loved designing and doing mood boards and thought that I could handle a smaller project like this on my own,” she says.

The first step was tapping their handyman to rip out the bread oven, island, and double oven, all of which Mafi describes as a “visually unappealing wall of stainless steel.” The team then tiled the floors with Spanish clay tiles and Mafi looked to Zohory Wood Design, owned by a family friend, to make customized white oak cabinets with visible hints of grain and rose gold knobs from Signature Hardware.

Mafi already owned the RH kitchen table and Bartoli Design chairs that she thought would work beautifully with her vision. The Persian carpet from Arman Rugs underneath, in red and blue tones, adds a pop of color. “We have rugs in every room because they add warmth,” Mafi says.

A robin’s egg blue La Cornue gas range with stainless-steel hardware, along with a rose gold–hued copper metal range hood, imbued the nook with even more vibrancy. “Copper has always played a role in my memories of a kitchen,” Mafi says. “My mother, who grew up using copper pots and pans, purchased them whenever she could as an adult.”

Lighting was a must too. Mafi found the simple recessed fixtures at Home Depot, a regular stomping ground for her do-it-yourself projects.

Various accents rounded out the lived-in, welcoming look, including the gold bars for hanging towels and pots (purchased from Proper Copper Design on Etsy) and the shiny copper pots (from Ruffoni Historia) that grace the stove. There is a decorative copper espresso machine, by Elektra on the counter. “It’s the first gift I ever bought for my husband, who is a huge espresso aficionado, and I never tire of looking at it in our kitchen,” Mafi says. “I think in some ways this piece also became a point of inspiration for me when mixing metals.”

The end result is somewhat of an aesthetic departure from the rest of the kitchen—a neutral room with shades of beige. “I love a white, bright kitchen, but I felt that we could have some fun with this kitchen nook,” Mafi says. “It’s a small space with respect to the rest of the kitchen, which gave me the freedom to make bolder choices here.”

As is often the case with renovations, the nook was a much larger project than Mafi anticipated and it took more than three months to finish. But it was worthwhile. “The nook is serving us well,” she says. “People gather at the table, and the vibe is very homey and cozy. Everyone is included, and that’s exactly what I wanted when I got the idea for the project in the first place.”

Tahereh Mafi’s DIY Tips

1. Manage your own expectations: “By manage, I mean I like to lower my expectations so severely that any progress at all registers to me as a delight. Before embarking on a project I will often make a mental list of all the ways in which the project will invariably go wrong; if afterwards I can still stomach the idea of soldiering through, I know I’ll be ready for almost anything. If what you’re doing involves opening a wall, for example, you have to brace yourself—you never know what you’re going to find. Termites, probably!”

2. Be flexible: “Projects get dragged out for all kinds of reasons. You might go over budget and have to drop something you once thought was essential. You might see your vision coming to life and hate it—and have to pivot. Being flexible means building in contingency plans, having more than one vision, over-budgeting in advance to account for unexpected costs, and pushing out your projected finish line. This helps avoid emotional breakdowns mid-project.”

3. Work with people you like: “This is much easier said than done. But if you’re going to DIY a lot, it’s a good idea to build lasting relationships with the people you’ll inevitably call in a pinch: carpenters, plumbers, electricians, painters. When they know you and trust you, they’ll save you when you need them the most.”

4. Do your research: “Read reviews, order samples, see things in person if and when you can. Watch all the YouTube videos. Take measurements, then take them again. Let that swipe of paint dry before you commit to the color. We once painted my mother’s bedroom what we thought was a pale shade of green; it turned out to be almost neon.”

5. Have fun: “It’s very cool that you’re doing this yourself. It can be stressful, absolutely—but it’s important to find moments of joy while you’re working too. We once kept our daughter home from school the day we poured concrete for an outdoor project. Her handprints will be there forever.”

Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest