Lonny Magazine: April 2014

Lonny Q&A with Christos Prevezanos

Written by: Melissa Goldstein
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(The designer [above left] and a gallery wall-meets-kitchen table vignette from a Los Feliz residence. Photos: Melissa Valladares and Jonn Coolidge.)

Name: Christos Prevezanos
Occupation: Founder of Studio Preveza 
Resides in: Los Angeles
Best known for: Trading a career in fashion staging runway shows for the likes of Isabel Toledo and Daryl K for one in interior design, where he learned the ropes from Kelly Wearstler, Ruthie Sommers, and Brad Dunning. Prevezanos founded his own studio in 2008, quickly making a name for himself with his less-but-better take on classically modern interiors.

1. Antique or modern? 
Both! You always need a good mix to play off each other. 

2. City or country? 
See above. 

3. Which colors do you use most? 
Grayed-down versions of all colors. 

4. Favorite materials or textures?
Seagrass, grass cloth, and unlacquered brass. 

5. What is your favorite interior design-related word? 
Tension. You need a pinch of salt to truly taste the sweet. 

6. Does your current home look like the one you grew up in? 
Not at all. My mother was a neat freak. I enjoy creative chaos. 

Two shades of sitting room in a Studio Preveza residential project in Hollywood . Photo by Jonn Coolidge)

7. Does a room need a view? 
No. If it’s done correctly the room is the view. 

8. Favorite designer or architect? 
Gae Aulenti. Her interiors, her set design, her furniture—it’s all beautiful. 

9. Which design blog, website, TV show, or magazine would you be lost without? 
Bewitched. It’s like comfort food. 

10. What qualities do you most admire in a room? 
A lived-in quality. I like a room that feels like you can eat, sleep, and entertain in it. 

11. What is a forbidden word in your house? 
Chenille. 

12. Design rule you love to break? 
I like using over-scaled lighting and art in smaller spaces—it keeps your eye moving.  It can be dramatic, but also soothing: a large Noguchi lantern in a small dining room, for example, has a moon-like effect.

13. What is your favorite room in the house? 
My guest bedroom. It’s the perfect spot for a secret afternoon nap. 

14. What is your most treasured possession? 
An oil portrait I bought from the Broome Street Flea Market when I was 18. 

A romantic console vignette and the tranquil entryway in a Hollywood residence. Photos by Jonn Coolidge)

15. What do you wish you could do without? 
Instagram. I am addicted, but it is so inspiring. 

16. How does West Coast design differ from East Coast design?
The cliché is true. We are a lot more casual out here. 

17. What is your favorite thing about the West Coast—design-related or otherwise? 
The light here is incredible. 

18. If you could live in one historical figure’s house, whose would it be? 
Jean Cocteau’s house on the outskirts of Paris. The murals are reason enough. 

19. On what movie set would you like to live? 
Rosemary’s Baby. For that rent-controlled apartment and New York City in the '60s. 

20. To which country would you move for the design? 
France. Paris is one of my favorite cities. It’s gorgeous. It’s walkable. It’s delicious. 

21. If you were reborn as a piece of furniture or an object, what would it be? 
Knowing my luck I’d probably come back as a foot stool.