Joanna’s collection of old Aubusson rugs brings a refined finish to the terra-cotta floors. When she can’t find the right antique rug, she improvises. “For the living room, I custom-colored the threads for a new rug woven in the Aubusson style,” she notes.

“I was born a collector, and Sidney and I love to travel,” she says. Globe-trotting, they’ve encountered unusual objets d’art, books, and antique furnishings that have managed to hitch a ride home with them. “The house is about 80 percent antiques,” Joanna estimates. She began the dining room’s collection of 18th-century Spode “years and years ago in London.” The 18th-century Italian table was an anniversary gift from Sidney that she refinished to relieve its worn look. (Why revere age when improvement is in order?) When the living room’s long 18th-century red lacquer coffee table needed work, she topped it with mercury glass for a more interesting reflective quality.

Here, an antique Aubusson rug, the 19th-century French gilt chair in the corner, and such dressmaker details as the bullion on the flame-stitch armchair bring old-world elegance to the family room’s casual California architecture.

Sources:
Chinoiserie coffee table: Rose Tarlow-Melrose House, 323/651-2202, rosetarlow.com, trade only.
Drapery (“Summer Scroll’’/Jade) Florio Collection, 310/273-8003, floriocollection.com.
Tortoise shell Roman blinds: Smith + Noble, 800/765-7776, smithandnoble.com.
Green chair in corner (antique); bench: owner’s collection.
Chair fabric: Christopher Hyland Inc., 212/688-6121, trade only.
Bench fabric (flame stitch): Clarence House, 800/803-2850, trade only. Bullion fringe and trim: Westcoast Trims, 323/263-4421.